wildblue 4 #176 October 29, 2004 QuoteYou said that you jumped with an expired membership. Do you think that is the norm? No, I doubt it's 'the norm' - but it is possible. I jumped at a large DZ with expired memebership (which was odd, because they're computerized, and I thought that was one of the things they kept track of) ... but, anyway, that's not the point here should be members - the idea of not renewing to make a point to the USPA is stupid... that's all I was trying to say there. quiksilver - $1300?? How did they take you for $1300 and you haven't made a single jump?? You said you're in NJ, where were they going to send you to jump? Can you give us more of the story. Oh, and Bo - just wait 'till Google gets a hold of this thread :Dit's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #177 October 29, 2004 Do us (the sport) a favour; if you're talking to the press about your experiences with 1800-skyride please make sure they're aware that this company isn't terribly indicative of the sort business practices of most skydivers/DZ’s and that not everyone in the wider skydiving community is particularly happy with their activities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 7 #178 October 29, 2004 Quotequiksilver - $1300?? How did they take you for $1300 and you haven't made a single jump?? Quote Wondering that myself...1300? Anyway, Hey Blue...(and everyone) Just remember that when you jump with an expired membership, you have NO liability insurance. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #179 October 29, 2004 Check this out They represent themself as Skydive Chicago on the bottom of this page: http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/index.html They put Skydive Chicago in the banner on this page: http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/giftcert.html And you can see it used on the site map as well: http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/indexing.html If you let your mouse rest on the "Facilities" tag under "Experienced Jumpers" the help tag says "Skydive Chicago" and does anyone know whos facilities these are? http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/fac.html OF course the typical ripped off photos showing this DZ has landscape that spans Skydive AZ, the old Skydive America, Elsinore, etc: http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/photogal.html Do you think Norman Kent allowed his shots to be on this page? http://www.chicagoskydiving.net/videos.html I am curious on how Quicksilver lost $1300? Or was that a typo? Want to see something scary? Type "Skydive Skyride" without the quotes into Google - it looks like Skyride has over 600 active pages on the internet. Any Google spider/bot will place the dropzone.com pages, and Sid's page well at the end of those links most likely. This just proves that any "internet" type campaign against this company will do nothing. It needs to be legal._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #180 October 29, 2004 Quote I am curious on how Quicksilver lost $1300? Or was that a typo? Sounds like she got a package for several people. 5 with video? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sid 1 #181 October 29, 2004 Quote If you let your mouse rest on the "Facilities" tag under "Experienced Jumpers" the help tag says "Skydive Chicago" and does anyone know whos facilities these are? nope - but they're in New York too!!!!! http://www.newyorkskydiving.com/fac.htmlPete Draper, Just because my life plan is written on the back of a Hooter's Napkin, it's still a life plan.... right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MakeItHappen 15 #182 October 29, 2004 Quote As far as I'm concerned, they pretty much stole my money and I am now out $1300.00. I have so much more to say about this and would be happy to share all the details with everyone so that we can get enough backing to put them out of business altogether. That would be an unsual claim against them. They have been know to give refunds, but only when customers make a big stink about it. As far as I know, every DZ working with SkyRide has been paid - sometimes a little late. QuoteSpeaking of which, they're not even legally IN business as far as I know, since they're not legally registered as a company. (I checked with both the state and county offices and they have no info. on them at all). Yeah right. Go to GA Corporations Search Type CASC, inc Quote~Claire Your writing style sounds like Cary..... For your reading pleasure.... SkyRide Scam has been updated. This comes up first when you google SkyRide Scam and on the first page of skydive skyride .. Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildblue 4 #183 October 29, 2004 QuoteThey represent themself as Skydive Chicago on the bottom of this page: And "Chicago Skydiving Center" is close enough to "Chicagoland Skydiving Center" to bring some sort of trade mark suit against them (intent to confuse I'm sure is there) QuoteIf you let your mouse rest on the "Facilities" tag under "Experienced Jumpers" the help tag says "Skydive Chicago" and does anyone know whos facilities these are? Well it's ASC of course! http://www.ascskydiving.com/skydive_safety.htm QuoteType "Skydive Skyride" without the quotes into Google Type "Skyride dropzone scam" in there... Some of the dz.com threads have actually popped up on there... hopefully people see those too.it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildblue 4 #184 October 29, 2004 Ok, so would approaching DZOs do anything? Perris deals with Skyride, so does Skydive Columbus I'd be interested to hear what prompted Richmond to stop taking them.it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sunshine 2 #185 October 29, 2004 Ok, after checking out your website i'm even more pissed off. I'm a big tightwad with my money, but would gladly donate to a fund for a lawsuit against these fuckers. I know we have some lawyers on the forums, if we could get them to research and get a case together, that would be a good start. If a bunch of dzcommers pitch in to a fund to pay expenses, perhaps we can take them down. Just my random thoughts. ___________________________________________ meow I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justchrisdsp 0 #186 October 29, 2004 go to alskydiving.com, the supposed facilities for chicago skydiving look earily like the ones for pell city's alabama skydiving center. and by earily i mean exactlyi the same. someone explain that to me The only bad skydive is your last! chris "sonic wookie" harwell Piedra-belluda-roja Rodriguez Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #187 October 29, 2004 One heads-up for the future: www.skydivegear.com (I don't see a need to make it clicky) seems to be an online gear store in development. It's registered to the same guy as Skyride. When/if it opens, be aware of where your money might be going. Now of course I have no idea who actually owns the gear store or how they might be affiliated with skyride. But I'd sure want to find out before buying something from them. