Comic Con fans claimed the event was "manic from the get-go" due to "over-crowding" and spending hours queuing.
The event is a regular convention geared towards and for fandoms and was held on Saturday, November 19 and Sunday, November 20. Comic Con Liverpool is the North West's largest comic book and film fan extravaganza, and boasts some of the UK's biggest celebrity guest exclusives.
Following the event, reports quickly surfaced online of long queues, disorganisation and "over-crowding". A number of people left negative reviews of the event.
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Comic Con Liverpool and Monopoly Events, who are the organisers behind the convention, released a statement on Monday on their social media pages to say there were many positives and cosplayers looked "absolutely epic", however addressed the concerns made by many customers.
Part of of the statement read: "With the vast majority of the guests having now left Liverpool we’re already reflecting and planning on next years show and reviewing went worked this year and what we could improve on.
"The positives were so many! We always love to see how many people get the chance to meet the stars and make some lasting memories. The guests themselves had a great time, and were absolutely lovely to work with. We were so pleased to deliver some of the people who through no ones fault had to cancel previous appearances. In particular we are so happy that we could bring Ian and Paul across to meet their UK fans and hope that you all loved the experience.
"All the cosplayers looked absolutely epic, the retro gaming was fun as always, our friends at TNT Wrestling really delivered, the ESports were fabulous and we had more props and set builds than ever. The event entry was much smoother than last year with the security scanning gates speeding up the process greatly.
"Our biggest concerns and area for development has to be around signage and the bottlenecks that occurred during the busiest periods. Whilst we issued maps on our social media channels and emailed them to all ticket holders we definitely need to look at far more signage both inside and outside the venue to assist in wayfinding.
"We also plan to increase the festival site so you can walk directly into both halls through the front doors after entering the site (Red and Blue venues). We should be very clear that the event was sold to the exact same capacity as the previous two shows. The bottlenecks in isolated areas need to be fixed to allow easier flow around the venue, and in hindsight using the link bridge too heavily didn’t work as we intended."
One of those people who were left unhappy with the event was Kayley Jamieson who had travelled from Newcastle with her partner and friend.
Speaking to the ECHO, the 30-year-old said: "We joined the main queue outside around quarter to nine and our ticket entry was for 9am and we were aware there was going to be a big queue. We realised the ticket queue outside sort of went round the building and wasn't really managed that well.
"It did go down quite fast and when we got to the main entrance hall and had to show our ticket, the guy didn't really look at the ticket. We had them printed out in a folder and we opened them and got the ticket entries out, he didn't even take a look or scan them and just let us through."
Kayley added: "But it was just manic from the get-go. It was definitely overcrowded and there was just no way to comfortably move. The queues were huge for the main celebs."
She also claimed that at one point people had to "force" themselves off escalators, she said: "We get upstairs on the landing and there was a woman stood in front of the doors and said 'it is too congested in there, you have to go via the ground, so make your way downstairs.
"As I was walking downstairs there were people trying to get up escalators and there was nowhere to move at the top of the escalator and people had to force themselves off the escalator."
Kayley said she had also pre-paid to get an autograph from Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, which was a surprise for their friend, and had a specific time-slot to see him. However, due to huge queues and multiple complications with timings, the group did not receive an autograph and only a photo where one of the Sons of Anarchy stars blinked, which cost £200.
The 30-year-old said this happened to people in front of them and the photographer said they would do the photo again, however Kayley claims the same offer was not made for her and her friend.
She said: "I spent five hours in total at Comic Con and three-and-half hours was spent in the queuing and I have nothing to show for it, apart from the photo."
Comic Con Liverpool and Monopoly Events also addressed the issue where ticket holders were not able to fulfil their autographs.
They said: "We can absolutely assure everyone that we did not ‘oversell’ any of these opportunities. Every capacity that was reached was well within previous totals that we know can be comfortably managed in a day.
"Unfortunately the timeslots for some guests would become redundant if it took a lot longer than expected to work through each autograph if some of the guests were very keen to give extra time to each person. We appreciate how frustrating that must’ve been for people queuing and we can only apologise.
"We have a list of people who missed out on their autos, and whilst it was a very small percentage we will of course refund them all – please email monopolyevents@ticketquarter.co.uk."
The statement added they are also making plans for next year, alongside the venue.
It added: "We’re already making plans for next year alongside the venue. This will include a virtual queuing system on the busiest guests, much more fixed signage plus an increase on entry points between the venues (opening up the Red venue front doors to all ticket holders).
"We are redesigning the trader area to increase all of the aisles by a metre and adopt a ‘less is more’ approach. We also plan to place a lower capacity on the 9am Early Entry tickets and switch that capacity over to the 11am and 12.30pm tickets.
"Tickets went on sale for April 1 and April 2, 2023 last night and the response has been overwhelming. We know how many of you love this event, and the pride we have on building and creating one of the biggest conventions in Europe here in Liverpool is immense. With thousands of tickets already sold before we’ve even announced a guest (first one tonight) we know that we’re on the right track. We’ll never stop trying to build and improve.
"If you have any feedback both positive and negative please do email us on info@comicconventionliverpool.co.uk. The only way we’ll make these events perfect is working together with the fans and attendees, to keep adapting, learning and evolving. Any comments about issues and the changes to the event let’s keep in this one thread thanks."
Faye Dyer, MD of The ACC Liverpool Group said: "The security and safety of our visitors is our number one priority and we would like to reassure customers that our venue was not over capacity for Comic Con Liverpool. We have a dedicated security and stewarding team who are appropriately trained and experienced in working across all our venues. Security measures were deployed in line with the agreed risk assessment for this event.
"We have a pre-approved, rigorous process in place with our service provider for checking tickets and we have not been made aware of any deviations from this.
"All visitors were sent communications prior to the event including an event map and schedules. "Our visitors’ enjoyment is important to us and we are always striving to improve. We welcome feedback and would encourage customers to contact us directly on feedback@accliverpool.com with any specific issues or concerns."
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