June 8, 201510 yr Popular Post comment_210866 I totally get what you are saying Ian, and it's not unreasonable at all. Just watched the BBC news (because why are people ever watching sky 'news'?!) which had a report on the Smiler, still in the main bulletin. They mentioned that Merlin have delivered letters to all the victims ... "Irrespective of the outcome of the current investigations into the causes of the accident, in these letters we have accepted full responsibility to those who had been injured in the accident and confirmed that we will ensure that compensation will be provided to them," the theme park said. "We have recommended each of the injured guests or their families instruct a lawyer and submit a claim for compensation which we will ensure is dealt with swiftly and sensitively." Quite a different and pleasant approach compared to 6 flags when their Gurst killed someone on New Texas Giant, who went massively on the offensive and tried to shift blame pretty much from the moment it happened. When I first heard the Merlin announcement I thought it sounded a lot like they had found it was their procedures, not the ride systems, that had been the cause. But the first few words still leave that matter open and it could be that they are doing this just because it is the right thing to do, and if it later transpires it was a fault with the machine and not Alton they can go chasing Gurst through the courts to get the money paid out back from them. It'd be hard to criticise pretty much anything Merlin have done since the incident really.
June 8, 201510 yr comment_210875 I think that following the recent Thomas Cook news stories, Merlin are ensuring that they don't do the same thing. By instantly apologising for the accident and owning up to full responsiblity, they are reducing the long term damage to their brand, by comparison, if they tried to deny responsiblity and pass it on to other parties, whilst they could potential pay out less in the injury cases that will stem from this tragic accident, the long term effect on their business will be devastating, gate figures would decrease exponentially, and overall brand trust would collapse. I do respect them for what they're doing, it looks a lot better on them, than the recent case at Thomas Cook looked to Thomas Cook.
June 8, 201510 yr comment_210881 And on a less important note, all merchandise of a certain ride had disappeared. Wise move IMO
June 8, 201510 yr comment_210886 I have to say, the way Merlin have handled this situation has been extremely professional and thoughtful. Not once have they done a Six Flags and tried to shift they blame, they have acted with the utmost integrity. Actively instructing the injured to take legal action is not something I ever thought we'd see in this country, let alone from Merlin.
June 8, 201510 yr comment_210891 I have to say, the way Merlin have handled this situation has been extremely professional and thoughtful. Not once have they done a Six Flags and tried to shift they blame, they have acted with the utmost integrity. Actively instructing the injured to take legal action is not something I ever thought we'd see in this country, let alone from Merlin. So it is in times like this when I feel proud to be a UK enthusiast, supporting Merlin, a company which clearly has empath y. All of this has certainly ranked them higher up in my books. I couldn't agree more - the way that Merlin have handled the entire events throughout has been amazing. Really felt for Nick Varney having to deal with that vile woman on Sky News. You could see he was upset by what had happened, and unless he is a bloody good actor then it shows real compassion where other companies wouldn't. I always thought that Merlin were a bit tight and money grabbing (which, to a certain extent they have to be as they are a business) but my thoughts have changed a lot on that. Not once have they tried to pass the blame or shirk responsibility and as well as compensating the injured which will happen in due time, they have also been generous to the general public (giving away free tickets at Alton Towers to go back another time for example). Credit where credit is due
June 8, 201510 yr Author comment_210895 And on a less important note, all merchandise of a certain ride had disappeared. Wise move IMO There's slightly amusing irony in that photo, the smiler logo's on the walls indicate what was originally there, and the merchandise that's been put in it's place to replace it, is for a ride still closed (because of it's location).
June 8, 201510 yr comment_210908 But other than the Smiler point of sale banners you'd never have known the area of the shop had been reallocated. It's a pretty seamless cover.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210917 One Direction's Louis Tomlinson has wished Leah Washington to be home soon. Also, it seems that the One Direction fans are trying to get One Direction to visit her in hospital. I really hope this can happen for her!
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210918 Glad yesterday seemed to go smoothly and the press resisted going to the park with 'zomg, a ride has routeenly broken down, will everyone die' reports every time nothing happened. Hopefully the circus has moved on now, the injured can start their recovery in peace, and the park can get back to normal. I'd think that is pretty much the last we'll hear of it now until one of those involved sell their story or the report into the cause is released.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210920 Glad yesterday seemed to go smoothly and the press resisted going to the park with 'zomg, a ride has routeenly broken down, will everyone die' reports every time nothing happened. Hopefully the circus has moved on now, the injured can start their recovery in peace, and the park can get back to normal. I'd think that is pretty much the last we'll hear of it now until one of those involved sell their story or the report into the cause is released. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-hit-more-problems-5847745 Unfortunately not quite!
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210922 Several minutes..... Major facepalm... I can just see a new Alton towers news story every week now for the rest of the season with stories 10 minute breakdowns, its actually pathetic! An insult to the actual incident which is the only one that should be shown on the news...
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210923 See they're complaining that it took paramedics 38 minutes or some nonsense to get there... Because Towers is SO easy to access... And yep, we'll be getting all the stories like that if people are willing to sell them...
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210930 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-hit-more-problems-5847745 Unfortunately not quite! Oh dear, I take it back! That's a pathetic piece of journalism.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210933 I like how people said they where "stunned" it's almost like they have been living in a black hole their entire lives.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210935 Ya'll really need to stop reading the red tops, you know by now what degree of 'journalism' you're going to get.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210939 The sad thing is people actually PAY to read crap like that. When I worked at Sainsbury's Local the number of people who would buy the Mirror, Daily Mail and the Sun was shocking! Annoyingly I didn't have an excuse to refuse the sale.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210944 What a load of rubbish! Do these newspaper companies know nothing about theme parks?
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210945 Of course they don't, they also don't know anything about all the other stuff they report on. Magazines publishing inane rubbish to get attention = don't feed the troll, don't buy or read them. It's just an industry of selling money for rubbish sadly.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210948 Does anybody know what "enhanced procedures" has meant so far on the other Merlin coasters? Towers Times reported that yesterday trains were not being sent until the other (all coasters only running 2) had fully returned to the brakes. If this is the permanent solution then that's a bit of a bummer and a massive over reaction.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210950 Hearing things like this is frustrating, unfortunately breakdowns will still happen as they are a natural occurrence to all rides. I can happily confirm Thirteen did reopen later today with a 15 minute queue.
June 9, 201510 yr Author comment_210960 Does anybody know what "enhanced procedures" has meant so far on the other Merlin coasters? Towers Times reported that yesterday trains were not being sent until the other (all coasters only running 2) had fully returned to the brakes. If this is the permanent solution then that's a bit of a bummer and a massive over reaction. That's how they've been running Vampire at Cheesy all year, my understanding is the second train can and should be dispatched once the first train has cleared the second lift hill, not once it's returned the station entrance. This has resulted in queues of 90+ minutes even on off-peak days. I dread to think what the queues are going to be like on rides such as Fury and Rattlesnake if they employ this method of dispatch.
June 9, 201510 yr comment_210963 Presumably they're not willing to apply that rule to Fury, Spinball and Rattlesnake, which is why they're all still closed. Hopefully they can get a more permanent solution worked out, as Air and Thirteen will both have substantially longer waits otherwise (though I wouldn't particularly expect either to be running 3 trains during the week anyway).
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