My wife planned a wonderful Christmas surprise and gave me a sunrise hot air balloon tour over Phoenix as my gift.
It was scheduled to be raining that morning so we made sure to call and emailed the company the day before to confirm that the flight was still on. They confirmed flight and 7 a.m. pick up at a Starbucks location. We then confirmed with our babysitter to watch our six-month-old as we went on this adventure.
We arrived at the Starbucks @ 6:40 AM eager and excited to begin our trip. We then proceeded to wait in Starbucks till 7:50 while calling and emailing with no response. Company phone mailbox full and could not leave voicemail.
We gave up shortly after sunrise and went back to our hotel to relieve the babysitter.
when I called later that day I was told that the flight had been canceled due to the weather and that the pilot had called earlier that morning to notify us. Not once did I receive a call, email, text or message to say the flight had been canceled ( screenshots to prove it). The rainy weather was known five days in advance of flight but no one ever explained or communicated potential cancelation. Completely understand weather changes but communication is key.
Not only am I out the money for the babysitter but as a parent an extra hour or two of sleep is always greatly appreciated. Our last vacation day in Phoenix was ruined and my wife felt so terrible that she couldn't get me a gift.
This company is very unprofessional, does not seem to care or take responsibility for their error and made no effort to try to remidiate. This company is not reliable. Save yourself time, money and headache and find another provider if you wish to enjoy a balloon ride.
Sincerely,
Stressed & disappointed Father.
Одговор домаћина
Jan 2020
I am sorry for this experience. Weather does play a large role in this experience. This flight canceled over an hour before meeting time and all customers were advised via phone call or text. Unfortunately TripAdvisor does not always share phone numbers therefore we have to email cancelations. Many times TripAdvisor customers don’t receive cancelations until well after meeting time due to not regularly checking email. I am very sorry for that. We would have happily called had we a phone number to call. Future recommendation is when booking through a third party click the allow to share phone number box.