Does the Queen really need my money?
 

Through a website called "Royalcollection.org.UK", I booked a visit for my family to the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace on August 25th.


The form requested my "travel date" because it takes 16 days for their office to post tickets to the United States. It takes 9 days for their office to post tickets to UK addresses.

I wrote that I would be leaving the U.S. on August 5th, and asked that the tickets be sent to the UK hotel we are staying at in late August.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail, informing me that my credit card had been charged for the AUGUST 5th visit!


I wrote back informing the office of it's error, but when they e-mailed me back this morning, they told me that their policy was no changes, no refunds!

Of course I've called my credit card company to complain, but I just wanted give a heads up to anyone considering a visit to Buckingham Palace this summer.

Doesn't surprise me. Ecommerce? In Britain? Surely the 2 don't go together, in the Kingdom of Inefficiency.

You can bet your credit card company will go to bat for you, especially if you have all your booking documentation. (You're not missing out on anything btw)

Royal duh!

I agree about inefficiency that sometimes seem rampant in UK commerce (and in the US for that matter) but I disagree that you "aren't missing out on anything". I suspect you would find Buckingham Palace interesting to visit.

When you get to London, why not take the whole ticketing mess up at the ticket office for the Palace, which is just across the street near Green Park. If they can't solve it, you can still go the credit card dispute route.

Dave White
[email protected]

I'd try to deal with this on the phone before you go if I were you, so as to avoid using vacation time straightening this out.

I think whoever wrote you back didn't actually read what you wrote & just responded to vague idea of a change. Though I like to do anything I can by email, in this case I think you need to have a live conversation with a person or two.

I ordered tickets thru this site for a visit in Sept. They arrived promptly and my order was filled accurately. Let's hope your experience was a fluke -:)

I read this week in the Daily Telegraph (of London) that the Queen has been receiving quite a bit of money in recent years from...of all people...Prince Charles.

When he divorced Princess Di, she took him to the cleaners and he had to borrow money from...the Queen. Mama Liz came through and he has been paying her back, bit by bit, for years and years. And he has almost cleaned up this whopping debt, according to the newspaper. Good chap! Now, one must suppose, he will be free to marry What's-her-name.

Weadles,
I hope you are able to resolve your problem with procuring BP tiakets for the correct date because the place is well worth a visit, I would love to return there someday - we visited the first year it was open to the public (1994) and there was so much to see that it's impossible to take it all in on one visit. Take heart in the fact that the the money does not go directly into the Queen's ermine-lined pockets but rather allows the British taxpayer not to have to pay for pricey projects like the restoration of Windsor Castle after its big fire etc.

USNR - what you posted just shows in my eyes that the Royals are in some ways just like ordinary folks - I bet a lot of men going through a divorce have had to borrow from the 'rents to pay settlements, lawyers fees, what have you. Diana deserved every pence, and since she died, most of it went back to hers and Charles' kids anyway.

Daisy54,

I may have caused an international incident, but I think the Queen would be quite pleased with the gracious manner in which this was resolved.

I'm looking forward to the visit!

I just booked tickets from that site as well yesterday. I printed out a copy of my receipt showing my dates and mailing address, etc...

I'm assuming you printed a copy of your receipt as well? The receipt clearly states the date for which you wanted the tickets and your departure date. Given that the dates on the receipt are correct, I don't think it will be a problem for you to get the incident fixed.

The Windsors have never been known to be short of a quid, and they rank near the bottom of my personal sympathy list. Chas has a huge annual income from the Duchy of Cornwall, and when the British government's campaign to extract some income tax from the Queen was like drawing teeth. And with no disrespect to the memory of the late Princess of Wales, it's not easy to see what she did to justify her lavish lifestyle. There are thousands of people around the world doing at least as much in the way of good works and living on a pittance. Let's save our admiration for people who've worked for their place in life rather than fallen into it.

Update on my tickets to Buckimgham Palace that I ordered on line 8/1, I received them today and all the dates are correct. And of course, no time was wasted to charge my credit card. :)