Disability troubles Ideal Home show Event City

ANGLICANPAT

My husbands spinal problems dictate the need for a mobility scooter for the large events we like to attend. He is too heavy for me to push in an ordinary wheelchair.
We were thrilled to get free tickets via MSE for the Ideal Home Exhibition for the Friday at Event City Manchester

Reading the website instructions for the disabled to make sure wheelchair and mobility scooters were booked ahead , my OH tried to do just that on the Wednesday afternoon .

He was told he could NOT book a mobility scooter in advance , as the rule was 'first come first served'. My husband queried this , saying could it really be that a disabled person could travel an hour or two to the event , only to be told there was no mobility scooter left? That system just wont work with disability equipment !!!! Apparently though, information giver 'Mike' confirmed this would be the case . However , he advised the building next door (involving scootering oneself back across a road) may well loan one .

Could they let him have the number then please? "No sorry I dont have it" !

Disheartened and exasperated , we decided we would have to give the event a miss. Waste of a free ticket that someone else could have used, and a big disappointment for us.

What a disgrace that Event City couldnt get their act together sufficiently to ensure that their staff on helplines are equipped with all the useful telephone numbers they need , and why state on their website the disabled can book the equipment they need , and then tell them they cant, when they try to do so! What a crazy disorganized outfit must be running this event.

We visited the caravan show earlier this year at the NEC Birmingham. Our experience booking equipment there, couldnt have been more different, they were efficient and professional to the 'n'th degree.

dizzie

That seems crazy! If this is what their website said, then that is what they should have delivered. If they have equipment available, then the logical thing IS to allow people to pre-book it. No-one in their right mind should expect people to travel and then take "pot luck" whether there is any equipment left.

Is there anyone you can write to to complain about this?

ANGLICANPAT

Hi there
Yes I will be writing to the organizers of the site , a firm called
Media-Ten with a letter to the Director stating the points made in my post. Nuts ist it!

dizzie

Totally agree that it's nuts. It's not as if these are "golf buggies" that a person might chose to use if they didn't fancy walking!

I hope you get some redress on this.