Marc Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I'm not sure where things have gone wrong, it could be poor planning, not enough closed season workers or other issues, but someone needs a good sacking! Wow I'm glad your not my boss!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Well end of the day something has gone wrong and someone needs to be held responsible. Not sure sacking someone is the way forward though but accountability in a buisness is key. Merlin is a multimullion pound company so I'm quite sure someone has been held responsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Well end of the day something has gone wrong and someone needs to be held responsible. Not sure sacking someone is the way forward though but accountability in a buisness is key. Merlin is a multimullion pound company so I'm quite sure someone has been held responsible. I do love the way you feel as though you know everything about a company inside and out. This may not be about responsibility, there are FAR too many variables in situations which makes these things occur and unless you are inside the group of people who know what is going on through and through, it is very hard to comment on things such as engineering schedules. I have absolutely no doubt that the engineering team at both Chessington and Thorpe Park, worked tirelessly throughout the winter months to get the rides ready. I think many of are choosing to jump the gun, and jump on the bandwagon to score points against Merlin. You really need to look at the bigger picture, and realise things in the real world never go 100% to plan. For example, a new Waitrose just opened in my town, and it was expected to be busy from the get go. Myself working for Tesco, was expecting to lose a large proportion of customers to the new Waitrose, but in fact, since opening, Tesco has gained clientèle, and the Waitrose has had a steady flow of customers. That isn't poor planning, Nobody needs to get sacked for that decision, that is just how the cookie crumbled. I am in no doubt also, that the Engineering teams at both locations, are working tirelessly, and stressing in order to get the attractions open in a timely manner. All of the engineering team have vast amounts of experience in what they do, and will only open a ride if they feel it is safe to do so. What many of you do not realise, if a ride opens and a accident was to happen, Engineering are thrown in the limelight, and can be prosecuted for corporate manslaughter. Do you really think they would rather a ride was open, and knowing it could potentially have an accident, or wait until the ride is ready and be able to sleep at night knowing they haven't killed anyone and wont be jailed for a long time. As with opening new rides, when rides have been dormant for a period of time, they can take a bit of persuading to work. Chessiekid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I am fully aware of what engineering have to go through. I was merely stating that regardless of the reason management would have taken action. They are not just going to sit there with major rides closed and not ask questions. Someone taking responsibility doesn't mean they are going to get punished. It just identifies a fault and allows management to take actions to prevent it happening again. In some cases prevention will be impossible but they will still want to know what has happened and who's fault is it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I am fully aware of what engineering have to go through. I was merely stating that regardless of the reason management would have taken action. They are not just going to sit there with major rides closed and not ask questions. Someone taking responsibility doesn't mean they are going to get punished. It just identifies a fault and allows management to take actions to prevent it happening again. In some cases prevention will be impossible but they will still want to know what has happened and who's fault is it. How can you prevent something potentially unpreventable. Engineering have very clear communication with the operations department. They would have known in advance what is going on, why it is going on and when it will be rectified. Management do not, and will not take action unless there is a clear disregard for protocol, or something happens which could have been prevented. Engineering will not get a bollocking for identifying faults. They are there to IDENTIFY the faults, and address them. They have clearly identified faults in rides, and are in the process of rectifying them. The only instance which something could have been prevented, is upgrades. If Vampire is being upgraded, they should have had a clear deadline for the completion. But even still, delays due to weather, or faults being found, can delay things. But nobody gets a bollocking for it, they just feel the heat of pressure instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry-go-girl Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 You say that but September/October/November I think are the worst times for ride reliability. The best time in theory should be march however it would seem merlin has failed on that one. Alton should have their rides ready as they seem to have some sort of management in their engineering department. Then again you never know. Uh, no not really. In September 2014 in Thorpe Samurai needed some maintenance guys on it but it eventually got going. In October 2013 we weren't allowed in Hocus Pocus Hall but that was due to Halloween re-theaeming. Then in October 2012 and 2011 there was no major issues at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Does anyone think the £10 to return thing is the bigger insult here. When ride closures are that bad they should at the very least be giving out free tickets to return. I think many of are choosing to jump the gun, and jump on the bandwagon to score points against Merlin. You really need to look at the bigger picture, and realise things in the real world never go 100% to