A family Jubilee festival run by Sainsbury’s was today branded a “royal rip-off” by angry parents demanding their money back.
The supermarket giant faced a wave of criticism from disappointed festival-goers to the Disney-backed weekend fair at Hyde Park hosted by Myleene Klass and billed as a “once in a lifetime experience”.
Visitors who paid £52 for family tickets complained of having to queue for two hours for 15-minute shows, over-priced food, rude staff, overcrowding, amateurish performances, over-the-top marketing that turned a family-friendly celebration into a “corporate blagging event” and empty goodie bags.
Sainsbury’s today apologised to families who felt let down, offering £20 gift vouchers to many of those who complained.
A spokesman insisted most of the roughly 100,000 people who attended across the two days enjoyed the occasion, which included West End performances from Billy Elliot, The Lion King and War Horse.
But dozens of parents who contacted the Standard disagreed, as did hundreds more who flooded the Mumsnet and Time Out websites and the supermarket’s own Facebook page with scathing reviews.
Seven-month pregnant Claire Daniell, 35, has vowed never to shop in Sainsbury’s again after taking her four-year-old son Isaac to the festival with husband Lee and friends from Crystal Palace.
She said: “I wanted a memorable family day out during the jubilee weekend and was prepared to spend the cash but this was a total rip-off. The whole experience has made sure that I won’t be doing my family shop there ever.”
A spokesman for the supermarket said: “We are very sorry to hear that a small number of people did not enjoy their day out with us. Overall we’ve had great positive feedback.”
