A family who missed their visit to Lightopia because they were stuck in four hour car park queues say they were left 'in limbo' for weeks after asking for a refund.
Rebekah Curtis-Haries and Tim Haries were visiting Manchester on November 26 with their two children to explore the Christmas markets before heading to Heaton Park for the Lightopia attraction.
But the family ended up missing their 7.30pm slot after being stuck in four-hour queues at the Arndale car park. They contacted the attraction’s organisers to seek a re-arranged date but were left furious after being told the tickets were non-refundable and they would be unable to get their money back.
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The family then claim they were left in 'limbo' with no response for over a month after repeating their request for a refund or to reschedule their visit. Lightopia have said their team replies to requests 'as quickly as possible' but that the ticket's conditions states they reserve the right to refuse a refund or exchange.
But Tim said the family had been left gutted by the delay in hearing back from the company.
“I bought four Lightopia tickets as a surprise a few weeks earlier and thought we’d make a day of it by going into Manchester and visiting the Christmas markets beforehand,” Tim, 50, told the M.E.N.
“At about 6pm, we went back to the car which was parked in the Arndale car park to find queues everywhere. We were parked on Level 12 and it took us one hour and 45 minutes just to get down one level.
“We realised we weren’t going to get out of the car park anytime soon so we tried to get in touch with Lightopia but there’s no way of contacting them anywhere. We didn’t get out of the car park until around 9.30pm, by which time the event had already closed.”
Rebekah said the ordeal upset their children, 12-year-old Annalise and seven-year-old Zara, and ruined what was supposed to be a treat in the build up to Christmas.
“Our seven-year-old daughter was crying and in tears,” Rebekah, 49, explained. “She was pretty scared about being stuck in the car park. There was traffic everywhere, people were shouting and honking their horns. It was horrendous.”
She said she explained to the two children that the family, who live just outside of Huddersfield, would no longer be able to visit Lightopia that evening, but said she would explain the situation to organisers in the hope of rearranging their trip for a later date.
She explained: “We told our girls that we would have to miss the light show but we’re sure we’ll be able to get there again another day. We emailed Lightopia and asked if we could attend again. When they emailed back almost a week later, they explained that the tickets were non-refundable but we could have given them to friends and family if we were unable to attend.
“It was physically impossible for anyone else to make it there in time and I just feel like it was a totally unacceptable response for something we couldn’t avoid. We had no control over the situation whatsoever.
“Since then, we’ve emailed and left Facebook messages and had nothing back. It’s just like they’re not interested at all. We were in an exceptional situation that we couldn’t predict would happen. We had never expected we would have been stuck in a car park for four hours.
“It’s just like they’re not interested at all, we've been left waiting for a reply. Personally, I’d prefer a refund now but at the least, I’d hope they would let us visit before they shut on January 2. But we’re stuck in limbo and £80 out of pocket during a cost of living crisis right now.
“£80 is a lot of money to just throw away like that. We’ve never been to Lightopia before, and it was supposed to be a surprise for us all as part of the build up to Christmas, but it’s instead just left a sour taste in my mouth.”
Lightopia Manchester said that tickets to its event are non-refundable and non-exchangeable, but tries to work with customers on any specific requests when possible. As a goodwill gesture, they have confirmed they have invited the family to attend Lightopia at an alternative date following the M.E.N.'s enquiry.
A spokesman said: “As is standard for every large ticketed event, when a customer buys a ticket to Lightopia, they agree to Terms and Conditions that state tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.
“However, our team understands that for various reasons, some customers can’t make their booking and get in touch to ask for a refund or to exchange their tickets for an alternate date. The team works through hundreds of these queries each year and replies to all queries as quickly as is possible.
“We will always try to accommodate requests where reasonable and possible, however reserve the right to refuse a refund or exchange, as stated in the T&Cs on purchase.
“In this circumstance, the reason the customer couldn’t make Lightopia was an external factor unrelated to the event. Despite this, as a gesture of goodwill, the customer has been offered to attend the festival at an alternate date.
“Lightopia brings festive magic to hundreds of thousands of people each year in Manchester, with the majority of customers enjoying their experience without issue.“
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