Braehead Arena — Attraction in Great Britain

I recently attended here for the comic and film convention, or con for short, which summarised it well.

I turned up for the early bird 9am kick off. The queue was huge, so I waited in line. Loads of Star Wars characters , which didn't bode well for me, as I don't have any interest in Star Wars. I had to ask one of the staff which queue was for the early bird entry, as it was not too clear. He was very polite and he was a small Asian dude, in his 40s with glasses and a backwards baseball cap. He was 5 stars, as was the girl who scanned my ticket and the guy who stamped my wrist (is that hygienic? I'm not so sure). Anyway, on nearly entering the event a guy in a luminescent vest grabbed my bag off me - he didn't ask, he just grabbed and started going through my bag - he even checked my wallet for Christ sake! I was not happy, especially as other people were walking past me with unchecked bags. He was foreign and I sarcastically joked, "Do you want a blood sample, or maybe a urine sample to go with it", he then basically threw my bag at me. I was none too pleased.

Being a veteran of comic marts from the 90s, I really wasn't impressed. It was £18 for an early bird ticket with an additional £1 fee. It's £11 for the 11am later entrance. If you're not there for autographs or a modern 'look at me, I'm a geek', fan of pop culture, the glut of woeful superhero films or a fan of 'The Big Bang Theory' TV show, I doubt there was much there to interest you. There were around 8 comic sellers, a couple I gave a wide berth to, as I know them from years ago and they're unscrupulous to say the least.

If you collect Funko pops, Pokémon, anime or some superhero figures, you're all set. If, like me, you're a Veteran of comic fairs/marts, you'll be dumfounded to see issues from 50p bargain bins of the mid 2000s now listed at £20 plus. The prices are way too steep now and it's no longer a fun hobby.

Any older comic collectors will be pleased to know Arthur Boyd was there, but he had someone else working for him, who I found quite rude and unhelpful, who tried to charge me 20p for a crumpled up carrier bag. I spoke to an older comic collector (a guy in his 70s or 80s), who also had a backpack. I asked if they searched him when he came in and he replied "no,but I told them I didn't have my bombs on me today", apparently the security guy laughed. All I can say is it smacks of double standards and I won't be back to that rip off event next year. By the time I left, you could hardly move for all the people. Certainly well attended, but if you're a proper comic fan/collector, I wouldn't...

As a at the arena for the pdc darts on Saturday 4th of november, very disappointed. Having attended the last two years we were looking forward to the event. Arrived at the arena and had to wait in a queue for almost an hour, hubby asked to take mask of costume off which kind of wasted the point of wearing a costume and as we got closer to the entrance people who were collecting tickets were being allowed in before us. Bag searches and body searches were being done as usual. However there was only one female steward doing this!! So even longer waiting time, although I will say the last was fab. When we got in and found out seats hubby and to the bar. As it was quite empty he came back quick....but only for his ticket to prove he was in the table seating area.! The stands could not get down. The arena was freezing. I expected it to get warmer but no it did not. The whole evening was spent shivering as the air con was blasting freezing air in. Why?? Saw a couple of games of really good darts then bar time. Remembering to take ticket hubby came back within five minutes minus any drinks, why you ask. Due to the massive que! The two bars in the table area were four deep ad going nowhere fast. He finally went back and stood for almost 30 minutes for two drinks. A couple beside us decided to go to different bars each. One took 50 minutes and the other was over an hour! One bar sold only beer and cider so no drink for me as I don't drink alcohol. Going to watch darts and spending more time at the bar is not good. Waiting to watch Gary Anderson and then being stuck in a queue and missing the whole thing is disappointing. Come on braehead get this sorted! Seriously thinking of going to another...

Me and my friend were at the arena recently and although we had a reasonable time skating, I was not satisfied by the customer service. I found that when using a locker, it had taken my money and not locked itself therefor forcing me to use another 50p which once again didn't properly lock. I reported this to a staff member at the skate hire who had helped my friend with his skates. She was very understanding of the situation and used a 50p to get the locker working for us. She went on to tell me to come to her at the end of our session and that she would reinburss us for our lost change, this seemed resenable and I thought nothing of it. However when I went to ask for my change back, there was someone else at the desk. The two staff there denied being able to get my change and said they were not to give out refunds. After talking and explaining that it was not a refund but change that was "stolen" there was still no positive outcome. I am sad and surprised that they would cause a great deal over 50p. Although this was a small problem, it has left our experience with a sour taste and is deterring us...