Xtremefunfair Swords - Am I being unreasonable ?

Pacing Mule

I'm asking this as a question rather than having a rant as this could well be a case of poor customer service rather than a consumer issue. If nothing else it may serve as an advance warning to anyone thinking of going there.

We brought our little one to the fair today. She's 5 years old. The fair is currently located in the pavillions shopping centre car park in Swords. First off we were charged an admission fee to simply get into the fair in the first place. I was a bit surprised but wasn't going to refuse to bring an excited child in.

The ground area was in tatters. Uneven ground - puddles of muddy water etc all over the place. Kids being asked to take off their shoes to go on certain rides were standing on mucky ground in their bare feet / socks. I witnessed a number of women attmepting to push buggys around and struggling badly. The point to make here was that there was no investment in ground covering (a lot of fairs like this would have put down temporary flooring on ground as uneven as this one) - If there was an admission fee to cover these costs I'd be happy to pay it but the admission fee was simply that - a fee to access the fair where all the rides require further payment.

The main issue I had though was with the carousel. Our little one wanted to go on it. A charge of €3.00 was paid. My wife brought her up - sat her on the horse but wasn't happy that it was safe for her to be there by herself. Her feet were not touching the stirrups (she was a fraction short) and there was no safety harness to keep her on the horse so she decided to stay on the carousel and stand beside her for the ride. The guy manning the booth shouted to her that she would have to sit on the horse behind her and hold her but then refused to start the carousel until we had paid a further €3.00 for the accompanying adult. I couldn't believe it but felt like I couldn't disappoint our little one. To be clear the carousel was not busy - indeed at the time they were the only people on it and she was sitting on the same horse as the child.

After the ride I approached the desk again and expressed my disgust at the demand for payment for an adult to make sure the child was safe. The staff member pointed out signage stating that all accompanying adults had to be paid for and stated that as far as they were concerned our child was safe by herself "nobodys ever fallen off a carousel" was his attitude. I said that as the childs parent I wasn't happy with her safety on the carousel and that I felt it was very poor service and bordering on extortion to force a parent to pay in this manner. I told him that the charging of €3.00 in this manner was short sighted to say the least as it would cost them more than that in the long run from disgruntled parents talking amongst themselves. He did at that point in a rather smart sarcastic way offer to refund the payment which I of course happily accepted.

So in their defence:

They do have signage up stating that accompanying adults are charged.
A refund was given in the end.
The smart sarcastic manner of the operator could be balanced out with a perceived threat from myself (costing them more than the €3.00 etc)

This is why I am not here having a rant. However in my opinion, the charging into the fair and the state of the ground isn't a great start. The charging of adults making sure their kids are safe on a carousel is nothing short of disgraceful and for me is terrible customer service. My wife is quite short herself (5ft 1) and felt that the height of the horses from the ground (she could not reach the ground herself from the horse) the speed the ride went at and the lack of harnesses or other safety equipment left her feeling glad she was there and that it was definitely not suitable for a 5 year old to ride unaccompanied. If nothing else this post can serve as an advanced warning for those bringing the family to that ride in particular but at the same time I'm wondering am I being unreasonable to be annoyed over it.

Pkiernan

If you consider which cultured members of our community run those fairs, I'd say you were:

(a) Crazy to go, and
(b) Lucky to get a penny back.

Akarinn

Im guessing this is the first time you have ever been to a fair??

(i)Every fair charges in,
(ii) every fair charges for the rides once inside the fair ground,
(iii)its up to you to bring wellys if its gonna be in the middle of a field
(iv) harness's on a carousel?? U mad....? iv never been to a fair that has harness's on the rides!

carlmango11

They're overpriced, tacky, scummy kips run by unprofessional people who don't care for quality.

In before "generalisations waaaah"

Cabaal

I've never ever ever heard or seen a harness on a carousel, bottom line OP is if you were unhappy with there being no harness then you shouldn't have put your kid on the ride.

They are entitled to charge if extra horse is being taken up by a parent, it doesn't matter if its busy or not.

Terrontress

Cabaal wrote: »

I've never ever ever heard or seen a harness on a carousel, bottom line OP is if you were unhappy with there being no harness then you shouldn't have put your kid on the ride.

They are entitled to charge if extra horse is being taken up by a parent, it doesn't matter if its busy or not.

