Rain checks, why not?

I believe The PointGuru should stop staying home from school and go back to school so he can pass the 8th grade.

45Wheelgun said:
Eyes. Are. Bleeding.

Make. It. Stop.

Jugga, can you call him a Waaahmbulance?

I've seen point guru's posts over the past few weeks regarding business policies and procedures and costs associated with the CF parks. I'm sorry, but if you want all of these radical, useless and terrible ideas implemented in the park that will never change ($6 processing fee given to Accesso to make money off of their services CF has bought), ect, go work for the park and change them yourself. Either you're business strategies are that crazy and excessive, or obvious troll is obvious

CF doesn't know mother nature, we're not friends with her, and she's a crazy ADHD bitch up there on Lake Erie..If you're friends with mother nature though please let me know because I wouldn't have stayed all of opening day & would have left about 1800 or so. That being said, the park is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of all rides, attractions, and venues. This is all the park is responsible for doing as part of the business end. Weather is an outside factor to park operation and is an uncontrolled aspect of daily operation. If someone is stuck on Windseeker for awhile, or other rides, ect. That's in their control and their problem, and they reward those who were involved respectively (front of line passes, ect.) However, with weather, they can't control that, and you can gauge this before you come. I saw the wind reports & temp reports opening day, and I figured a few rides would be down when the storm rolled in that evening. Plan your trips accordingly. In short, the park isn't going to give you a raincheck because mother nature decided to take a dump that day and you didn't get to enjoy the park. It's not all just rides or coasters...Most kid rides/flat rides ran on Sun when all the major coasters were down, go enjoy those, or live shows, or any other source of entertainment the park offers. Yes it's a dissapointment that you went there to ride the great fantastic rides the park offers, but safety comes first. I'd rather close the ride down for a few hours in the AM/PM due to winds/rain, ect. and let it dry and finally be ready for safe & efficient operation than dispatch a loaded train that valleys, have to do an emergency evac of the ride and either pull the train through or take it off of the rails. That's not good PR, and it's not good for those guests (except I admit I'd love that haha, be a different experience). Just sit back, let the park do what it's been doing and enjoy what's there

What you keep ignoring is I don't disagree with any of the things you are saying about safety and weather. The difference is the way it is handled. Current policy is not customer friendly and doesn't maximize revenue potential. Telling guest it's their fault they gambled on mother nature and lost; does not foster repeat business. The park is not a casino. It's about understanding that the park advertises a product but sometimes things happen that they cannot control and they cannot deliver the product guest paid for and expected. Having a policy that says the park understands it's not the guest fault that mother nature acted the way it did or a ride broke down doesn't make the guest feel like they were taken advantage of is not a bad policy. You also ignore the fact a rain check policy also says it's not the parks fault either. Rain checks just invite the guest back when the attraction is running. They almost guarantee a return visit when the guest spends more money for parking and spends a longer time in the park so they likely spend more money. That is how you make money. Letting guest leave the park irritated they couldn't ride their favorite ride makes it less likely they would pay to return knowing they still have a chance won't be running on the day they come back (please no Windseeker or TTD jokes). How is that a radical policy when it is done in successfully in many other industries.

I think everyone has covered the reasons rainchecks are a bad idea and will likely never be implemented.

I think the park did a fine job with what mother nature handed them. The LED sign over the causeway had a huge message saying many rides would be closed due to high winds, the LED sign over the front gate said many rides would be closed due to high winds. There were signs posted at the beach and resort gate saying the same thing, and the ladies at the beach gate were telling people *before they scanned their tickets* that nothing was open for early entry and a bunch of rides would be closed because of the wind.

Sucks for the resort guests or those that traveled a considerable distance to get there, but you can't control mother nature, and it's not Cedar Point's fault that nobody can read a gigantic sign that says in all caps "DUE TO HIGH WINDS MANY RIDES WILL BE CLOSED TODAY" A raincheck won't do any good to the people who only get 1 vacation and won't have a chance to come back.

Maniaman said:
... A raincheck won't do any good to the people who only get 1 vacation and won't have a chance to come back.

Then what is the harm in issuing a rain check? It doesn't cost the park anything. It at least gives that person to come back if they can.

No one is saying the park doesn't advertise the policy. There has not been any reasons why they shouldn't change to a better one.

I did explain, the park isn't responsible for the weather at the park during your admission. A ticket to CP is for a same day admission, no raincheck, no refund. If your day sucks because of the weather, the ticket includes this snippet at the bottom describing it's admission policy. The park isn't responsible for that, thus out of their hands...

Case closed, no rainchecks, never will be, don't believe there ever has been...If you want rainchecks, work for CF and see if your idea gets implimented

A rain check is for something that is not available. Cedar Point does not close because of the rain. Certain rides continue to operate in the wind and rain. The restaurants, gift shops and arcades are all open for business. The one time I recall CP giving a "rain check" was the power outage of 2003 and even for that I do not think they gave refunds (I could be wrong on that).

Still no reason why not. I'm not sure your grasping the concept of what a rain check is. If you start playing golf and you only get halfway through your round, the course gives you a rain check. Some courses will give a rain check if you play 17 holes and you get rained out on # 18. If the park is not responsible for the weather, than neither is the guest. The park knows the weather forecast just like the guest do. Why do they open the park if the weather may be bad and they have to close rides? Just because the park prints it on the ticket doesn't make it true. According to your theory, it's the parks fault for opening. You are correct, the guest can choose to use the ticket or not. If they don't use it, that is the same thing as a rain check. Only, a rain check is better because you may have had the guest in the park where the paid for parking, ate food, played games, and bought merchandise before the weather got bad. A rain check invites them back and the guest spend their money on those things all over again.

