Knotts Berry Farm ... AWESOME Guest Relations experience!

This just seems like another sad example of our entitlement society.

Even though the park did absolutely nothing wrong, you felt that you should have been compensated because of an unfortunate outcome for which they were not responsible.

"AWESOME Guest Relations experience" was in reality the park's way of making your pesty annoyance go away with the least possible hassle. Comping you a couple of free passes was less time consuming than dealing with you anymore. Unfortunately, it only reinforces such behavior in the future.

Most parents would be thankful that their child was not seriously injured and left it at that. You seem to have had another agenda.

What's next? People feeling they are entitled to steal Coke from the drinking fountains. Oh, wait....

I think the key aspect of this story is that his "little one" was going into the military. When he didnt get what he wanted out of the first round of emails and he didnt go away the park threw tickets at him to keep him from going to the media. A few more fact streaches and the media (social or otherwise) would eat this up. Everyone loves a good standing up for the rights of our troops against big business story.

Sprig said:

Should I have used the term "short" instead of "little"?

It may have avoided confusion if you'd not referred to your daughter -- full grown, and in the military -- as a "little one". To many, "little one" would be a reference to a child. Not an adult.

Perhaps if you'd refer to her as your adult daughter?

Sprig said:
And we essentially got nothing for the dollars we sent to KBF several months in advance.

No, you did get exactly what you paid for: the opportunity to enter the park and enjoy its many attractions.

That that opportunity slipped away from you has nothing to do with Knott's. Indeed, from your post, Knott's took exemplary care of your daughter after she and the other members of your party failed to pay attention to her developing symptoms.

Which is why people are wondering: if you didn't expect or think you deserve comp tickets, why would you be trying to send them your hospital records? Why would you be "pissed off" that your records didn't go through?

I think what a lot of people are taking exception to is what exactly the "perceived" service it to be provided by the park when purchasing a ticket to visit a theme park.

Sprig believes that by buying a ticket you are entitled to a full day at the park, with all the bells and whistles (or like, the rides operating etc)

The majority of the forum believes that you are only entitled to being admitted into the park. That's it

The actual service being provided? I tried quickly finding (aka 30 seconds on google) a policy document online but came up short, but typically the fine print on the tickets says that the ticket you've purchased guarantees you admission to the park, rain or shine, with no guarantee of "x ride" being open when you visit. So probably closer to the latter

edit: yeah, what slytherin said

Even that explanation is overthinking it.

The park did nothing wrong - even Sprig admits as such.

There's no reason to go beyond that fact. The park did nothing. They operated just fine and normal, but he sent them a letter expecting freebies.

That's a ****ty thing to do. He put the responsibility for his own personal misfortune on the park.

Like sws said, it's unfortunate that it's just easier for the park to toss out a couple of tickets than to actually say, "Dude, GTFO." and it only encourages people to be douchehats.

If you buy a concert ticket, and get sick during the show, you don't get a refund. I don't see how this is any different. Entertainment has always operated on a "no refunds" policy, except in very special circumstances, such as a water main break.

Sprig, you can deny all you want that you weren't looking for free stuff, but I'll reiterate what everyone else has already said: If you didn't "expect" something, then why even bring it up to the park?

"Hey, just FYI, my daughter got sick while at your park - through no fault of yours whatsoever, I'm just saying is all..." Isn't really a legitimate letter you'd write if you're not fishing for compensation.

Sprig said:

And you are acting like a TROLL.

Name calling, especially toward an established member who regularly participates, is not good for your longevity here.

The really odd thing to me here is that the original incident happened over a year ago. Now he and his family, minus the "little one", finally got to go to the park and have a great time. He seems all of a sudden reminded how great Knott's is, and brings it up in a thread somehow expecting us to be impressed by their awesome service!

It was really nice of him, though, to buy that great T-shirt. See Knott's Berry Farm? Your kindness was rewarded in return.

It makes me a little sad that the only person who actually suffered, the wee little itsy bitsy active member of the military daughter, is the only one who didn't get to enjoy another day at the park...

Is this thread for real?

What has happened to Coasterbuzz?

Jeff said:
Name calling, especially toward an established member who regularly participates, is not good for your longevity here.

I never did name calling, the text I wrote was "ACTING LIKE".

As you know, I have a long time lurker status here, and I simply did not recognize the name as a regular.

I apologize for even posting this thread in the first place.

The SHORT is,

I sent an email to KBF guest relations what happened to us, and Knott's was SUPER DUPER AWESOME NICE TO US!

My second apologies for just trying to word the situation so it might be FUN to read.

CreditWh0re said:

wait, what?

I am sorry I tried to make my post fun to read and failed.

I apologize to you for not knowing/recognizing how much you contribute to CB.

I don't know. If I purchased a ticket, and did not get to use it fully due to an illness, I would politely ask the park if there was any way I could come back another day. If they say no, I would tell them that I understand with a kind smile on my face. If they hand me a ticket for another day, I would post online that they have excellent customer service for all to read.

As far as them saying no the first time because they misunderstood something or didn't receive the info they needed to make a decision, it's all in their response that would make me "pissed" or not.

In other words, I understand Sprig's side of the story.

In my job, if I can't give customers their money back, I can usually offer an exchange. An exchange is best when dealing with potential fraud, because it gives the benefit of the doubt and offers the business the least amount of loss. You save your company from losing a customer for life, and offer goodwill and a good rapport with the customer. I view a comp ticket like an exchange.

I worked at a movie theater. The only people we ever refunded were Volunteer Firemen and EMTs that got called out in the first 30 min after the movie started (and that included 15 min of previews).

Don't get sick.

The disconnect between how Sprig describes what happened (one email was sent to Knott's which resulted in an amazing customer service experience) and what Sprig says happened (he repeatedly emailed the park, he was rebuffed, he continued to email the park, even including non-relevant (to his park experience) medical records, and the park finally caved in to his unreasonable demand) just, well, rankles.

LostKause said:

...If they say no, I would tell them that I understand with a kind smile on my face.

They did not tell me, "No" in the first reply. And I'm a NOT going to any way blame Knott's Guest Relations members for their reaction to my email due to an IT security protocol.

LostKause said: If they hand me a ticket for another day, I would post online that they have excellent customer service for all to read.

That was what I tried to do here and failed.

LostKause said: it's all in their response that would make me "pissed" or not.

In other words, I understand Sprig's side of the story.

From my side of the screen, after I gave it some thought, it seemed a generic reply; but I was very irked ( is that a more PC term for pissed off!?)

The reply did not match the whole content of the email I had sent them; and I let my internal flames cool down a LOT before my next email back.

LostKause said: In my job, if I can't give customers their money back, I can usually offer an exchange. An exchange is best when dealing with potential fraud, because it gives the benefit of the doubt and offers the business the least amount of loss. You save your company from losing a customer for life, and offer goodwill and a good rapport with the customer. I view a comp ticket like an exchange.

And we ate food, purchased more T-shirts, and posted a thread with the title of how AWESOME Knott's Guest Relations treated our family.

Just so you understand, Sprig, my reply above that you quoted was in defense of your post and not against it. I might not have made that fully clear.

LostKause said: ...Just so you understand, /quote]

Thank you for your understanding.

AND, Knott's is AWESOME!