Warwick Castle

[adsyrah]

I'm going there in a few weeks - this room sounds horrible!

I went to the Edinburgh Dungeon over Easter and was told I proper screamed during the Burke and Hare graveyard scene. Is this room in Warwick similar?

[AstroDan]

I can't remember that part of Edinburgh, but the Warwick scene is the scariest Dungeons scene I have yet experienced.

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[jakebullet]

Hi guys, I'm after a bit of advice. My OH has a Warwick Castle annual pass which comes with free parking in the Stratford Road car park. She visits the castle probably one weekend a month as well as the school holidays with our daughter.

She also works in Warwick and as there are very few parking spaces around and what there are, are expensive, she parks at the castle and walks in to work from there.

Today she was tapped on the shoulder and was told she was abusing the pass and would have it revoked if she didn't stop parking there when she wasn't visiting the castle. They said that was in the T & C's in the paperwork with the pass, however she wasn't given any paperwork with the pass and I've looked at the T & C's online for Warwick Castle and Merlin and can find no mention of this anywhere.

Thanks for your input

[jackgcse]

I would say you have every right to park there...it says nowhere that you have to visit the attraction with your free parking...infact 'free parking' is one of the benefits of the annual pass, therefore, they are classing that as a benefit, and therefore you should not have problems, in my mind!
Otherwise, simply for the sake of it enter the turnstiles then leave! haha!

[AstroDan]

It's not what the car park is designed for, though - even if it isn't specified anywhere.

I wouldn't be surprised for WC to kick up a fuss over it.

[Tom G]

If it's not in any terms and conditions you agreed to when purchasing the pass, bugger them.

[Islander]

The thing to watch out for would be the terms and conditions of the car park itself, though - might say 'for patrons only' or similar somewhere. Then again, it might not...

[jakebullet]

Thanks for your replies everyone, she's decided to carry on  parking there at the bottom where the staff seem to park their cars, at least that way hers isn't the only there at that time of the morning

[Coaster_Dude]

I've only got access to the Merlin annual pass T&Cs although I would think it would be safe to assume that the Warwick pass has a similar clause to this one (Clause 16 in the 2012 T&Cs, Clause 15 in the 2011 T&Cs):

"...the Annual Pass will be withdrawn from any person whose conduct is deemed to be inappropriate in the absolute discretion of The Merlin Entertainments Group."

That's pretty much a catch-all clause which means they can decide what is and isn't appropriate.

[Tom G]

^ Indeed, I'd be quite careful as the electronic system will soon trigger an alarm to an accountant, I'm guessing. If it hasn't already.

[Squiggles]

It would depend on how they check the passes for parking purposes. If the system is anything like the Towers system WC won't have any record how often any given pass is being used to park with.

[Islander]

The barriers at Warwick are operated by the card itself, much like those at the southern parks (though oddly they don't use the same Skidata system), so strikes me as likely that uses are logged.

[jakebullet]

Things took a turn for the sinister this morning. This is the email I got from my very distraught wife this morning after parking there:

"A LPS Parking Services car park guy approached me (well actually walked in front of me and blocked my path) this morning after I had walked up right from the bottom car park, and was sort of opposite the drinks and ice cream machines by the coach park. He was very confrontational, very forthright, and mean and it was not a good start to my day.  I stood my ground and argued about the T&Cs and he would not have it, and I got annoyed and he said that he was going to report me to the General Manager for Warwick Castle, who he informed me, is not a nice man."

I've rang her and she is in bits because this man intimidated her so much. He said that they have been watching her and they know that she parked there 3 times last week. Apparently he kept saying it was on the website that you can't park there and the licence would be revoked, he also said that she would not like it if he reported her to the Warwick Castle general manager as he is not a very nice man which sounds like a thinly veiled threat to me.

I wouldn't mind if she was taking the p**s but she only parks there if she can't find a space elsewhere in Warwick hence the reason she only parked there 3 times out of 5 last week and didn't park there yesterday and as she only works term time she doesn't take up the space on the busy periods unless she's visiting the castle with our daughter.

She's moved the car now in to a car park at £4 a day which we really can't afford, she was so worried

I feel like I need to complain to somebody at Merlin, I certainly don't want to speak to anybody at Warwick Castle if the manager is such a brute.

[Craig]

Firstly in terms of the parking guy, they have a tendancy to be generally threatening.  The mention of "speaking to the manager/owner/whatever" is a common tactic they use to intimidate.  His behaviour is unacceptable, and I would suggest speaking to Warwick Castle themselves if you wish to make a complaint.  They're not in the business of being intimidating people, it's simply the car park guy working his mouth.

However, I feel I must question what it is you are going to complain about.  If it is about the behaviour of the car parking guy, then fair enough I guess.  However, my personal opinion is that you shouldn't be using Warwick Castle's car park for parking unless you are visiting the attraction itself.  The free parking is an additional perk in exchange for you visiting the attraction (which is the main reason you're buying your pass).  The T+C's don't specifically state this, although I would imagine this is because this is something that's only become recently apparent at one specific Merlin attraction (Warwick Castle).  However, as others have pointed out above, they do have a kind of universal get out close to cover inappropriate use if Merlin deem it as such.

