We are well into the Christmas season now and so it’s time to start getting into the festive spirit. For many that involves markets, mulled wine, and maybe even visiting one of the many outdoor ice rinks that pop up around this time of year. But for one unlucky group, the much anticipated outdoor rink would end up being a huge disappointment and an even bigger waste of money.
Skating on an ice rink is a core memory for many children, but perhjaps they are a thing of the past. A clip, shared to TikTok by “lupeslondonlife,” shows the sad state of the outdoor ice rink in Peckham, a district of South-East London. The group of women can be seen trying to skate on the rink despite the fact that there is no ice on it. Instead of ice, it’s a smooth plastic material that doesn’t really allow for skates to glide along it in the same way a sheet of ice would.
Despite this, the women were still given proper ice skates to go on with but the results just look silly. Instead of gracefully gliding across the rink they have to take small steps on the cheap plastic, any attempt to actually skate simply doesn’t work.
Is this a scam?
Surprisingly, artificial ice rinks are becoming more and more of a thing. While it seems rather disingenuous to label it as an “ice” rink, it is legit and often is seen as a cheaper alternative to actually installing and maintaining a real ice rink for the Christmas period. A lot goes into setting up a real ice rink as it’s rarely cold enough in the U.K. for the ice to stay frozen without a super cool liquid being pumped through pipes underneath.
Of course, if a person paid to skate here and they weren’t aware that it was artificial it’s easy to see why they would feel ripped off. Clearly the experience doesn’t even come close to the real thing as evidenced by the video.
Although it may be more cost effective, genuine ice rinks are kind of a Winter tradition so it’s sad to see venues going for the cheaper option, especially when it clearly affects the customer experience. Commenters who live around Peckham have already vowed not to go on account of it not being real ice, “I was gonna go but I saw synthetic ice,” wrote one.
Others seemed to think it wasn’t too crazy for the venue to opt for synthetic ice, one person asked, “Respectfully why did you think there would be a genuine ice rink on a ROOFTOP[?]”
Either way, a plastic ice rink hardly evokes that Christmassy feeling and the money saved by using synthetic ice will no doubt be lost as customers leave in search of the real deal.
