KARORI MALL SANTA OFFERING "PLATINUM TIER" PHOTO PACKAGE FOR $89.99
Standard package is a printed 6x4. Platinum gets you a USB and a longer chat with Santa.
The Santa stationed outside the Karori Mall Specsavers has been accused of upselling photo packages to parents, with one mum quoted $89.99 for the top tier.
Santa offers four tiers — Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum — printed on a laminated sheet propped against the sleigh. Bronze gets you one printed photo. Platinum is, per the sheet, "the full Santa experience, USB included, ask about framing".
Karori mum Felicity Doerr, 34, said she'd queued 25 minutes with two kids and a flat white. "I asked for one photo. He said, 'are you sure, the Gold is much better value'. My four-year-old started crying because Santa was doing a sales pitch."
Another parent, Hamish Beattie, said Santa had asked his son what he wanted for Christmas and then "gently steered him toward suggesting the Platinum to mum". Beattie added: "That's not Santa. That's a Harvey Norman manager in a beard."
The Lower Hutt events company that contracts Santa told The Daily Yarn the pricing was "industry standard" and Santa was "performing within scope". Asked if Santa got commission, the spokesperson said that was "commercially sensitive".
Santa is back on the sleigh Saturday from 10am. The candy canes, a Specsavers staffer confirmed, are from Pak'nSave.
Santa offers four tiers — Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum — printed on a laminated sheet propped against the sleigh. Bronze gets you one printed photo. Platinum is, per the sheet, "the full Santa experience, USB included, ask about framing".
Karori mum Felicity Doerr, 34, said she'd queued 25 minutes with two kids and a flat white. "I asked for one photo. He said, 'are you sure, the Gold is much better value'. My four-year-old started crying because Santa was doing a sales pitch."
Another parent, Hamish Beattie, said Santa had asked his son what he wanted for Christmas and then "gently steered him toward suggesting the Platinum to mum". Beattie added: "That's not Santa. That's a Harvey Norman manager in a beard."
The Lower Hutt events company that contracts Santa told The Daily Yarn the pricing was "industry standard" and Santa was "performing within scope". Asked if Santa got commission, the spokesperson said that was "commercially sensitive".
Santa is back on the sleigh Saturday from 10am. The candy canes, a Specsavers staffer confirmed, are from Pak'nSave.