plan. For example, a new Waitrose just opened in my town, and it was expected to be busy from the get go. Myself working for Tesco, was expecting to lose a large proportion of customers to the new Waitrose, but in fact, since opening, Tesco has gained clientèle, and the Waitrose has had a steady flow of customers. That isn't poor planning, Nobody needs to get sacked for that decision, that is just how the cookie crumbled. Too many variables there. Waitrose and Tescos are very differently targeted, the Waitrose may be doing better then expected, it's trade will grow, word of mouth will grow etc. If it is doing badly the Partners who planned that location will be challenged within the company on why that location was chosen. Too bring it back on topic, I hope that within Merlin, important people are being challenged on why ride availability at Thorpe and Chessington has been so bad. Going onto their Facebook/Twitter pages is not good publicity for the parks whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 One positive, it does mean the return of OUTRAGE bingo, especially on Chessie's one... I remember when the OUTRAGE was over silly things, like BunnyGate, rather than the parks being a bit inept at opening things... It's honestly not as entertaining now, moreso depressing as to the current state of affairs going on... Granted, Facebook (and Twitter) are more likely to get the full rage-ons, will be interesting to see their Trip Advisor pages over the next week... I do agree that the £10 return is slightly insulting given the number of major rides down... Perhaps that is acceptable if it's only Vampire down, but not when the 3 biggest rides are... Also, I seem to remember people 'jumping the gun' when Smiler got delayed to score points against Merlin and Towers, let's not defend the current situations with such an argument eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Neither Thorpe nor Chessington are getting massively bad reviews ATM, there is the odd one, but most are saying nice things. Two questions do spring to mind though, why would you plan a trip down from the other end of the Country and not check to see if the park is fully open beforehand? I also wonder whether the people who complain about 'miserable and rude' staff, are simply being treated the same way they are treating the staff themselves? Although the guy in customer services couldn't answer my question when I was at Thorpe, he did offer to call upstairs and remained jolly the whole time never once was he rude either to me or the fat impatient chav who kept interpupting and demanding she get a free fastpass for her entire family for her next trip because loggers was closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Users Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 People are still going to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Yeah I get that but what I mean is, if I wanted to go to Alton Towers tomorrow, it's a 4 hour trip, I wouldn't just jump in the car and go. I would at least check the place is open, before doing anything else, I wouldn't just jump in the car, drive there, then complain that the place is closed. I'm referring to something I saw on Facebook/twitter, can't remember which, where someone was complaining that they had done a 200 mile round rip only to find the place was closed...... (it was a few weeks ago now)., I was somewhat amazed they didn't check before leaving... A friend of mine also very nearly turned up at chessington last weekend not realising it was a MAP only day, it was only when I explained what it was and that they had to pre-book the tickets and have an annual pass, otherwise they wouldn't get in, that she realised what an awful bobo she was about to make, OK for us, Chessington is only 15 minutes away, but her kids would have been mighty pissed lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleyrose-66 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 From Chessington's Facebook. It seems the £10.00 return offer has been replaced with a complementary visit... https://www.facebook.com/Chessington Hello Adventurers, following our announcement yesterday we would like to offer everyone that visited, is planning to visit or has pre-booked their tickets to visit the Resort on 18th, 19th and 20th March a complimentary return visit to the Resort on another day during this season, up to and including 31st July 2015. In order to collect your re validated tickets, please keep your tickets from your visit, along with the letter that you will be given upon entry to the Resort, and present both to our team at Advanced Collection when you arrive on the day of your next visit. The team will then re validate your tickets for that day. For any Adventurers who visited yesterday, but did not receive a letter, please keep your tickets and follow the above process and your tickets will be re-validated. We also ask any Merlin Annual Pass, or Chessington Annual Pass Holders who visit, or visited the Resort on 18th, 19th and 20th March to visit Guest Help & Information during your visits, or next visit. To reassure you, we are working very hard to have Griffin’s Galleon, Bubbleworks, Rameses Revenge and Dragon’s Fury available by 21st March, and please watch our website, and social media channels for further announcements. We hope that you will still have a wild adventure with the wide variety of other attractions that we have here at the Resort and look forward to seeing you all very soon! Matt 236 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 The sacking comment was tounge in cheek, but the point is that something has gone wrong here, something which could have been avoided with better planning. I'm not saying that it's completely unavoidable, but with better planning/an ample team (or whatever has gone wrong), we could be looking at two or three rides closed across the two parks rather than at least ten collectively (on opening days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Long overdue, but there's only one photo