Alton Towers shut 22/3/2013

eastie_2

Hi, my daughter booked in advance for 2 days at Alton Towers and 2 days stay at a hotel included in the package.
She left at 5am from East Sussex for the 5 hour journey as she couldnt contact them anyway and on getting there was told Alton Towers was shut.
After the long drive they tried to get into their hotel included in the package and was told the room wasn't ready till 2pm.
Stayed in the car because of the weather and there was nothing else in the immediate vicinity until the hotel was ready and stayed for the 1 night out of 2 as Alton Towers was closed the next day as well.
Bearing in mind they did not get to go into Alton Towers and only stayed for 1 night out of 2 can they ask for a full refund as they also had to spend £100 on fuel .
Thing was the weather was OK on the south coast but there was not anyway of contacting Alton Towers to see if it was open or not when the weather was deteriating enroute.
Has anyone got any advice please

DUTR

I'm in Birmingham, but a few button presses and I can know the weather in East Sussex, by that your daughter could have checked the weather in Staffordshire.
Ok, there was a smaller chance of knowing if the park was open , I can understand the upset, the hotel was used, a 'complimentary ' entry is the minimum to expect.
It's a bit cold to be trapsing around theme parks (as much as it is Spring 2013) and there would be safety aspect of many of the rides to be expected.

This page clearly shows that the park is closed due to the weather

balletshoes

I don't think they'll get a full refund, nor their fuel costs, refunded by Alton Towers. They stayed one night, could have stayed both nights.

They also didn't need to stay in the car until 2pm, they could have been inside in the warm in the bar until their room was ready (they serve hot drinks at the bar at the Alton Towers resort hotels).

They might get the cost of 2 days park entry back, as they couldn't use those.

Who did they book their package with?

Alias_Omega

You have every right to take Alton Towers to the small claims court, but winning may be a different story.

Fuel - No
Hotel Costs - No
Park Entry - Yes

AO

DUTR

balletshoes wrote: »

I don't think they'll get a full refund, nor their fuel costs, refunded by Alton Towers. They stayed one night, could have stayed both nights.

They also didn't need to stay in the car until 2pm, they could have been inside in the warm in the bar until their room was ready (they serve hot drinks at the bar at the Alton Towers resort hotels).

They might get the cost of 2 days park entry back, as they couldn't use those.

Who did they book their package with?

Good point, when I used to have annual travel insurance it covered UK trips too (however I suppose the weather would have been a get out clause, but if the park is closed then may still re-imburse).

mrcow

DUTR wrote: »

This page clearly shows that the park is closed due to the weather

It doesn't "clearly" show it though.

The writing is tiny compared with the rest of page and it's overlaid on changing graphics so not exactly easy to spot if you don't know what you're looking for.

If they'd shut the park, they should have a large banner across the page. It's pretty poor really.

eastie_2

When they left at 5am in the morning the website did not say it was closed. When they rang the Alton Towers helpline number it didnt say it was shut.
They booked it a while ago so how would they know the temperature would be bad , last year at this time it was a sunny 23 degrees.
They had to come home after 1 day because there was nothing else in the area to do.
Today nobody is picking up on any phonelines to answer questions .
IT WAS BOOKED ON THE ALTON TOWERS WEBSITE

balletshoes

as I said, I think they might get the 2 days park access they couldn't use refunded. They should contact Alton Towers by email, or even snail mail, and ask for the refund.

**Patty**

Why did they not discuss this with reception before leaving?

And for the record.....I live 20 mins from AT & it was not 23 degrees & sunny here last year! ))) Staffordshire(((

DUTR

eastie wrote: »

When they left at 5am in the morning the website did not say it was closed. When they rang the Alton Towers helpline number it didnt say it was shut.
They booked it a while ago so how would they know the temperature would be bad , last year at this time it was a sunny 23 degrees.
They had to come home after 1 day because there was nothing else in the area to do.
Today nobody is picking up on any phonelines to answer questions .
IT WAS BOOKED ON THE ALTON TOWERS WEBSITE

Dominated on the news was weather alerts , not sure how anybody could have missed it, but if you want to try and sue them, you can try, but many doubt you will be succesful

the wesite also shows

• Theme Park tickets pre-booked for Friday 22nd March, Saturday 23rd or Sunday 24th March will be valid any day in the 2013 season (excluding concert and event dates). Simply turn up at the Resort with your tickets or reference number on your new date and we will revalidate your tickets.
• If you have a Hotel booking - please call 0871 222 1100 on Monday to discuss changing the date of your stay.
• We hope to open as normal from Monday, please keep a watch on Twitter and Facebook for further updates.

eastie_2

Dont want to sue them just want a refund if thats whats quoted then thats OK . As regards the weather it was on my local news yesterday it was 23 degrees this time last year, albeit in sunny Sussex.
Thing is she couldnt win either way, if she hadnt gone and AT was open she would have lost her money . If she went (which she did)and then it was shut she was £100 out of pocket from petrol money.
Just annoyed there was nobody to contact or no news on their website when they left .
They must realise that not all people coming to their themepark are local and a email or message wouldnt have hurt