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Soft play owner Colin Noble says he is “pleased for the customers” after issues with online discount website Wowcher were resolved.

The owner of The Fun Jungle in Ashington had been unable to contact the firm to arrange payment of voucher sale revenue and have the listing removed from the site.

But, following an intervention from the News Post Leader, Colin has now been contacted by Wowcher and the issues have been resolved.

He said: “I am pleased for the customers. I was not massively concerned about the missing money as it was more of an advertising campaign anyway, but when it was bringing bad publicity to the door, that was not what we were hoping for.

The communication issue between The Fun Jungle and Wowcher has now been resolved and customers can claim a refund back from Wowcher.

“Customers rolling up, thinking that they have got a great deal, and then being sent away because we had not been paid was the exact opposite effect of what we were hoping for.

“It was making it very awkward for the staff, and that is not what anybody wants.”

The miscommunication was caused by Wowcher and The Fun Jungle staff members leaving and communication being lost in the process, after which Colin was unable to reestablish contact.

He added: “I think they are doing their best to sort it out to be fair to them, but it is not an ideal situation that we have found ourselves in.

“I’m pleased we can just get on now and go back to doing what we do.”

The Fun Jungle was accepting Wowcher bookings at first, but had begun turning away customers when it was unclear if they would be reimbursed.

The website’s spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear that Mr Noble has had an issue with his offer on Wowcher.

“We acknowledge our part in this breakdown of communication and we sincerely apologise for any distress that this has caused Mr Noble and his customers, and have spoken with him to resolve the payment issue. The deal has been removed from our site accordingly.

“Our Customer Services team are reaching out to customers who have been in contact about this offer to ensure they have received refunds where requested.

“We have fed back to our teams internally on this issue, and are working to ensure that this does not happen in the future.”

Ashington soft play The Fun Jungle resolves dispute with voucher website Wowcher