the_bigg_cheese

So your telling me no-one from your group did anything wrong.....no-one in the world would ever start an arguement for the "hell of it" particularily someone in an official role, there may be instances when security services are slightly hamfisted, but you have to remember that some of the stuff these people deal with is extreme at Thorpe Park (I was waiting in the Car Park for a friend of mine to finish working when I witness an Armed Robbery attempt on the cash trolley that was being moved down to the security offices). What I seem to find common in situations like these (I work in a customer facing role, so see a lot of this) is that in a busy period, if you ask someone to do something and the other members of the group seem to think it is either because of Race/Age/Sex etc, voices will start to be raised, thus resulting in arguements happening, I can almost guarantee you that at least 1 person in your group raised their voices at one point or another. I personally think Thorpe's Zero Tollerance approach is excellent, it is fairly uncommon to see major incidents inside the park, and after all, Thorpe is supposed to be a nice day out. On the other hand though, if something was done wrong by the Thorpe Security staff, they will be dealt with, and I am sure you will be compensated for your trouble if you lodged a complaint, however if all you did was leave after argueing, then decided to post on a Theme Park Enthusiast forum which you have never posted on before just to complain, I have a funny feeling you never lodged a complaint with Thorpe or Merlin and probably are aware you or another member of your group may have done something wrong. Just my .02p worth. Hi Andrew, The initial reason Thorpe stated that they searched a member of our group was that he appeared 'not to be able to walk in a straight line'. They extensively searched him and found nothing. The Police again spoke with him and did not charge or warn him, he had committed no crime, was perfectly 'straight' and there was no evidence of him breaking any laws. I am sorry you had to witness an attempted armed robbery, however these guys wear stab vests and get paid fairly well, compared to the Police and Army they have it easy. You may well be right, when someone is singled out, others in the group may well not know what is going on. This is why we had lengthy discussions with several members of the security team before the incident started. We have indeed lodged complaints about this although Merlin/Thorpe Park refuse to accept that the security are their staff as they are a private company. We may well get compensation but a token is nothing compared to seeing my friends and my children in complete and utter distress. You are also correct when you say voices were raised by members of our group, would you be perfectly calm when your partner has just been shoved by a member of staff who was not even involved in the ongoing discussion? Remember, this is all on CCTV which has been viewed and is currently with the Police. I understand the Zero Tolerance approach which is nice to hear when going on a family trip out, which is exactly what we were on. What I completely fail to understand, is why after it had 'kicked off', when the police had turned up and everything had calmed down, my family and another white family were told we could enter the park, but not the black families, including their baby and young children who had absolutely no involvement apart from standing in the corner and crying. The reason I joined this forum to discuss this topic was because the feeling we got from the police sergeant was that this wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. I am just saying what had happened and asking if anyone else had experienced anything else like this.

Yesterday we went to Thorpe Park, UK and after the security singled out certain members of our group, (the 6'7" Gambian in the basketball outfit) they then decided to pick an argument with the other members of the group who felt he was treated unfairly. It all kicked off with young children witnessing their mother being subject to common assault by the 'private security firm'. Then the white members of the group were told we could enter the park but not the black members, including the children. You can judge for yourself the type of people hired to be security when they are not licensed bouncers and they start physical contact with customers. The police were called, they reviewed the CCTV and said they would recommend the park would give us a refund as apparently we were 'trespassing' at this point. They are also asking Thorpe Park to investigate the manner in which the staff conduct themselves and enforce their policies. This was a family day out organised by a local Caribbean food company for people of all ages and races to enjoy. It ended up leaving a lasting impression in the minds of all those who witnessed the disgusting behavior of certain members of staff. Has anyone else experienced this type of treatment from Thorpe Park Staff?