South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)

Where are the tickets from Legoland combo package?

- By Christophe­r Elliott King Features Syndicate

A: Oh, you are in a tight spot. Once you’ve told the kids, you pretty much have to go. As a father of three myself, I have experience­d that many times. And to give you an idea of how serious it got, we had to move to Orlando to satisfy their theme park cravings. But I digress.

The offer you received from Legoland New York Theme Park & Resort should have included theme park tickets. When you pointed this error out to the company, it should have fixed it right away.

Instead, the company led you through a proverbial Lego maze of calls and emails. That’s too bad. I love Legoland. I’ve visited the Legolands in Florida and California with my kids, and they love it, too. OK, some of the little rides

Q: I booked a visit to Legoland New York Theme Park & Resort based on an offer I received from the theme park for its October Brick-or-Treat hotel and park combo package.

I paid the quoted price, but they sent a follow-up email that I wasn’t charged for park tickets, and I had two options: Pay up or cancel.

Multiple calls to the company result in them holding the line — pay or go. You can’t speak to anyone beyond the customer-service representa­tive. Escalation to management is only done internally. Responses take seven to 10 days. But after two attempts, I’ve never gotten a reply.

I’ve also emailed the customer-service address and haven’t gotten any replies. I can’t believe a family-focused attraction new to our area would stonewall like this, especially when they made an error. I feel like they need to honor the price they quoted, but I’d love just to be able to talk it through with a representa­tive with decision-making authority.

The additional pricing increases the $1,094 visit by another $600, or a 60% increase!

Can you help? We’re heading there soon and of course, this bad news came after we told the kids, so we’re in a tight spot!

— Noreen O’Donnell, Brooklyn, New York

aren’t really for adults. But Legos speak to kids of all ages. When that happiness collapses like a poorly built tower, then no one is happy.

Maybe the most maddening part of your experience was dealing with Legoland’s customer-service agents. They offered neither a substantiv­e response to your legitimate complaint nor a way to appeal your case. With the day of your arrival drawing closer, you had to do something.

There’s a way out of the Legoland customer-service maze. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the Legoland customer service executives on my nonprofit customer-service site at www.elliott.org/company-contacts/legolandne­w-york-resort/.

Legoland says it experience­d “an unfortunat­e system error” during your booking. Because of that error, the booking you made does not have valid tickets.

I contacted Legoland on your behalf. The company reviewed your reservatio­n and apologized for the difficulty you were experienci­ng. You received an email with the promised park tickets.

Christophe­r Elliott is the chief advocacy officer of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organizati­on that helps consumers resolve their problems. Elliott’s latest book is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). Contact him at elliott.org/ help or chris@elliott.org.

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