SeaWorld accused of deceptively charging 5% fee on visitors’ receipts
Well, it took a while. But they are now being sued for the 5% surcharge.
Well, it took a while. But they are now being sued for the 5% surcharge.
News SeaWorld Being Sued for 5% Surcharge
- Thread starter Coasternerd
- Start date
This will get tossed-- the surcharge is listed all over the park in the gift shops and restaurants.
I wonder if there's a case for some of the very early surcharges where the signs weren't in place yet. Hard to prove, but would be interesting. Presumably there are internal park communications which could illuminate the situation through discovery?
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Deleted member 12707
No more surcharge fees at SeaWorld San Antonio!
The lawsuit itself doesn't seem like it has a very strong argument, since the disclaimer about the 5% surcharge is pretty much everywhere. Florida doesn't have any sort of legislation banning junk fees, so as long as it is disclosed in fine print somewhere, there aren't any consumer protections against it.
That said, from a customer satisfaction standpoint, I don't know why United hasn't eliminated the surcharge altogether by now. I imagine it's doing more harm to their revenue by lost customer goodwill than it's bringing in. When they were forced to drop it from the California parks, they advertised it as an "improvement" to the guest experience and got a lot of praise for it.
That said, from a customer satisfaction standpoint, I don't know why United hasn't eliminated the surcharge altogether by now. I imagine it's doing more harm to their revenue by lost customer goodwill than it's bringing in. When they were forced to drop it from the California parks, they advertised it as an "improvement" to the guest experience and got a lot of praise for it.
After being a group sales account executive at Six Flags for nearly 3 years, I always joked with my colleagues that a great sales strategy would be to intentionally screw up. Screw up just enough to make the customer mad but not enough to lose them as a customer. Once a screw up is made, give some time to let it sink in. After the customer is aware of what happened, apologize conveying great understanding and concern for their dilemma. Then on the day of their visit over-deliver on the customer service giving them a super tailored experience (which is how I strived to treat all of my guests). The net result is great because the poor experience they originally had has high contrast to the quality experience they received.
In reality, I would not actually carry this strategy out as it is done in poor taste and leaves a sour impression. However I did screw up some orders especially during my first year as a rep. I always turned the day around and became a hero! The comments would be along the line of this: "I wasn't sure what to expect after that set back but, damn, James really turned things around and gave us a fantastic day. He's a great sales rep." So take that as you will
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