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

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

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 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.

I think you’re right. I’ll just leave it now and let the support agencies we are involved with in the area know to let other families know our experience so others hopefully don’t have the same experience. There’s a nice supportive network
where recommends (or the opposite) can be shared so it’s probably all I can do. Definitely not accepting a 10% voucher to return! Thanks to everyone who has made
helpful comments 🤍

No, i wanted a refund that was relative to and appropriate to what we lost and the distress it caused my son, not a 10% discount to then have to pay out £54 to go and repeat it all again! Con artist? No. Happy to stick up for my rights with a purchase that didn’t deliver as admitted by GA? Yes.

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.

Thank you, I’ll give it another go. I wish they wouldn’t keep acknowledging all they did wrong but saying here’s 10% off to come
and do it all again 🤦‍♀️

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.

But if it took 47 mins to do 3 courses (even with rushing the third one) there wasn't going to be enough time to do a fourth course. You were told that at the time. You should have taken your time doing the last one and enjoyed it instead of rushing through it. Just because they say all 4 courses can be done in an hour doesn't mean everyone will be able to do them in an hour.

God is it worth all this stress. It will all.be spoilt now if you go back anyway, whose to say another problem won't arise.
Walk away, disconnect, don't ever go there again.
It's too.much stress it's not worth it.

If the OP hadn't been given the correct information they could have taken their time with the third course they did and enjoyed it. They only raced through it because they were told to hurry up and because they had been told they would be able to do all four courses.

If the OP had correctly been reminded that she had an hour and could either try and race and do all four courses or take her time and do three courses then she would not be complaining.

She is complaining for three reasons firstly because she only ended up with 47 minutes on the course, secondly because she was given incorrect information and thirdly because the staff rushed her and her kids.

if you paid by credit card, you are entitled to make a chargeback claim for services not received, if you did then speak to the credit card company who will be able to advise further.

How have they gone from 90mins on course to 47mins?

OP you’ve been terribly unclear not only on this thread but in the emails you’ve copied and pasted. I’m still inclined not to believe you. You sound entitled and grabby and I don’t think you deserve a full refund. Take the discount or don’t.

Services were received. From anywhere between 90-40 minutes as the OP keeps changing her story

@frannygallops The OP paid for an hour in the trees. The email from Go Ape confirm that she was only in the trees for 47 minutes so she clearly didn't receive what she paid for. Go Ape didn't fulfill their side of the contract.
I think the OP should try getting her money back either by section 75 if she paid by credit card or a chargeback if she paid by debit card.

It doesn't confirm anything. Have you read it? The OP typing something doesn't mean it's the truth.

It was 90 a few updates ago. I don’t see OP as reliable narrator in this.

I agree her posts are confusing but She cut and pasted the reply from GoApe where they said she was on the course for 47mins so I'm taking that as she was on the course for 47 mins 🤷🏻‍♀️. If you think she is a troll and making stuff up why are you bothering arguing about what she is saying? Why are you bothering to post surely you think it's a waste of your time.

That's should read when GoApe said she was on the course for 47 mins

What time was written on your wristband? And what time did you finish your last lap?

We had to come down after about 40 mins due to high winds, and they gave us a full refund, which I thought was more than fair, I was expecting a voucher for another go or a partial refund.

She had the correct information. She misunderstood it. She thought they had up to 2 hours to do everything and that it is possible to do all 4 courses (in an hour, which it was if you pace yourself properly). The OP and children were either slow or just taking their time because they assumed they had until 18:30 to complete the 4 courses. After they finished the first 2 courses, the staff told her they were running over time so wouldn't have enough time to complete the other 2 courses. They advised her to do course 4. She then chose to rush through course 4 so they could then try to do course 3, even though she was told that wasn't going to be possible in the time left. They could have spent those last 13 minutes enjoying course 4 if the OP wasn't so fixated on the 2hr/18:30 finish thing.

Yes. But what do you think would have happened if they started the last course after 47 mins? They would have ran over the 1 hr and kept all the staff back from shutting the place down. They wouldn't be able to pull OP and children off the course after they started it, hence why they couldn't start it.

Omg the people who move at the pace of a snail at Go Ape are sooooo annoying! It completely ruins the experience for the people stuck behind. We ended up leaving early when we went because the family in front were just so slow and as a result we wouldn't have had time to complete the 4 levels. 2 or 3 levels are plenty to have a good experience.

As someone who runs a business based in an activity for children, your greed sickens me. As attached, the deal is an hour in the trees.You had more than that, and a free voucher is more than that! Your problem seems to be that you don't want to pay.