A British man has demanded a refund from Thorpe Park after saying he spent his birthday there, but failed to get on any rides.
Palli Singh from Wraysbury, Berkshire, says he visited the park on 14 July, and was thwarted when multiple rides broke down after he had waited in long queues. He left partway through the day due to the frustration.
Mr Singh says he had arrived at 9.30am ahead of the theme park’s 10am opening time, and paid £81 for tickets and all-day parking.
However, he says after waiting in line for the Nemesis Inferno ride, he was informed it had suffered a technical issue and staff did not know when it would be up and running again.
He alleges that the same thing then proceeded to happen with the park’s Detonator and Walking Dead rides.
Mr Singh says he and his wife paid £16 more for fast-track tickets to beat the queues, but by 2pm had not been able to get on any rides.
“I said ‘Listen, I’ve had enough, this is rubbish. It’s not how I want to spend my birthday’,” Mr Singh told SurreyLive.
“It was a very hot day as well, so we were hot and bothered.
“I said there was no way I wanted to head back again, I’m 36 years old now and don’t want to be lining up for that time.”
Thorpe Park representatives insist that they had ride availability of 94 per cent on the day Mr Singh visited.
He told reporters that when he complained, he was given the email address of a senior member of staff at the park, and had been “emailing him back and forth”, but remained unsatisfied.
“I’ve had to email him four times and in the end I’m still not happy because I don’t want to set foot in there, I want my money back,” he continued.
“The park closes at 6pm. If I had carried on lining up, god knows if I’d even get on a ride.
“I’m not asking to be compensated for my day, I just want what I spent to be paid back. That’s all I want.”
A spokesperson for Thorpe Park said: “Naturally we are disappointed to learn when any guest’s experience has not lived up to their expectations.
“Our reports for the same day as Mr Singh’s visit shows that we had ride availability of over 94 per cent for the resort and our guest feedback shows that 80 per cent of guests who visited us the same day as Mr Singh were either very satisfied or satisfied with their overall experience.
“We have already offered Mr Singh an upweighted recovery package, which can be redeemed at other attractions. We hope we can come to a resolution that allows us to provide Mr Singh the magical day out we aspire to deliver. Correspondence with the guest is still open.”
