Overdue MW locker fees

[BemaniAK]

In another thrilling addition to MovieWorld they've started holding your belongings at ransom. Now if you're late to your $2 hour locker, you'll be charged an $8 overdue fee before the locker will open. Oh wait, I have to keep all my money in the locker because I'm not allowed to carry any loose items on the rides you made the lockers for, even though on the green lantern you've got storage boxes right next to the ride. I had to go to guest services and get a retail manager to open it for me, where she then tried to get the $8 off me which I kindly told her to shove up her ass. Village just successfully lost me as a food and merch customer completely, I'll be bringing my car key and concealing it in a zip pocket and bringing nothing else with me into the park, Mcdonald's over the road will be getting my business now.

[joz]

where she then tried to get the $8 off me which I kindly told her to shove up her ass.

I really hate it when people are rude too staff, there is no need to be a prick. Having said that I really did LOL when I read that. Asking for $8 for pretty much nothing is just shitty customer service, no matter if you were at fault for going over the time or not. I don't blame you after that experience for your reaction*. *parkz.com.au does not in any way condone being rude to staff, or bringing loose articles onto rides.

[Reanimated35]

Is it stated anywhere in the hire T&C's? If so I have absolutely no sympathy for you. That said, daily I hear from people who blindly agree to T&C's without actually reading them and then come bitching when they don't like something contained in there.

[Gazza]

How far were you over by?

[Brad2912]

its $2 for 1 hour right?? I'd give a 10% lee-way - so round it up to 1hr 10mins - not back by then, then that's your problem - UNLESS it is due to excessive ride/wait times. If it was a case of less than 5mins late - i'd be taking it up with management as a cash grab and lack of customer service.

[kujotess]

That's nothing new, they've always had the overdue $8 fine.

[BemaniAK]

How far were you over by?

About 10-15 minutes since the queue time posted outside SE wasn't accurate.

I really hate it when people are rude too staff, there is no need to be a prick.

Oh trust me I didn't actually say that, she was just doing her job and even had to get on her radio to ask the higher-ups if she should take my $8, I said something along the lines of "Well that's the price I'll take for the settlement so I don't sue the company for ransom" and left.

That's nothing new, they've always had the overdue $8 fine.

I've left my stuff in all day with $2 before and had no issues.

Is it stated anywhere in the hire T&C's? If so I have absolutely no sympathy for you.

T&C's are not grounds to break the law, I learned this while dealing with Microsoft a while back on a modded 360 being banned from XBL without a service refund, modding consoles to get rid of region protection is legal and taking away a service without refunding remaining service fees is illegal, even though their T&C states they'll do it they still legally had to refund my subscription money. I'm not a lawyer myself, but asking someone to pay $8 to get their stuff back when their was no clear indication I would have overdue fines today sounds like it could be a legitimate ransom case if a judge wanted to waste their time over $8. Edited September 9, 2012 by BemaniAK

[Richard]

Trying to extract an $8 late fee that is buried in fine print somewhere is both bad customer service and probably not entirely legal. My phone is how I tell the time, as most probably do these days. If my phone is locked in a locker then so is my ability to reasonably judge how much time has passed -- particularly if in a slow moving queue listening to the audio loop again and again. As a customer I'd expect a good 30-60 minutes leeway on the locker hire. Hell, as someone that believes that theme parks are in the business of customer satisfaction I'd say pay-per-use rather than time limits makes much more sense if you really must charge at all.

[BemaniAK]

Trying to extract an $8 late fee that is buried in fine print somewhere is both bad customer service and probably not entirely legal. My phone is how I tell the time, as most probably do these days. If my phone is locked in a locker then so is my ability to reasonably judge how much time has passed -- particularly if in a slow moving queue listening to the audio loop again and again. As a customer I'd expect a good 30-60 minutes leeway on the locker hire. Hell, as someone that believes that theme parks are in the business of customer satisfaction I'd say pay-per-use rather than time limits makes much more sense if you really must charge at all.

I'd most definitely prefer pay-per-use but I think a lot of other people would have an issue with it especially those with big families who want to access it constantly, though I suppose a choice of per-use or all day might work. I probably wouldn't have a problem with an overdue fee if: There was leeway for a good amount of time as you said The leeway is extended when SE and GL have queue times of 45 minutes or more (And it is accurately calculated) or is extended on busy days when they assume SE and GL lines will be long, and is more than 15 minutes in any case. I was made aware of it before my money was locked away because of it. Everything related to lockers in MW feels so shady to me, staff members looking at my pants as I get in the Queue, people getting kicked off GL because they put a phone in the boxes in the load dock. I feel they should be focusing more on competitive food service, DisneyWorld as far as I've seen has almost become famous for having good tasting meals for $10-$15 and snacks that have become famous worldwide, it must be working for them considering how many restaurants and snack carts they have plastered around the parks and hotels. Instead I feel like I've been persuaded by MovieWorld itself to eat before I get there, and I'm sure a lot of others feel the same way. Is there an Email address I can send my suggestions off to? All I've been able to find are admin and ticket sales phone numbers and I didn't really feel like writing this all out at Guest Services and hanging around till 6pm.