An extra horse was not taken up. The op's wife was on the same horse to ensure that his child would not have an accident. Surely that is in the best interests of the carousel operator.

I'd imagine they were of the mindset that if they had to turn it on for one person that they might as well get six quid out of it instead of three.

As with other posters here, my expectations of such places are extremely low in the first place so €6 is probably a cheap lesson never to go back.

Most 'attractions' in Ireland charge you in to provide a captive market to others trying to sell you something else.

The RDS is full of it. Things like travel shows where a family of four pay €20 to be barraged with brochures by travel agents.

Pacing Mule

In regards to harnesses I have seen them on carousels before all be it not in Ireland. Perhaps safety regulations here are not as strict.

As has already been answered there was one horse taken up. Originally my wife was intending to stand beside her holding her on. She was then told to sit on the horse and sat on same horse the child was on.

It wasn't the first time I've gone to a fair like this. I have been to many and rarely found payment required to enter. Fairs on the promenade in bray and the winter on ice fair in kilmainham spring to mind. If my experience is typical and by the sound of things expected then it seems we were lucky with previous visits.

Pacing Mule

Akarinn wrote: »

Im guessing this is the first time you have ever been to a fair??

(i)Every fair charges in,
(ii) every fair charges for the rides once inside the fair ground,
(iii)its up to you to bring wellys if its gonna be in the middle of a field
(iv) harness's on a carousel?? U mad....? iv never been to a fair that has harness's on the rides!

Not every fair does.
Of course they charge when in. The issue was the charging for an adult making sure the child was safe, not taking up an extra horse.
It was advertised as being in a carpark of the pavilions shopping centre. Hence nobody there seemed prepared for the ground surface.
Not mad at all. Have seen them before.

dudara

pkiernan Please do not start that conversation.

dudara

TheIrishGrover

Pkiernan wrote: »

If you consider which cultured members of our community run those fairs, I'd say you were:

(a) Crazy to go, and
(b) Lucky to get a penny back.

I worked at a funfair and arcade for four years while I put myself through college so I'd like to ask you to elaborate on your post.

edit: No, you're right Dudara, no need for elaboration however I thought the comment was more inline with an AH, tongue-in-cheek bashing thread than a genuine consumer issue thread.

As for the OP's post, I suppose the sign did say that accompanying adults are charged so there's no recourse. But when I used to work at a funfair we would let adults on to support their children within reason and I think your situation was very unfair (no pun intended). Obviously if the ride was full or potentially overloaded with adults we would have asked parents to wait a turn if they needed to support their child and only one adult per child.

Not every fair charges in although this is happening more and more as costs rise: Insurance, land rent, fuel, wages (no, wait, not wages rising, trust me ). When I worked in the funfair one insurance company pulled out of the market so everyone's insurance premiums rose 300% overnight.

A lot of funfairs pool their rides together to tour so chances are that the carousel owner may not have been the overall fair lead and you may find that the very next ride is not owned by the previous ride owner. I know it's hard when you've an excited kid who wants to go there but the most effective action is to not go there again: Profits off-season can be razor-thin and walking away from an empty ride is the best way of letting them know that they are being unreasonable. If they see the next ride over (especially if it's a competitor) running away they will soon change their tune or, if not, fail.

hoodwinked

Akarinn wrote: »

Im guessing this is the first time you have ever been to a fair??

(i)Every fair charges in,
(ii) every fair charges for the rides once inside the fair ground,
(iii)its up to you to bring wellys if its gonna be in the middle of a field
(iv) harness's on a carousel?? U mad....? iv never been to a fair that has harness's on the rides!

(i) not every fair charges in, we have often gone to fairs recently where we were only charged per ride, others charge in but the rides inside are free.

(ii) again at the few fairs we've been to that have charged for rides, the parents were always allowed on for free to hold the child. (which worked in their benefit as our child wanted to go on again and again)

(iii) you dont always expect muddy fields when you go to the funfair, in fact most of the ones ive been to have gravel not mud.

(iv) yes carousels/rides have harnesses i've never seen one without, including the ones outside shopping centres!

OP i think your best bet would be to just never go back again, i don't think you are being unreasonable if we weren't allowed on a ride with our daughter we wouldn't let her on it without a harness, there is no need to risk a childs safety and asking the standing parent to pay for the fair's lack of safety i think is a bit outrageous,

its a childrens ride so their safety should be catered for, its not like most adults would enjoy the ride.