Is this extortionate or am I going mad?!

[TeachBee]

I booked a day out for my two children at popular outdoor venue that we'd never been to before. Online tickets were £22 each plus £4 booking fee. I saw that they offered an annual membership for £60 each so figured I'd get that as it saves money down the line.

After purchasing the passes, I was told that each time I book (even with the passes - what?!) there would be a £4 booking fee. This wasn't just for online bookings - it was all of them, including in person, on the day bookings. I can understand a small fee for online bookings but to charge for in person, and £4, is extortionate in my view.

On top of this, which wasn't made explicit at all before booking, there is a parking fee of £10.50 per visit.

So, if we use the passes x5 times, that's an extra £72.50 we'll have to pay in addition to the cost of the passes.

FYI, this is a place on the East Mids/North Yorks area so not as expensive as other places.

AIBU or is the company?!

The parking is fair enough, but booking fees in general piss me off. I wouldn't expect to pay that as an annual pass holder.

What's the fee for, exactly? It doesn't cost any company money to note down that person X has booked a certain timeslot at an attraction, or a seat at a gig or whatever, especially in a time when printing off and sending out paper tickets is no longer a thing.

of course it does. They are not sitting there with a little notebook and a pencil. It's all automated and in all likelihood still has to be entered onto the system even if someone just turns up without booking so that the slot doesn't then get double booked by another person simultaneously booking online.

The booking fee is standard. Do you expect the admin department to work for free?

You are still getting a good deal compared to how much you would have paid if you went 5 x a year. You paid for unlimited visits and that on its own is a massive saving. I voted you are being unreasonable.

I used to live near Twycross and paid for annual membership as it was a few pounds more than for a single visit and under 5s were free; I had two toddlers. I think parking was free too but it was 20+ years ago.

I swear we were the only visitors sometimes during the winter, but it saved my sanity. That and Snibston Discovery park for when the weather was too awful for the zoo.

Entering a row into a database to say person x has booked at time y doesn't cost £4, does it. You might as well say that shops should charge a "putting it through the till" fee.

The cost of the admin to actually get someone through the door should just be built into a standard ticket. It's not like it's optional.

Thanks! Worth a try I suppose!

What bastards for misleading people. I wouldn’t give them a penny of my business if I could help it. Are there alternatives around?

This is a ridiculous comment in my opinion. 🙄Hundreds of companies all are associated costs and none charge a booking fee! Whilst I get that some places do charge an online fee, which I've happily paid in past, it's usually £1 (or less) and you have the option to chance turning up on the day and seeing what spaces are available to avoid this fee altogether.

Apparently they terminate the pass if you book and don't show. If you need to amend your time, there's a £5 fee! 🙄

I completely understand that this is an attraction with limited spaces and therefore they don't want people booking and not showing, but if you're going to book 'at the door' surely that would eliminate the possibility of that as you're already there and committing to that booking.

I thought Merlin do charge for parking? Or do they not charge annual pass holders?

Do they charge a booking fee each time?

In the pass page it says 'You can guarantee your spot online with the £3.95 booking fee per booking, or can try at the cabin on the day (this may involve waiting for the next free spot).' which is why I thought booking in person would avoid the fee. However, when I spoke to an employee they told me this is incorrect and booking at the cabin would also be charged £4.

Yes that definitely sounds like turning up means no booking fee and is misleading

Of course you would think it's ridiculous. Paying £44 plus parking at £10.50 plus £4 booking fee comes to £58.50 a visit. If you think it's more cost effective to go once or twice a year then do that. I think paying £120 for two passes for the year gives you unlimited visits and all you have to pay is parking and the admin fee of £14.50. if you don't plan on using the passes then get your money back and look for cheaper days out. Parks are free.

While I accept that the parking isn't their choice, there wasn't anything in the activity page I looked at (specific to my venue) that mentioned a parking fee - including in the FAQ's. I had a known that the charge would have been £10.50 a visit, I wouldn't have bothered. Only after I booked and clicked on their link did I realise there was a charge.

And I have to disagree with your analogy too. My local cinema uses a car park that's not theirs so also has extra charges (less than £5 for the day!) but you receive a parking voucher that can be then used on cinema purchases, even though it's nothing to do with them.

What do they do?
You are asking for opinions and no one knows what it is and why?

🤣🤣🤣

I absolutely hate it when parking isn't included in an annual pass.

So the £3.95 is a "booking fee" for every time you purchase entrance, no matter how you purchase it?

That's an appalling rip off, yes. I agree that it you fork out the money for annual passes, that should be it.

For comparison, I'm a single mom of one child and have taken the decision to purchase cinema passes for me and my daughter, which is £15 a month and we can see every film they are showing once. The £15 feels like a relatively big outlay, but in reality if we go twice a month we are "saving", and we love films so it is working out so far. But if I had found there was another fee I had to pay on top of that, every time we went? I would have been gutted.....

Parking is maybe OK, as not everyone drives there presumably - and I guess I do in general approve of companies discouraging people to drive, for the sake of the environment. (Providing there are decent public transport links and/or it's walkable/bikeable from a town - is it?)

Still, that parking fee does look pretty hefty to me. On a practical level, is there anywhere closish by you could park for free and walk to it?

Regret I have not read every response but I do empathise with your frustration. I’d feel ripped off too.
Regardless of their Ts&C’s I think that given the fact you purchased on line, distance selling in other words, you can, by law, within 14 days of purchase, get your money back.
Ask Mr Google.

How is the fact that you’re a teacher relevant? 🤔

Call them - I found them to be lovely im sure they’ll help

Well, as she stated, she has lots of time during school holidays to go - entirely relevant!

Yes drip pricing is illegal now

It's already in the Ts&C's she didn't read it properly.

My point here was that I work PT and also have all the holidays to use the pass. In most jobs, even if you work part time, you might not have had as much opportunity as that. When I purchased the pass, I had this in mind and was planning to go much more frequently than a few times over the year. However, paying parking and booking fees would impact me doing this, as it's quite costly per visit, even after forking out for the passes initially.