Breakout year for SF
dexter said:I'm just gong to start complaining more to the Guest Service windows. I'll demand my Money back if I don't get what they advertise.One time hersheypark gave me 2 free tickets to come back just because I complained about an employee who gave me a medium drink when I paid for a large, and then told me that what I had was a large when it clearly was not. Yes free tickets just for that.
I complained at my last SF visit about all kinds of operational problems and got the run around. I will be more demanding next time. They better be showing me a good time.
You know, I know I dont' post much here...but I read alot.
Sorry, but having worked behind the counter at a waterpark, it is the people like you that need to learn to enjoy the park rather than focusing on things you hate to cheat any amusement venue out of their money.
Although, yes, the customer is right, and you could have complained, but obviously, the way you presented it or the length that you spent made them give in. Simply bringing up the situation would have not have resulted in that.
The reason I guess I just had to voice this is because, those two complimentary tickets are a loss for the park, and even though it is to make someone happy to come back for an experience that isn't so great, you obviously remember the bad experience, and now the park will not get more money on your next visit. Thus, that money could have gone toward improvements for you.
Anyways, if that didn't make much sense, my point is, two many people in this world are "sue-happy", and people who do this by demand refunds or other things to "forget" an "bad experience" whether it be not enough ice in your drink to not being able to find a picnic table with enough shade for you.
Don't take this too personal; I don't mean to attack. It's just too many people focus on the negative when they visit. Enjoy what you have. This year should be a great season for Six Flags parks. End rant.
1. Parking on your return visit. IIRC Hershey is $8
2. Gas to drive to park for return visit. obviously YMMV (literally! :) ) but let's assume $10 for the sake of argument, which is probably lowballing it (figuring in 100 miles, 20mpg = 5 gallons at $2/gal)
3. Argue time, which includes argue time with the orignial worker, and also includes the time it takes you to go to Guest Services, wait in line, speak with someone, and argue until they give in. This could vary widely, but all told could amount to an hour or more. T-Mobile says I'm worth $21/hour for my time, so let's say $20 for the sake of arguement.
4. The value of the product that you paid for but didn't get that resulted in your complaint in the first place. Sodas aren't cheap in an amusement park. We'll assume that as $2.
(Oh, and for the record, in many places that sell fountain drinks, 20oz. are quickly becoming the "Large" size.. including Knoebel's. Places that have 32oz. call them things like "Super", "Mega" and other words the casual diner wouldn't think of using unless they specifically wanted to order a 32oz and look for it on the menu. I wasn't in the situation and could be wrong, but the odds are you actually were incorrect in the nomenclature of sizes.. especially since the employees do go through training that you do not. One place's 'large' is another place's 'small'. The fact that you got 2 free tickets doesn't mean you were right, either, because Guest Services often has no idea on food/drink pricing, sizing, etc. for the park)
That's $40 for 2 tickets that you feel are supposedly free. The price tag can go up if you actually buy food in the park on your return trip (granted, not likely) or if your commute to the park costs more in gas.
Charles Nungester said:
What wood has SFNE built in 20 years?Granted, it has one surprising and one fun woodie.
None, but I actually really, really like both woodies at the park. Tbolt and Cyclone are shamefully underrated.
That being said I still go to the park once a year, at most.
rct247 said:Sorry, but having worked behind the counter at a waterpark, it is the people like you that need to learn to enjoy the park rather than focusing on things you hate to cheat any amusement venue out of their money.
Quoting just a small part here but your attitude pretty much perfectly sums up what's wrong with a lot of people in the service industry.
If I were a water park owner and I could attribute something like your post to one of my employees I'd fire you in a heartbeat. *** Edited 2/26/2007 12:57:54 AM UTC by matt.***
matt. said:
Charles Nungester said:
What wood has SFNE built in 20 years?Granted, it has one surprising and one fun woodie.
None, but I actually really, really like both woodies at the park. Tbolt and Cyclone are shamefully underrated.
That being said I still go to the park once a year, at most.
