Jul 15, 2009 8:02 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Sky Ride Crush
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
"Congratulations you've received a passport to adventure…"
Juan Bermudez bought this certificate for a glider ride as a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend Christina. Juan says he bought it because…
"She loves airplanes, she loves anything that flies."
He paid $198.15 to Sacramento Glider Rides for a "ride for two". But Juan and Christina soon found out these rides aren't actually available in Sacramento. Christina says;
"I was really excited. I called immediately and when I called to set up the flight in Sacramento I was told the only place I could set a flight up was in Southern California."
Juan had found the company on the internet and when he called to book the flight, he was told he would be accommodated. The agent then offered a ride in Hollister, and when Christina said no and demanded a refund they offered Truckee. Christina agreed.
"Once we scheduled the flight she said there's a catch; you can't use it until May, which was several months later, due to the weather in Truckee. So I said fine I understand."
Sacramento Glider Rides told them their pilot would be calling them in May. But he never did. So Juan and Christina called the Truckee facility directly, who told them nothing was ever booked. They contacted us for help. Juan explained;
"We both go to school and work full time, so $200.00 is a lot of money."
They filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and we placed a call in to the parent company 1-800-Sky Ride, located in Georgia. Turns out they have a number of web sites offering their services. They've also had some legal trouble before both in Arizona and Georgia Regarding their business practices. We received a call back from the company promising to look into the problem. Finally early last week a refund check for the full $198.15 arrived in the mail. Juan reaction…
"Happy obviously for getting the refund but I would I probably wouldn't be totally happy until places like this are totally shut down."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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