Alton Towers eBay tickets - DO NOT BUY!

[DarrenM]

Totally not car related but went to Alton Towers yesterday with some tickets i'd bought off Ebay. They were some Sun newspaper promotional ones (collect the coupons type thing) bought off a 100% decent feedbacker etc.. (payed £16.00 for the pair)

Got to the turnstyle and the tickets wouldnt register, girl asked me what name they were booked under, of course i didnt know so i told them my name and pretended i'd got them from my Dad. Girl wanders off and returns few mins later with 2 officals. She then tells me they have been seen on Ebay and were void as were non exchangeable. I pleaded dumb asked for proof of this and said my Dad doesnt use ebay. She then pulled out a massive spreadsheet with hundreds of names,transactions and user ID's and explained this was her job as a loss protection data analyst!!

Aggghgh fek, i didnt have a leg to stand on (well, luckily i did else i wouldnt have got on some of the rides) but was offered online prices as apposed to gate prices.

So, basically, even if they're genuine tickets being sold by a trustworth vicar, chances are they will not work...you have been warned!

Also, may i reccomend this time of year, kids back at school, no queing, straight to front seat on Rita, Nemesis and the others. Also, food and beer wise use the Rita bar & grill, its Slug & lettuce stylee not the usual Burger King or Pizza hut sh*te!

[Rusty]

D'oh

I can get tickets for 3/8ths of FA through Tesco clubcard

Rita is great, I had a picture of me looking like I was alseep on it, I then put my back out on one of the crests!

Nemesis is still the best

[Ross]

Gutted!

Always best to go with the print-out style coupons, you can find genuine ones on some family sites etc - we usually get £16 each on visits to Alton Towers

Have a link somewhere for this season if anyone needs...

Does it state on the ticket that it's non-trasferrable? Would go back to the seller if that's the case (and assume they didn't mention that in the auction...)

Cheers
Ross

[DarrenM]

Literally got off front seat of Rita bit dissoriantated, walked straight back round and straight on it again without having to wait at all, get there early on a school day!!

Nemesis is definately a badboy, altho Oblivions nasty drop is still poop it material mind!

They've started doing video wristbands now as well (free when you go in) basically it knows what rides you go on on and at the end off the day you can get a DVD burned and it captures you on them and edits it with some generic on board front seat footage etc... Its crap tho, i bought it for the mains rides but it only vids you at the very very start (for about 2 seconds) and at the very end. Sounds a good idea but they need to get some more cameras in place before it will work properly.

[Rusty]

Yeah, I lucked out last year when I went, the longest queue was Rita front seats at 5 mins. The queue for Nemesis front seats was 10 deep and that was longer than almost any other ride! You're right, Oblivion is rediculous

[DarrenM]

...

Does it state on the ticket that it's non-trasferrable? Would go back to the seller if that's the case (and assume they didn't mention that in the auction...)

Cheers
Ross

Yeah, thats what she pointed out in the small print. Fair play tho, she was very officiant, i asked her to email me the proof so i could (ahhem, so my DAD could) look into it! I thought that would be the end and I would never hear from her again but this morning had a full on email with even a scan of the tickets.

Have emailed seller asking for a refund,along with Alton Towers forward. I dont think seller (along with the others that are still probably being advertsed & sold on Ebay) are trying to rip people off, its just that Alton Towers are on the case..

[Rusty]

Cheers for letting us know though Darren, sounds like they're on the case there...

[Ross]

Agreed - rita really is mind-blowing accelleration, swear they've made it faster since it's first launch (or maybe I'm just getting older?!) but nothing takes away that fear of Oblivion. It's a rush every time.

About that 'your day' DVD, agreed, we bought one for about a tenner when it was first new and it was cool but had so much more potential. Saw a better idea @ Great America in California; had webcam style camera's mounted for each seat and it was a good laugh to watch after (story time - it was a nemesis-style ride, went over a swap, wondered why nobody queued for the front at night... that open mouthed grin, after walking straight onto the front, was wiped off my face when i got peppered with mozzies )

Cheers
Ross

[Laurel]

Wow, guess no one should be buying ebay tickets for Alton towers then. Good to know on this because Ross and I are regulars and we've used ebay once before.

Rita: Amazing. Love the rush at the begining but the ride is too damn short! And I checked the website, they did increase the speed just as we suspected Ross.

Nemesis: MY FAVOURITE! haha it's so fun and loopy and makes me laugh my head off.

Air: is the best for a cool "rush" feeling. So relaxing and is the best ride for visibility.

Your Day DVD: SUCKS. Especially if you go on a rainy day - all of the master footage is blazing summer weather and then you're snippets look cheap and amature. Worth a tenner, but not what they're asking for now! I still think the photos are the best.

Shame we can't go to Alton Towers anymore Ross. I already miss it.

[shark_90]

Agreed - rita really is mind-blowing accelleration, swear they've made it faster since it's first launch (or maybe I'm just getting older?!)

S2central gets everywhere

[Rusty]

Rita Queen of Speed (powered by S2Central.net).

[shark_90]

They can have a nice sunstrip for the front if they want