News: Cost to bring burned kids home from Ohio troubles mom

http://www.pointbuzz.com/news.htm?id=969

I am working to find out if members of this site might be able to contribute. If I hear something, I'll let everyone know.

this makes me wish i were older and had more money :(

I'm assuming the kids are at Rainbow?

That's unbelievable. 2,500 is a pocket change to an insurance company. And if this story catches any kind of national media, these people will be able to cover a lot more than just the 2500 to transport her home. Walt, let us know what you find out.

Metrohealth Medical Center in Cleveland

You want a customer for life Cedar Point? There is an easy answer here.

Here is a good Customer Service story for ya.

Each "gate" at WDW (MK, Epcot, etc) has $500,000 worth of tickets and cash that supervisors can disseminate at their discretion should a guest have an emergency. I have been the recipient of a ticket in the past. We were park hopping and sometime during the day I lost my ticket while others in the party still had theirs. The guest relations office gave me a ticket to complete my vacation.

$2500 would buy Cedar Fair national exposure I'm willing to bet. You don't think a news outlet would pick up on that? How much is a GOOD story about your company in the news worth?

seriously, they could at least cover the costs, plus maybe a little bonus..

Well said, Chief. Even without the positive press, if I were in charge, this incident would be all settled already. CP is not going to notice $2500.

I think that many of us would give what we could to help out. I know I would. I'll be waiting to hear back from you, Walt.

maXaiRaptor said:
Metrohealth Medical Center in Cleveland

That'll teach me not to RTFA.

I agree Chief, if CP were to pay the $2500 it would bring a lot of really good positive exposure to the park. I'm also sure the family would be customers for life, but next time they will probably stay in one of the park hotels!

I agree. I think it would go a long way to help CP's image if they pay the $2500. However, my question is would look like CP is trying to pay the family off, to avoid a lawsuit?.....I'm with you Jeff, I'm sure I could donate an extra $25 to help out.

Hi, I just tracked down the phone number of the church that is helping to support this family. I gave them a call, and they are in the process of setting up a fund. They told me to call them back in a couple hours to get details on how to make a donation. I will post that information as soon as I get it.

Okay, then, how about this--

The park has no liability for someone who blows up his own RV on property. It's logical that, from a purely business perspective, they would want to stay out of this as much as possible. This is one of those "stuff happens" kind of things, and the park has no reason to start funding special expenses related to accidents that happened on the peninsula just because it happened on the peninsula. Yes, $2500 is small change for an outfit like Cedar Point and the press would be good, but quite frankly there are more reasons not to pay that cost than there are to make that contribution.

But what the park COULD do would be to take the lead in setting up a fund raising campaign. According to the article, the family doesn't even know who to ask. Well, that's where the park could help out. They could get the Gerlings connected with people who are willing to help out; they could help to set up a fund through one of the local banks or other organizations, and they could put the word out. They could establish a fund, put an announcement on the official blog, request participation from well-meaning PointBuzz participants, and maybe even set out buckets at the Camper Village and Marina stores. A little bit of effort on the part of the park, and they could probably generate $2500 in individual contributions in just a couple of days. I'd think that would avoid the "but you didn't do it for my auto accident on the causeway" problem, and the "you're just trying to pay off to avoid a suit" problem, and still generate some good will.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think Dave makes some good points.

Anyway, it sounds like more information is on the way. Stay tuned ...

*** Edited 7/19/2006 2:26:30 PM UTC by Walt***

I agree with Dave. I think CP would be best off if they set up the fund and not just paid them. If they started paying people for accidents that happened on their property, people might start causing "accidents" just to get paid.

But, the goodwill involved in helping them out would be a great effort on their part.

Walt, let us know if there's anything we can do.

Compromise: CP helps set up a fund through a church, and matches all contributions made.

Its not like this will get much press beyond markets locally to Sandusky and New York, so I can't imagine there would be any backlash in terms of premeditated "accidents".

Tough situation for the park to be in. Great PR for picking up the cost -OR- the family files suit claiming CP must understand that they are at least partially liable for guests staying on property.

MrScott
*** Edited 7/19/2006 2:49:42 PM UTC by MrScott***

Hopefully if that suit did happen, the judge would throw it right back out of the courtroom. It would be one thing if it was a leak in one of the cabins that caused the explosion, but its not up to CP to inspect every camper to make sure the gas lines are in one piece (for all we know there was just a leak).

Maybe I opened a can of worms. I don't think the park is the least bit responsible or liable. There is no way this was anything other than a self-contained...non park related...incident.

I am simply suggesting that a $2500 goodwill investment would probably pay out 10 times over in media coverage and in positive word of mouth.

It reminds me of a story long ago in Orlando. A preschool in the area took it upon themselves to paint Disney characters on the outside of their building. Disney threatened to sue the preschool for trademark/copyright infringement. Universal Studios swooped in and offered to repaint the school free of charge and put their own characters on the building. Tada...national news about a bad Mouse and a good Popeye.