Class action lawsuit over COVID-shortened season

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BGW Family said:
Give this a try.
Season pass-holders sue Cedar Point’s owner over reimbursements for shortened season.
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Yeah, that one worked.

They're clearly trying to draw class action signees by including the entire chain, but this really only applies reasonably to the parks that didn't open at all, and even then this would be handled on a case-by-case basis in instances where people may not be able to use the year they paid for due to—for example—moving away from that park.
 
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Even the ones open part of the season would have to offer refunds (partial or otherwise) based on the claims. Would need to look at the case to get a bet idea on claims, but the premise of such a case seems valid and could have traction.
 
rswashdc said:
Even the ones open part of the season would have to offer refunds (partial or otherwise) based on the claims. Would need to look at the case to get a bet idea on claims, but the premise of such a case seems valid and could have traction.
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I think it's hard to make a reasonable case against Cedar Fair in this case: they weren't able to offer a 2020 season that people paid for because of a global pandemic, and they very quickly extended everyone's passes so that the money they would still get what they paid for when it is safe to do so, in addition to giving members of parks that did open access to the parks this season.

There are individual cases where some combination of circumstances—financial stress, moving away from the area, etc.—might mean that this particular resolution of the problem is undesirable, but I think that represents a minority of passholders. Honestly, the SeaWorld parks would have a much better class action suit given the poor communication and the uncertainty surrounding the "you'll get free months when the park opens." Both parks took action that kept them from having to either burn cash through refunds or lose a steady flow of income during the pandemic, but Cedar Fair's was much simpler, and far from the kind of egregious business practices that would typically inspire a successful class suit.
 
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Extending the passes, while a fairly friendly move, still constitute a unilateral change to the contract. The more appropriate legal remedy would have been to offer passholders an either/or option of an extension or refund.

The main weakness I would see in the case for the plaintiffs is the size of the class itself. I don’t see huge numbers joining as they would effectively forfeit their passes in a successful suit and possibly pay higher prices in 2021 to get new ones.
 
rswashdc said:
Extending the passes, while a fairly friendly move, still constitute a unilateral change to the contract. The more appropriate legal remedy would have been to offer passholders an either/or option of an extension or refund.

The main weakness I would see in the case for the plaintiffs is the size of the class itself. I don’t see huge numbers joining as they would effectively forfeit their passes in a successful suit and possibly pay higher prices in 2021 to get new ones.
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Right—I think people were mostly satisfied with the resolution. And honesty, I don't know enough to say for sure whether their customer service operation was any more responsive than BGW's, but I am curious if this person tried to get a refund at all? It feels to me that if you had a legitimate reason where a 2021 pass is NOT of equal value to you, they might have been willing to work out a resolution on a case-by-case basis?
 
If CF was stonewalling refunds, then I could see a reason to go to court. However for any individual or family they could go to small claims court to resolve such a dispute and probably have a good chance of winning.

The plaintiffs attorneys must really feel they can make something happen in a class action suit, though I’m not sure what. It would seem odd if there were damages beyond actual damages, unless CF acted egregiously in this matter, and I can’t figure why passholders would want attorneys taking a cut on those damages when they could argue this case themselves in small claims court.
 
Maybe whichever attorneys taking this on know it's going to be a really uphill case but has some kind of shot, either way they're going to make their fees.
 
I'm very happy with extended through 2021 season passes (and add-ons) from both CF and SF. They both made the right move. I can see some people not being able to go next year, perhaps, and so then that wouldn't be an adequate resolution for them, but I doubt those numbers are very large. Probably miniscule. Now if Covid-19 is still raging in 2021, then I don't know what they do. I guess then refunds would be the only good option.
 
belsaas said:
I mean, last time I was involved in a class-action settlement, I got a

checks records

Free bag of popcorn at Busch Gardens.


Hopefully it's at least Boardwalk fries this time.
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I got 2 bags. Used the last one last Sunday. It was 50% pop corn and 50% salt and butter flavoring. How many bags of pop corn do you think the lawyers got paid?
 
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belsaas said:
I mean, last time I was involved in a class-action settlement, I got a

checks records

Free bag of popcorn at Busch Gardens.


Hopefully it's at least Boardwalk fries this time.
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I refuse to settle for anything short of a free Cinnabon.
 
I realize this is a non-sequitur and VERY dated, but whenever anyone talks about Cinnabon, I am reminded of one of my favorite Penny Arcade comics.

215548996_cdCeq-L-2.jpg
 
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