Gold Coast theme parks: Village Roadshow, Dreamworld reveal refund policy for unvaccinated
Unvaccinated people who are unable to visit Gold Coast theme parks after December 17 can now find out whether they will get a refund. DETAILS
Gold Coast
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Unvaccinated people who are unable to visit Gold Coast theme parks after December 17 will be able to “pause their passes” in some cases.
Thousands of unvaccinated people have requested refunds from theme parks, accommodation providers and venues because they will be blocked from attending from December 17 under the vaccine mandate.
Village Roadshow – which operates Movie World, Sea World and Wet‘n’Wild - has offered guests the opportunity to pause their passes for a period of three or six months, or until the government restrictions no longer apply.
A Dreamworld spokeswoman said it would be offering resolutions on a case-by-case basis for guest of Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and SkyPoint who were unable to visit due to their vaccination status.
“Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and SkyPoint encourage guests unable to visit due to their vaccination status to get in touch with our contact centre directly regarding their pass,so that individual resolutions can be met,” she said.
Last month, an Office of Fair Trading spokeswoman said people may not be entitled to a refund if a business must cancel, or not provide goods and services because of a government ruling.
“While it is an offence under the (Australian Consumer Law) for traders to accept payment from consumers and not supply the goods or services, the ACL provides traders with a defence if the non-supply is out of the trader’s hands, as is the case with restrictions imposed by government to restrict the spread of Covid,” she said.
“Consumers seeking a refund should contact the business in the first instance to see if they are willing to offer a remedy such as refund or credit note.”
Office of Fair Trading reveal if unvaxxed Gold Coast are entitled to holiday booking refund - November 18
Thousands of unvaccinated people have requested refunds from theme parks, accommodation providers and venues because they will be blocked from attending from December 17 under the vaccine mandate.
An Office of Fair Trading spokeswoman said people may not be entitled to a refund if a business must cancel, or not provide goods and services because of a government ruling.
“While it is an offence under the (Australian Consumer Law) for traders to accept payment from consumers and not supply the goods or services, the ACL provides traders with a defence if the non-supply is out of the trader’s hands, as is the case with restrictions imposed by government to restrict the spread of Covid,” she said.
“Consumers seeking a refund should contact the business in the first instance to see if they are willing to offer a remedy such as refund or credit note.”
Many operators have already offered refunds to unvaccinated people out of goodwill.
On Wednesday, Village Roadshow – which operates Movie World, Sea World and Wet‘n’Wild – and Ardent-owned Dreamworld said they would follow the vaccine mandate, but were awaiting formal health direction before confirming whether or not unvaccinated people would be offered refunds.
The lack of clarity from theme parks has sparked backlash on social media.
Some have also threatened to protest outside Gold Coast theme parks on December 5.
The Office of Fair Trading said Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath had written to the Commonwealth urging them to take urgent action to provide better protections for consumers under consumer law for holiday bookings.
Those who believe they are entitled to a refund and are not satisfied with the response from a business are advised to lodge a complaint with the Office of Fair Trading.
Theme park refund policy confusion over vax mandate
November 11, 2021
Struggling tourism operators say they are fielding thousands of requests for refunds from unvaccinated travellers ahead of the peak Christmas period.
But the city’s top theme parks cannot say if they will give refunds.
Operators that fall under the state government’s vaccine mandate will not be able to accept unvaccinated people from December 17, sparking debate over whether customers will be entitled to a refund.
Both Village Roadshow – which operates Movie World, Sea World and Wet‘n’Wild – and Ardent-owned Dreamworld said they would follow the vaccine mandate, but were awaiting formal health direction before confirming whether or not unvaccinated people would be offered refunds.
“We are still working through the finer details of these vaccination rules and how it will be implemented across our venues,” a Village Roadshow spokesman said.
“We will provide more information to our guests and team members once we have a clearer understanding.”
The Bulletin asked the Office of Fair Trading Queensland for clarification on whether customers were entitled to a refund, but did not receive a response.
Despite the confusion, Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said forward accommodation bookings suggested the Gold Coast would have a strong Christmas and New Year period through until mid-January at least.
“We know that the Covid-19 vaccine is key to tourism’s survival and our industry has been very supportive in encouraging people to get the jab,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“It has been a difficult 18 months for the tourism industry and there is wide support for the mandate but implementation is always harder and clearly we are hearing from operators the impacts for customers, staff and visitors and that is what we are working through as an industry.
“What is positive is that since the mandate has been announced, there has been a spike in people getting vaccinated in Queensland.”
Paradise Resort Gold Coast has led the charge to support mandatory vaccination, which has mostly been well received.
General manager David Brook said 90 per cent of customers had embraced their stance, but the resort had received online backlash from “keyboard warriors”.
“I’d say we’ve had about 400 room cancellations so far,” Mr Brook said.
