Kids left in tears as families turned away from immersive Jurassic World show at the door
Ticket holders for the immersive Jurassic World were left heartbroken and children in tears: Experience show buyers who purchased discounted vouchers through Wowcher were turned away at the door.
These harrowing scenes unfolded at Battersea Power Station on Monday; where a booking system error led to significant overselling of tickets for certain time slots.
According to Neon, the creators of the dinosaur show, around 30 to 40 people were reportedly affected by the glitch.
Among them was 11-year-old Jacob Harris, whose Christmas gift trip was suddenly canceled and he broke down in tears. His mother, Kate Stevens, had traveled from Canterbury, Kent, to pick Jacob up in Enfield, east London, before heading to the south-west of the capital for the highly anticipated show.
Jurassic World: The Experience marks the launch event at Neon’s newly opened venue in the iconic London landmark. Both the experiential entertainment company and Wowcher have since apologized to those affected and made promising resolutions. Neon stated that it had contacted visitors to offer alternative time slots or full refunds, while Wowcher confirmed that it had contacted customers to process full refunds.
Mother-of-three Ms Stevens described her devastating experience. Press Association. “It was supposed to be a nice day out for both of us, you know, just for the two of us,” he explained. “She was very upset and cried, which made me cry. It’s terrible; it’s Christmas.”
The 39-year-old actor highlighted the inequality in entry: “When you go there, they only accept people who pay the full price; if you have a discounted ticket, you can’t get in.” He described the chaotic scene: “There was a lady with two autistic children next to her, they were having a nervous breakdown, she was really distressed.” Another visitor started his journey as early as 5 a.m., he added.
Jacob, who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and ADHD, was particularly affected. “My son himself is very upset, we’ve come a long way for him to go,” Ms Stevens told PA. He questioned the staff about the duration of the problem but did not receive a clear answer.
Recalling the moment she realized their fate, she said: “(My son) was standing next to me and then I saw what was being said to other people and I walked up to someone and showed them my ticket and I thought: ‘Does this apply to us too?’ And he said: ‘Unfortunately yes.'”
She pushed Jacob away and broke the news: “I’m really sorry, but we can’t go in.” His reaction was immediate and profound. “She burst into tears and then she got really upset and said: ‘I just want to go home, I just don’t want to be here, I hate my life.’ It gets quite dramatic, sad, God bless. “It was pretty prepared, he lives in Enfield with his dad and I live in Canterbury, so it was supposed to be a nice day out for both of us.”
Jacob’s hope of rescheduling the visit was quickly dashed. “He just said: ‘Ask them if we can go another time… Can’t we come back later?’ “I’ve already heard other parents ask this, and they said, ‘No, absolutely not.'”
Ms Stevens echoed the widespread frustration: “There were a lot of upset children. They were letting people queue up and when they got to the front of the queue they were telling them… they couldn’t get in because they were oversubscribed because they had a voucher.” He had purchased the voucher in November, and Jacob had been eagerly awaiting the show for weeks.
A PR company speaking on behalf of Neon confirmed that around 1,800 people a day visited the exhibition during the holiday period. They stated: “Some visitors with Wowcher tickets were unable to enter Jurassic World: The Experience this week. This was the result of a booking system error which resulted in too many vouchers being sold at certain time slots. As the Experience operates under strict capacity limits to ensure visitor safety, we were unfortunately unable to admit everyone at the original arrival time. All affected ticket holders have been notified in advance and we have been in contact with visitors to accommodate them in alternative sessions or refund the money for their tickets. We understand how disappointing it is for these families.” “We sincerely apologize to anyone whose visit was affected and we are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.”
Wowcher’s statement placed the blame on the event organizers: “This event was overbooked due to a system error on the Jurassic World side. They have contacted affected customers directly, apologized and asked them to reach out to Wowcher. We are in the process of contacting affected customers ourselves and will obviously offer a full refund.”
