The Great British Fudge Company sweet stall at Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland (Picture: Media Wales)
A mum who took her two children to Winter Wonderland in Cardiff was charged almost £50 for two bags of pick ‘n’ mix.
Rhiannon Brown, a health care worker, let her kids choose what they wanted to have – and her young daughter already started eating some of the sweets before she paid.
She and her husband therefore felt they had to pay the full price despite being shocked by the amount charged.
The family try to go to the festive event every year, and this time had bought 40 tokens for £40 to let them go on the rides on Saturday.
‘Then we had crepes which were £7 each – pricey but again we expected it,’ she said.
Things took a turn for the even more costly, however, when her children spotted the Great British Fudge Company ‘all lit up and looking amazing’ and asked if they could get a bag of sweets each from the stall in a converted double decker bus.
Sweets bought by Rhiannon’s family (Picture: Media Wales)
Rhiannon explained: ‘I helped my youngest to do hers and my husband said don’t go mad on the sweets – it’s £2.79 for 100g.
‘We both made sure the kids never went over board. The bags were nowhere near half full, but nobody knows what 100g of sweets looks like.
‘As my husband was paying, my little girl started eating the sweets so I couldn’t have put some back if I wanted to.’
Rhiannon, from Mountain Ash, added: ‘I didn’t hear the woman say the price to my husband but I could tell by his reaction it was high so I asked him how much. He said £47.26, and I said: “What, you can’t be serious?”.
‘I think we were just shocked we knew it was going to be expensive but I was thinking maybe £20-£23. He just paid and we left.’
She later shared her experience on a social media post and says that a few other people have contacted her saying they’ve had a similar experience.
‘It really put a downer on the day we had had,’ she said.
‘Nobody nowadays can afford to spend £47 on pick ‘n’ mix. I feel like they should maybe display a couple of display bags of sweets saying how much this would cost you on average, so people are aware. Nobody knows what 100g of sweets looks like.
‘They had one weighing scales from what I could see attached to the till where people were queuing to pay, so it wouldn’t be as easy as weighing as you go.
‘I would definitely go back to Winter Wonderland – we loved it and yes, it’s pricey but expected. But I can’t say I’ll be returning to this company.’
Winter Wonderland in Cardiff (Picture: Media Wales)
In response, Great British Fudge Company has said that they have offered Rhiannon a full refund.
A spokesperson for the business also said that they had received a ‘number of threats’ from people on social media following the post.
In a statement, they said: ‘Rhiannon has explained to us that she was aware of the price displayed of £2.79 per 100g, but was still shocked at the final price when weighed. She also explained that she chose to pay for the goods so as not to disappoint the children and because they had already started eating them.
‘We would never have forced anyone to pay for something they did not want or were unhappy with and would have accepted, as many have said they did, if she left the bag or asked for some items to be removed.
‘We are unable to confirm from the image you sent what that amount of sweets would have been as this is just one bag and as Rhiannon explained her children had already started eating some of the items.
“We can confirm that the scales are checked and set with no way to adjust them once we are set up so for the total to be £47 this would have been just over 1.6kg of sweets in two bags.
‘We have offered Rhiannon a full refund, and explained that we are already working to improve our service so we can avoid issues going forward: clearer signage explaining weighing and pricing to customers, retraining our staff to be able to offer better assistance to avoid similar incidents going forward, adding some pre-mixed priced bags minimise issues and lines waiting to weigh sweets. We are very sorry that Rhiannon felt she was obliged to pay and hope that she accepts our offer to refund.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
The Great British Fudge Company sweet stall at Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland (Picture: Media Wales)
A mum who took her two children to Winter Wonderland in Cardiff was charged almost £50 for two bags of pick ‘n’ mix.
Rhiannon Brown, a health care worker, let her kids choose what they wanted to have – and her young daughter already started eating some of the sweets before she paid.
She and her husband therefore felt they had to pay the full price despite being shocked by the amount charged.
The family try to go to the festive event every year, and this time had bought 40 tokens for £40 to let them go on the rides on Saturday.
‘Then we had crepes which were £7 each – pricey but again we expected it,’ she said.
Things took a turn for the even more costly, however, when her children spotted the Great British Fudge Company ‘all lit up and looking amazing’ and asked if they could get a bag of sweets each from the stall in a converted double decker bus.
Sweets bought by Rhiannon’s family (Picture: Media Wales)
Rhiannon explained: ‘I helped my youngest to do hers and my husband said don’t go mad on the sweets – it’s £2.79 for 100g.
‘We both made sure the kids never went over board. The bags were nowhere near half full, but nobody knows what 100g of sweets looks like.
‘As my husband was paying, my little girl started eating the sweets so I couldn’t have put some back if I wanted to.’
Rhiannon, from Mountain Ash, added: ‘I didn’t hear the woman say the price to my husband but I could tell by his reaction it was high so I asked him how much. He said £47.26, and I said: “What, you can’t be serious?”.
‘I think we were just shocked we knew it was going to be expensive but I was thinking maybe £20-£23. He just paid and we left.’
She later shared her experience on a social media post and says that a few other people have contacted her saying they’ve had a similar experience.
‘It really put a downer on the day we had had,’ she said.
‘Nobody nowadays can afford to spend £47 on pick ‘n’ mix. I feel like they should maybe display a couple of display bags of sweets saying how much this would cost you on average, so people are aware. Nobody knows what 100g of sweets looks like.
‘They had one weighing scales from what I could see attached to the till where people were queuing to pay, so it wouldn’t be as easy as weighing as you go.
‘I would definitely go back to Winter Wonderland – we loved it and yes, it’s pricey but expected. But I can’t say I’ll be returning to this company.’
Winter Wonderland in Cardiff (Picture: Media Wales)
In response, Great British Fudge Company has said that they have offered Rhiannon a full refund.
A spokesperson for the business also said that they had received a ‘number of threats’ from people on social media following the post.
In a statement, they said: ‘Rhiannon has explained to us that she was aware of the price displayed of £2.79 per 100g, but was still shocked at the final price when weighed. She also explained that she chose to pay for the goods so as not to disappoint the children and because they had already started eating them.
‘We would never have forced anyone to pay for something they did not want or were unhappy with and would have accepted, as many have said they did, if she left the bag or asked for some items to be removed.
‘We are unable to confirm from the image you sent what that amount of sweets would have been as this is just one bag and as Rhiannon explained her children had already started eating some of the items.
“We can confirm that the scales are checked and set with no way to adjust them once we are set up so for the total to be £47 this would have been just over 1.6kg of sweets in two bags.
‘We have offered Rhiannon a full refund, and explained that we are already working to improve our service so we can avoid issues going forward: clearer signage explaining weighing and pricing to customers, retraining our staff to be able to offer better assistance to avoid similar incidents going forward, adding some pre-mixed priced bags minimise issues and lines waiting to weigh sweets. We are very sorry that Rhiannon felt she was obliged to pay and hope that she accepts our offer to refund.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
