a little letter from breakers . . .

okay. this whole story starts back on the fateful day of August 14th. after a good first session of riding coasters we went back to the hotel at 4 oclock to check in, put our stuff in the room and take a quick break at fridays (trip report for more details). when we were about to check in the power went out. we were almost done at the counter. i dont know the whole story after that but we stayed in our hotel for a little bit with a temporary room key. after listening to the radio it appeared that the electricity wouldnt come back on. so we checked out. the guy signed a slip that sayed, full refund and assured us we would get that full refund. okay. just yesterday, we got a little note from cedar point. breakers said they were charging us for the room and the rules are in print! this is simply bullcrap and unnacceptable. we kept that note and we called the hotel and demanded to talk to the vice president whom the note was signed from. we are not paying for a hotel we didnt stay at.

breakers. you just lost some business in the search to pick up a little bit of money from some dumba$$es. you have lost our business and have truly made us mad. in summery, they want to charge us money for a room we didnt stay at. has this happened to anyone else? because frankly i just lost a TON of respect for cedar point. cedar point, im sure we wont pay you, but you have still failed me.

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Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!

hahahahaha that sucks but, im shure you could fight this one and squeeze something out of it. Especially if you have a signature.

Johnz, if that is in fact the case, and you do in fact have a refund signed by someone with authority, then I am sure you will get your refund. Whether or not it was a mistake on the park's part, I'm not quite sure. Nonetheless, if what you have said is true, I understand your anger and sympathize with you. I support your trying to get a refund from them. Good luck.

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Boycott the RIAA
*** This post was edited by Anonymous 8/28/2003 9:15:52 PM ***

johnz, just a word of advice.. I hope you have some thick skin. People on this board are going to most likely start flaming away...

Why are you upset?

1. It sounds like you had a good trip.

2. It's not your money. Or are you angry on behalf of your parents?

When all is said and done, I'm sure they'll get their money. But what then? Are you going to boycott the park?

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 8/28/2003 10:15:06 PM ***

I never did understand why you checked out. It seems like you had a really great day at the park, wouldn't it have made more sense to rest at the Breakers than haul yourselves home? Staying at a resort with no power would be kind of an adventure to me. And anyway, as it turned out, the power came back that evening. Your story reminds me of people who leave a ball game with the home team loosing 8 to 3, only to find out the team came back to win in the 9th. To each their own, but I would have bet that the power would be back by morning, and stayed at the hotel.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

IMO, the GTTP community is being a bit hard on people who were told that they'd get refunds (perhaps in writing) and then were upset that they didn't. I'm a bit more sympathetic. Plus, it's a customer service disaster (and now a public relations disaster).

I'm not trying to convince anyone else, just offering my opinion.

Note to CP resorts management: make darn sure that all your front line staff understand that they cannot offer refunds under any circumstances, and have them practice saying it to actors playing the role of irate customers.

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.

IMO, some people are being a bit hard on a park faced with a highly unusual situation and employees making promises that they are not authorized to make. This kid sounds entirely too angry, saying the park "just lost some business." Who's being hard here?

Like I said, no doubt the park will step up and go above and beyond, as usual. But there were thousands of tourists in thousands of hotel rooms throughout Erie County. Anyone wonder why this isn't a widespread problem?

This isn't a PR nightmare. How many people really know about the issue? Outside of a small Michigan newspaper and a TV station in Cleveland, there's been hardly a mention. And of those who do know, how many would side with the guest, considering the situation of the day?

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 8/29/2003 9:23:46 AM ***

You know, in downtown Cleveland, hotel guests not only stayed at their hotels, but enjoyed some good times with other people there. Just after sunset, when the power came back on, they had an even better time at the local watering holes.

The policy on refunds is pretty clear, and this time of year, if you weren't in the room, they could have easily booked it for someone else, so as far as I'm concerned that money is theirs if you chose to vacate. You made that choice. No one outside of NYC thought it would take that long to restore power, and sure enough, it was about four hours in Sandusky. I've had outages like that my entire life, about one every other year. I can't hold the park responsible for the decisions of a bunch of reactionaries.

If a guy "signed a slip that sayed" you'd get a refund, then dispute it with a copy of that to the credit card company. If not, go to school and pay attention because your spelling sucks.

In "summery," did everyone in Sandusky go braindead with the loss of electricity?

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

Hmmm this sounds like a job for the "Problem Solvers" lol their one of my local news stations that help people out from being screwed over by big companies. Johnz Im sure if you, or your parents called your local news station and explained them your situtation they woul dbe all over this, they love this kinda thing, and i would bet the house that you get a full refund.

Walt, I didn't mean to paint you with that particular brush. My only point is that I can accept that someone would choose to drive home rather than stay in such circumstances, and I can understand why someone would be upset that a CP employee told them that they'd get a refund, and then not get one.

Like many others here, I would not have left. Then again, what I would or would not have done (or what people in Cleveland or New York did or did not do) really doesn't matter.

