Go Ape refusing refund

[Stripyseason]

I can’t work out of I’m being unreasonable or fighting like a mama bear here in the right.
took my kids to Go Ape on Sunday as a treat as it’s expensive (£60 for all of us). I’ll pop my original complaint email in as it explains it all thoroughly. Emails have been back and forth since then with them apologising and offering a discounted voucher for us to return and “give it another go”. I’ve said we don’t want to return as the left in tears feeling like they’d been rushed and the last thing they want is to go back! I just want a refund but 12 emails back and forth are going nowhere. They have said they shouldn’t have been rushed but they don’t do refunds and theyd like us to come back with a discount. Do I just leave it and chalk it up to experience? Or do I keep going and if so how? TIA.

Dear customer services,

Im just writing after quite a disappointing experience at X Go Ape today. It was myself and my 2 children, 8 and 11, one of whom has autism. We booked for the only available slot left which was 16:30 and arrived by 16:15 to be in plenty of time.

We had to wait for a while for the safety briefing which was fine, and we got started. We were told we would have the chance to do 4 levels if we wished. We started off great and were enjoying it until we finished level 2 and my son heard some instructors saying we were “over time”. When we went to wait at #3 an instructor said we were running behind with time and as they were closing soon we likely wouldn’t have time to do course 4 if we did 3 so we felt pushed to do 4. This wasn’t helpful as it felt a big step up from course 2 and my son felt rushed and was worried saying they’re closing, so we hurried as much as we could. It ended in a bit of a downer sadly with the kids just feeling like they’d “taken too long” on courses 1&2 despite being told in the safety briefing that we could take as much time as we needed on the levels.

I’m disappointed because we arrived in good time and if the last slot was always going to be rushed I think that should have been made clear at point of booking. We had to miss out a whole level which we had paid for. It was a lot of money as a treat and we all just left
A bit downhearted after a good start.

I’ve been to Go Ape before and had a really
Positive experience so this felt quite disappointing sadly and I’d appreciate a gesture of a refund and to let the very nice staff know that rushing us didn’t feel fair given we had paid for a slot so feel we should have been given the same time as everyone else who booked for earlier.

Many thanks etc

They didn't rush them though. They managed it appropriately based on the time it took OP and her children to complete levels 1 and 2. Which is the exact opposite of rushing. Of course they say take as much time as you need on the course, because will have wanted to ensure they completed what they could safely in the time available. "Take as much time as you need on the course" does not mean "you can have as much time as it takes you to complete all 4 courses and we will wait for you".

They have to estimate an average time to complete the course and if people go over that, then it means they may not be able to complete the whole course, so them saying they were over time and wouldn't have time to complete all the courses was simply the instructors managing time, ie doing their job.

"I felt rushed" is not the same thing as having actually been rushed. OP and her kids weren't told to hurry, they were told that they were closing soon (fact) and didn't have time before closing to complete two more courses, so they could do course 3 or 4. That's not rushing people, it's presenting them with facts and giving them a choice, and giving plenty of notice about closing time and time limits is absolutely appropriate for an autistic child. It might have been a choice OP didn't want, but what were they meant to do exactly? Let them go on their merry way and then shout "closing in 5 minutes by the way, hurry up" when they're only half way through the fourth course? That would absolutely be an unreasonable thing to do to an autistic child.

Perhaps it was premature of them to close course 3, and leave them without the option. And the briefing was 20 mins late, which was Go Ape's bad. Which is why it would be fair imo to offer a 25% discount rather than 10%. But I still maintain a full refund is taking the absolute royal piss.

I’m going to guess they are just as inclined to lie as any customer - so the only thing you can rely on is what the computer says was the clocking in and out time…

Yes, obviously it’s taking the piss to want a full refund, but there is no “perhaps” about the last paragraph, unless they made it clear when they missed out level 3 that there could be no going back to it and that, as a consequence, they could be even slower on level 4 than they were on levels 1 and 2, and still have time to spare at the end.

It sounds like they did say it was either 3 or 4 and not both, but yes, they should have made it crystal clear that whichever course they chose not to do would be closed and there would be no option to go back and do the other one.

Nobody made them rush through the last course though. OP, as the parent, could have checked with them how long they had to complete their remaining course so she could reassure her son they still could take their time and do it safely. Instead, judging from her OP, she got caught up in the anxiety herself and hurried round the last course rather than de-escalating, and is now blaming Go Ape for that. That's not a Go Ape problem, it's an OP problem.

Op I think in future it might help you if you make complaint emails far clearer. Include the timings. Cut the waffle. And focus on facts.

@Stripyseason

You have given us your opening salvo to them and their response but apart from saying it has gone back and forth, you haven't told us what else you have said to them or what they have replied, apart from saying hey are sticking at the 10%.

Have you told them what you would be happy with? If so, what have have you suggested to them? Sometimes, saying what you want clearly can help.

Sorry OP, but it's coming across to me that you spent £60 on the experience, and are now regretting it, and looking for a way to get your money back.

Sorry - been working so catching up now, didn’t expect so many replies!
a few of you I think have asked for their reply where they acknowledge our shortened time on the course? I think this answers it but let me know if not
The manager hasn't managed to speak to the instructor but he would like to send his apologies for the error in the information your were given. Our Adventure lasts for 1 hour but we allow up to 2 hours for the harnessing, safety brief, 1 hour activity, removal of the harness and collection of the certificate.