[saberon]

This doesn't surprise me and I am disgusted with the decision to up-charge for lockers at $1 then double the cost to $2 then charge someone $8 dollars because they went over time. Message to management at Warner Bros Movieworld, back off the up-charging, you charge enough in entry, which should include free access to the rides instead of forced hiring of lockers which gouges tourists and local clientèle.

[pin142]

Charge enough through entry? Most people pay $100 for a VIP pass. Even if you only visit all three once you have saved a shitload of money. They have to make the money somehow and a $100 pass wouldn't be enough by itself. Especially now they are offering it with two after hours events. I do not see myself as being gouged when I visit Movie World. I am more than willing to pay the $10 for a all day locker or $2 for a short term as I see a visit to the parks as something to spend part of my "disposable income" on. A visit to a theme park is something done when you have the cash to do it. Might as well be going to a cinema and paying $20 to see a movie only to complain about $6 for a large drink as this is what I see the locker situation like. I only visit theme parks and other leisure activities when I have the required cash to do so. Being rude at the staff member is poor form and not entirely their fault. When you hire the locker you are warned about the limited period of the hire and additional costs for unlocking. It is on a sticker on every door.

[kujotess]

I don't know why people are complaining, lot's of people go onto the Superman etc throughout the day so can you imagine if everyone would start leaving there stuff in the locker? Since there isn't that many lockers for rides then people would have no place to put there belongings before riding the ride. I guess hiding your stuff in the bushes around the ride would be a better solution (not really) if you can't pay the extra $8 for leaving your stuff in there overtime. It's made for putting it in, going on the ride, getting it out.

Edited September 10, 2012 by kujotess

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

In my view, the $8 fee rounds up your hire charge from $2 an hour to the $10 all-day locker rate. It's an incentive to people that if you're going to exceed the hour time-limit, you should just get an all-day locker. I fully support MW doing this, although I agree there should be a significant lee-way - perhaps allow unlimited re-entry during the first hour (you might just want a drink between rides, or want money to buy your photo), but after the first 60 minutes, you get an additional 60 minutes where you can enter to remove stuff only (so if you enter on the 61st minute, your time is up, but if you don't re-enter until the 119th minute, you don't incur a penalty). From that point on, anyone exceeding that time is abusing the process, and should be required to pay the fee. Rather than guest services or retail staff unlocking, it should be done by security - and anyone rude or refusing to pay should be immediately ejected from the park (and have their VIP pass revoked if necessary). I don't believe this is 'gouging' - the point is, they offer two different locker systems - a one hour locker (that is suitably extended if there is a long wait time) and an all day locker for $10 (7 hours for the price of 5). If you're going to exceed the time, you're safer to go with an all day option.

[BemaniAK]

In my view, the $8 fee rounds up your hire charge from $2 an hour to the $10 all-day locker rate. It's an incentive to people that if you're going to exceed the hour time-limit, you should just get an all-day locker.

The incentive is not the problem, however. Here I am standing at a locked locker with my money in, unable to access it until I pay money which is all in the locker purely because the SE time was inaccurate and I can't carry money with me on the ride, and you're saying you fully support it?

[Gazza]

I think AlexB is pretty much spot on, a late access charge is OK...That's what they had a universal for overstaying the limit too, to prevent them being used as all day lockers. But at the same time a common sense leeway period is a good idea.

[Richard]

Rather than guest services or retail staff unlocking, it should be done by security - and anyone rude or refusing to pay should be immediately ejected from the park (and have their VIP pass revoked if necessary).

Yep nothing says fun family day out like security shaking guests down for $8 with threats of ejection and revoking of passes. The original poster already said that they embellished the story for effect and weren't actually rude so I think we're jumping to extremes for what seems to be an isolated incident... The fact remains that upon hiring a locker there is no binding agreement regarding penalty fees and as such no legal grounds to extract $8 from customers. It's a good scary threat to keep people from abusing the system, but not actually one that they have legal grounds for enforcing.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I agree with you Richard, which is why I said firstly that a substantial leeway should be permitted. Anyone leaving their property in a locker for over 2 hours, when the locker is clearly marked 1 hour, is most definitely abusing the system. Can MW legally enforce the payment of the late-fee of $8? No - but can they clearly signpost a fee is payable, and failure to pay the release fee will result in ejection from the park loss of annual pass? Yes - the park has clearly posted in their terms and conditions, on the back of every ticket, pass, at the gate and on the website that the passes tickets remain the property of VRTP and can be revoked etc etc. Regardless of whether they have a legal right to charge the fee or not - you're trying to be fair to the individual who clearly exceeded their locker usage time. I'm trying to be fair to the thousands of other people in the park who may wish to utilise a locker, but can't, because out of the 120 lockers (or however many there are), 119 of them have been used by people who are trying to save $8 by not hiring an all-day locker. Of course this is an isolated incident - because most people on these forums know, and abide by the rules, and in this case, it was a matter of a small delay that resulted in them going over the time - this isn't my issue. I've provided a perfect solution to the overall issues a few posts up... If MW won't enforce this type of 'penalty fee' (and there is always a legal way for them to do so), then i'm going to utilise the locker as soon as the park opens, put my keys and my pass in, pay my $2, and then go to guest services at 4:55pm to have those things released. Can I get another 118 people to go to the park with me on saturday to do that? Imagine the pandemonium when there are NO lockers, and people want to ride but can't because they can't leave their wallet keys sunglasses etc anywhere... As a guest who follows the rules, drops $10 on an all day locker to store a few small items in, and rarely accesses the locker again until closing time - I expect - and demand - that those who are abusing the system by using a 1 hour locker as an all day locker be dealt with in an appropriate manner - either by an $8 fee, or ejection from the park if they refuse... ***but please remember - i'm not talking about this occurring after the 61st minute - i'm DOUBLING the 'hire period' before any penalty is payable. Thats like the police not fining you on the highway until you hit 220km/h... imagine that!

[Gary86]

I didn't have an overdue fee but I was at SeaWorld today and had to hire a locker to ride Jet Rescue. It was now $2 for 1 hour hire when on my last visit it was only $1. When I went to get my stuff back I still had about 50mins left. So why don't they refund me the money. Why should I pay for 1 hour hire when I only used 10mins? Later in the day I was going to go on it again but having to pay $2 for 1 hour hire when the park was closing in 30mins is not worth it. Why don't Sea World and Movie World (Superman Escape) update the stations so we can bring in loose items. If they want 2 stations can't they have an conveyor belt to move items from one station to the other. At least at Dreamworld you can ride all the rides without having to hire a locker for your stuff!

[pin142]

When you are paying for parking in a car park you go in knowing what it will cost you for a certain amount of time, same deal here. No different to if you stayed for 31 minutes and get charged the next level for parking than someone who puts their items in the locker only to get them out 5 minutes later. Even though it has changed on Green Lantern on a quiet day you could get away with a couple of rides on Superman and at least one on Green Lantern within a hour. If you are paying for a hour then you have every right to use as much or as little of that as you want. A tip for monitoring time if you lack a watch is to use ride photos. The number next to the letter is the time in 24hr format. Just make a note of what the last photo was when you get your locker and use that as a guide for remaining time when leaving after riding.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Or, if you plan on using the lockers more than once, and you don't have a friend or family member who can hold them for you, just get an all day locker??? With all the one-hour lockers going up to $2, this is only 5 hours of the 7 hour day that you'd need before you hit the same price - the difference is you can access an all-day locker as many times as you want throughout the day, as opposed to losing the time you've paid for in a 1 hour locker if you access it 5 minutes later.

[Reanimated35]

^ How dare you expect them to walk back to a locker that might take them 1-2 minutes out of their way!

[pushbutton]

I agree with a lot of the points being made, but at the end of the day a theme park is in the business of providing pleasure and fun for guests. They should make sure the way their locker fees are structured does not in any way impede guests pleasure or fun!

[Original]

Can I just ask, we have 2 discussions going on about locker fees and SE lockers. I think its a valid topic, but its doing my head going from one thread to the next where we are essentially discussing the same thing, is there anyway we can just talk about it in one topic?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

^ How dare you expect them to walk back to a locker that might take them 1-2 minutes out of their way!

It's funny that I just posted pretty much that in the SE loose items thread, about that being my pet peeve (especially during main street showtime when its packed!)

Can I just ask, we have 2 discussions going on about locker fees and SE lockers. I think its a valid topic, but its doing my head going from one thread to the next where we are essentially discussing the same thing, is there anyway we can just talk about it in one topic?

Ahhh touche!

[Gazza]

The fact remains that upon hiring a locker there is no binding agreement regarding penalty fees and as such no legal grounds to extract $8 from customers. It's a good scary threat to keep people from abusing the system, but not actually one that they have legal grounds for enforcing.

These days there are signs on the lockers stating that an $8 fee applies for overstaying the 1h limit. Also, GL has loose items boxes now