In my personal opinion it's a case of your wife twisting what is intended to be a benefit for those visiting the castle itself, especially as parking can be limited at times.  This doesn't seem to be something that Warwick Castle will (and IMO shouldn't) back down from, so ultimately you really need to be making alternative car parking arrangements rather than using WC's car park in future.

[markfranklin]

I have yet to visit WC, and don't have any knowledge of the area and parking problems, but by the sounds of it, a local worker in town has a rather handy parking solution.  Instead of driving round and round and eventually paying £4 per day to park, they can purchase a Merlin / WC Annual Pass and simply use the WC car park (ie possibly never even visit WC).  Nice empty car park at 8am and comparitively cheap parking.

I agree with Craig, as if lots of people clocked on to this, and hundreds of local workers started doing the same thing, there would eventually be a problem for WC as their car park would be filling up with non-guests and causing a problem for genuine Castle visitors.

Agree however that they ought to make it quite explicit in the T&Cs so that customers are well aware of these conditions.  Perhaps jakebullet you could get in touch with WC management and be open about the issue, and see what they say?

[iNemesis]

However, my personal opinion is that you shouldn't be using Warwick Castle's car park for parking unless you are visiting the attraction itself.  The free parking is an additional perk in exchange for you visiting the attraction (which is the main reason you're buying your pass).  The T+C's don't specifically state this, although I would imagine this is because this is something that's only become recently apparent at one specific Merlin attraction (Warwick Castle).  However, as others have pointed out above, they do have a kind of universal get out close to cover inappropriate use if Merlin deem it as such.

I agree with Craig.

Whilst it is not, perhaps, the nicest of greetings your wife encountered with the Car Parking attendant, they do hold a very valid point. The car park at Warwick Castle is for patrons of Warwick Castle, not Warwick itself. If this were the case, it would be a simple 'Pay & Display' car park, like any other you find in a tourist spot. That would allow any member of the paying public, access, regardless of if you use the Castle or not.
However, Warwick do not operate a 'Pay & Display' car park - You use a Token / Ticket, like the majority of other Merlin attractions, & pay once you have made use of the facilities in the traditional sense ( a day out), rather than after a working day (outside of the Castle grounds).

The T&C's of the Warwick Castle Annual Pass may not explicitly state that 'You must use the Castle in order to park your car', however I think this would, to the vast majority of holders & general paying public, be a given? Even in supermarkets, you are asked to refrain from parking in their car parks, if you are not inside the Superstore at the time.

I have yet to visit WC,
I agree with Craig, as if lots of people clocked on to this, and hundreds of local workers started doing the same thing, there would eventually be a problem for WC as their car park would be filling up with non-guests and causing a problem for genuine Castle visitors.

Exactly.

A Warwick Castle Annual Pass is currently £48.60 for the year. If we were to go by your calculations;

a car park at £4 a day

Your wife would not be the only person in Warwick to make use of the Annual Pass, purely for the parking. The savings would be astronomic (see calculations below);

---

Average Term Time (in weeks) = 40
School week = 5 days (You state she works 'Term Time' only..)
40 X 5 = 200 days.

200 days parking in the same Paying Car Park you mentioned she parked in '3 of the 5 days' this week, would equal £800 in parking charges;
200 days X £4 (per day) = £800

---

That would leave the residents & commuters to Warwick a choice of either £800 (+- depending on weeks worked in a rolling year) in Car Parking fees, or an Annual Pass that covers all Car Parking for that year, for £48.60.
Which option do you think people would go for?

Thinking rationally about this. Can you imagine if everyone that works in Warwick were to do this, what the effect on Warwick Castle would be, for normal Visitors? It would be tragic. The spaces would be filled by 'Annual Pass Holders', that weren't actually visiting the attraction, which would in turn, no doubt, force actual visitors (& AP holders from outside the area) into the paying car parks you speak of. That, to me, is not how Warwick wish to operate & treat their genuine paying guests, & is why your wife was approached (possibly in the wrong way), this morning.

I am not condoning the use of threatening behavior or language, but they do have a very valid point. They do not want non-visitors (on the specific day you park there), to fill up their car park. It's for visitors only!

[jakebullet]

Thank you all for your comments.  I think that my wife will have to go with the majority opinion and find somewhere else to park! Oh well....

[Tom G]

I think it's worth e-mailing the castle directly and explaining the situation. You never know, they may agree to it, but I think they'd be scared of setting a precedent - but it's worth a try.

I'm all for taking on big business, but in court you'd be unlikely to win.

[Islander]

Given that it's the very last clause, it wouldn't surprise me if this was added recently as a direct response to the issue :P.

Either way, agree that it's taking the mick a bit to use it as a general car park.

[iNemesis]

Given that it's the very last clause, it wouldn't surprise me if this was added recently as a direct response to the issue :P.

Either way, agree that it's taking the mick a bit to use it as a general car park.

It wouldn't surprise me, either! Agreed, however, it is taking the mick, using the Car Park for reasons other than utilising the Castle.