ComplaintsforSonoma Thunder Incorporated

• Initial Complaint

  02/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of Transaction: September 24, 2021 The amount of money you paid the business: Groupon Flight Ticket $199 + ****************** Fee $118.40 What the business committed to providing you: A Hot Air Balloon Ride within the 6 month time period of purchase What the nature of the dispute is: We originally bought this service in October and have had to reschedule 5 different times due to the Merchant for different reasons. We have requested a refund, but the Merchant continues to remind us of the non-refundable contract that we have signed. This merchant has a history of being unable to provide their flight service to more than half of their customers within the 6 month time period stated on the Groupon purchase and requires to pay an extra $50 to renew the purchase if the Groupon expires. Why would any customer renew their purchase if the Merchant can continue to cancel their flight an hour before the scheduled flight as many times as they please? This Merchant continues to scam their customers and rudely gaslight their customers bad experiences on Yelp. Attached are documentation of email exchanges with the Merchant, customers with similar situations, and documentation the merchant previously submitted to my credit card company. You can also deep dive into their customer service on Yelp as they rudely respond to every Yelp review (https://www.yelp.com/biz/wine-country-balloons-santa-****?start=10).Whether or not the business has tried to resolve the problem: No, the business continues to remind us of the non-refundable contract we signed.Account/order/tracking number: Groupon Order # **********

  Business response

  02/19/2022

  The discounted Flight Certificate that this customer chose to purchase comes with the clear understanding - fully acknowledged and signed by the customer - that it must be used during the promotional period. Even if there are weather constraints, which can occur, we depend on the customer to make themselves available to fly during that period. We have had many excellent days to fly since ******* purchased the Certificate on 10/5/2021 - In fact, we have performed more than 40 flights for more than 500 passengers.The lats time the booked their flight for the 23 of January, the weather was excellent, but they chose to dispute the charge rather than fly. The Fight Certificate will never loose its value and it can be transferred to another party. If they want to reinstate it to use for another 6 month period the cost is $25 per person. This can be done at any point in the future.

  Customer response

  02/22/2022

   
  Complaint: 16785898
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Merchant have never provided us with their availability or clear guidance on which time frame would be the best time to fly. We could only propose dates and wait for the Merchant to cancel on us the day of. We made ourselves available and have been canceled far too many times to have trust the Merchant to provide us with a service. They have poor customer service and rudely respond to every request. I do not wish to sell this to another party as I would not want another customer to go through the same experience as we have. I am expecting a full refund from this Merchant and a reevaluation of their business as they do not respect their customers. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  02/23/2022

  We fly 7 day per week weather permitting, year round, just as we have done for the past 38 years, satisfying more than 50,000 customers. We do not control the weather, just as we cannot control our customers availability. There are far more flyable days than not. If the customer eMails us with a date.. just as they did on the 23rd of January when we did fly but then they chose to not show up or even respond to our confirmations.. then how can we provide service? There will be NO refund for this customer whatsoever based on their obstinate and uncooperative disposition. Groupon has already determined not to refund them and this company will not refund the smaller portion they paid toward this Flight Certificate. If they want to use this service they must adhere to the policy that they initially agreed to OR simply transfer the certificate to someone else who will make themselves available and also respond to our correspondence.This expired certificate will need to be reinstated at a cost of $25 per person along with a $30 reimbursement for the merchant charge dispute. Once $80 has been paid the Certificate can be used during another 6 month period.

  Customer response

  03/02/2022

   
  Complaint: 16785898
  
  I am rejecting this response because: We did notchoose to not show up on the 23rd. The merchant suspended our flight Why would we show up if the Merchant did not intend to fly us? Attached is a text message we received notifying that they have suspended our scheduled flight. This merchant clearly has a history of lying about how they treat their customers as they also claimed that we have been unresponsive in rescheduling our flights. Attached is also a screenshot of their false accusation on yelp and time stamps of our email exchange of the first time we had to reschedule.

  I have received my Groupon refund but I am still waiting for the refund of the smaller portion from the company. Again, I am not going to transfer the certificate to someone else as I do not wish for anyone to go through the same experience as I have with this company. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