A guest in this position doesn't care about what the fine print says, and doesn't care that the employee that told them they'd get a refund didn't have authority to make such an offer. If the employees had been clear about the refund policy---namely, that there aren't any---then this problem goes away, even if the guest chooses to drive home. That's my point. They guest may not leave a satisfied guest, and may still choose never to patronize Resorts again, but if the CP employee is courteous in delivering the bad news (I'm sorry sir, but we do not offer refunds due to power failures, which are beyond our control) that's the best you can hope for.

The people who have been upset are not upset because they didn't get any compensation. They are upset because they didn't get compensation that they believe they were offered. There is a big difference. I would have no sympathy for the former, but do have some for the latter.

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.

Well, I listen to you all say, well I would've waited, the power would've came on by morning. Listen to my argument.

1. You are at a place away from home

2. You pay GOOD money

3. The power goes out across the entire northeast, I thought it wouldnt come back on for days! I mean if it is our across the entire NorthEast, what are you going to think.

4. Every news source that anyone knew of and could listen to said that authorities had no idea when the power would come back on. I would just assume leave WITH the refund, rather than sleep on the floor or in a temporary room or something.

5. They leave, then end up having to pay Cedar Point and got nothing out of it, paying for a room they didnt use, I would be upset too!

If you were at Cedar Point at the time, I am probably sure you would have went home with the refund!

To clarify: If you *assume* you'll get a refund, that's your own fault. If a Resorts employee *tells you* that you'll get a refund, then I'm a bit sympathetic. If you got it in writing, you don't need my sympathy. ;)

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.

we left then because we were just going to stay overnight and leave in the morning since we live 4 hours away. we figured the park wouldnt reopen that night and we were right.

another thing: we dont spend $250 with ease. that's a lot of money. and sorry my spelling sucks, but i type fast and dont think of what im typing. im actually in 9th grade doing 11th grade math so im not exactly some dumb guy you think i am. i just dont think it matters that much if i make spelling mistakes on here because of all of the shorthand other people do anyway.

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Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!
*** This post was edited by johnz 8/29/2003 4:37:54 PM ***

Oh, All Hail Math Whiz, johnz you aren't special, many people are in algebra 2 in 9th grade, I was too. Don't act high and mighty on this board, you won't win.

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Due To Budget Cuts, The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Has Been Turned Off.
MilleNNium is spelled with two n's people!

Johnz...are you the ones we are reading about in the newspaper?

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Let's play "Find the one-legged seagull"

Why couldn't this and the "I want a refund" forum go together? Are we THAT desperate for attention now????

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ONE freeway stamp a day... ONE

Johnz, I can understand where you're coming from. And I totally agree with Brian in that, the hotel should have said "Okay, you can leave, but do understand, you will not be refunded in any way." Instead, they supposedly did the opposite. I don't understand why anyone is arguing on what's right and what's wrong. It's clear.

I run my own business and operate in traditional ways; if the customer isn't happy, provide a refund. Yes, people will abuse this; but if they have good reason for a refund, I will happily provide it; I've lost money many times for reasons that weren't my fault. However, I feel like such a better person when I do provide the full refund. If I said "It's your problem; it's in the fine print; no refunds." I would depress myself. What's more important: money or happiness?

I think customer service and support is terrible beyond words at most places today. Here's a perfect example that relates to this story. I bought a new $1900 laptop online. It arrived working, but the power plug would not stay in the laptop to the point where it was useless. I called the company I purchased it from, and they claimed it had a 3-year warranty; deal directly with the manufacturer. I called the manufacturer, they had a truck to my house the next day for repair, I shipped it to them, and I got a letter 2 weeks later. "This laptop has damage to the motherboard. If you do realize, motherboards are not covered in the warranty; that's accidental damage. It will cost $490 for repair. Please call this number to provide payment or it will be shipped back without service." I was to be charged nearly $500 for repair to a brand new laptop, and I was furious. After arguing through a dozen different levels of support, I was supposedly in contact with the top executive offices of the company. I explained the whole story, and the official was embarassed by the situation. He apologized repeatedly, had the laptop repaired without charge, and it arrived within a day.

What is my point? What's in the fine print is sometimes absurd. CP was faced with a rare occurence. Not a loss of power, but a nationwide loss that had many panicking that it would be days. This family understandably left their hotel and were not provided with the service they sought. They should have been refunded. CP should have refunded anyone not happy. They give everyone in the park compensation for their ride loss, but selectively do not provide refunds for hotel loss? And they are arguing with fine print claims and against written proof of refunds? Johnz, go get your refund.

Also, if CP immediately provided refunds to those unhappy guests, they'd likely return ASAP for their desired trip, not to mention future trips for life (in the long term, they'd make money). Do you boycott the park for this hotel situation? No, just go stay at a Hampton or some place that does provide good service.
*** This post was edited by Ffej 8/31/2003 3:44:37 PM ***

yeah, im not about to boycott cp over this or anything! but i think we will stay away from breakers for a while . . .

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Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!

What's the difference? It's not like it's a separate business. It's all Cedar Point.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway