Time for your BEST Customer Service stories....

I've been amazingly busy since returning from PPP, and haven't really had an opportunity to post a TR or anything (not that you'd *expect* one from me anyway, LOL).

But, since Tina mentioned it, and there's been some *complaints* about all the complaining (ROFL w/Dawny), I thought I'd take a minute to share the EXCELLENT CS moments from the trip. In among the ruins of the house, (or maybe in some boxes in storage, who KNOWS at this point), there sits my '04 season passes from SFoG and Knotts.

Since Frank was a newbie to Dorney, and I *needed* to get my ride on the topless Batman: Chilla, I expected to go to the parks' GR departments and spend awhile talking to them (and either get comped in or pick up a daily admission that I might be able to apply towards my '05 SPs). I was willing to be flexible, but hoped they'd be able to look me up in their computer systems...

Long story short, BOTH parks were amazingly friendly, and accommodating. Not sure if the person at GAdv looked me up (or even if they COULD), but I got comped in to BOTH parks at NO charge for a lost/missing season pass.

KUDOS to SFGAdv, and to Dorney, for your hospitality...it was greatly appreciated. :)

Now, in the spirit of goodwill towards parks, tell us your *excellent CS moments*....thanks!

P.S. to Cedar Fair: embrace the 21st Century and get SOME sort of online SP system (hire me, my info is here!)....;)

my vote for #1 is Dollywood. I went to the park, disliking country music and knowing nothing about the park. Their srvc was fantastic. the workers were friendly and enthusiastic. when i asked for directions to a certain ride or food-type place, they'd walk me half-way there and tell me the directions for the rest. I was amazed. even the broom-pushers were smiling/happy people.
Now here's a big plus: When we got Italian sausage sandwiches, i tried the old, 'those look good. how about two for one?' and they did it! i was floored. later, when i went back, i didn't ask a second time, the lady looks at me and goes: 'still hungry... we can't have that" and does it again!
simply amazing...
nothing there was what i expected: it was nothing short of excellant...

When I first visited BGT in '93, we picked a bad day to go to the park. The weather was fine for an hour or so, but after that the heavens broke and everything outdoors was closed. I believe the policy was no rain-checks or refunds, but when the employee in the booth saw a family of 7 drenched from head to toe, he took pity and gave us tickets for the next day.

At my "home home" park, Sesame Place, where I work is where I have one of my fondest memories. Usually I'm working, so I'm the one providing the wonderful customer service *grin* but one time when I visited, something so small shocked me. I brought my little sister and her friend to the park...they both carried this big tray of food over to our table at lunchtime. I thought to myself, something's going to drop...sure enough, my little sister's drink and her dessert dropped. So, knowing the expensive prices, I told her to forget it, and I'd share my soda with her. Well, an employee (broom-pusher/park prep) saw it, got her another drink for free...and I was completely in shock...I didn't expect that. I wanted to find the guy personally and thank him, but I forgot who it was that did that act of kindness that helped make my day.

Knott's Berry Farm.
When I was planning my spring break trip to Cali a few years ago, I e-mailed guest relations to find out if GhostRider would be out of rehab by the date I would be visiting. I got a very nice response within about an hour telling me GR was scheduled to be open, but Monte would be down for rehab. I replied, thanking them for their courtesy and they even replied again and told me the warm Californina weather should be a nice change from the cold Iowa winter. Wow, talk about friendly service! Usually, my experience with e-mailing something like an amusement park office results in being ignored until I follow up and nag `em.

And lucky for me, I got to spend a second day at Knott's a week later and get some rides on the freshly painted Monte. Sadly,Xcellerator was still under construction.

My best customer service story so far is from from Dorney Park. While in line for the big splash ride a gap formed when some kids were watching the ride and not the line. A large group of kids coming into the line took that opportunity to cut in line and fill in said gap. The woman in front of us along with her two young kids got the attention of an op and ratted them out with us and some others backing her up. After some arguements the group was booted from the line. Their excuse was "They was holding up the line." Meanwhile this was still five minutes from riding.

The op got a thank you from us as well as a letter to Dorney park thanking them again.

Universal Orlando also gets a huge nod for having free one hour lockers outside the rides you cant carry on to.

I got two of em, both of them at "gasp" Six Flags parks.

