Now this isn’t going to go down well with those parents who’ve already lost a small fortune taking their children to Lapland New Forest or were about to visit Lapland West Midlands, but I’ve got to tell you, the whole thing has provided me with some much needed light relief lately.
I mean the clue is in the name . . . West Midlands or New Forest, either way, it should be pretty clear to all that Lapland it definitely was not going to be.
The trouble is we want it all and we want it now. We moan about our youth growing up expecting the world to fall into their laps without putting the necessary hard graft in to achieve it, while expecting a £30 ticket to get us into Lapland for the day. We’re supposed to be teaching them the value of money and achievement and the satisfaction to be gained from going about things the harder, but ultimately more fulfilling, route. And then we go and tell them we’re taking them to
Lapland!
They, of course, have no idea of the financial shortcut we’re taking by going to the New Forest version. As far as the kids are concerned, they’re off to Lapland, end of story.
Days before the trip, their little heads would be full of husky dogs and horses, jingling with bells, pulling sleds full of presents through crisp snow; imagining the snowmen they’ll build and the prospect of meeting Father Christmas in his icy home . . .
So you can imagine the crashing disappointment on arriving at some muddy field with homemade signs hastily scribbled in permanent marker and a couple of mangy hounds tied to the fence; where a few grubby gazebos filled with straw house the kind of nativity scene you can buy down the Christmas aisle at the local cheap-and-cheerful store. Wonder how many children stopped believing in Santa that day?
But I still can’t find it in myself to berate the people behind these shambolic scams too much. I find it far harder to believe a parent would put their child’s dreams in the firing line like that instead of keeping the fantasy of Christmas alive for as long as possible.
When I was a child I wanted a pony and every Christmas Eve I went to bed dreaming of waking up to find that pony stamping its snowy hooves outside, waiting for me. It never happened, but the fact that it never happened was what kept the dream alive. Imagine if they’d gone out and bought me a phoney plastic pony with a nylon mane and an electronic whinny?
That would have blown Christmas wide apart!
And it’s the same with Lapland. Lapland should be a Christmas fantasy, a snowy faraway dream for children to wander in their own imaginations. Christmas should be about dreams – not reality.
13 Comments
I agree with you Emma.
If a company started advertising Blackpool, Morecambe, Skegness as Tropical beach holidays with sun, sand, sea and amazing temps everyone would laugh and think the company is taking the mick.
I can’t believe people got took in my lapland experiences in the UK!!!
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i agree as well if you want a pseudo lapland visit and save £30 a head go and stand on the longmynd in a stiff easterly gale and smell that fresh air. ho ho ho, come on dasher etc
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I think this is one for the trades descriptions act!
Lapland - Honestly - how pathetic can we get??
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And I thought lapland was a mens club.
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Y Mab: I think this company’s promotion of Lapland is no different from what Blackpool has to say about itself,
I quote “Blackpool Zoo……..a myriad of exotic animals and birds in exotic attraction Amazonia, and Sealife Blackpool is an underwater paradise with spectacular and unique displays including one of largest collections of tropical sharks in Europe”
Whilst I never made it to these attractions in my younger days when I was on the Young Farmers AGMs, but “exotic, paradise, spectacular and tropical” are not exactly the the first words that spring to my mind!
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concerned - No - that’s for the “poles”
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I think any piece of “journalism” that even attempts to dissuade people from claiming refunds that are rightfully theirs, is downright irresponsible.
Sympathising with scammers who are misrepresenting the service that they are providing shows a complete lack of respect for the true value of money or community.
Why are there no comments on this article that actually disagree with you?
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Whitewing - can you quote me where in the article she tries to dissuade anyone from claiming a refund? I am disgusted with the people who perpetrated this scam, and believe that they should refund all the money and face criminal charges, but I’m afraid that doesn’t change my amazement that people parted with hundreds (or even thousands, as is claimed in some cases) of pounds based on a ropey website and a company they have never heard of, without making the least effort to investigate its reliability.
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The whole tone of the article comes across as ‘you get what you deserve for shelling out so much money on a treat’. Therefore implying that you would be stupid to expect any redress, along with the comment. “But I still can’t find it in myself to berate the people behind these shambolic scams too much”. Presumably unlawful activity is fine then?
In actual fact the original website looked very good, and the fact that the scammers had the ability to be able to process online payments gave it some credibility I would have thought.
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I agree with whitewing that the article did give an overall message of “serves you right”. I think it would be much better if we told our kids that Santa doen’t really exist and it is an amalgamation of folk tales originating from Joulupukki of Finland, and hi-jacked by religious movements. Also Santa should be green (He only became red when Pepsi re-branded him in corporate colours!).
I think teaching children the truth would be far more interesting and give them a greater awareness of different cultures to make the world a better place than the materialistic one we live in.
It would also be good for any families who are feel the credit crunch.
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Her opinion may be that people got what they deserved (which, I should say, I don’t agree with) but that is a different thing to actually trying to dissuade anyone from seeking redress. The article is immature, insensitive and uninteresting… but I fail to see how it is actually irresponsible. That’s just something people claim because it makes them feel more self-righteous about disagreeing with someone’s views.
“In actual fact the original website looked very good…
I suppose that’s always going to be a matter of opinion, but I’ve seen the original website and I certainly wouldn’t have given them my credit card details without further investigation. I’m not criticising people who bought tickets; naivite is hardly the worst sin in the world, and it doesn’t justify being ripped off, but I still find it amazing who people will give money too online.
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i agree with you….sorry but shameless chavs who want instant gratification for £30, what did you expect?sueley for a bit more you can fly to ,say Sweden, where OK they might not have snow that particular day, but at least they’ll do the whole job of Christmas a whole lot better than in cash strapped, depressingly grey britain…all i have to say to these instant gratification, chelsea tractor driving chavs is Bah Humbug…..
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Robbie Lad:- I think you are being unjust and rude to suggest that some tens of thousands of people that no doubt you have never met and cannot possibly know are ’shameless chavs’.
Whitewing:- I do agree with your points, and in particular your opinion with respect to the article that sparked this thread, regardless of *any* judgements about those who booked and paid for this event it was falsely advertised, and closed before many who had paid could even go. Ergo, refunds for those people is a right not a priveledge.
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