On March 1, I booked an "Extended Helicopter Ride for Two" in Atlanta, GA. The rep was very pleasant and accommodating by making special arrangements to have everything delivered to my work address instead of my home address since this was a surprise for my husband's 40th birthday.
The event was scheduled for Sunday, May 10th at 1:00pm. My husband and I arrived at 12:45pm very excited for our helicopter ride. As soon as we arrived the pilot informed us that our event had been cancelled due to maintenance!!! The pilot further stated that he'd tried to contact me several times but apparently had a work number and was not able to reach me. I confirmed the number and realized that he had only ONE number of the two that Xperience Days had in there system.
Understandably I was upset, embarrassed and disappointed for not being able to fulfill the surprise that I had arranged for my husband's birthday. Disgruntled, the pilot said he would contact Xperience Days to inquire about why he only had one number the next day.
On Monday (the next day), I contacted Xperience Days and spoke with two of the rudest most unsympathetic customer service reps that I've every experienced in my life. When the rep answered I said "I'm calling to get a refund on a trip that was cancelled"... The rep very dryly said "we don't give refunds" I said "Well, this event was canx'd by your company, not me" and she said "was it due to inclement weather?" and I said "NO! It was due to a helicopter needing maintenance!" she put me on hold for about 8 mins and returns to say "Well, I just talked to the pilot and he said he tried to call you several times so... You won't be getting a refund" By this time I was furious and began yelling in the phone... I told the rep that the pilot called me at 5pm on a Friday afternoon at my place of employment (when obviously I had left the office) and he called me on Sunday, at 10:5am, two hours before the event was scheduled when obvioulsy I was enroute. I told the rep that I had two numbers in their system and she swore that I only had one and it was my fault that I hadn't given them two numbers!!!
I couldn't believe it... Now she was essentially calling me a liar... Saying I had not given them two numbers so this fiasco was MY fault?!?!?!?!?!? I immediately asked to speak with another rep because I was not getting anywhere with this one. Before transferring my call, the rep chuckled and said "They are just going to tell you the same thing"
When the next rep got on the phone, she was even worse than the first. I told her that I wanted a refund because my event was canx'd due to maintenance NOT inclement weather as the site states... Again she said "Well, we don't give refunds... All we can do is reschedule" I said "well, is there anything that you can do to accommodate me for this error on the part of your company?" she said "I don't understand what you're asking for" I said "Can you give me a discount toward a future event for my trouble of driving 60 miles to the event and having it canx'd once we arrived?" and she said "we don't give discounts, that's the nature of the business" At this point, I was outdone, basically in shock by the treatment of the reps that I talked to. There was not one time that anyone apologized for my inconvenience, no one was sympathetic towards my husband's birthday being ruined, no one said "we'll try to make the next experience worth your while" Nothing... instead they insisted on blaming me, the customer for everything that was obviously the fault of the company.
I told the rep that I would never use their services again, to which she said "that's fine" and hung up.
I do realize that things happen that are beyond anyone's control... (although a scheduling conflict regarding maintenance should be listed as one of the possible reasons that a pilot can cancel would be beneficial). What I am most uspet about is how rude and horrendous the reps were. When I ordered the service they were great, but as soon as a problem arose they were mean and evil. I noticed that someone else complained about their poor customer service on this site, I wish I would've looked her first or else I never would have booked a service through them.
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