Does your DZ give refunds?

[XitXitXit 0]

I am just curious to know how many DZ's do not give refunds to tandems, and students regardless of the situation?

I know my DZ usually tries to persuade them to come back and do it later when weather issues come up or some other unforeseeable problem happens, but a lot of times we get out of town tourists that can't come back another time so the DZ refunds them the money for the services they did not receive.

Does your DZ do this or do they just say To fucking bad you have to come back here another time or you just eat the 200 bucks you just laid down...

There are no pessimist in skydiving.

[kkeenan 13]

I forget whether it's a Pit Bull or an Alligator that has a reflex that will not allow its jaws to release, once it has a grip on something. I think that most DZOs hands work that way with money.

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[michaelmullins 77]

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I am just curious to know how many DZ's do not give refunds to tandems, and students regardless of the situation?

I know my DZ usually tries to persuade them to come back and do it later when weather issues come up or some other unforeseeable problem happens, but a lot of times we get out of town tourists that can't come back another time so the DZ refunds them the money for the services they did not receive.

Does your DZ do this or do they just say To fucking bad you have to come back here another time or you just eat the 200 bucks you just laid down...

West Tennessee Skydiving

From terms and conditions:

"If you show for your jump and we are unable to complete it due to weather, aircraft problems, etc, you will be given your choice of a full refund or a rain check good for a jump at another time. If you choose the rain check option, you will be given a $10 discount."

[skydived19006 4]

We warn people that if they purchase a gift certificate, it's not refundable. We also routinely suggest that they can make up their own gift certificate, come along with their buddy, and pay the day of the jump. All that said, I will refund a gift certificate once in a while. We give one year until expiration, waiting 11 months, then calling with "I've been busy" isn't justification, though I will generally give them a couple of additional months.

We require a $50 deposit, I obviously push people to reschedule, but we do very often refund the $50. The theory behind the deposit is to ensure that people don't schedule, then not show up. If they're weathered out and do not or can not reschedule I'll refund the deposit.

All that said, I do hate to give "my" money back to our customers. In the long run fucking people out of their money, and making enemies doesn't seem like a good business model to me (sounds like another Skyride thread). Especially considering the percentage of our business which comes to us through referrals.

Martin

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[MarkM 0]

ZHills: I'm pretty sure they do refunds. I think they're one of the better DZs around when it comes to taking care of their customers.

Sebastian: Pretty sure they don't except for some rare cases.

[normiss 620]

We strive to take care of customers at Skydive City.
We're doing rather well at taking care of other drop zone's former customers as well.
They piss them off, we make it right.

[XitXitXit 0]

< (sounds like another Skyride thread)

As a matter of fact I did ask this question because of the repeated remarks from the pro skyride crowd that not giving refunds is a industry standard, and that the majority of DZ's do not give refunds, and they should not be persecuted because they routinely tell their customers to go piss up a rope. From the number of people who have voted so far I would say that the Majority of DZ's " DO " give refunds...

There are no pessimist in skydiving.

[Sletzer 3]

From what I've seen, some DZ's requie a non-refundable deposit, say $50. If they can't jump due to bad weather and can't reschedule, they get their money back, minus the non-refundable deposit to cover the costs of time/training they recieved, etc.

I will be kissing hands and shaking babies all afternoon. Thanks for all your support! *bows*

SCS #8251

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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From what I've seen, some DZ's requie a non-refundable deposit, say $50. If they can't jump due to bad weather and can't reschedule, they get their money back, minus the non-refundable deposit to cover the costs of time/training they recieved, etc.

This is rediculous. If I make an appointment at the dentist and don't show up they bill me $50.00. If I do show up and the power is out should I expect to pay the 50 bucks? No, and I would not pay it. Charging people for services not rendered is crazy, and probably illegal were it to reach court in most jurisdictions.

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

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From what I've seen, some DZ's requie a non-refundable deposit, say $50. If they can't jump due to bad weather and can't reschedule, they get their money back, minus the non-refundable deposit to cover the costs of time/training they recieved, etc.

This is rediculous. If I make an appointment at the dentist and don't show up they bill me $50.00. If I do show up and the power is out should I expect to pay the 50 bucks? No, and I would not pay it. Charging people for services not rendered is crazy, and probably illegal were it to reach court in most jurisdictions.

Yes and no. I cannot speak for all drop zones, but a couple that I am familiar with that do the $50 deposit thing, it goes like this...

If someone calls up and makes a reservation to come out and do a student jump, they have to put down a $50 deposit on a credit card that goes towards the overall cost of their jump when they come out, go through training and make their jump.

In the "what if" category, if they make a reservation, do not show up and do not call and cancel, they don't get their $50 back. The argument being, the drop zone has committed to having staff on hand to support them and if you don't show and don't call, the dz still may owe their staff $$ for showing up.

Now as far as the legality of all that, I don't know, so don't mistake my post here as saying "that it is okay", its just what I've seen as "typical" for a couple of dz's I'm familiar with.

[psychoswooper 2]

At Quincy Fl aka skydive Tallahassee. $35 deposit is non-refundable if student does not show up. If weather is bad, planes are down or they can't go for any reason that is not their own fault- they get a refund. Of course we try to reschedule, but maybe they don't really want to go another day. It's their money. And a lot of times if they have a really good reason- sprained ankle day before playing soccer-family member in hospital... we let the deposit "ride" for another time.
BTW when I worked at Homestead many years ago, a customer took them to court over not refunding a gift cert (after it had expired) The DZ LOST, thereby setting precedent in Florida at least. Judge kept referring to something called "specific performance:

[beerline 0]

At Skydive Sebastian we do for bad weather, plane down, ext...

I don't know where you heard that we don't.

[MarkM 0]

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At Skydive Sebastian we do for bad weather, plane down, ext...

I don't know where you heard that we don't.

Sorry, you're right, I was thinking refunds on jump tickets. A lot of DZs have different polices on that though. Could be another thread entirely.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Yes and no. I cannot speak for all drop zones, but a couple that I am familiar with that do the $50 deposit thing, it goes like this...

If someone calls up and makes a reservation to come out and do a student jump, they have to put down a $50 deposit on a credit card that goes towards the overall cost of their jump when they come out, go through training and make their jump.

In the "what if" category, if they make a reservation, do not show up and do not call and cancel, they don't get their $50 back. The argument being, the drop zone has committed to having staff on hand to support them and if you don't show and don't call, the dz still may owe their staff $$ for showing up.

Absolutely! If the customer breaks the appointment that is what the deposit is for. If the dz cannot provide the service, say for weather, then they must refund.
The solo FJC is a little trickier as the customer may well feel that the product is, and only is, the jump. The DZ on the other hand feels that the course is the larger part of the course and one jump package. At our place the customer who cannot reschedule after taking the course and not jumping (usually due to wind) is offered a refund for the jump which is priced the same as a second jump. The same offer is available for those who choose not to board the aircraft.