In early March I bought two sky jump passes and a video from 1-800 Skyride (a.K.A. Soaring Sports, Adventure Sports, Skydive Georgia) for the amounts of $396.90 dated March 7 and $89. Dated March 11. Although I was immediately charged via a credit card, the services to be provided on March 14 were never delivered and the merchant refuses to refund these two amounts.
While several other vendors offered cheaper services in the local Atlanta area, I ultimately purchased two sky jump passes and an accompanying video from the company based on the promise of availability for the morning of March 14. However, my appointment was canceled without notice. Two separate employees, notably a sales representative and the customer services manager, admitted the error as that of the company's and subsequently stated that I would immediately receive a full refund upon a written explanation. While I complied with their request, after two months of delays and excuses, the company has refused to refund the two charges.
Below is a timeline of events detailing my correspondence with the merchant for the events that took place from February to mid-May.
February 26 to March 6
Coinciding with a visit from my brother to Atlanta from New York, I contacted numerous skydiving companies in the local area in the hopes of scheduling two tandem skydives (for my brother and I) to celebrate my brother's upcoming birthday. The primary purpose of my brother's visit was to attend a wedding and, as a result, we had limited time to make the jumps. We had a single morning free to skydive, specifically Monday, March 14, before my brother departed Atlanta to return to New York in the afternoon on that same day.
Within this period, I contacted the merchant, 1-800 Skydive (or the Merchant), to enquire the services offered, the expenses of such services, and availability.
March 7
I contacted the Merchant again to confirm availability. While several other vendors offered cheaper services and more convenient jumping locations, I ultimately selected the Merchant due to the promise of availability on the morning of March 14. The sales representative, Richard, confirmed the time and date for the two jumps and the costs associated with those services, which amounted to $396.90, by phone and email (please see attached contract/receipt).included in these services was a 2-hour training course prior to the jump, a private flight to make the 6-10 minute jump, and trained professionals coordinating the jumps (where the jumper would be attached to the professional in tandem).
March 11
I contacted the Merchant again to confirm our reservation as well as book a video of our jump on the morning of March 14. The video, which cost $89.25, was included in a deal that would have one of the Merchant's staff members jump with us and record our experience. As before, we received the contract via an email that confirmed our reservation for the services to be performed on March 14.
March 14
While our jump was scheduled at 9 A.M., I contacted the Merchant at approximately 7:45 A.M. To gather detailed directions to the drop zone. After being placed on hold for 20 minutes by a sales representative, Don, I was told first that there was no record of my jump on that morning. After I vehemently denied this claim (and subsequently reread the confirmation emails verbatim back to them), they discovered that they had changed my booking to a week later (Monday, March 21).
I was transferred to the Manager of Customer Service, Trish, for the Merchant. I expressed to her that the sole reason for my decision to engage in the Merchant's services was due to the promise of availability on March 14. After putting me on hold for another 20 minutes, she came back and explained the circumstances for the Merchant's error. As explained to me by her, at the time of my order of the video on March 11, a sales representative had wrongly moved my appointment to the following week. She admitted that error was solely attributable to 1-800 Skyride (e.G. The Merchant) and promised repetitively that the entire amount charged to my credit card would be refunded upon a written request.
She requested I write to the company explaining the circumstances of my request for a refund and, after receipt of the letter, would be promptly reimbursed for the charges. As requested, I wrote such a letter and mailed it within a 24-hour period to the address she had given to me over the phone.
March 17 to April 3
I continually contacted the Merchant to inquire on the status of my refund over the next three weeks (made over 5 phone calls to the customer service representative). With the majority of my calls, I received a recorded message where I left my request for the status of my refund. When I eventually connected with the representative, she said that my letter had not yet been received. Note that I never did receive a call back from my messages over the next two months; I was always the initiator of contact with the Merchant.
April 4 to April 20
In the first week of April, I received the original letter I had sent more than three weeks ago requesting my refund (returned to sender). When I called and eventually connected with the customer service representative (after 4 calls), she said that they were having problems with their mail box but the problem has been corrected. She informed me to resend the letter and that it was would be processed immediately. I called twice over the next two weeks to see if the Merchant had received my letter but only received a recorded message.
April 21 to May 5
At the end of the second-to-last week of April, I talked to Trish and she confirmed that the Merchant had received the letter. When I enquired about the status of the refund (e.G. When I would actually receive the full amount back), she promised that would be sent very shortly. However, a week passed and the amount had still not been credited back to my credit card. I called at least two times more to Trish, finally connecting at the end of April. She could give no valid reason for the extreme delay but said that it was simply in process. I indicated my intention to seek legal action if this issue was not resolved in the near future.
May 6
I called Trish and she indicated that payment was in transit (actually asked me, did you receive the check yet?). I informed her that I did not and she subsequently placed me on hold to verify with accounting that the payment was sent. After a considerable amount of time, she returned and reversed her earlier statements. She stated that, while she had promised a full refund on March 14 and continuously reaffirmed such refund throughout the following two months, the Merchant (owners of the company) was refusing payment of the reimbursement.
I immediately requested to speak to the individuals who made these decisions but she was unwilling to disclose their names or contact information. The Merchant, including the owners and their customer service representative, gave no valid explanation for the refusal of the refund or offered further clarification on their reasoning beyond their decision.
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