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Credit: SeaWorldA very troubling situation allegedly unfolded at a popular theme park after a Guest attempted to buy an item in a gift shop.
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There is no denying that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected just about every aspect of our lives as we know it. From Supply chain issues to inflation, everyone around the world has felt these changes in one way or another. Guests visiting theme Parks have felt a lot of these changes as well with mask mandates and social distancing rules seemingly changing constantly.
Guests have also noticed price increases within certain areas of the Theme Parks, like Universal Studios and Disney World, including merchandise, tickets, and of course, food.
This is true for all theme Parks as SeaWorld has also increased prices as the nautical amusement park attempts to fight back against supply chain issues as well as inflation. However, some of the ways SeaWorld is allegedly going about this are concerning, to say the least.
A recent tweet shared a very troubling story about a Guest and a SeaWorld gift shop. You can check it out below as shared by SeaWorld Work Orders (@SWneedshelp):
Discrete surcharge fees on menu boards and inaccurate prices on the price tags. SeaWorld is lowering the bar…
Discrete surcharge fees on menu boards and inaccurate prices on the price tags.
SeaWorld is lowering the bar… 🫣 pic.twitter.com/9Tx8IDPz5T
— SeaWorld Work Orders (@SWneedshelp) July 17, 2022
The post contains a shocking first-hand account of an issue that occurred at a gift shop. A concerned father shared the following statement about him and his children at a SeaWorld gift shop:
The original complaint reads as follows Edited to add…….my kids went to sea world camp this week. The camp was great. I bought 4 fun cards, quick queue, food drink, etc. We spent well over $2500 at seaworld for camp this week. Today, I let my kids spend $25 each in the gift shop. My son was within budget. Perfect. Until I brought it to the register and the employee told me it was $37 something. I explained it has $24.99 on the tag. He said, “prices change”. He then proceeded to CUT the printed price off the tag. I told him he has a lot more cutting to do since they ALL said $24.99. Needless to say, bait and switch, illegal practices going on in the shops. And we left….with an upset child. I’m really in shock. This is wrong.
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In response to this tweet, several users shared how they felt about the situation.
Twitter user @Albanese_ca said, “Prices are rising so fast-u can’t blame the employee they’re the last to know. It’s a big task to reprice every item in the park to synchronize with IT & sales chain. I always price check before buying. Maybe they should just say all prices have extra % added until corrected”. Twitter user @withrazzmatazz said, “That’s horrendous! Also $37 for a small plush animal?!!?”
Twitter user @Cetz_Sea confirmed that this was happening at multiple SeaWorld locations:
As someone who keeps the tags on their stuffed animals, yeah, it’s also an issue at the San Antonio park :/
As someone who keeps the tags on their stuffed animals, yeah, it’s also an issue at the San Antonio park :/ pic.twitter.com/ln99HT00Ik
— Ceta! (@Cetz_Sea) July 17, 2022
This is even more concerning considering we have seen SeaWorld discretely add surcharges to certain food items, essentially hiding the small notification on its menu boards. SeaWorld has not yet made a statement regarding the alleged incident.
Have you noticed any issues at SeaWorld recently?