After going on a colossal online rant about Port Elizabeth residents being cheap complainers, Dino Expo founder David Huni was forced to pull the plug on his life-sized robotic dinosaur show in the city yesterday.
Within an hour of Huni’s tirade on his Facebook page The Dino Expo, Walmer Park Shopping Centre’s management cancelled the exhibition.
“We had a number of assurances made by the organisers to provide a world-class dinosaur display as well as fun dinosaur themed kids activities, some of these commitments were not met and the organisers has been informed that this constitutes a breach of their signed contract,” Walmer Park Shopping Centre spokeswoman Deveda Bloema said.
She said the show was cancelled with immediate effect.
The Dino Expo received heavy criticism on social media since its opening on Friday with many complaining it was not worth the entry fee.
The show, with tickets for adults costing R120 and children between the ages of two and 14 going for R100, was meant to go on till April 10.
When Daily Dispatch’s sister publication The Herald sent Huni questions yesterday, he replied in an e-mail, which he also posted online.
“We … had been warned by many people not to go to East London and Port Elizabeth because people there like to complain and there are few people with money compared to Johannesburg and Cape Town, for the same reason important shows only go to Johannesburg and Cape Town,” he said.
Huni said he hoped people in “small cities” would make use of the opportunity to visit an “exclusive exhibition”. “We had many people from EL and PE travelling … to Johannesburg just to see the dinosaurs last year,” he said.
He said there would be no refunds on used tickets.
Port Elizabeth residents said there were only six dinosaurs on show with two robotic ones not working.
East London residents were also unhappy about the show currently under way at Vincent Park and expressed their frustration on the Expo’s Facebook page.
Rayven Potthill said: “Not worth it all, considering what I paid I did not get my money’s worth.”
Lynette Wilkins posted: “Such unprofessionalism and false advertising … only four dinosaurs, well the other one was not moving so maybe let’s not count it. I honestly think I should get my money back.”
Gonubie resident Mark Lindstrom said: “I fell for the false advertising big time. The Facebook page did not say it was a watered down show. When it was announced it was coming to East London we enquired about how you would fit the expo at Vincent Park. This would surely have been the right time to tell the ‘complaining people’ in East London that it was a smaller expo.”
Vincent Park centre manager Joseph Parsley said yesterday they were aware of the bad reviews and management was looking for a suitable way to handle the situation. — Additional reporting by Zipo-Zenkosi Ncokazi
Dino Expo shut down in PE; slammed in EL
Within an hour of Huni’s tirade on his Facebook page The Dino Expo, Walmer Park Shopping Centre’s management cancelled the exhibition.
“We had a number of assurances made by the organisers to provide a world-class dinosaur display as well as fun dinosaur themed kids activities, some of these commitments were not met and the organisers has been informed that this constitutes a breach of their signed contract,” Walmer Park Shopping Centre spokeswoman Deveda Bloema said.
She said the show was cancelled with immediate effect.
The Dino Expo received heavy criticism on social media since its opening on Friday with many complaining it was not worth the entry fee.
The show, with tickets for adults costing R120 and children between the ages of two and 14 going for R100, was meant to go on till April 10.
When Daily Dispatch’s sister publication The Herald sent Huni questions yesterday, he replied in an e-mail, which he also posted online.
“We … had been warned by many people not to go to East London and Port Elizabeth because people there like to complain and there are few people with money compared to Johannesburg and Cape Town, for the same reason important shows only go to Johannesburg and Cape Town,” he said.
Huni said he hoped people in “small cities” would make use of the opportunity to visit an “exclusive exhibition”. “We had many people from EL and PE travelling … to Johannesburg just to see the dinosaurs last year,” he said.
He said there would be no refunds on used tickets.
Port Elizabeth residents said there were only six dinosaurs on show with two robotic ones not working.
East London residents were also unhappy about the show currently under way at Vincent Park and expressed their frustration on the Expo’s Facebook page.
Rayven Potthill said: “Not worth it all, considering what I paid I did not get my money’s worth.”
Lynette Wilkins posted: “Such unprofessionalism and false advertising … only four dinosaurs, well the other one was not moving so maybe let’s not count it. I honestly think I should get my money back.”
Gonubie resident Mark Lindstrom said: “I fell for the false advertising big time. The Facebook page did not say it was a watered down show. When it was announced it was coming to East London we enquired about how you would fit the expo at Vincent Park. This would surely have been the right time to tell the ‘complaining people’ in East London that it was a smaller expo.”
Vincent Park centre manager Joseph Parsley said yesterday they were aware of the bad reviews and management was looking for a suitable way to handle the situation. — Additional reporting by Zipo-Zenkosi Ncokazi
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos