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sky1flygirl
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 1100
: D 21882
: 7 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:11 AM
Post #1 of 169
(29082 views)
Registered: Feb 11, 2003
Posts: 15
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1800skyride scam
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Can't Post
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I just received this from a friend thought I should pass it on.
AB
Greetings,
I felt compelled to let you know that if you plan to use the
1800Skyride.com service, it is a bullshit scam, which did not really
surprise me. Unfortunately I agreed to use them even though the pay they
were offering for tandems they scheduled to come to my DZ is so low, I am
embarrassed to admit I agreed to it in the first place. I asked two of the
customers (that came out to my drop zone after they scheduled through
Skyride) what they ended up paying. It was then that I learned that the
people are getting charged an additional $40 "Port Fee" per jump. The
customers asked me what a Port Fee was and I told them that it must be a
scam fee from that company and I had no idea what a Port Fee was supposed
to be for, other than getting more money out of each customer. Of course I
will not see any of that additional fee. There were other fees attached to
their bill that drove the price up even further.
Bottom line-they are screwing any of the customers and drop zones using their system.
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darkwing
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 2410
: D 4164
: 37 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:20 AM
Post #2 of 169
(29051 views)
Registered: Sep 20, 2002
Posts: 2215
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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It doesn't sound so much like a scam to me. It looks more like some clever people decided that they could make money by brokering some jumps for whuffos. I think it is only a scam if you don't actually get your jump.
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SkySlut
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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:
: D
:
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Mar 18, 2003, 6:01 AM
Post #3 of 169
(29006 views)
Registered: Feb 26, 2001
Posts: 1382
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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What is the total charge that the customer pays???
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SkymonkeyONE
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6200
: D 12501
: 29 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 6:55 AM
Post #4 of 169
(28961 views)
Registered: Mar 1, 2001
Posts: 12092
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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I am going to have to disagree totally here. Our dropzone is one that participates in the program and it has brought me (the RPC manager) not less than seven customers who were all satisfied (to say the least) with the service they received here at Raeford. While it's true that the service might have you driving past closer dropzones to get to one of their participating centers, that is not the fault of the service. It's the fault of the potential customer for not looking at all the other available services which might lead you to a closer dropzone. Hell, even looking at a Parachutist would have you driving past other (non- USPA) dropzones, so where do you draw the line? At any rate, our dropzone has benefitted from participation in the program. Another point is that the price people pay (to my knowledge) is no different than they would have paid me if they had just shown up anyway. Feel free to PM me for more on this subject.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
Raeford Parachute Center School
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buzzfink
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6100
: D 13652
: 23 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 8:01 AM
Post #5 of 169
(28917 views)
Registered: Nov 19, 2002
Posts: 131
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Re: [SkymonkeyONE] 1800skyride scam
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I agree. We participate in the 1800skyride program and are very happy. They perform their own marketing at their own expense, they pay for the overhead, they pay for the phonelines, accounting, office rent, etc. They sell the jumps at a price which recovers their expenses and makes them a profit. That's business and it was a good idea someone had. If they severely overcharged their customers, the customers would not pay.
There are far more important things in skydiving to get upset about.
Buzz Fink
Skydive San Diego, Inc.
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betzilla
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 1000
: D 23089
: 11 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 9:30 AM
Post #6 of 169
(28860 views)
Registered: Mar 6, 2003
Posts: 569
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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That sucks. We don't need poeple having a bad taste in their mouths about skydiving, when they could be treated well. How likely are they to come back and make a second jump if they get screwed out of all their cash on jump 1?
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Mixoligist
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6900
: D 26787
: 9 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 2:21 PM
Post #7 of 169
(28770 views)
Registered: Feb 11, 2003
Posts: 260
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Re: [betzilla] 1800skyride scam
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Yea ! I got screwed out of all my $ after my first tandem jump.
I had to pay to do it again!
Then I had to pay for AFF!
Then I had to pay for my rig!(which I love)
Not to mention I have to pay for my jumps and all that beer.
Skydiving is such a scam
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GeorgeOrwell
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 745
: B 26236
: 6 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:04 PM
Post #8 of 169
(28719 views)
Registered: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 89
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Re: [Mixoligist] 1800skyride scam
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you are very correct sir
What a great response to this post
For I have also got scamed out of alot of cash
but I love it
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Iflyme
Canada
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 178
: B 4421
:
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:14 PM
Post #9 of 169
(28712 views)
Registered: Dec 29, 2000
Posts: 2427
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Re: [buzzfink] 1800skyride scam
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So, Buzzfink, adding a middleman to take more money out of the coutomer's pocket is good business? No thanks...
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SkymonkeyONE
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6200
: D 12501
: 29 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:47 PM
Post #10 of 169
(28695 views)
Registered: Mar 1, 2001
Posts: 12092
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In our experience, people don't pay the skyride people a penny more than they would pay here at our dropzone. The customer pays skyride, then they show up here to make their jump. Once the jump is complete, we have them sign their faxed reservation as confirmation of their jump. We then fax the signed copy back to skyride for US to get paid. WE (the dropzone) make slightly less per tandem doing it this way, but that's OK because it brings us business we would not ordinarily get. Once again: there is no price increase (at least using our dropzone) over what you would pay if you just walked in off the street. The dropzone gets paid slightly less, but we make up for it in the additional traffic. I hope that explains it. At any rate, it's working great for us.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
Raeford Parachute Center School
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motherhucker
Mexico
Jumps
License
In sport
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:
: D 19
: 9 years
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Mar 18, 2003, 4:56 PM
Post #11 of 169
(28689 views)
Registered: Oct 8, 2002
Posts: 393
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Re: [SkymonkeyONE] 1800skyride scam
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Does this operation sell video for the DZ too? Or is the DZ able to sell video for full price to the Sky Ride customers?
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SkymonkeyONE
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6200
: D 12501
: 29 years
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Mar 19, 2003, 9:12 AM
Post #13 of 169
(28574 views)
Registered: Mar 1, 2001
Posts: 12092
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Re: [motherhucker] 1800skyride scam
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Here, our TMs and Vidiots get paid the same amount as if the customer was a walk-in. On our dropzone, there is no "separate" video concession; they work for me.
Chuck
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betzilla
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 1000
: D 23089
: 11 years
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Mar 19, 2003, 12:36 PM
Post #15 of 169
(28516 views)
Registered: Mar 6, 2003
Posts: 569
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Re: [Mixoligist] 1800skyride scam
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Hey mixologist,
Whatcha doing buying all that beer if you could be shaking beer-light martinis?
I just mean, people already think we're nuts (which we are, sort of), so we don't need the bad publicity of also being jerks.
Of course some people have plenty of cash to burn and will come back even if they more than it's worth to do that first jump. Me -- I was a budget student I wouldn't have been able to stay in the sport if someone had taken advantage of my niavete, and taken my money!
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MakeItHappen
Belgium
Jumps
License
In sport
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:
:
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Nov 10, 2003, 9:47 PM
Post #16 of 169
(28267 views)
Registered: Jul 6, 2003
Posts: 1843
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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I'd like to hear from any DZO that has done business with SkyRide.com
TIA
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riddler
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 555
: D 26976
: 8 years
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Nov 10, 2003, 10:40 PM
Post #17 of 169
(28240 views)
Registered: Aug 30, 2002
Posts: 5034
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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Kind of sounds like "port fee" is the cost of ferrying the plane. DZs normally pay a ferry fee to get a plane in for a boogie, so it doesn't sound that unusual to me.
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markbaur
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 5500
: D 6108
: 26 years
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Nov 11, 2003, 3:06 AM
Post #18 of 169
(28198 views)
Registered: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 476
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
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1800skyride.com = Cary Vincent, Marietta, Georgia.
Mark
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Harksaw
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 270
: C 33932
: 4 years
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Nov 11, 2003, 7:16 AM
Post #19 of 169
(28128 views)
Registered: Mar 23, 2003
Posts: 436
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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This sounds a lot like 1-800-DENTIST where dentists pay to have their names put on a list, and people call in and are told the closest dentist on the list. They do provide a service (advertising for the dentist/DZ, locating a dentist/DZ for the customer) and they do charge money for it. From what I've read it doesn't sound like a scam, after all, 1800Skyride is probably the first place they've heard tandems advertised.