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3ringheathen 0 #188 October 29, 2004 Quote Want to see something scary? Type "Skydive Skyride" without the quotes into Google - it looks like Skyride has over 600 active pages on the internet. Any Google spider/bot will place the dropzone.com pages, and Sid's page well at the end of those links most likely. This just proves that any "internet" type campaign against this company will do nothing. Most of you probably have a free personal web page with your internet account. What if everyone simply devoted one page to exposing this fraud? All it needs is a brief explanation/warning about skyride and ASC, and links to the real USPA website. If hundreds of skydivers took this approach, wouldn't their pages come up before Cockroachy's? Food for thought. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreamsville 0 #189 October 29, 2004 People pay to share that number in their region. It's just a bigger billboard that shows up more places. I wasn't aware that our DZ shared a subscription to 1800skydive with ASC, although I know SDC has used it for years. As far as I know, SDC does not accept Skyride stuff, but I will ask. I doubt it very much. I will pass it on to the DZOs when I see them tomorrow. |I don't drink during the day, so I don't know what it is about this airline. I keep falling out the door of the plane. Harry, FB #4143 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFFC 1 #190 October 30, 2004 QuoteWell, in the Houston area, it gets you to Spaceland, which is a real DZ. I think it's one of the regional 800 numbers, and it all depends on who buys it first. Exactly - See here for a listing of the 1800skydive number lessees. A DZ can lease the number for several zipcodes.----- ~~~Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstime 0 #191 October 30, 2004 "DITTO" you just summed up 189 replies. It's called sanctions!!! Well said weegegirl Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,882 #192 October 30, 2004 Quote"DITTO" you just summed up 189 replies. It's called sanctions!!! Well said weegegirl So who has the list of participating DZs?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quiksilver 0 #193 November 10, 2004 just a test! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quiksilver 0 #194 November 10, 2004 Hi Guys (and girls) :) It's been a while since I have visited the site, mostly due to an outrageous work schedule and pretty crazy hours. Therefore, I just wanted to post a "test" thread to make sure I was posting correctly. Anyhow, I was taking a look through some of the posts since I have been away and noticed that a couple of people questioned the fact that I had lost $1300. Actually, all of the money is not mine. Approx. $200 worth is actually my portion and the rest belongs to siblings and friends. (There was a group of 7 of us in all, hence the high $$ amount). At any rate, I wish I could say I have a great update but so far, things have been a bit slower moving than I would like. The lawyer I am working with is still reviewing my documents and researching Skyride to determine whether or not they are "worth" enough to go after as far as a "Class Action" is concerned. No doubt there are plenty of unhappy customers but the issue is, does SKyride pull in enough dough to make them worth suing on this kind of a level? Apparently that's still being determined.... The other thing I've done is contacted the county police department where Skyride's supposed headquarters are located and there is a detective there who is presently conducting an investigation into the company for mail fraud (being that I mailed them a money order which they cashed, thereby making this action a federal offense). I am almost hesitant to make this info. public since as a few of you have pointed out, anyone (including the Skyride people) could be reading all of this information right now. But the bottom line is, they've ticked off so many people and have such a bad rep that soon enough, there'll be nowhere left for them to hide, regardless of what I say or don't say..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quiksilver 0 #195 November 10, 2004 Oh, and as far as the full "story" is concerned, as someone else had asked..... Basically what happened was this: I was contacted the day before my dive was scheduled and advised that the jump was being cancelled due to weather. Actually, the weather the next day turned out to be great so I called up the skydiving reservations office (that would be Skyride) and asked if we were still on, being that the weather wasn't an issue. It was then that I was advised that none of the planes on site were operational and that this was the REAL problem (not the weather). So, I went back to everyone in my group, explained the situation and basically we all decided that due to the fact that we were not given an honest answer in the first place and that when we finally DID get the honest answer we didn't like what we heard, we decided not to pursue skydiving with this particular company. At that time, I was still under the impression that the "company" and the "drop zone" were one and the same. Now I know better. So to continue, when I called Skyride back to advise that we did not want to reschedule our jump but instead wanted our money back, THAT'S when I was given the whole song and dance about their "no-refund" policy, which obviously no one ever told me about PRIOR to my reservations purchase, otherwise I would certainly not have chosen to give them any of my money. Then, when I told the woman in the reservations office that it was entirely unfair that we were all out a total of $1300, she advised that I take it up with a woman named "Gena" in the corporate office. So after several weeks of back and forth with that (due to the fact that they gave me the wrong address to send my complaint letter to....TWICE), my refund request was declined. Ironically, on the same day my refund request was denied, I got a call back from the reservations agent who originally sold me the "jump slots". She advised that i would be getting a check in the mail the vry next week and that she knew the owners. After assuring me I would get a full refund, (on more than one occasion) and dodging my phonecall for weeks when it was obvious that no such check was going to be produced, I came to find out that she "no longer worked" there. How convenient. Again, in a bizarre twist of fate, the very same day that I was informed that this girl (Sarah) no longer was employed with the company, Gena called me back and basically had the nerve to reprimand me for "going through Sarah" to resolve an issue which was already "case closed". I frostily informed her that Sarah had advised me that in fact she (Gena) had given me the "wrong info" and that I would be getting a check in the mail directly. Of course, this fell on deaf ears and Gena simply informed me that she was not responsible for the misinformation that someone else gave to me. When I pressed the issue, and outright asked Gena for the reason that my request was denied, she would not give me an answer. She also advised that a "panel" had made the decision (which I find highly dubious). When I asked if I could speak to one of the "panel" members, of course my request was declined and I was told that this is the "end of the line". The woman all but hung up on me and it was at this point that I had just had it..... Honestly, the $200 on my end is a loss but at this point it's not even about that. It's about my little brother, who paid $400 for him and his buddy to go (He's in college still and money doesn't grow on trees. You know how the college years are), and it's about my friends and other customers of this company and what they've lost. We've all been given the run around and it just needs to be dealt with. Oh, and I was supposed to jump out of Perkasie, PA at a place called Skydive Pennridge. All these names are so damn confusing. First they were calling it Skydive Perkasie, then they were calling it Pennridge.... Whatever. I never even ended up going so I never even saw the site but I do know that all the people (to my knowledge) that I spoke with were in GA. Although to be honest, seeing as this company it so shady, I could've been talking to "Bob in Honduras" for all I know. Anyway, that's about it. Hope the full, unabridged version of the story put a few questions to rest. The whole process of rehashing it all is a bit draining but I'd much rather rehash that leave suspicions floating around (ie- suspicions that maybe I am making up the story, that I am not really who I say I am, etc.) One last thing---- ANY DIVERS IN GEORGIA WHO HAVE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH THESE PEOPLE< PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME. THE LOCAL REPORTER I CONTACTED IN GA IS STILL INTERESTED IN THE STORY BUT WOULD IDEALLY LIKE TO GET SOME LOCAL PEOPLE INVOLVED AS WELL AND UNFORTUNATELY I AM LOCATED IN NJ. (THOUGH I'LL FLY DOWN THERE IF I REALLY NEED TO.) THANKS ALL.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greene 0 #196 November 10, 2004 Keep it up Miss Lady Do contact the United States Parachute Association at http://www.uspa.org Speak with Chris Needles. Also have your lawyer go to http://www.makeithappen.com Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #197 November 10, 2004 Quote So, I went back to everyone in my group, explained the situation and basically we all decided that due to the fact that we were not given an honest answer in the first place and that when we finally DID get the honest answer we didn't like what we heard, we decided not to pursue skydiving with this particular company. At that time, I was still under the impression that the "company" and the "drop zone" were one and the same. Now I know better. So to continue, when I called Skyride back to advise that we did not want to reschedule our jump but instead wanted our money back, THAT'S when I was given the whole song and dance about their "no-refund" policy, which obviously no one ever told me about PRIOR to my reservations purchase I worry for your situation. From a legal standpoint, you may be in bad shape, given that you voluntarily chose to stop dealing with what you correctly read as an unethical company. A wise choice, esp when thinking they were the skydiving company. Who would trust their lives to scumbags. But no refund policies do stand up - it's now all about whether or not they need to tell you for it to count. Unfortuntely, most of what they do is shady, not illegal, so I would be surprised if your lawyer would pursue a class action. I hope you do get your refund, and can jump elsewhere sometime soon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Levin 0 #198 November 10, 2004 I may be mistaken but if a company is ripping people off accross state lines (alabama, georgia, wherever) then that is a federal offense and falls within the jurisdiction of the FBI. The have divisions for everything. Tell them SkyRide is terrorizing the skydiving industry and they might all get involved. The FBI may be the way to go. As well as a call to CNN to see if they are interested in the story. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Levin 0 #199 November 10, 2004 Simply "time" alone may get rid of this problem. If SkyRide sells a tandem and the tandem gets injured then the DZ is protected by the waiver. Skyride isn't. They are also liable and do not have protection under a waiver. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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