I'm so mad I could spit. (on the HRP for sure). After looking at my options, I thought a two-person annual Historic Royal Palaces membership was my best choice. We were going to Hampton Court, Tower of London and possibly Kensington Palace if time allows plus I would be avoiding queues and contributing to important historical perservation. We're also doing Windsor Castle but I thought I'd buy my tickets at the train station if possible (I am unsure if you can buy tickets before 9:30 a.m. at a train station, most everything I see indicates you can only buy after 9:30 tickets to Windsor Castle and I want to be there for 9:45 a.m. opening)

I contact the HRP press office in February to find out whether I can buy online my membership and when I should do so for an August sojourn to England.

Press office in February says to wait until early July and that by then it should be possible to buy online and I'll have plenty of time but not pay longer for the membership than I need it. I contact them again a couple of weeks ago and never heard back.

It's not possible to buy online now even though it is early July. So Saturday I tried to ring them up to do my annual membership but misjudged the time difference and they were closed already. So I called yesterday(Sunday) and spoke to "Amanda" and she said the computers were down but assured me there was plenty of time to get the materials to me before my trip. I called again right before closing hours for HRP box office yesterday hoping computers were up, but supposedly they were still down. Still same information. I again asked Amanda if I had time. Yes, she replied.

No one every mentioned allowing 28 days for processing and delivery. So I called this morning to buy the membership and speak to snooty Emily. (fourth overseas call and this time I'm up early to do so before work)

Emily informs me there's 28 days processing, arrival time so there is no guarantee that it will arrive before I depart at the end of this month. She acts like I'm an idiot for not knowing this and accuses me of lying about my conversation with Amanda, that she's an experienced agant and would never tell me I had time (I suggested she listen to the recordings of the conversation, which she said she would do). She also said she doubted there was a press office. When I asked how does she think they are getting all the press for the new Kensington Palace exhibit, she had to concede they had one but she had no idea of how to reach them. (obviously I'm emailing them when I get into work this morning to express my utter disappointment in them suggesting July as plenty of time and not mentioning the 28 day processing time)

Anyhoo, if my materials don't arrive before I depart I'm SOL. (So that's not an option) They will not hold the materials at a gate for me nor will they allow me to give them extra money for expedited processing and shipping (bought my Buckingham Palace tickets yesterday and they only need 16 days). Poor customer service imo.

She says my only option is to purchase at the gate and get a temporary membership.

EXCEPT.....here's the kicker. She says it will take AT LEAST 20 minutes to process my membership request and they do not open the box office before 9 a.m. (my first HRP property is Tower of London and that they don't process tickets, admissions etc 15 minutes before opening just boggles my mind). So what's the point? I explain to her that's untenable. I have 3 to 3 1/2 hours at the Tower and don't want to lose such a big bulk of time for processing a temporary membership.

And even more importantly, everything I've read here is that I want to do the Magic Kingdom opening dash for the tower of London opening on an August day....which is get there before opening and dash to the Crown Jewels at 9 a.m. right when they open so there are no lines or crowds....who knows what they would be like at 9:30.

So unless I'm missing something, it seems like HRP will be a waste because I don't bypass the lines at one attraction and actually fall waaaaaaaaaay behind....

So I'm now down to what to do??? Should I buy the dreaded London Pass (only need 10 days for delivery) because I skip the lines and get Windsor Castle? It will cost me more money in the long run and isn't a good financial value for me but perhaps skipping the queues in August makes it worth it for me. Thoughts, please.

I just have no clue what to do because I thought I had everything sorted out. The sad thing is if anyone had ever mentioned 28 days processing time to me when I first asked back in February I would have most assuredly bought early because I had plenty of time and I really wanted to do HRP but Emily's attitude (accusing me of lying about Amanda) was a real turn off. It's very disappointing especially the part about them not opening the admission box office before 9 a.m. and taking so long to process a membership.

Thanks for listening. I know this was long but as I'm sure you can tell I'm quite upset. And thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

UPDATE: Thanks for the thoughts re HRP and Windsor. I emailed when I got to work this morning the nice, lovely lady, Angie, who I had emailed last February (she was in membership office, not press office, email was at work and I had remembered it wrong when posting from home). She was so kind and remembered my email and had planned on processing all along the membership directly rather than through the normal phone processing, which goes from the call center to her office. She could not have been more gracious, apologized for the confusion, and has my information including credit card details and I should receive my materials in time right before my trip. I'm beyond thrilled and very pleased because this is something I had wanted to do for the reasons as I stated before.

Bottom line to future readers: Be sure and book 28 days and more from your trip and HRP is a good idea for a variety of reasons or email their membership office. Seems like a good organization with two lovely employees. Just avoid hopefully one certain snooty phone center employee....and if you book in person the membership I was assured the process takes about 10 minutes, not 20 to 30 minutes.

Thanks again. Safe travels to one and all.