I agree, Considering I actually liked Cyclone more than S:ROS is a understatement. Even tho S:ROS is easily in my top 5 steel
Chuck
Chuck
Know that I usually visit the GS window of most parks if it is not busy even if I had a good day, and this was the case on this particular day. I like to tell them what went right, and what I didn't like. I told the lady at the GS window everything about my visit, and the wrong size incident was the only negative thing I mentioned. She offered the free tickets without me even asking for anything in return, and I was pleasantly surprised.
And the point I was making in my previous post was that SF didn't give a crap about much worse negative comments I had about their park. How the park was very busy but the rides were not running at the capacity necessary to handle the crowds. How I rented a Q-Bot to help with the problem but couldn't find wait times at the entrance to any of the rides. How half of the rides were closed even though I paid full price. How the people who worked at the park made an effort to show the guests that they didn't want to be there.
Compare that to HP, of which I had only one minor complaint, and then compare the way both parks handled my complaint.
I am not at all offended by your post rct247, because I see where you are coming from. I have worked at parks too, and I understand the negative feelings one can have for the people one is serving. BUT I need to say this. It is not I who cheat, but it is SF who has several times cheated ME out of what I paid for (that's how I feel, even though some here have tried to get me to consider that after I pay to get in a park, the park doesn't owe me anything).
And finally, I do concentrate on the positive when I am visiting a park. Think about it this way, I have saved up for a while and daydreamed about visiting said park. I planned, asking off of work and preformed a check-up on my car. I aked friends if they were interested in going with me. That takes a lot of energy, and I expect that my day at the park goes mostly right. I can forgive a few drawbacks, but every SF trip I have taken in the past 10 years has had many more problems throughout the day than is acceptable to me.
From now on, I will ask for a refund if it is the same as it has been for the past 10 years, because SF has promised this to be the "Breakout year" for them and that they have fixed most problems.
This was a long post. I find that I don't explain enough in some posts and that I need to elaborate afterwards. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.
Delan and DWeaver, I'm moving to Orlando at the end of march myself. Maybe we can hang. Well I know Delan and I will. ;)
Back on topic. With improvements I have been hearing about for the parks, I do think it will be a good breakout year. It depends on what "breakout" is defined by. Breakout of the norm, breakout of debt, breakout of guest services, breakout of attendence figures, or what?
SFMM looks to be getting some nice attention, and not with the addition of another coaster. SFGAm is shifting its focus to families big time this year. SFoT will be staying open later as well as feature a new show and park improvements. SFoG is celebrating their 40th Anniversary, even after a chainwide 45th Anniversary celebration. I think new coasters are going to two well-deserved parks. SFKK is even getting a nice addition. With what I saw last year, I know it can only get better, especially with more time to prepare this year. *** Edited 2/26/2007 6:39:42 AM UTC by rct247***
LOL Chuck! It's all those damn kids and their loud rock-n-roll music...they make me so mad! ;)
You'd rather spend a small fortune and visit someplace you could enjoy like HW, Dells, ect than the park down the street.
Just to be clear I only avoid one park in LA: SFMM. But travelling out of Los Angeles for a weekend at Knoebels [or Holiday World, or Indiana Beach, or Silverwood, or Dollywood, or Lake Compounce, or Cedar Point, etc] costs me about $500 including air, car, hotel, meals, gas, and admission/ride tickets. I also get something my local Six Flags park hasn't been able to deliver in about 7 years: cleanliness, friendly and efficient employees, and ride reliabilty.
To me a choice between a day at SFMM and flying from LA to NYC, renting a car, picking up a few good friends in the city and spending the weekend at Knoebels is a no-brainer ;)
Obviously other's mileage my vary. I don't expect anyone else to hold the same opinion.
Shapiro thinks adding a few bunny's in costumes will turn SF into a Disney experience, and its just not going to happen. I personally am betting we will see attendance to continue to drop. People won't get nickeled and dimed only to have the same crappy experience. I don't think a vast majority of people mind paying to go to a park when they feel they are getting their moneys worth.
I know there's some contention about the effectiveness of the changes we're seeing but you can't fault the guy for giving it the ol' college try.
Coaster Junkie from NH
I drive in & out of Boston, so I ride coasters to relax!
dexter said:
everyone else was walking around with a large, while mine was smaller.
