Read this information before choosing where to skydive.
In recent months, a Skydiving Company based in Atlanta, Ga. that operates under the name of 1 800 Skyride, Adventure Sports or Thrill Planet has been running websites and internet advertising claiming to be in each and every city and state in America. Be aware that they are ONLY located in Cedartown, Ga. and there is no such thing as a national chain of skydiving schools.
Be advised that the average Tandem Skydive will cost between $180 and $220, depending on what part of the country the Skydive Center is located. The only other charge that should be added over and above that cost would be if you should decide to purchase the video of your skydive and this will normally cost between $65 and $90, but keep in mind that this is completely OPTIONAL and no reputable skydive center will require or pressure you in to buying the video package. There is a Skydive Center that is located in Cedartown, Ga. that operates under the names of 1 800 Skyride, Adventure Skydiving, Thrill Planet and many, many other names. They run websites that claim to be in every Metropolitan city and every state in America. Their latest claim is that they Are operating in downtown Nashville and many other Metropolitan cities. The truth is that there is NO skydiving in any major city in America, It's ILLEGAL! The only skydives that happen in the city are if a skydiving team jumps in to a major event like a Pro Football game or a NASCAR racing event etc. Those are professional skydivers and are definitely NOT first timers. Normally Skydive Centers are located 30 to 75 miles from the major city. The 1 800Skyride/Adventure websites do not give their location and they will not normally tell you where they are until they have your credit card information. They will immediately charge you a cancellation fee and a bad weather insurance fee. They don't care if you have a death in the family or what, you will be charged these charges and they DO NOT get applied to the cost of your jump. These charges in combination with the cost of the actual skydive and your travel including a hotel room in Cedartown, Ga. (Atlanta area) could cost you well over $500 to $700 for a skydiving trip that should not have cost over about $200 to $290. (This is if you choose the video).
For a quick comparison, simply click on the following links and decide for yourself, http://www.1800skyride.com/Skydiving/Clarksville/ then go to http://www.1800skyride.com/Skydiving/Washington/index.html Then go to http://www.1800skyride.com/Skydiving/NorthCarolina/ Look at the pictures, the websites are advertising to be in opposite sides of America. That's 2600 miles apart and yet, they have the same pictures of the same skydivers with the same green grass and trees in the background. Click Here to see the litigation that the the Georgia State government has against Skyride.
These are a few of the wesites that Skyride And the Utah and Nevada Markets;
is running in the Pennsylvania market;
http://www.pennridgeskydiving.com/ http://www.utahskydiving.com/
http://www.skydivephiladelphia.com/ http://www.1800skyride.com/Skydiving/Utah/
http://www.philadelphiaskydive.com/ http://www.skydiving.com/test/skydive_locations/locations/us/utahskydiving.htm
http://www.skydivephiladelphia.net/ http://www.1800skyride.com/Skydiving/SaltLakeCity/contact.html
http://www.skydivepennridge.com/ http://nevadaskydiving.com/
http://www.skydivingphiladelphia.com/ http://www.skydiving.com/test/skydive_locations/locations/us/nevadaskydiving.htm
http://www.pennsylvaniaskydiving.com/ http://www.skydivenevada.net/
None of these websites that you just checked out are for real Skydiving Centers, They are FAKE WEBSITES to catch the eye of the unsuspecting customer, make that person feel like they are going to get a skydive in those areas, only to find that they either will have to drive to Atlanta, Ga. or just got ripped off and don't know what to do.
The following link is a news story that was ran by The FOX Network affiate in Atlanta that shows first hand how the Skyride/Thrill Planet/Adventure Skydiving scam works.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=470757&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1
In Nashville, they are running Google and Yahoo ads claiming to be operating at the street address of 2013 Hutton Ave. in Nashville, Tn. 37210. This address is a house in a RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD that is located about 5 minutes south of downtown Nashville. The street is not even wide enough to taxi a small airplane and is certainly not large enough to land a parachute.
Here is a few of the websites that 1 800Skyride is using to deceive the Nashville, Tenn. market.
http://skydivenashville.com /
http://nashvilleskydiving.com/
http://skydivingnashville.net/
http://tnskydiving.com/
http://tennessee-skydiving.com
After viewing these different websites, take notice that none of them give an actual physical address in Nashville and not even in Tennessee even though they do have a local phone number that is forwarded to Cedartown. The directions that they do give (when they give them) directs you to "Take I-24 East To I-75, Go south to exit 288 at Cartersville". What they do not tell you is that I-24 east meets I-75 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and they are telling you to take I-75 to exit 288 which is another hour and a half in to Georgia just north of Atlanta. They are banking on the idea that most people don't realize that I-75 goes through Knoxville and Chattanooga, then down to Atlanta.
If you have encountered these people and you feel that you were not treated with dignity or were just plain ripped off, please contact us at Stopskyride@1800skyrideripoff.com We are currently gathering information and evidence of their business practices and you will not be asked for any money of any kind and we WILL NOT ask for any credit card information. We only want the information of your bad experience with 1 800skyride, Adventure Sports, or any of their aliases.