Howth on "Ice" Scam?

skuzzb

Went to go ice skating in Howth today and turns out that the word ice now means plastic slippy stuff.

How can this place get away with advertising saying ice rink and ice skating and using the word ice 5 times in the disclaimer you have to sign on entry? I take it that if you were to fall and be injured you could sue, as you agreed to the terms of an ice-rink not a plastic slippy floor with some oil on it.
There was also no mention anywhere about plastic slippy stuff and we only realised when we got onto the fake ice. At that stage we had paid our money and got our skates on!

It was impossible to skate properly on and the only fun we had was by talking about how bad it was. Whats more annoying is that they are charging roughly the same prices as other places that use actual ice.....the stuff made from water.

We didn’t make a formal complaint but I’m regretting that now. Seems very deceitful of the people organizing it, especially at Christmas.

Lucky enough when we went to get ice-cream a bit later on, they didn’t give us cones full of plastic shavings with oil as a topping. Which was nice.

Rashers72

I thought the prices were a rip off tbh. The same set up in the Outlet mall north of Newry was way cheaper for a family of 4.
The Outlet one seems like a bit of distraction from the shopping! Plan to use it during the Jan sales!

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

skuzzb wrote: »

...
Lucky enough when we went to get ice-cream a bit later on, they didn’t give us cones full of plastic shavings with oil as a topping. Which was nice.

Don't you mean n-ice? www.n-ice.net

I was there myself over the weekend with some friends. We spent 10mins "ice" skating and left. It was just awful. And at €15... :mad:

Be warned!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

This sounds like a painfully bad experience! Is it advertised as an ice rink?!

mazdagirl

Its the same in "Athlone on ice" a pure rip off, "Tiles on ice" it should be called, we can all wet our bathroom floor with water and skid on it for free as go to one of them.

RKDus

Yep I was there and it's absolutely rubbish! It's really hard to skate on and my feet were killing me trying to do it. We left after 15 mins. Avoid.

JustCoz

Aw no, I'm so disappointed to hear the bad reports. I live near Howth and was planning on going at some stage next week but maybe I'll give it a miss

APM

Just realised if you google howth on ice and click "cached" version, the website fails to mention its synthetic ice and no mentions of "nIce". But if you visit the site as it stands today it looks very different from the original site which went up.

Mis-leading and disappointing. Hope nobody visits it!

Rip off

eth0_

Why didn't any of you ask for a refund?
I haven't skated on this plastic ice before, but looking at the suppliers site, it looks like it *should work* http://www.n-ice.net/eng/videos.php

Poorly implemented, perhaps?

January

It's the same stuff the leisureplex's use. I think the one in coolock has an "ice rink".

Rashers72

Heard more negative feedback from someone else re this. They also charge EUR2 for 'spectators'.
Basically the plastic has poor friction with the skate, hence is very safe, as you cannot go very fast.
He and his family left early, like most people. Overall, high prices did not match the experience, and he said he would not go back again.

eth0_

So - Why didn't he ask for a refund?!?!

Why are people complaining about this without having asked for a refund?

It sounds to me like these people don't know how to maintain the rink. Sounds like they didn't have enough of whatever that oil they use applied to the surface of the rink

Rashers72

Problem there is, that people are generally there with kids+ grandparents /+godparents, and don't want to make a scene. Hence all they can do is vow never to go again, and tell others. Also I'd say you'd be lucky to find someone to take on board your feedback at the actual event. That's been my experience anyhow.
Maybe we should start a thread to identify the real 'ice' rinks, plus their cost

fanella

I agree with others its a total rip-off!!
I have just been up to dublin smithfield on ice and at least its real ice (badly maintained however) it cost 16 euro adult and 12 child or a family of four for 45 euro. My grandchild enjoyed it very much but I felt ice wasn't maintained properly and was very rough which caused a lot of falls. They have a rolla cutting machine there and it should be used in between sessions instead of just once or twice a day. If anyone else has been there would like to hear their comments. I did ask about ice being cut and was told best time would be first session in morning.

miju

I've personally made a complaint to the ASAI over they're false advertising on a number of difference avenues.

we brought our son as a treat to this after reading there was seal feeding as well. so low and behold when we arrived to find fake ice and no seal fishing we were seriously pissed off. we didn't complain or leave early as we were there for our sons enjoyment and he did enjoy it so mission accomplished in that respect. but saying it's ice and they have seal feeding was just a plain lie.

even on the FAQs of they're website it says "wrap up as it will be cold" which is blatently misleading

also, in one of their ads they said they catered for birthday parties , do they fook. i rang them for info.

1st question: do you do parties
howth on "ice": we do

2nd question: do you provide food etc?
howth on "ice": no, but theres a burger van outside. to which my reply was that's not catering for birthday parties, goodbye.

avoid at all costs people and do make a complaint and follow it up

eth0_

fanella wrote: »

They have a rolla cutting machine there and it should be used in between sessions instead of just once or twice a day.

Agreed, the ice should be re-frozen and polished every 2 hours at least. But they would lose so much money if they closed it for the 30 minutes necessary to do this :rolleyes:

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

miju wrote: »

when we arrived to find fake ice and no seal fishing we were seriously pissed off.

please tell me its a typo!

miju

lollers thats a freudian (as when I think of howth I think of the many hours I spend fishing there)

what i meant was seal feeding

ptd

We brought my daughter to howth on plastic - what a rip off - absolute scam, extremely disappointing. Insisted on getting our money back including €2 to watch. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone.