Go Ape refusing refund

Keep it simple and short though. You booked for an hour activity and by their records only git 47 minute and during that 47 minutes you were rushed. As they also admit, you were given incorrect information which resulted in your sons becoming upset/dissapointed.

You paid for an hour in the trees and you didn't get it.

OP, please don't let this drop. They have said in that email you only got 47 mins in the trees. They have really shortchanged you. It's not just the reduced time it's the fact you were rushed. . You paid for an hour and you didn't get it.
Tell them you still want your money back or you will go to your credit card or debit card and ask for a refund. (Section 75 or a chargeback)

They can easily refund you. They are choosing not to because they think you will give in. They could also easily offer you a voucher for a 100% of the cost but they are choosing not to.

I'd complain again but please, please keep it simple.

I think YABU to expect a FULL refund if that is what you are after? It sounds like you still managed to complete much of the course but were only allowed 50 mins instead of the full hour (closing level 3 doesn’t seem to matter as it sounds like you probably couldn’t have completed it in time even if you’d had the extra 10 mins?). BUT It was very unfair not to give you the full time and so make your son feel rushed on the levels they were able to complete.

Imo they are also being unreasonable only offering you a 10% discount on another booking - that’s nothing 😡 But so many companies these days try that for poor service - like you are going to voluntarily give them almost the same amount of money again when you had a lousy time the first time around 🤣

At least a 10% refund instead for not getting your full time would be more reasonable - or more likely many places would give you half price off another visit instead.

But unfortunately it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen- so it’s social media, trip advisor etc honest review time, so you can at least warn other families with autistic or even just nervous kids, that they may get rushed and not get the full time they pay for.

Would you have been able to complete part 3 of the course in 12 minutes though? If you’d already taken around 15 mins per section and part 3 is harder (as GA said in their email) you wouldn’t have had enough time left in your hour in the trees to do that section anyway, no matter what time they closed, it’s an hour in the trees.

As a pp has said maybe they need to be clear what happens if you get to a new section just before your hour is up, and doing that section would take you over the hour.

Seems to me that you didn’t have enough time left within your hour to do the remaining section even if it hadn’t been closed.

I don't think you should get a full refund tbh you should have booked a earlier slot to allow time if needed I certainly wouldn't be continuing this with them

Presumably the course was open for the full hour. You just skipped a part, and by the time you got back to it, that specific part had been closed because everyone had gone past it.

As a business, the just sensible course of action would be to close every section once the last customers were through. Had you done them the other way round, you may well have been able to do both 3 & 4.

So you didn’t get an hour in the trees?!

"Yes, we hurried to level 4 because the instructor was rushing us. as soon as we got up there and i looked at my watch and saw we had plenty time we slowed down but it was too late for my son who was upset and fixated on completing the 4 levels the first instructor told him he would and that we had time for!"

So the instructor rushing you is irrelevant as you had already discovered level 3 was closed to you - and the bit the instructor rushed you to do was to start level 4.....and then (in your words) "as soon as we got up there and I looked at my watch and saw we had plenty time we slowed down".... so level 4 was not in rushed? Just you physically getting to level 4 to start the course was rushed?

By the way - same happened to us - we got to level 3 and were told not enough time but our slot was mid afternoon. But I just accepted it and when we went again we made sure we went through faster.

Actually, with this additional information, I agree with you. A 10% discount voucher is also very stingy. But why didn't you explain it like this before?

Yes op, you are being unreasonable

Thank you for this, I didn’t appreciate the meanings myself. Massive differences.

This is what you posted "We had 90 mins but 20 of those taken up waiting for safety briefing" which means you had 70mins instead of the 60mins? So 10mins more than what the website says is a min on the trees?

So you got 47/60 minutes. They shouldn’t have cut you short. It’s probably reasonable to be asking for up to 20% off but no more given you did the bulk of the course. If you through in lots of irrelevant waffle to your complaints they’ll just get fed up of you/find it easy to fob you off. If you’re very to the point that you didn’t get 60 minutes and felt that the staff could have managed expectations better you’ll likely get further. If you’ve had more than 10 emails already I think you just need to move on and stop being quite so fixated on getting a refund.

You’re missing my point OP. I literally have zero need to educate myself about your son’s disability.

I’m sorry to be blunt. But the world does not revolve around your child’s disability. Nor does it revolve around mine. We as adults are responsible for making sure needs are met where possible, by communicating clearly, supporting emotionally (still don’t know why it got as far as both kids crying) and making life feel somewhat navigable. People aren’t perfect at understanding, but I find most people kind and helpful. I’m not entitled and I don’t have a chip on my shoulder about it, it’s just part of who I am.

I think the purpose of this thread it to name and shame Go Ape because you are angry - but if you have been to Go Ape before then you would know what its like. You know that its booked in blocks of time because that's what it looks like in the booking system which you have used twice now.
The website says "Treetop Adventure offers an immersive one to two-hour high ropes experience." The start is from when you are putting harnesses on and the safety briefing etc - its not two hours of climbing.
I am sorry you did not enjoy your family experience as much as you expected you would.

Same here 😂

Normally I don't indulge my deeply autistically pedantic tendencies around language. Neurodivergence is also my professional area of work and a special interest, so I try to be mindful that others are not immersed in it to the same level I am! But I dislike it when people are snotty towards others for not knowing the correct terminology while not using terminology correctly themselves. Hypocrisy isn't a good look.

Stop using your autistic child as an excuse to get a refund. Your posts are all over the place and this is what is coming across on here. Give it a rest.

Technically, neurodiverse refers to the whole human population. The brains of humanity are neurodiverse, as there is a diversity in our neurology. Neurodivergent refers to a specific individual with a brain that works differently to the majority, hence "diverging". An individual cannot have neurodiversity; they are neurodivergent.

Proving my autism diagnosis here with my indulgence in pedantry 😂

"Neurodiversity"
Term to describe the fact that all human brains differ.

"Neurodiverse"
Term for describing society or groups of people who all have different brains or neurotypes.

"Neurodivergent"
Term to describe a person whose neurocognition falls outside the expected norms, such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia etc.