I took Alton Towers to court because some of its rides were shut… with a very surprising result: SALLY SORTS IT

I won £1,000 on the Premium Bonds and decided to treat my family with a last-minute trip to Alton Towers. I booked a stay for my son, his wife and my three granddaughters for February 19 and 20 at a cost of £590.50.

On arrival the girls were excitedly asking about the rides they would be going on the next day, only to be told that the theme park ones weren’t open. They were so upset and in tears from the disappointment. Nowhere was I told during the online booking process that the park is closed in winter.

They were so disappointed they stayed only one night and left the next morning – not even staying for breakfast. 

When I complained to Alton Towers, it offered to reimburse £236.36. But I think I should get back the full amount.

P.T., Cranwich, Norfolk.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: On reading your letter I had the feeling that Merlin Entertainments, owner of Alton Towers, had met in you a nemesis as formidable as its famous theme park ride of the same name. You were not going to be fobbed off with a partial refund. What grandfather would, in the face of three granddaughters’ disappointment?

The renowned amusement park rides are the main draw for visitors, so I wasn’t surprised at the depth of their despair and your fury when you were informed of what happened. You said your son had overheard other families voicing similar upset. 

You told me after your full refund was denied that you asked three friends to attempt the booking process and see (without hitting the payment button) whether there was a warning about the closures in the park. None of them saw any mention of key rides being closed. 

By the time you came to me in late June, it was many months after the event, when all the rides were open again for the season, so I could not try the same experiment.

However, the Alton Towers website states that between November and March ‘its biggest rides go into hibernation’. Despite this, I felt you wouldn’t have booked the special treat had you been made fully aware of the situation, so I asked Alton Towers to reconsider your complaint.

The resort investigated and came back to say that parts of the resort were open that February half-term for its special ‘Pirate Takeover’ event, including some rides and shows but not the big ones. It sent me screenshots of the booking process that you would have encountered in which it stated that areas Mutiny Bay and CBeebies Land were open. 

It could argue that this implied that the other rides were closed, but there was no explicit mention of the main rides in the park being shut. Despite you saying other visitors had grumbled about the closures, the firm said it had received no other complaints from customers.

A spokesman for Alton Towers says: ‘The Alton Towers Waterpark and our Extraordinary Golf were also available for guests to enjoy at this time and included in the price of the stay. Email communication was also shared with the guest following their booking and ahead of their arrival reiterating details of the event, including the availability of rides and attractions. 

‘Throughout the year, the resort offers a range of experiences outside of the main season and we are committed to ensuring every guest has a fun and memorable time with us.’

While I was in discussion with Alton Towers about your case, you informed me you had decided to take action against Merlin Entertainments through the small claims court, so adamant were you that a full refund was owed. Discussions halted as we awaited the outcome. 

It took me back to a birthday trip for my eldest daughter some years ago where I accompanied her friend on Oblivion, one of Alton Tower’s scariest rollercoaster rides. I recall the growing panic felt along with increasingly sweaty hands as our cart inched towards the top of the 180ft drop.

By mid-August, the judgement had been decided – in your favour – and Merlin was ordered to refund you in full. 

When I asked Merlin for a comment, it said that you had been granted the judgement by default because, due to a member of staff leaving, Merlin did not submit a response to the claim by the deadline. But it confirmed your full refund.

You were overjoyed, and when we caught up last week you told me you had used the refund to buy £200 of Premium Bonds for each granddaughter – one of whom won a £50 prize this month. I assume there were tears of joy on this occasion.

I’m writing to you with a desperate plea for help concerning two penalty charges received from Dart Charge. Its system failure, and failure to recognise my repeated attempts to be honest, legal, and decent, mean I am being unjustly pursued and threatened with bailiffs over a crazy £235 fine for a toll charge I repeatedly tried to pay.

L.C., Wickham Market, Suffolk.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: The Dartford Crossing incorporates both the bridge that takes drivers southwards over the River Thames from Thurrock in Essex to Dartford in Kent, and the tunnel that takes them under the river in the opposite direction. A toll must be paid from 6am to 10pm every day and costs £2.50 each way for cars or £2 for those with a Dart Charge account.