The first one will be shared by many people on this board and it has to do with CBCon this year at Six Flags Great America. If anyone remembers the horrible spring weather we had this year they will remember that northern Illinois was being deluged with rain for the better part of a month leading up to the event. Well, the day of the event was no exception and it was pouring at the time we went to go process our tickets for the event. Because of that ERT had to be cancelled. As disappointing as that is, you really cannot do much about mother nature, so as I saw it, the park had no obligations to make amends for the lost ERT, especially considering the amount of other stuff we got for the low price of the event.

Anyhoo, the park gave all of us fast passes to use during the day. If memory serves me correctly, it was two fast passes a person, a 30 dollar value, well above what we paid for the event. All I know is that the day ended up being one of the best days I had ever had at the park.

The other story occured at Six Flags St. Louis. It was a packed park on a Saturday, with a gospel concert going on later in the day. Just about every ride in the park had lines around the one hour mark. Around three in the afternoon, about three quarters of the park lost power and it was unlikely that the park would regain power during the course of the normal operation hours. The park did an outstanding job of keeping ALL of there employees up to date and informed so that they could in turn keep the customers up to date and be able to answer any questions. The staff did a great job of trying to entertain the guests while they were waiting to hear from the power company. Once it was acertained that power would not be restored, every one was given a comp ticket on the way out, something the park didn't have to do based on their raincheck policies as outlined on the back of the ticket.

Universal Studios Florida has to be the best experience I've had.

Instead of taking it easy and spending time relaxing and packing on the day of the return flight from Florida, my family and I spent half of the day that USF. We wanted to hit the Mummy again on that day, but the line was 1.5 hours long, and their Express passes (is that what they call them?) were sold out until 5:30. When we told the lady at the kiosk that we weren't able to accept those passes, she said "follow me"--and promptly led us up the handicapped exit and had us seated on the next train out of the station. I don't think we'll ever forget how nice she was to us...

Can't remember any specific incidents, so I'll just take a moment to tip my cap to Holiday World and Silver Dollar City...EVERY employee I ran into at both places was friendly, personable, and seemed genuinely interested in whether I was having a good time or not. This goes a long, LONG way towards explaining my love for these places.

I will second the comments about Dollywood...it is turning into a park where a dislike for Country music (which I happen to enjoy) doesn't mean you can't enjoy a great park with great customer service.

I'll tell you a quick bad one that highlights the importance of providing good service. As a guest at Cedar Point as a kid, I lost a hat on the Mine Ride of all things. I wouldn't have given it another thought but it was a ballcap from the baseball team I played on and I really needed it but when I approached the ride operator he blew me off and said I was out of luck.

I have remembered that to this day. When I went to work for Cedar Point that story was always in the back of my mind so I used to go out of may way to help people find lost items. I dove in dumpsters for car keys, walked resort guests into the park to look for items, etc. Even the effort to find something is meaningful go a guest.

And, it is no joke, bad experiences will be shared by many while good experiences often go unmentioned. Geauga Lake/SFWoA under various owners is a prime example of that.

While at Cedar Point this June, my 2 year old son fell asleep in his stroller. My wife opted to sit with him while my 7 year old and I rode Cedar Creek Mine Ride. In the span of less than 30 minutes, my wife was approached by three seperate employees who each asked if there was anything they could get for her. One even brought her a cup of ice water just in case she became thirsty.

Even though we also saw some not-so-great service that same day,this is the experience we wil remember and share with others.

Kick The Sky said:
I got two of em, both of them at "gasp" Six Flags parks.

The first one will be shared by many people on this board and it has to do with CBCon this year at Six Flags Great America. If anyone remembers the horrible spring weather we had this year they will remember that northern Illinois was being deluged with rain for the better part of a month leading up to the event. Well, the day of the event was no exception and it was pouring at the time we went to go process our tickets for the event. Because of that ERT had to be cancelled. As disappointing as that is, you really cannot do much about mother nature, so as I saw it, the park had no obligations to make amends for the lost ERT, especially considering the amount of other stuff we got for the low price of the event.

Anyhoo, the park gave all of us fast passes to use during the day. If memory serves me correctly, it was two fast passes a person, a 30 dollar value, well above what we paid for the event. All I know is that the day ended up being one of the best days I had ever had at the park.

I was going to say that Bob, that was truly nice of the park, especially for my group as we had traveled 7 hours for the event and it was a bummer at first when they canceled but they came through. I know I would love to come back if I am ever in the Chicago area again.

Here's mine:

I was invited to the Son of Beast media day in 2000. My wife and I left early in the morning and made the 90-minute drive, only to find no cars in the parking lot that day. Little did we know that lightning damage the night before had caused the event to be cancelled.

So we actually were able to walk into the park itself trying to flag someone down. We made it all the way to the Action Zone entrance before we finally saw a human: a security guard. He asked us what we were doing; we told him, and he escorted us to the PKI offices.

Now at this point I expected to be told, "Better luck next time." No. Jeff Siebert took us into his office and talked with us about the new ride for a few minutes. Then, David Brandt (sp) took us out to SoB and gave my wife and I a personal tour. We went through the station, down directly under the loop, and over beside the first helix. David narrated the whole time and I used up a roll of film.

To top it all off, once we got done (an hour later), Jeff gave us four free passes for any day.

I wasn't able to go to the rescheduled media day, but I think my personal media day more than made up for it. That was the day I experience firsthand the legendary customer service at PKI, and I've seen it in smaller ways many times since then.

Besides the general, all round great service at Holiday World, I have a couple from Cedar Point.

About 10 years ago, my son and I went to CP on a very hot, humid Saturday. The temp was up to 90 degrees by 11 am. We were outside the gates waiting to meet up with some friends when I got very light-headed. I warned my son I wasn't feeling well and sat down on the pavement and put my head between my knees. In less than a minute I was surrounded by CP employees. I was so happy for their quick, unasked for response, especially since I had a young child with me.

Last year during our last trip of the season in October, I'd forgotten to zip my jacket pocket and lost my cell phone while riding Millennium Force. The operator told me to check back in a couple hours, and if they hadn't recovered it yet, to check with security before we left. I did so, giving them my name and season pass info, and two days later I received my cell phone in the mail.

I had a similar Six Flags experience at SFA. The park closed early due to severe thunderstorms. Each guest was given a free pass on exiting. This included we season pass holders.

Holiday World, SRM 2001. We had pre-registered and paid for my daughter to attend the event. However, something came up - it was exams - and she couldn't make the trip. I called the park a couple of weeks before we event to ask if it was possible to get a refund. They took my name and said it shouldn't be a problem. What impressed me was when we got to check in I told the the person at the booth there should be a refund for me, and before I told her my name she called me by name, handed me an envelope with the refund, and went on to say school was more important than amusment parks. It was amazing to me that she knew this in detail - and she wasn't even the person I had talked to on the phone weeks earlier.

A class act, no doubt.

Jim, i had a similar exp at 6flagsWOA two years running, except on one occasion it was like they were cross-examing people. 'you don't have your reciept? do you have a season pass? are you sure you don't have a season pass? if you do, you're not entitled to a pass to come back because you hve a season pass...)
that was a turn-off, big time. it wasn't one employee either. but it was a differant season...

Mine was at Great Adventure. I cut my hand on the railing while waiting for the chiller. I went to the first aid station and was bandaged by a Jessica Alba look-alike. She was really friendly and even asked me to show her which railing I cut my hand so that they could fix it. Woulda asked her for her number but I was on a date. :)

I would have to say Conneaut Lake last year.

We were going to eat at Steak on the Lake and before we were seated I realized I left my wallet in the car. The manager overheard me talking to my daughter and offered me a ride. They seated my daughter and her friend, and we hopped in a golf cart and went to my car. He gave me a great little guided tour along the way.

Frank, who wishes he could have made it back there this year.

Mine would involve Holiday World without a doubt, concerning a personal issue with a harrassing lunatic last year. They went far beyond the call of duty to ensure my safety, my friend's safety, as well as theirs at the time. They were there for me and supported me more than I could ever expect.

I am always impressed with their customer service anyway. :-)

Some other parks who I can think of off the top of my head.......Dollywood, PKI, Cedar Point, the Disneys, SF Over Georgia, and most recently Lakemont Park. It was POURING a rain and the park was dead. There were probably about 10 people in the whole park.

The ride ops were awesome, and so funny. They just couldn't believe we wanted to ride Leap The Dips and some of the flats in the rain, and they got a good laugh out of it.

And Bill's Dorney experience.......just amazing. Did you happen to remember the name of that Supervisor, Bill?

That was great Great Adv. comped you as well.

I seem to remember Adventure City in Anaheim being exceptional as far as customer service.

-Tina

*** Edited 10/20/2004 10:19:57 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***