Children hoping to walk amongst dinosaurs have been left in tears after their discounted tickets were refused at the door.
Several families who used discounted Wowcher vouchers to pay for tickets of Jurassic World: The Experience at Battersea Power Station were refused entry to the show.
Around 30 to 40 people were affected by a booking system error on Monday, which caused vouchers to be oversold for some timeslots, said Neon, the creators behind the experience.
The mistake denied one 11-year-old boy the Christmas present he had asked for.
Jacob Harris, who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and ADHD, told his mum Kate Stevens ‘I hate my life’ after they weren’t let into the venue.
The mum of three had travelled all the way from her home in Canterbury, Kent, to collect Jacob from Enfield in east London to take him to the immersive dinosaur show in the capital’s south-west.
She said: ‘It was supposed to be a nice day out for the both of us, you know, just the two of us.
‘He was very upset and he cried, that made me cry. It’s horrible – it’s Christmas.’
The mum said: ‘When you go there they’re only allowing people who paid full price in – if you’ve got a discounted ticket, you’re not coming in.
‘There was a lady had two autistic children with her, they were having a meltdown, she was really distressed.’
Ms Stevens, 39, had purchased the ticket for the show, which attracts 1,800 a day during the holiday period, all the way back in November.
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However, when they arrived at the entrance, they found families with discounted tickets were queuing up only to be turned away because the show was ‘over-subscribed’.
She added: ‘And I asked them how long this had been going on for – no-one could give me an answer.’
‘(My son) was standing next to me and then I could see other people being told and I went up to somebody, and I showed him my ticket, and I was like: “Does that mean us as well?” And he said: “Unfortunately, yes.”‘
Ms Stevens then had to break the news to a devastated Jacob that they wouldn’t be able to take part in the experience had been so excited for.
She recalled: ‘He just burst into tears and then got really upset and said: “I just want to go home, I just don’t want to be here, I hate my life.”
‘He gets quite dramatic, upset, bless him. It’s been quite a build-up. It was supposed to be a nice little day out for the both of us.’
Ms Stevens said she heard other parents being told a ‘flat-out no’ if they asked to come back another time.
‘There were a lot of upset children,’ she added.
Neon has apologised to those affected and said they were liaising with visitors to offer other time slots or a refund.
A PR company said on behalf of the entertainment company: ‘Some visitors holding Wowcher tickets were unable to enter Jurassic World: The Experience this week, which was the result of a booking system error which led to too many vouchers being sold for certain time slots.
‘As the experience operates under strict capacity limits to ensure visitor safety, we were unfortunately unable to admit everyone at their original arrival time.
‘All affected ticketholders were notified in advance, and we’ve been liaising with visitors to either accommodate them in alternative sessions or refund them for their tickets.
‘We understand how disappointing this would have been for families – we sincerely apologise to anyone whose visit was impacted and are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.’
Wowcher said it is in the process of contacting customers and will be offering full refunds.
Wowcher added in a statement: ‘This event was overbooked due to a system error on Jurassic World’s side.
‘They have contacted the affected customers directly, apologised and asked them to reach out to Wowcher.
‘We are in the process of contacting impacted customers ourselves and will obviously be offering a full refund.’
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