The fee is due at the latest by midnight the day after a crossing but can also be paid in advance. 

An unpaid charge can trigger a £70 fine to be met within 28 days of receiving a penalty charge notice, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days. If not met by these deadlines, the fine keeps rising.

You were fully aware of your obligations, so on October 24, 2023, you made at least six attempts to pay for two crossings – one for October 23 and one for the return on October 25. You used your bank card, but each time you tried, you saw an alert stating: ‘Payment not taken.’

You checked with your bank HSBC which showed the payments as ‘pending and listed’. This was a relief of sorts but then you feared you’d paid too much. On phoning Dart Charge to check, you were flabbergasted at a recorded voice saying you were 93rd in the queue. You suspected you were not alone in facing a payment glitch that day.

You hung up and sent an email to Dart Charge requesting it confirm that the correct payment had been taken. This email was acknowledged but not responded to. 

You let things lie and thought all was well, until three months later when you were fined. You appealed but were not told the outcome. Then another fine arrived based on your ‘perceived inactivity’. When you phoned again, you were told to make another appeal. No word on that result either.

Then last month you received an ‘order for recovery’ telling you the debt had been transferred to the Traffic Enforcement Centre and that your ‘possessions may be removed and sold to pay for this charge’, which now amounted to £235 (two counts of £117.50).

You’d hit gridlock so you came to me.

Once I contacted National Highways, the government agency that runs the crossing, it finally got into gear – nearly a year after you made your journeys. 

It may be in charge, but it outsources the running of the scheme to Conduent, a private company. It has not been a completely smooth ride since it took up the role in the summer of 2023, with reports of many motorists struggling to pay the charge and others being charged erroneously because the automated number plate recognition system was misreading some drivers’ plates.

On investigating your case National Highways agreed it had failed you. It swiftly got in touch and took your £5 payment for the two crossing and wiped the £235 penalty. You expressed relief that the agony was over.

A spokesman says: ‘We are sorry for the issues this customer has experienced which fall below the high standards we aim to deliver.

‘We are constantly striving to improve our service, correcting any issues quickly, always with customer feedback in mind. Our priority is providing a smooth and stress-free experience for our customers who make the 55 million journeys on the Dartford Crossing each year.’

Straight to the point

QUESTION: I booked a service and MOT with Halfords in August and paid £207.30. But its machinery was broken so I transferred my appointment to another branch. When I arrived, I was told no appointment had been made. I’ve now been refunded my initial payment and offered £50 compensation and coverage of the MOT appointment I got elsewhere at £48, but I want more for my time.

C.C., via email.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: Halfords apologises and has sent you £150 as a goodwill gesture.

QUESTION: I missed a flight from Faro Airport in Portugal to Birmingham last month after Ryanair emailed to say that our flight was delayed by two hours. The app said this too, so we took our time in the airport but later found the flight had left on time without us. We want a refund for the cost of rebooking the flight.

N.M., via email.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: Ryanair says the flight was originally delayed but eventually left on time. Passengers were sent a mobile notification to check airport display screens and it’s their responsibility to present themselves at the boarding gate.

QUESTION: In April I bought a hearing aid for £2,585 from Boots, but my Advantage points were never credited to my account. I have visited the store three times to chase this and emailed several times but I still don’t have the points.

S.W., via email.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: Boots says the issue has been resolved and you have been given extra points.

QUESTION: My phone was stolen in July and it was unlocked when the thief took it. I was able to remotely lock the phone when I got home but I saw the thief had got into my cryptocurrency app and transferred out £11,300 worth just before I locked it. The app says it can’t recover my money so won’t reimburse me.

N.C., London.

SALLY HAMILTON REPLIES: The cryptocurrency app says it will reimburse customers only where it is found to be at fault for the loss.

Write to Sally Hamilton at: Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email: sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.

Scamwatch

Mobile phone users should beware of a scam text impersonating network provider Vodafone, consumer website Which? warns.

Fraudsters lure in victims with the promise of 5,131 points in their account as part of the ‘Vodafone UK Points Program’ and claim they will expire today.

The scam text messages provide a link to redeem the points – but this is a dodgy phishing link, according to Which?.

Do not click on the link. Instead, forward the text to 7726 to report it.