to summarise Chessington's opening days this year Having all the main rides down for opening except Falls, Tombs [which are in an awful state] and Scorpion [if you even call it one], isn't a great start. Least they've upgraded the £10 return to a complimentary one which for the amount of main rides down [about 20% of the park] isn't very good. lewumbrajumbos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 The sacking comment was tounge in cheek, but the point is that something has gone wrong here, something which could have been avoided with better planning. I'm not saying that it's completely unavoidable, but with better planning/an ample team (or whatever has gone wrong), we could be looking at two or three rides closed across the two parks rather than at least ten collectively (on opening days). And now would you be able to back up your statement with the full maintenance diary from Chessingtons engineering diary. For gods sake, YOU do NOT know what they plan, how they have planned and how they are executing these plans. Stop acting like you know their schedule inside and out. I'm sick to death of people acting like they know every minor and major detail, and accusing a company which has huge amounts of experience in planning, of not knowing how to plan things. lewumbrajumbos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Ricky - as much as you have some valid points, surely you must accept that the current situation is poor and there MUST be some project management or SOMETHING which has been done badly? The gravity of rides unavailable across Thorpe and Chessington can't simply be down to bad luck. It doesn't happen at most parks. Of course sometimes the odd ride has problems and as with anything, sometimes it's outside the park's control - but not 1/4 of the rides. This isn't a campaign or slur against individual technicians whom I am sure do a very conscientious and good job. It's about systems and hierarchies. SteveJ, dk3 and Cal 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 And now would you be able to back up your statement with the full maintenance diary from Chessingtons engineering diary. For gods sake, YOU do NOT know what they plan, how they have planned and how they are executing these plans. Stop acting like you know their schedule inside and out. I'm sick to death of people acting like they know every minor and major detail, and accusing a company which has huge amounts of experience in planning, of not knowing how to plan things. Smiler begs to differ from this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 And now would you be able to back up your statement with the full maintenance diary from Chessingtons engineering diary. For gods sake, YOU do NOT know what they plan, how they have planned and how they are executing these plans. Stop acting like you know their schedule inside and out. I'm sick to death of people acting like they know every minor and major detail, and accusing a company which has huge amounts of experience in planning, of not knowing how to plan things. I'm not saying that I do know what they plan, I'm just suggesting that better planning is needed. Anyone can see that something has gone wrong, you don't have to know anything about theme parks or how they work internally to see this - unless you are suggesting that they planned all these closures? If they were supposed to open with a limited line-up then they would have advertised it as such if they have got any decency about them, therefore there is clear evidence that they didn't intend to have all these rides closed. Whilst it could be down to unforseen issues, they have had these rides for long enough now to know, mostly, any issues that may occur (not saying completely, but they must have some idea), and again there's no getting away from the fact that having such a high level of rides closed is unacceptable. Also, please find where I have said that I know everything about how they plan etc, I merely suggested that it could be a planning issue and I'm guessing at any other reasons it could be, perhaps if the parks actually told the GP what the problem was then I wouldn't need to. pluk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk3 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Dragon's Fury & Rameses Revenge are now open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk3 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Dragon's Fury & Rameses Revenge are now open! But Kobra is now down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 So a week extra would have seen the shambles at the start of the season be non-existent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleyrose-66 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Dragon's Fury is currently unavailable... That didn't last long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk3 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Dragon's Fury is currently unavailable... That didn't last long! So bad it's almost amusing. Celia Mae 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Normal Fury programme then, little block shutdowns and what not. It's open now with a 5 minute queue. Skyway, with all the closures from last year still looks dog awful. I really wish they'd sort it out and do it justice. A totally new layout around the park and brand new trains would do the ride a world of good. dk3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleyrose-66 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 I wondered if they would take the opportunity to re-route Skyway. The park is totally different to the park it was built to serve. The section behind the Sea Life Centre in particular is awful. Despite the ride being closed for almost the entire season last year, they haven't even given the trains a bit of TLC and it still looks so tired and dated. It's such a shame, as if it was re-routed to take in more of the park and new trains were added, it would be an absolutely brilliant attraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.