Customers refunded after Christmas Drive-Thru in Limerick described as 'substandard'

File picture

A Christmas Drive-Thru in Limerick has refunded customers after it was described online as a “substandard experience”.

The event being held at Limerick racecourse promised a “totally safe” twist on the experience of seeing Santa.

The Facebook page of the event explained: “On arrival at the Christmas experience, you will drive past Gingerbread Houses with a few surprise characters to see along your way.

“You will see the Mailroom where every letter sent to Santa is sorted by the elves for him to read. You will see the Sorting Office where the elves are working hard wrapping all of the presents and loading them into sacks in time for the big day.

“You will drive the route, stopping at various points to enjoy scenes and actors along the way. Then, most importantly, you will see Santa’s Livingroom where you will see the big man himself.” 

Tickets had been priced at €38 but some attendees felt ripped off by the experience.

Irish author Darren Shan said it was “a totally substandard experience”.

He added that what was advertised “were a series of drive past ‘gingerbread houses’, what we got was cheap green gazebos with virtually no props.

“Wrapping up 3 boxes and putting a sign hanging from a cheap bit of tinsel at the workshop was pathetic. No attempt to give us what we were promised in the map sent out before the event.” 

He added that there was “absolutely nothing special about it”.

Local councillor Seán Hartigan added that it was “a pathetic, shambolic affair”.

The organisers have since released a statement confirming that people had been refunded.

They also said the pictures of “underage actors and staff” were online causing “huge anxiety for them”.

The statement said: “We can now confirm that we have refunded EVERY ticket that was sold. We had already refunded the unused tickets and we can confirm that all of yesterday’s tickets have now been refunded also. This will take a couple of days to reach your accounts. However, they have been processed from our side. Please check your email if you are awaiting a refund.

“Please bear in mind also that there are hateful comments and photos on social media, and in the press, of underage actors and staff. This is causing huge anxiety for them and is grossly unfair.

“We believe these should be removed from all social media channels as the actors did a fantastic job yesterday and it is unfair to put their faces to this event.

“We are obviously very apologetic that this happened. It was never our intention to cause any distress.” Responding to the news that it had been cancelled, Mr Shan added: "I wasn't the only one who thought it was a miserable rip-off".