Fury in UK village as ‘900’ demand refunds after Christmas lights show | UK | News
A festive drone display in Sussex went wrong this weekend, prompting hundreds of people to demand refunds. The Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drone show has been heralded by organizers Lumina Drones as a “spectacular experience” with “an enchanting flock of 600 LED drones” set to light up the skies in the shape of the beloved Christmas character on Sunday 30 November.
However, issues such as technical faults and muddy ground created a perfect storm at the show venue in the southern England village of Ardingly, leading more than 900 attendees to demand refunds.
A Facebook group set up after the event attracted 972 members who shared their “disastrous” experiences on the night and attempted to secure a refund of £15.99 tickets and £7 parking fees.
“The show area was a mud bath and dozens of cars were trapped,” said Raymond Kemp, who went to the exhibition with his family.
“The drone show was too weak, too short, and faded to black before it was over, while bad reviews kept blasting into the dark sky… It was an absolutely unforgettable night, but for all the wrong reasons.”
Jade Russell, who also attended the festival light show, added: “The queues to get in were ridiculous, the drone show was half an hour late and half the drones weren’t working. You couldn’t even tell what the formations meant.”
“Then halfway through the sky darkened and the last part was cut off. [And we] Had to pay £7 to park in an area where everyone was jamming and pushing cars and tow trucks had to arrive to help people out. It took an hour and a half to get out. Avoid!”
Carly Gunn, who said she had lodged a formal complaint and requested a refund, said she had driven about an hour from West Malling and said it had been a “total waste of time and money”.
“We had high hopes after seeing how incredible drone shows like the castle show at Disneyland could be, but this event was nothing but a complete mess,” he added.
A spokesperson for Lumina Sky Theater said: “Unfortunately, our Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drone show at the South of England Showground has encountered technical difficulties affecting some drones.
“We are incredibly disappointed that we were unable to deliver the full show to the high standards we had prepared for and we sincerely apologize to our customers who enjoyed the show for this inconvenience.
“Our technical team are currently investigating to understand what happened. ‘To date we have successfully delivered nine demonstrations across the UK without any technical issues’ but large-scale drone demonstrations are inherently complex and unforeseen issues can occasionally arise.
“We will contact all ticket holders via email with an update as soon as possible. Again, we sincerely apologize to everyone who attended.”
