Taking a knock over Santa
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2009-12-08 07:35:40 - Graham EllisYou will note a rare gap yesterday.
Sunday's Santa trip was a great success ... or so I thought. But a message to return a phone call yesterday, and I find myself speaking to a lady who I can only describe as "irate" saying that the trip had been "total and utter chaos", and a ripoff. My personal view is that £17.00 for her group of three, as against £14.25 which the train fare alone would have cost, was good value. The child got a present, everyone got a minced pie and a drink, we had Santa, we had the Town Crier ... and we had the sundry expenses to cover. Everyone gave their time for free ...
I'll admit it - I am not used to dealing with complaints; they upset me greatly. And they are very rare indeed in what we do. So I'm really knocked for a loop by this one. I'm comforted by the fact that everyone else seems to have had a good time, with several unsolicited "thank you" emails following from the cheerful faces who left the train at both Melksham and Trowbridge.
But one specific point that the lady raised is an interesting one that I'll share with you from "behind the scenes". The train that we travel on is a lengthened public service train, and on a couple of occasions in the past, children traveling with 'members of the public' have been disappointed that although Father Christmas is on the train, they haven't been able to get a present from him. So we have taken to having a handful of extra presents available in case, and to 'eating' the cost of them within the trip. Our lady got wind of this, and felt that this extra was not something we should do ... in fact she wants her money back as "my child could have got a present free". I disagree, but will be refunding her money from my personal pocket - I stand by our policy of Santa having a few presents spare for other children who happen to be around; I would not want to be party to spoiling the myth of Christmas. P.S. There weren't any other children on the train this year anyway!