Rain checks, why not?

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Pete said:
Since the guest received an imaginary rain check for free a scalper could buy the rain check for, let's say, $15 and sell for $25. Guest with the rain check makes money, scalper makes money and the purchaser of the rain check saves money off the gate price. Win for everyone except CP, which was cheated out of an admission.

But again, I'd argue this scenario is already possible (and has already probably played out), even without rain checks.

The group sales department has discounted ticket deals in place with many area companies. Let's say, hypothetically, CP has an arrangement with Enron. Through this arrangement, Enron employees can buy park tickets for $25 (I don't know what the exact price of corporate tickets are, but it's a discount). An Enron employee could buy the $25 ticket, then sell it to someone else for more. Thus, the opportunity for scalping exists right this very moment. Yet, given the fact that CP hasn't discontinued offering these discounted corporate tickets, obviously the scalping threat isn't all that unbearable...

Furthermore, how is a scalper going to amass enough tickets to really make a dent on the park's finances? I can see someone getting a hold of a few, but not hundreds or thousands.

I seem to be reading a whole lot of "Rain checks are never going to happen, what a stupid idea, no park would be crazy enough to do it..." in this thread.

Well, Six Flags New England implemented a rain check system of it's own this year. It's called Weather Guarantee and it's apparently being tested at the park before it's rolled out to the rest of the chain.

It's basically a rain check with some restrictions, and I don't really think it's that bad of an idea. It might need some tweaking depending on the park, but why not offer something like this to guests if XX out of 75 attractions are closed for a certain period of time due to weather? Obviously you'd need some other restrictions put forth to avoid abuse, but it brings back guests into the park who most likely have spent money the first day they were there to spend money again on another day. And it wouldn't be that bad of a PR move either.

I would be curious to know what the "extended period" is. The biggest problem with a raincheck policy is that there would be so much grey area. Are you going to say that stuff have to be shut down for a certain number of hours in order for it to issued. Different cut off hours for days with different closing times?? If it is a half hour short of that cut off hour are you still going to issue it. It would be extremely hard to write a black and white rule for it.

According to the SFNE website:

Again, that is where some type of coupon used in conjunction with rain checks would be vastly better than the current policy. As previously stated you could still place restrictions and work out any kinks there may be; but, any type of compromise with the customer is better than the current hard line customer unfriendly policy. Sure, you will have a small percentage of guest who will always want more and the park will never be able to please. The vast majority of guest would simply appreciate a small gesture from the park that says "Sorry your favorite ride is unavailable at this time. We regret the inconvenience but it is for your safety, please accept a small discount on your favorite treat or souvenir while you wait for the ride to start operating again or when you come back to the park another day". A policy similar to something like that would actually be easier for park operations and cause less aggravation for customers.

Forget buying a season pass! Go on days when it will rain preferbly when it will rain for only a few hours and get your rain check. Rain, Ride and Repeat!

If you find that many guest that only want to go to the park when the weather is crappy and not when the sun is shining; that would be a good thing for the park. I doubt that many Platinum Pass holders are going to the park when the weather is crappy. Everyone has already said you shouldn't go to the park on those days. The park is still open, at least the cheapskates who use your plan will be spending money in the park while no one else is there.

Who says they will spend more money in the park?? Just because they buy a ticket to the park does not mean they will buy and food or souvenirs and just because they get a rain check and return to the park doesn't mean they will spend any more money. If people are "cheapskates" and come to the park on crappy days to get a free do you really think they are paying CP food prices?

I would say who cares? At least the park made money off of the parking (twice) and there is at least the potential they will buy something. If they are not spending money the first day either, they probably would be less likely to return if they had to pay even more money to get into the park again. The guest already paid their money, that park doesn't give the money back. Exactly what do you think these cheapskates are doing in the park with the rides closed due to crappy weather? It's a no lose situation for the park.

Your worried about guest being irate and your going to make them pay to park on return trip?
And what are they doing while the rides are closed?? They are complaining to park operations about everything being closed and wanting their money back.

If CP had the Six Flags weather guarantee no rain checks would have been given out at CP during the windy days. What does Six Flags mean by majority? It's probably higher, but for arguments sake let's say 51% of rides must be closed for a consecutive hour. So, at CP with around 75 rides (not sure of the exact number), if 16 coasters plus Sky Ride and Windseeker are closed because of weather (wind in this case), that is only 24% of rides closed. So Pointguru would not have received his rain check.

The Six Flags weather guarantee seems like more of a marketing ploy than a serious policy, I doubt very many rain checks will be issued.

Why would guest complain is the get rain checks? According to the "going on a crappy day" theory that is why they go in the first place. As far as parking. The park chooses to charge separately for parking. It wouldn't have to be included in the rain check and the guest knows that.

Pete said:
What does Six Flags mean by majority? ... The Six Flags weather guarantee seems like more of a marketing ploy than a serious policy, I doubt very many rain checks will be issued.

That is why CP should get off their butts and change the policy to allow for rain checks. They can come up with whatever policy they want to suit the park or every Cedar Fair park for that matter. Whether it be a legitimate policy that benefits guest or just a marketing ploy, either way it gives the perception the park is trying to be more customer friendly and that generates revenue for the park. That is the purpose of a marketing ploy and what the park wants, correct?

So, let me get this straight.

1) You want the convenience fee rolled into the price of a ticket, which would hide what is now a clearly presented fee to the consumer and take away their choice of paying it.

2) You want to use shady marketing tactics to entice people to come to the park when the weather is bad knowing that for all practical purposes the park will never need to issue rain checks based on the policy set.

3) You want to give little old ladies heart attacks by fooling them into riding Windseeker because you want them to think it is a luxury version of Space Spiral.

Glad you are looking out for park guests and helping CP be more customer service oriented.

LOL, I love those ideas, I can see it now. Bring your grannie to ride Windseeker and drink a beer at the top. "Windseeker" The Dr. Kevorkian of amusement rides guaranteed to speed up your inheritance.

I'm saying if the park is already going to use shady marketing tactics, then at least try to fool them into thinking they are getting something out of it. Of, course I would still complain about that until they made a real customer friendly policy.

Why should the park be any different than most retailers when they offer a product? If you go to a department store to buy an advertised product and it is out of stock (or on back order), they will issue a rain check until the product is available. Employees may try to encourage you to use your money to purchase other products in the store; but, if that is the product you want, you can wait until it is available.

It really is no different with the park. If people came to the park to ride Gatekeeper but is shut down, people can choose to spend the rest of their day doing other things in the park; but they should be able to come back when it is available. You could give partial rain checks if the ride shut down after a few hours of operation. Having a policy that says no rain checks shows the mentality of poor customer service that the park has. How many people would stand for a retailer taking their money for a product then saying "Sorry you can't have the product you paid for; but, we are keeping your money anyways because you can have a product you don't want or one you have already tried". Just saying the policy is the way it is and we told you so is no excuse for poor customer service.

You have 4 out of the last 5 posts on this thread. And yet you bump it....

Doesn't the fact that no one else is responding tell you something??

Why is this thread still alive...

I'm new to posting here, but have been a lurker for many years.
While most of the "Guru" ideas seem to border on the insane, I actually find the rain check idea plausible, but NOT rain checks for mechanical issues.

Several other parks we visit have this policy in place, one of which I know for a fact has had it for several years. None of these parks seem to be hurting as they all are adding major attractions on a very regular basis.

While like any policy ,it would take some tweaking and have some pros and cons. As for us, we try and plan our visits around the weather so we really don't care if they
would implement "rain checks" or not.