Thats a waterpark issue :^P
PsychoMonkey61 said:Shapiro thinks adding a few bunny's in costumes will turn SF into a Disney experience, and its just not going to happen.
PETA might have a problem with bunnies in costumes too!
And as far as the gas prices go, I'll complain about them but won't let them stop me from doing anything. Driving about 30K miles a year, my wallet definitely feels "the hit" when prices soar high but I consider gas to be something like food and water- my life depends on mobility and mobility isn't something I'm willing to sacrafice.
I always get a seasonpass for SF so I never feel I have been ripped off if I have a bad day at a SF park, I always know I can go back another day. Do you think they would give me a seasonpass for the next season if I complained I had a bad year at SF parks or CF parks?
Demanding free tickets to a park because they messed up on the size of your soda might be taking things a bit too far but when you're dropping all that money in a single day, it's not unreasonable to have high expectations. Of course, it doesn't help that smaller, inexpensive parks like Knoebels, Kennywood, Holiday World and Waldameer seem to "get it" while the larger parks that charge a small fortune regularly fail when it comes to providing a decent experience. Who wants to go to a Six Flags park, spend upwards of $100 for the day and be treated to lousy employees, filth and a bunch of closed rides? I know that I don't.
Not one piece of trash? Since when did "clean" mean "not one piece of trash"? How about simply taking pride in how one's park looks and making sure queue lines and walkways are checked for liter.
Good cheap food with no wait? First and foremost I want the food to taste good. I'm willing to pay higher prices if the quality of the food matches. What I am not willing to pay any amount of money for -- nor wait in line for -- is bad food served by apathetic employees.
it never rains and is always sunny,no line jumpers, and they give you a refund if you didn't have a great time.
Who is asking for those? Why is it so difficult to understand that as a paying customer there are things I expect in return for my patronage?
*** Edited 2/26/2007 3:54:55 PM UTC by Mamoosh***
Go back to the point I made about the store. Suppose you go into a grocery store for 50 items and it's out-of-stock of 10 of those 50 items. Hell, suppose it's only five. That means you have to go elsewhere to get those items, meaning you've now made two stops when you expected to just make one. Now suppose this happens all the time. Aren't you going to be a little irritated with that store after a while?
I'm sorry, but going to a park like Great Adventure and seeing both sides of Chiller, the log flume, the Parachute Jump and three or four flats closed is annoying. If you're going to advertise those rides as part of the park experience, they better be open, barring some unforseen and unusual occurance. Lack of staffing or whatever excuse management comes up with isn't good enough. Disney and Busch operate all their rides unless they're undergoing rehab. Seasonal parks have no reason to rehab rides during the regular season because they have an off-season, something that Disney and most Busch parks don't.
Mamoosh said:
All rides open? Damn right! I understand that there will be times when a ride isn't operating but there better be a good reason for it.---------------------------------------------------
I'm sure if any park has a ride down there is a reason it all depends on what you expect is a good reason.
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Not one piece of trash? Since when did "clean" mean "not one piece of trash"? How about simply taking pride in how one's park looks and making sure queue lines and walkways are checked for liter.
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IMO the cleanliness of any park or anywhere starts with peoples habits, they supply the trashcans and it is up to us to make sure we use them. When I take my kids to parks or the movies I don't let them throw trash on the ground or leave empty popcorn containers on the floor it's all common sence.
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Good cheap food with no wait? First and foremost I want the food to taste good. I'm willing to pay higher prices if the quality of the food matches. What I am not willing to pay any amount of money for -- nor wait in line for -- is bad food served by apathetic employees.
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I go to the park for the rides and shows not for the food. I either bring a cooler with food and drinks or I leave the park and go to a resturant of my choice and have a relaxing meal.
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it never rains and is always sunny,no line jumpers, and they give you a refund if you didn't have a great time.
Who is asking for those? Why is it so difficult to understand that as a paying customer there are things I expect in return for my patronage?
*** Edited 2/26/2007 3:54:55 PM UTC by Mamoosh***
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There are no guarantees in life and sometimes you don't get what you want all aspects of our lives.
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