The park is responsible for delivering the service they advertise and that guest expect. Customers have a funny way of deciding on their own what they expect. Merely, flashing a message on a LED sign saying you may not be able to ride this new coaster we have been telling you so much about; but, we will still take your money does not meet the parks responsibility to customers.

Case still open.

SteveDePoy said:
A rain check is for something that is not available....

But they could be, if only the park choose to change it's policy. All of the store's games etc... would still be open when they came back with the rain check. Why not is the question.

Obvious troll is obvious...Or just completely oblivious...possibly both

I dont think that there should be a rain check or refund persay because there are way too many variables that can come into play. But what if a particular ride was down due to mechanical or weather issues and anyone that was in line at the time that the ride went down was to receive some sort of voucher to be able to enter the FL entrance for that ride on their next visit during that season? By no means as much as a value of a full refund but at least people would feel that they were being compensated in some way.

That would seem be fair to me since if someone only went to the park to ride Gatekeeper for example they would be able to see before paying admission that the ride was down and be able to make the choice whether or not to still pay to get in. If they still pay knowing it was down they receive no benefit. Now I know that you cant see all rides from the entrance but that was just an example because it was like Pete said, it will always be the ride that someone came for that was down... so if that was the case you would be in line for it! Just a thought.

Not at all...When a ride is down mechanical or weather. Ride ops even say, "the ride is down due to mechanical reasons, we do not know the extent of the delay, we will have it up and running as quickly as we can. If you choose to wait in line with us you can, if not you can exit the line through the entrance, understand you cannot have your spot back in line if you choose to leave."

You were warned, you're not going to get something to compensate you after they explain the rules....Why do people feel they need to be compensated for something like this...Go to the park, enjoy what's there, have fun. I've been there when about damn near everything was closed, make the best of it and enjoy your day at cp...If you choose to wait in line and it doesn't open, shrug it off, you tried, enjoy your day...I waited from 1830-2030 for gatekeeper to reopen on the 11th, I knew it was ganna stay down at that point, I said screw it I tried, ah well, good day, and went home...I didn't go begging for a raincheck because I sat in queue for two hours while the ride was down...

It's easy to say there should be a rain check policy. However, drawing that up seems complicated. What if it's raining 80% of the day? What if it rains 20% of the day. What if it rains all day, but you're under 48 inches and none of those mild rides were closed? What about hotels, do you get a rain check on your room too? How about parking? I think if the weather is so terrible that the day is totally washed out, you shouldn't have went anyway. For vacationing folks, weather is always a dice roll. The only rain check scenario I would propose is if they have tickets for a certain day only (i don't know if there are or not), a rain check could be issued prior to stepping foot in the park.

Pretty sure since they got the new ticket system a few years ago you can use a ticket any day, it doesn't have to be the same day you purchased it. And I'm almost positive I read on the bottom of my ticket Sunday that there are no refunds *after* it is scanned, which would lead me to believe if it hasn't been scanned yet you should in theory be able to get a refund for it.

Likewise, no-one at the park is forcing you to buy a ticket and enter the park.

thedevariouseffect said:
"the ride is down due to mechanical reasons, we do not know the extent of the delay, we will have it up and running as quickly as we can. If you choose to wait in line with us you can, if not you can exit the line through the entrance, understand you cannot have your spot back in line if you choose to leave."

Did you hear that a lot while in line the other day?!? You have that down. I have never been in line when a ride has gone down and never chosen to go in line and start waiting while one was down so I have never heard such an announcement. If they do say that (not questioning that they do) then they are covered and it is what it is. Again it was just a thought...

thedevariouseffect said:

... I've been there when about damn near everything was closed, make the best of it and enjoy your day at cp... I said screw it I tried, ah well, good day, and went home.

You make my point perfectly even though you don't mean to. The point is, it was your choice. The park didn't make the decision for you. You were satisfied and you came back. I am with the majority of guest who visit the park each year who are, if nothing else, are mildly disappointed if my favorite ride is closed the day I happened to go to the park. Give the customer an option, stay and have fun, or come back when you won't be disappointed. That is a not a radical concept.

I used to work at CP lol...I still have my spiels down perfectly...In fact I hated going opening day and the spieling was TERRIBLE..It was my favorite part of the job haha...

Also point guru...You forgot to quote the last piece of that quote as well: I didn't go begging for a raincheck because I sat in queue for two hours while the ride was down...

I went, I enjoyed what I paid for, and went home...I didn't gripe because I waited especially after being told it's down weather, or down mechanical, ect...go to guest services and demand a raincheck to come back the next day...If I was stuck on windseeker for 3+ hours I'd maybe want something like a fast pass or front of the line passes, or free food, ect...cause that's on them. The park is good about doing that. Couple forum members got stuck on windseeker opening day & got front of line passes after they got off, no big deal...Weather on the other hand...yeah sorry, mother nature screwed the park over, enjoy what we have...

Yet again, why must people feel the need to be compensated for something outside of the businesses control?

The PointGuru said:

I am with the extremely vocal minority of guest who visit the park each year who are, if nothing else, are mildly disappointed if my favorite ride is closed the day I happened to go to the park.

I keep fixing it for you hoping you'll figure it out on your own.

Cedar Point has 75 rides, more than anywhere. If you went to the park to ride ONLY one coaster, and it is down for mechanical/weather, that's about it (and your fault). There are 74 other rides (minus the kiddy rides) that you can get on. And there will be other rides open.Beyond that, there is nothing more they can do. A raincheck, no matter how good the intent, is bad business. It may be good PR but it's not good for business. Like others have said, the fact that other rides are open when one is not, is not and will never be a justifiable reason to get out free admission for a closed ride(s).