$6 Processing Fee

You can call it or convenience fee or whatever you want, it is still crooked. The park can have any business practice it wants and make any excuse wants to try and justify a bad policy. If you don't believe me, ask Jimmy Haslam and Flying J Truck Stops. They made gobs of money off of their crooked rebate scheme, laughed at the unsophisticated (suckers) customers they ripped off who fell for it, and celebrated record profits in the process. Haslam sat in on sales meetings and complimented the staff for being so smart and making more money for the company. Everyone at Flying J thought they were doing smart business until the FBI and IRS came knocking on their door. The only reason they did is because enough people finally complained about the crooked scheme. To this day, no one has officially said Flying J has done anything illegal, just unethical. Why no one else can see the direct correlation between what happened with Flying J and the parks "convenience fee" scheme I will never understand.

It is a big deal whenever a company knowingly rips off the customers they are trying to attract. Since I'm not the one who started this thread by stating it is an absurd practice, I know I'm not alone. Loving the park and trying to be supportive of its decisions is one thing, defending absurd and unethical business practices in the name of making a little better profit is another. It is not good for the park and it needs to go.

Comparing the fee to what happened at Flying J isn't valid. You continue to ignore the reality (which has been pointed out to you repeatedly by multiple posters in this thread) that the processing fee isn't hidden. Its disclosed to buyers before entering credit card info and before clicking accept/buy. If someone does not want to pay the fee, they do not have to buy online.

Compare that to Flying J. The company is accused of telling customers they would get one price/discount but then actually charging them a higher price/giving a lower discount without ever disclosing the difference to the customer. So unlike the CP processing fee which isn't hidden, Flying J was (if the allegations are true) hiding the higher price/lower discount from customers. Totally different situations.

No, I am not missing the reality. One price was promised to Flying J customers and they were charged another. All of the rules of the program were disclosed to them, Flying J just made the program so complicated that some of the "unsophisticated" customers didn't fully understand. The scheme only involved pennies on the gallon, small enough for the customer to not notice or complain yet still enough to greatly increase profits. The park should not advertise one price then charge additional fees to buy the advertised product. That is deceptive. In principal, Flying J and the park are / were doing exactly the same thing. Flying J made the same exact arguments as everyone on this forum who is supporting the parks unethical practice until it took the government to step in and investigate it. Yet, it has been only the bad PR and common sense that made Pilot J apologize and change its "smart" business practice. You ignore the fact that Pilot J knew what it was doing was wrong, it was just making to much money to change. If you need another example of what can happen when industries adopt bad business practice you can take a close look at the housing market crash.

If the charges are correct, Flying J committed fraud. The business will be fined and some people associated with the company likely will be going to jail. Customers did not know what was happening.

If you think the situations are so comparable, call the US Department of Justice and the Office of the Ohio Attorney General and let them know about the CP processing fee. And please let me know when the FBI shows up to remove files from the CP corporate offices.

And now you are comparing this to the housing market crash? Seems to me you are either a troll or are delusional. Either way, no need to waste any time. But hey don't look now, the Man is trying to screw you. He has black helicopters circling your house. Better run for your tinfoil hat. LOL

Hey I can take a joke as well as anyone, that's OK (as for being a troll, all I can say is, I'm rubber and your glue...) But, again your facts are not correct. No one has been charged with any wrong doing at Pilot J. For all you and I know, people may have already contacted USDJ or Ohio Attorney general about the practice already. It took years for the FBI to raid Pilot J after hundreds of complaints. If what is alleged is true about Pilot J and if someone committed a crime they likely would have been arrested already. Just the mere appearance of impropriety has damaged Flying J.

All I know is some people on this site would make lousy business people if they think the best answer to someone who is complaining is "if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. It may make money for a while but in the long run it's bad for business.

How do you propose getting a business to change it's practices?

If you continue to pay for a product that you believe is unfairly priced, then you are just perpetuating the cycle.

Businesses listen to only one thing. Money. If you want them to change, stop giving them your money. If you're still willing to give them money, apparently you still find value in their product.

Secondly, there is nothing unethical about a third party, who is providing the convenience of being able to buy your pass from home, from charging a fee for said service. If you think 5.99 is too much for this convenience, then drive to the park, pay the Cedar Fair directly, and you can avoid that fee. Either way, you're paying Cedar Fair 180.00 for a Platinum Pass.

PointGuru, I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong, or when the other side makes a valid point in a debate. So far, you've not done that. Even the liberals on this site don't agree with your philosophy that the greedy CF corporation is stealing money out of the pockets of little old granny who lives on a fixed income (exaggerated, to make the point). And when you have a predominately liberal group telling you that you're wrong about this, well, you're probably wrong. It's like when a really fat guy calls you fat... There's probably some truth to it!

Joking aside, I don't see why you can't let this go? It's six dollars, for crying out loud. Nobody's making you pay it, yet you continue to prattle about it.

