Hundreds of parents have criticised a popular garden centre near Bristol for the "ridiculous" price it is charging for its new play centre. When Cadbury Garden Centre posted prices for its Treehouse indoor playground on Facebook last week, it was flooded with complaints from angry parents.
Many parents said the prices would prevent them from bringing their children to the soft play or using the garden centre altogether because the prices were unaffordable. One mum, Emily Thomas, told Bristol Live that parents and children will miss out on benefitting from the facility "because of how ridiculously priced they’ve made it".
For children over five, a two-hour session will cost £9.50, with children under five charged £8.50. On weekends and during school holidays, this price increases by £1. Adults have to pay an additional £2 for entry on weekdays, or £2.50 on weekends and school holidays.
READ MORE: ‘Chihuahua in handbag’ bit disabled shopper's assistance dog
For children aged six months-one year the tickets are priced at £2.50. Earlier this week following "feedback", the garden centre in Congresbury announced that babies aged under six months will be allowed in for free.
The initial post outlining the pricing received more than one thousand comments, nearly all against the charges. In response the centre, which is part of the Blue Diamond Group, made a separate post justifying the pricing and offering a 20 per cent discount this weekend "as a gesture of goodwill".
Complaints were not only directed at the near-£10 charge for children but also the additional charges for parents and very young children, who may not even be crawling or could end up sleeping throughout the sessions. One common observation among parents was that there are other nearby soft plays which are much cheaper for young children.
In their defence, the centre said on Facebook that their higher prices reflect "the quality and experience on offer" and that the specially designed equipment "is vastly different from anything else within the area". However, mum Emily said: “I don't understand why they would charge for adults considering there's a cafe in there that will be making money from parents buying drinks.
"It makes it impossible for a lot of parents and carers to make a simple visit without kids screaming and kicking off that they want to go play and won't understand that they can't because of the price.”
'Positive feedback'
Head of customer care for The Diamond Group, Peter Gibbons, said in response: “We have had over 800 visitors in the last three days and the feedback has been unanimously positive. We have benchmarked our pricing not just locally, but on a national scale also, and we are in line with those businesses that offer the same quality and experience as ours.
“We have already taken the decision to allow babies who are under six months to enter free of charge. Regarding the charge for adults, this is in line with numerous other play areas.
“We would encourage people to come and see for themselves before judging us on the prices alone and throughout this week, and over the course of this weekend, we are offering customers 20 per cent off the price to come and see for themselves.”
An extract from the garden centre's statement on Facebook this week added: "Our Treehouse play equipment has been specially designed and built for Blue Diamond, using high quality materials and is vastly different to anything else within the area. Bespoke play features include a colour coded ball game, a talk station telephone system and sensory area with an LED light tube and infinity mirror."
READ NEXT:
