Monopoly Events - Comic Con Midlands Arvostelua 

First of all, don't let the two-unit NEC venue size fool you; the first unit was used solely for ticket checks, while half of the second unit was taken up by celebrity autograph queues. If you're not going there for celebrities, there isn't much else to do. The remaining half of the unit was dedicated to vendors selling the usual con-slop (dice, overpriced foreign snacks/models and 3D printed toys) and a wrestling ring, with the only real highlights being the independent artists, authors, and the excellent work of the pro-cosplayers and prop-makers. Thanks to the hot-weather travel disruptions (multiple trains were on strike) and a ticket price (over £30pp for a single day) that surpassed much larger conventions like MCM and Megacon, it simply wasn't worth the money. I doubt I'll be attending these again.

Poor customer service
‘Computer says no’ communications
Never buy entry tickets until the day or risk having tickets for an event you don’t want to go to with only Z list celebrities no one wants to meet left!!!! I left it to 6 days before event and have still been left screwed.

Feels like just a con (rather than comic con). Advertising celebrities to meet then you have to also buy entry tickets to be able to use the photo /autograph tickets, then the celebrities you wanted to meet cancel ‘at last minute’ and then you are not able to get your money back! Despite buying the entry ticket and the cancellation request being made within 24 hrs of purchase.

Very very poor and disappointing from Monopoly events. This method must make them an absolute crap tonne of money is all I can say!

Myself and my girlfriend made the long drive to Birmingham comic con this year - She had paid £100 for a photo with an actor and was very much looking forward to the event.

There was no final entry time on the website and our photo was booked in for 17.30 - we arrived at the event at 16.45 and were refused entry by rude staff.
This was obviously traumatic for my girlfriend and since then I have been in a back and forth exchange for months with their customer service team via email.

They are refusing to give a refund and are now outright refusing to respond. We were denied entry to this event for no fault of our own, there was absolutely nothing on the website which indicated we would be refused entry at 16.45.

The staff were rude and despite my girlfriend crying snarkily said "you should have come in the morning like everyone else." I fail to see why we would have come in the morning, since our photo was booked in for 17.30, and again, nothing indicated on the website that we had to come in the morning.

I understand this may be the norm with conventions, but this was our first time going to an event like this. I was disgusted with how we were treated at the door, and I have been even more disgusted by the poor customer service. I was told 4 weeks ago my complaint would be raised with a manager and have had no reply since.

I would sincerely advise anyone to not waste your money going to this. This is easily the worst experience I have had going to any event, they do not care about their customers and seem to be purely interested in taking your money.

Comic Con Midlands Birmingham 2025 Review

It was great being back at the NEC in Birmingham since 2019, unfortunately there were some problems or errors in the organisation of the event this year. Firstly there weren’t a lot of staff around to ask for help, even though there were scanners for people to walkthrough no one was checking people’s bags when entering the building. The queue into the building was extremely long, for people with walking difficulties it didn’t really help them having to walk a long corridor all the way to the end of the queue.

Not having white carer wristbands doesn’t help anyone who arrived with their carers. The one thing that I didn’t appreciate is that people with disabilities waiting in the autograph queue for a guest is made to wait while someone with a diamond pass wristband is brought along to the front. It is unfair to someone who is already waiting in the line to meet them. Disabled people should have priority over diamond pass wristbands.

The queueing system for two of the guests wasn’t wheelchair friendly as the barriers made it difficult for me to get into the queue. One of the guests that queued up for to have a photo personally signed wasn’t at their table. While we waiting for her only to be told she had left. As I had already paid for her autograph ticket, it was both unfair and unprofessional to be left in the lurch like that. Only for them to offer me a pre signed photo of her as a poor consolation prize. I would had loved for a little bit of interaction with her.

We got very lucky that the staff member and supervisor were able to get my photo personally signed by the guest which I appreciate very much and would like to thank them for that. I would also to say a big thank you to staff member at The Originals Duo photo queue who kindly let us line up for an earlier duo photo in order for me to get my photo personally signed by the two from the originals. We really appreciate it so much.

Even though I was the only one in queue for her that afternoon, the staff claimed she was sitting for hours earlier in the day, for she to decide to leave as she not happy that nobody turned up. It wasn’t our fault as we had missed the earlier duo photo op then went to the later one. After that we came straight over to get their autographs.

As for the lanyard for the event it might be a good idea to have members of staff walking around both days selling them. There was another guest that we got a photo with them, afterwards while queuing up for another guest autograph we looked over to see that they weren’t at their table either. I didn’t mind about that as their autograph at their table was pay on the day.