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airtwardo
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 3600
: D
: 34 years
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Nov 11, 2003, 8:32 AM
Post #20 of 169
(28092 views)
Registered: Oct 30, 2002
Posts: 21956
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Re: [SkymonkeyONE] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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In our experience, people don't pay the skyride people a penny more than they would pay here at our dropzone. The customer pays skyride, then they show up here to make their jump. Once the jump is complete, we have them sign their faxed reservation as confirmation of their jump. We then fax the signed copy back to skyride for US to get paid. WE (the dropzone) make slightly less per tandem doing it this way, but that's OK because it brings us business we would not ordinarily get. Once again: there is no price increase (at least using our dropzone) over what you would pay if you just walked in off the street. The dropzone gets paid slightly less, but we make up for it in the additional traffic. I hope that explains it. At any rate, it's working great for us.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
Raeford Parachute Center School
If it's the same price or close to it, Why wouldn't a dropzone approve?! It's all about getting traffic... More customer exposure. A DZ I worked at had a neat program going. The DZO had a bunch of classy looking business card / coupons printed up that he would distribute to the 'regular' jumpers. On it was a 20.00 discount for the first jump course, The distributing jumper signed the back... If 5 cards came back with your name on them you got a free jump ticket... 10 cards equals a repack. Within 30 days the number of 1st time students doubled.
(This post was edited by airtwardo on Nov 11, 2003, 9:45 AM)
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buzzfink
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 6100
: D 13652
: 23 years
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Nov 11, 2003, 8:58 AM
Post #21 of 169
(28070 views)
Registered: Nov 19, 2002
Posts: 131
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Re: [markbaur] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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Re-posted:
We participate in the 1800skyride program and are very happy. They perform their own marketing at their own expense, they pay for the overhead, they pay for the phonelines, accounting, office rent, etc. They sell the jumps at a price which recovers their expenses and makes them a profit. That's business and it was a good idea someone had. If they severely overcharged their customers, the customers would not pay.
There are far more important things in skydiving to get upset about.
Buzz Fink
Skydive San Diego, Inc.
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Greene
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 14600
: D 5835
: 48 years
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Nov 12, 2003, 4:46 PM
Post #22 of 169
(27945 views)
Registered: Mar 22, 2001
Posts: 410
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Re: [MakeItHappen] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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Check out our post on rec.skydiving.
Do not know how to post on two seperate newsgroups
:(
Skydive Greene County
Xenia, Ohio
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Stacy
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 600
: D
: 6 years
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Nov 12, 2003, 5:36 PM
Post #23 of 169
(27918 views)
Registered: Feb 26, 2001
Posts: 3954
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Re: [sky1flygirl] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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The part I disagree with in this is that the skyride folks have bought out other URLS, such as "skydive Philadelphia", which DOES detract from business the local DZ could get. Skyride is NOT a DZ, and shold not advertise to be one. The customer, thinking they will skydive in Philly, calls the number, buys a jump through a non-DZ and is referred to cross keys or the likes. It's false advertising in my eyes and IS detracting from teh normal business the local DZs would get.
Just my 2 cents.
__
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Greene
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 14600
: D 5835
: 48 years
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Nov 12, 2003, 6:22 PM
Post #24 of 169
(27897 views)
Registered: Mar 22, 2001
Posts: 410
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Thanks Stacy!
Somebody has finally figured out this "scam"
Again, thanks Stacy
Lee
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Greene
United States
Jumps
License
In sport
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: 14600
: D 5835
: 48 years
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Nov 12, 2003, 6:29 PM
Post #25 of 169
(27893 views)
Registered: Mar 22, 2001
Posts: 410
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Re: [buzzfink] 1800skyride scam
[In reply to]
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Why would you pay someone else to send skydivers to your place, if they are driving past other DZ's that may be as great as yours, and many hour out of their way?
You our dear dzo friend, are promiting SPAM in what was once our great skydiving world.
Lee and Jim
written by Lee
Skydive Greene County
since 1961
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