Animal Cruelty - Cannot Cancel my Zoo Tickets

duck96

Hi all,

My friend bought an experience day at a zoo and now recent articles have announced that they do not properly look after their animals. Investigations are still ongoing, however, for obvious ethical reasons she now wishes to cancel her booking.

She has emailed the company asking for a refund and they have said no and this is in the t&c’s that they cannot cancel. They have offered that she can transfer the booking into another name, but again, no one is going to want to go to a zoo that abuses their animals.

What consumer rights does she have please? What else can she do? I am thinking maybe go to her bank and request a refund? The booking is booked for 30th October 2024 so we need to get this sorted asap!

Thanks in advance!

elsien

This counts as a change of mind, so I very much doubt she has any rights to a refund from her bank or elsewhere if the experience is still running. 

km1500

I would love to know which zoo it is

Undervalued

duck96 said:

Hi all,

My friend bought an experience day at a zoo and now recent articles have announced that they do not properly look after their animals. Investigations are still ongoing, however, for obvious ethical reasons she now wishes to cancel her booking.

She has emailed the company asking for a refund and they have said no and this is in the t&c’s that they cannot cancel. They have offered that she can transfer the booking into another name, but again, no one is going to want to go to a zoo that abuses their animals.

What consumer rights does she have please? What else can she do? I am thinking maybe go to her bank and request a refund? The booking is booked for 30th October 2024 so we need to get this sorted asap!

Thanks in advance!

Then I suggest you think again!

Nothing in your posts suggests she has the legal right to do that.

The allegations against the zoo may or may not be well founded, but unless they are convicted of criminal behaviour that is legally irrelevant to your friend's rights.

It may be IF these allegations are serious and well founded the zoo will be closed (either temporary or permanently) by then which might solve her problem, assuming they haven't gone bust!

born_again

Undervalued said:

duck96 said:

Hi all,

My friend bought an experience day at a zoo and now recent articles have announced that they do not properly look after their animals. Investigations are still ongoing, however, for obvious ethical reasons she now wishes to cancel her booking.

She has emailed the company asking for a refund and they have said no and this is in the t&c’s that they cannot cancel. They have offered that she can transfer the booking into another name, but again, no one is going to want to go to a zoo that abuses their animals.

What consumer rights does she have please? What else can she do? I am thinking maybe go to her bank and request a refund? The booking is booked for 30th October 2024 so we need to get this sorted asap!

Thanks in advance!

Then I suggest you think again!

Nothing in your posts suggests she has the legal right to do that.

The allegations against the zoo may or may not be well founded, but unless they are convicted of criminal behaviour that is legally irrelevant to your friend's rights.

No chance bank will help.
Change of mind is not a chargeback option. Neither is any investigation against the zoo.

Personally the best thing to do is go, make up your own mind & if you see any misdemeanours. That you report them to the correct authority.

strawb_shortcake

If its the zoo that's been in the paper this week, this is old news and allegations about them have been going round for a couple of years now

Aylesbury_Duck

duck96 said:

Hi all,

My friend bought an experience day at a zoo and now recent articles have announced that they do not properly look after their animals. Investigations are still ongoing, however, for obvious ethical reasons she now wishes to cancel her booking.

She has emailed the company asking for a refund and they have said no and this is in the t&c’s that they cannot cancel. They have offered that she can transfer the booking into another name, but again, no one is going to want to go to a zoo that abuses their animals.

What consumer rights does she have please? What else can she do? I am thinking maybe go to her bank and request a refund? The booking is booked for 30th October 2024 so we need to get this sorted asap!

Thanks in advance!

If allegations are being investigated, your friend ought to suspend judgement.  There may not be substance to the allegations.  She has no consumer right to a refund, so her choices are to go as originally planned, or take what she considers to be an ethical stance and not attend.   Since hers is a principled stance, she shouldn't go, but that's a separate matter to the money she's paid.

elsien

Although depending on the nature of the zoo experience, there is an argument that not booking an experience in the first place would have been the ethically correct course. But that’s a different debate.

Skiddaw1

strawb_shortcake said:

If its the zoo that's been in the paper this week, this is old news and allegations about them have been going round for a couple of years now

I was going to say the same. I presume said zoo is situated in Cumbria. The issues have been rumbling on for a long time now.

It's unfortunate for your friend, OP (I wouldn't visit the zoo on principal either) but I don't think there is anything to be done.

pinkshoes

duck96 said:

Hi all,

My friend bought an experience day at a zoo and now recent articles have announced that they do not properly look after their animals. Investigations are still ongoing, however, for obvious ethical reasons she now wishes to cancel her booking.

She has emailed the company asking for a refund and they have said no and this is in the t&c’s that they cannot cancel. They have offered that she can transfer the booking into another name, but again, no one is going to want to go to a zoo that abuses their animals.

What consumer rights does she have please? What else can she do? I am thinking maybe go to her bank and request a refund? The booking is booked for 30th October 2024 so we need to get this sorted asap!

Thanks in advance!

The Cumbrian Zoo by any chance?

If it is this one, then there have been rumours circulating for YEARS regarding this, so nothing new. Some due diligence before purchasing the ticket might have been wise...

So as this is a change of mind, no refund is due. 

Why doesn't she go and see for herself regarding the animal welfare?

sheramber

Who did she buy the experience from?

Was it from the zoo or from another company?