If you really want to talk about something unethical, how about how politicians lie all the time, or pick a conspiracy, for example the White House cover-up of the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi attacks. Something that actually means something. Not six freaking dollars charge when you buy amusement park tickets. [EDIT: Not trying to incite a political argument, just making the point that this convenience fee is a not a big deal]

Not only is it not a big deal, it's completely avoidable.

Just buy your pass at the park.

Any time you borrow money there are extra fees. Car, Home, Credit Cards. I bought our passes during Halloweekends and we got in free that day. Purchases made through a third person via internet or ATM have added charges. Parking is not free in alot of places. Even Zoos charge parking.

Parking at MLB or NFL events are no less than $15 anymore. Try finding day parking in a big city without paying $10-$20.

On my birthday at the BMV I get to spend $180 on 3 stickers and 3 pieces of paper. The car salesman didn't tell me that. Is that unethical?

I think the new installment plan works for the people that chose to use it. 6 months same as cash plus $6. Or like me you could have put it on a credit card. I paid about $6 interest too.

I feel the rates for charges are similar to any other event when compared to similar models. Zoos, Sporting Events, Other Parks, Big Cities, and Internet Purchases.

You obviously don't live in michigan. I'm paying $200+ annually each for my three cars. And yeah, that unethical, lying salesman never mentioned it.

Furthermore, the one car that I leased had an advertised rate much less than the rate I'm paying. They didnt advertise the price including taxes. Thieves! Yet still, I had the choice to sign on the dotted line, or not....

Am I the only one wondering how someone could complain about a $6 fee when they were planning to spend $180.

Also,
"Profit is not a dirty word in business." - James A. Rhodes
Some people seem to forget this little part of capitalism.

I also will admit when I'm wrong, people just want to misconstrue what I am saying. I don't care if it's $.05 or $500.00 they want to tack onto the price for no reason and without informing the customer. The park gets far more out of this "convenience" than the customer does. For people to suggest that the park is doing some kind of favor to the customer is just ludicrous. As I have repeatedly said, I am all in favor of the park making a profit. To use deceptive advertising and unethical fees which serve no purpose just for the sake of profit is another. There is no justifiable reason to charge the online fee. It needs to stop.

Just pay the fee, get the pass, and get over it...We're getting a huge deal with season passes. I've been to KI four days & CP once, it's aready paid for itself tremendously and it's only a week into the season...Let the park make it's profit on a few things to keep it up and running, have some capital and provide us with a great experience day to day for years to come...It's not like it's a 45 dollar fee, it's six bucks...I can't even go to the Mcdonalds off point and fill myself up for that price...

How can you still keep saying they don't inform the customer when multiple people have told you that the fee is clearly presented to the customer before they purchase the item?

Just get over it. I've been paying these convenience fees at Ticket Master (and Ticketron before that) way before there even was an internet. They charged a convenience fee because you could walk into your local Sears or other Ticket Master outlet instead of going downtown to the ballpark.

There is no deceptive advertising or unethical fees in regards to the convenience fee. Of course it is for the sake of profit, the entire park operates for the sake of profit!

It would make me feel better if they just raised the price of the pass $6 and included the fee in the price. For what it is worth, what Ticket Master and Fandango do is unethical also. When you can purchase any number of items online from thousands of other retailers for no fee, it is clearly not a "convenience" for the customer. There is a difference between making a profit and price gouging. The fee is not disclosed in any of the advertisements that I have seen. You cannot purchase the item online without paying the fee. That is not a choice and is deceptive.

thedevariouseffect said:
Just pay the fee, get the pass, and get over it...We're getting a huge deal with season passes. I've been to KI four days & CP once, it's aready paid for itself tremendously and it's only a week into the season...Let the park make it's profit on a few things to keep it up and running, have some capital and provide us with a great experience day to day for years to come...It's not like it's a 45 dollar fee, it's six bucks...I can't even go to the Mcdonalds off point and fill myself up for that price...

What the hell do you eat at McDonald's that costs more than $6 to fill you up? I dare you to eat 2 or 3 McDoubles and a small fry ($3 or $4 before tax) and tell me you're not full.

We, myself included, need to stop feeding the fire with this "PointGuru" in a senseless debate. He has shown no inclination to see reason, despite many people pointing it out to him. It's not much different that trolling at this point. If I want to engage in further similar discussions, I'll just go explain to my five year old why she needs to go to bed early or eat less sugary foods. Cause at at least she'll grow out of it.

The PointGuru said:
It would make me feel better if they just raised the price of the pass $6 and included the fee in the price.

So, it would make you feel better if they made the fee truly hidden and didn't give you the option to avoid it? That sounds like the exact opposite of what you've spent 3 pages arguing for.

^Lol...I didn't even think about that after seeing his post..

In response to the mcdonalds post...getting a decent meal, drink, sandwich, fries, that deal...it's going to be more than six dollars..

Plus I like food...alot...like alot of food...All that park running and lack of eating in the park until about 1800 requires some nice calories :)

That is all

I never was charged a processing fee.