Tourists are furious after booking tickets for Liverpool's big wheel attraction - only to find that it was shut when they arrived.
A litany of angry reviews have been left on the Trip Advisor page of The Wheel of Liverpool, which is based at Keel Wharf on the city's historic waterfront.
The reviews date back as far as September and see people explaining how they have purchased tickets for a ride on the 60-metre high attraction, only to arrive and find it closed with no explanation.
Several of the comments say they have asked for refunds but heard nothing back from the company behind the wheel.
Run by Freij World Attractions, the Wheel of Liverpool and its 42 viewing pods have been operating at the waterfront since 2010 - but recent months have seen it hit with a raft of complaints and shrouded in mystery.
A Trip Advisor review from January states: "Checked online to see if it was open stated open.
"Got the train into town with my grandson who was very excited as the last 2 times we visited the wheel it was shut.
"On arrival it was shut to our disappointment, on speaking to a nearby vendor he informed me that people have come from as far as London only to find it shut.
"They are still selling tickets online for this attraction, the company who should be running it needs to be brought to task or take it away and stop ripping people off - Good job McDonalds only round the corner to save the day!"
Another review from December 2019 tells a similar story, it says: "I would like to leave a review but unfortunately after pre-booking tickets in September for my husband’s 50th birthday we turned up today to find the wheel shut for maintenance.
"We had received no notification of this and were bitterly disappointed. We will be contacting for a refund."
Someone who tried to visit the attraction in November said: "We pre-booked the big wheel Liverpool for four people as part of a surprise birthday present.
"When we got to the wheel it was closed for maintenance with no pre-warning, emailed the company and 1 week later still no response or refund, disgusting, do they think people will just write off the money and forget about it?"
The issues and confusion appears to go back as far as September, with another frustrated customer stating: "You can not miss it as you can see the wheel everywhere. Odd thing is no one was there and people wanted to go on it."
The ECHO has made numerous attempts to contact Freij World Attractions for a response to the complaints.