“If anybody has a genuine reason or they choose to not get vaccinated, we’re giving full refunds because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”
He said the 400 cancellations had been offset by 1500 new bookings in the past few days.
Gold Coast businesses backing anti-vax customers – November 16
THOUSANDS of people have joined a Facebook group in support of Gold Coast businesses serving customers regardless of vaccination status.
The Gold Coast Businesses Who Welcome All group has more than 11,000 members. It was created in late October.
As well as businesses advertising their vaccination stance, group members have shared posts in the group with tips on how to cheat the vaccination mandate. Other posts and comments discuss plans to boycott businesses that are following the vaccination mandate.
Several group members have shared their experiences with losing their job over refusing to have the Covid vaccine.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says people without Covid vaccinations would not be allowed in pubs, cafes, cinemas, stadiums, and some other venues from December 17.
Vax policing ‘heartbreaking’ for hospo operators
November 11, 2021
A SURFERS Paradise cafe operator says it’ll go against the spirit of hospitality and every bone in his body to refuse service to customers when the unvaccinated are effectively banned from December 17.
ESPL Coffee Brewers manager Andrew Langdown said a requirement for vaccination policing would be “heartbreaking” for his customers.
Come December 17, many businesses will be free of Covid restrictions and distancing rules for double vaccinated patrons, but the unvaccinated disallowed entry under new State Government rules.
Mr Langdon said there was a fine line when it came to policing the unvaccinated and he wouldn’t “feel comfortable” asking customers about their vaccination status.
“Personally, I’d want to serve them. It’s in the best interest for the business and it’s the nature of hospitality – the service,” he said. “Every bone in my body leans toward ensuring customers leave with a positive experience. The beauty of hospitality is the absence of discrimination.
He’d find it “unrealistic” to check on every customer lined up, particularly during an early morning rush, he said.
ESPL would follow the rules but he felt “backed into a corner” and “there’s no other choice”, he said.
“The announcements were a huge shock for us given how hard the hospitality industry has already been hit with border closures and snap lockdowns,” he said. “We’ve really looked forward to ramping up our trade again on December 17 and now this feels like yet another hurdle.
“We don’t want our regulars who have been coming here for nearly five years to be fined. We certainly don’t want to be shut down if we aren’t following the rules. It feels awful for us to even fathom the idea of turning away customers who have supported us since day dot.”
Surfers Paradise Tattoo Studio manager Fred Hopkinson said the business wouldn’t interrogate customers on their vaccine status.
“Tattoo studios are a sterile clean, environment and we would tattoo anyone, vaccinated or unvaccinated.”
“We found it unfair that during heightened Covid restrictions last year we had to shut up shop yet certain salons and hairdressers stayed open.
“There needs to be more discussion in relation to Covid-19 rules and tattoo parlours.”
The Bulletin spoke to multiple other Surfers Paradise businesses, with a majority of feedback scathing of the new rules to check vaccine status and potentially alert police.
NAMED: COAST BEAUTY BUSINESSES BOYCOTT UNVAXXED BAN
Dozens of Gold Coast beauticians have vowed to defy a mandate banning unvaccinated people from Queensland venues, saying doing so would be a “breach of privacy”.
The group say they will not require their customers to disclose their vaccination status because they are not medical practitioners.
It comes after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s announcement on Tuesday that people without Covid vaccinations would not be allowed in pubs, cafes, cinemas, stadiums, and other venues from December 17.
Ms Palaszczuk’s office has clarified that neither beauty salons or hairdressers are required to check patron’s vaccination status.
A post on a Gold Coast beauty industry Facebook group urged members to advertise if they were “inclusive businesses”.
“This is not an opportunity for a debate,” the post read.
“Please only comment your business details if you will be offering your services to all regardless of vaccination status.”
Dozens of business owners indicated they would not be checking customers’ vaccination statuses come next month.
Owner of Adorne Boutique in Varsity Lakes, Chelsea Jarvis Doctor, told the Bulletin she would be ignoring the mandate.
“I’m just carrying on as normal. I’m not asking people whether they’re vaccinated or not – I just think it’s ridiculous,” Ms Jarvis Doctor said.
“If someone wants to be vaccinated, that’s all good, but I just don’t see how that impacts anyone else.”
The beautician said the vaccine mandate would be a “lose-lose” situation for Queensland businesses.
“You’re losing (customers) by refusing people who aren’t vaccinated, or people who choose not to give out their vaccination status,” she said.
“I also think it’s discrimination as well.”
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland have backed the mandate, with its policy and advocacy general manager Amanda Rohan describing it as a “good start”.
“This is an early runway for business to be able to be prepared,” she said.
Beauty businesses are some of the few industries that are not required to check vaccination status according to new state government mandates.
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