Dear X
Following on from my last email, I am sorry you were told you would be able to complete all 4 loops. It is possible to complete all 4 loops in the hour but we do allow the full 2 hours for safety instruction, practice, slow moving levels due to higher traffic and then giving in your harness at the end, We can see you completed the course in under an hour and therefore should have been given the opportunity to try level 3 and the manager will be following up with his instructors on why this didn’t happen.

We pride ourselves on creating adventures which are accessible to all and quite often help people to conquer their fears. It is not acceptable that you felt pressured to jump to level 4 and I am sorry about this. The manager will be speaking with the team at site to remind them of the great customer service we strive to provide. The manager will also be speaking to the instructors to remind them of the correct timings we are advising to ensure we are not disappointing our customers.

From our timings it does look like you may have had 47 minutes on the course and I can appreciate how disappointing it must have been when you were not able to complete all 4 loops when you were told this would happen.

Myself and the manager feel terrible to hear how disappointed you left us and very much would like to invite you back for another discounted adventure on us.

I’m regretting paying a lot for an activity I didn’t get to complete because they closed it early!

I have clearly and repeatedly simply asked for a refund because we were short changed by not getting to do the whole course and leaving early. A 10% discount feels insulting and won’t even be used as we won’t be going back.

And to a few posters accusing me of “using” my son’s autism- you should be ashamed. I advocate for him and he wanted to push himself to try something hard. I looked for a place that prides itself on supporting hidden disabilities and anyone who has any knowledge of autism knows that sudden changes in plan do not land well and create anxiety very quickly. My son was a told to work through 4 levels and was doing well until it suddenly changed and became a rush, through NO fault of his own. The team have taken this on board and apologised so for you to suggest I use his neurodiversity for my own gain is just insulting.

Yes I agree sadly

Nope, we just tried to complete it (and did) so we could do level 3 as according to my watch we still had time To do it too, until we finished #4 and found #3 locked despite the session being nowhere near the 1830 finish time!

So you were told you could do either 3 or 4 with the remaining time available. You chose to do 4 and not 3, then decided to race the clock and see if (contrary to instructions) you could do both, and then got mad you couldn't do both even though you were told you wouldn't be able to do both! 🙄

I don't think they set expectations as well as they could have done and by the sound of it they aren't entirely blameless at Go Ape, they should appropriately and proportionately compensate for the things they didn't get right. But you are not helping yourself with how you're coming across either.

Your emails are very confusing, and your fixation on the two hours is not helping.

You've booked for 1 hour in the trees. Ignore that you were waiting around for 20 minutes for the safety briefing - your one hour starts when your belay is attached to the course - they write the time on the wristband.

Also ignore that you didn't get to do all 4 loops - that's irrelevant, as you'd only manage that if keeping to an average time of 15 mins per loop. If you get stuck behind a scared kid who is moving slowly, or yours is the scared kid, then it won't be possible. Again, the key thing is 1 hour in the trees, not doing all the loops.

What I'd ask GA is to clarify their policy on starting a loop within the 1 hour timeslot, if it's not possible to finish it before the hour is up? As they should have perhaps said "sorry, not enough time to go round loop 3 but you can do loop 1 again".

You enjoyed 50 minutes of activity (I think, the timings throughout thisthread are confusing). Asking for a full refund is unreasonable. You could argue you lost 16% of the activity time, so would like £xx refund (16% x cost of activity) or voucher for 20% off (a voucher should be higher value than a refund because you are spending again) if you would be willing to book again.

But it’s not 18.30 finish on the course is it? You said there’s time to take the harnesses off and collect the certificates after the activity.

That aside, the email you say they sent you sounds like it was written by an emotional child. I don’t think you often seen a professional response saying the writer feels “terrible”. Or actually, feels anything at all. Really bizarre.

No we didn’t race, we simply completed it and went to join the non existent line for #3 as we still had time! But they had closed it. Early. Hence my annoyance that we were cheated out of a level for no good reason. I’m coming across as assertive, frustrated, and not taking a 10% discount voucher I won’t use as an appropriate refund!

they were all nice people and I think they did feel awful seeing 2 kids walking away crying and my son stimming badly. so yes there is emotion involved - I’m sorry you find that bizarre, it’s actually the one positive thing I have to say about them!

OP, with respect I don't think people think that advocating for your autistic child is anything but the right thing to do, it's just it's not really clear how this was a problem from a disability accommodation point of view. It isn't guaranteed anywhere that the course will run in an exact, regimented way working through levels, rather that there are four available and you get a slot to go on them. As an autistic person myself, it's not a reasonable accommodation to expect public attractions and experiences to always run exactly how I expect. That's something I have to deal with on my side, exceptional circumstances excluded.

But what do you want? The entire staff to stay later for you?

the Problem is the welcoming instructor clearly told my anxious son “you will complete 4 levels today and feel SO proud of yourself”. Big build up. Clear as day. Then a huge delay waiting for the safety briefing and All of a sudden it changed to “sorry but we don’t have time for levels 3&4 so pick quickly if you want to do 4 as it’s the wow one” and it just isn’t a neurodiverse friendly approach at all.,

I must admit I'm a bit confused with the timings - but to be honest I would let it go OP. Chalk it up to a bad experience and don't go again.

You've spent a lot of time emailing - and they won't budge my the looks of it. I think you're expending far too much time and energy on this.

I've lost count of the amount of things I've paid for which have just not worked out but it's not healthy to fixate on this so much.

I can tie myself up in knots about situations that don't go well but there's a lot to be said for letting things go and moving on.

The man hours you've spent on this and the hours GoApe have spent will equate to your refund and more!

Why were they crying?

I don’t know what stimming is but presuming it has to do with neuro diversity.

I want them to keep the course open for the hour I paid for and was booked on for😂