Kings Island Power Outage 7-4-2010

[bkroz]

This would really be no different than if a thunder storm moved in and closed everything down for a few hours and here is their policy for that "Kings Island cannot issue rain checks or refunds for inclement weather." Granted, nothing is said on their site about power outages. Secondly, how would they know if they were giving a refund to someone they let in for free since it was a military day?

If you ask me, it's different than a thunderstorm - the very reason that they do not offer refunds during rainstorms is because of their claim that "there's much more than the rides." They specifically say that, when the rides close due to rain, guests are encouraged to check out the shopping, dining, shows, etc. That was not an option yesterday. Literally, guests had paid fifty+ dollars to walk around in the scorching hot heat for three and a half hours. Add to that the realization that Kings Island was the only place without power, and according to the newscast, only a few rides were without power, so they consciously decided to turn off the electricity in the rest of the park to bring those few rides back online... They could've just lived without Festhaus and some Action Zone rides for the evening, but instead they chose to turn off the entire park for an unknown amount of time...

So the park cursed itself, knowingly closed the rides, shows, shops, and restaurants, and then left visitors to meander around in the 95 degree humidity? I would want a refund, too. Kings Island was so busy keeping its hands grasped around that days money, they failed to see how much they will lose when those visitors choose not to return... They saved today's nickels at the expense of a LOT of days nickels in the future.

[IndyGuy4KI]

This would really be no different than if a thunder storm moved in and closed everything down for a few hours and here is their policy for that "Kings Island cannot issue rain checks or refunds for inclement weather." Granted, nothing is said on their site about power outages. Secondly, how would they know if they were giving a refund to someone they let in for free since it was a military day?

Actually there is a huge difference and of course you would have to have a ticket stub or something to show proof.

If it is something out of their control I could see it being under the same umbrella, especially when someone else can be blamed. Mother nature, power company, etc.

[hamoperator]

I wonder if I missed my chance at walking down the steps from the top of the Eiffel Tower observation deck? Anyone know? (Let me rephrase that before The Interpreter does his "yes" answer...did the park have to evacuate the top of tower and walk the customers down the steps to the bottom during this power outage?)

No walking, they kept her going.

[IndyGuy4KI]

This would really be no different than if a thunder storm moved in and closed everything down for a few hours and here is their policy for that "Kings Island cannot issue rain checks or refunds for inclement weather." Granted, nothing is said on their site about power outages. Secondly, how would they know if they were giving a refund to someone they let in for free since it was a military day?

If you ask me, it's different than a thunderstorm - the very reason that they do not offer refunds during rainstorms is because of their claim that "there's much more than the rides." They specifically say that, when the rides close due to rain, guests are encouraged to check out the shopping, dining, shows, etc. That was not an option yesterday. Literally, guests had paid fifty+ dollars to walk around in the scorching hot heat for three and a half hours. Add to that the realization that Kings Island was the only place without power, and according to the newscast, only a few rides were without power, so they consciously decided to turn off the electricity in the rest of the park to bring those few rides back online... They could've just lived without Festhaus and some Action Zone rides for the evening, but instead they chose to turn off the entire park for an unknown amount of time...

So the park cursed itself, knowingly closed the rides, shows, shops, and restaurants, and then left visitors to meander around in the 95 degree humidity? I would want a refund, too. Kings Island was so busy keeping its hands grasped around that days money, they failed to see how much they will lose when those visitors choose not to return... They saved today's nickels at the expense of a LOT of days nickels in the future.

You have a point and I agree, but I am trying to look at it through KI's rules and policies. As I said in my last post, I am thinking KI thought it as a similar situation as weather. Right or wrong.

[Purplehaze]

If it is under the same "umbrella" it would be listed as so. Can not just change the terms on a whim, there is more to it then that, I agree they could not help the fact there was electrical problems. It happens. However you have to make the guests happy. Without guests you have no park. Which means that Super Walmart will be built

[IndyGuy4KI]

If it is under the same "umbrella" it would be listed as so. Can not just change the terms on a whim, there is more to it then that, I agree they could not help the fact there was electrical problems. It happens. However you have to make the guests happy. Without guests you have no park. Which means that Super Walmart will be built

I can't find anything about electrical outage policies on the site. These types of issues might be up the decision of the GM? Don't forget that line that covers all bases, "Subject to change without notice." I am not saying I disagree with your point, just posting other thoughts.

[hamoperator]

Even with spending nickels; they could have offered free pop (or free refills for those with cups) with the heat once they knew it was going to be a rough nite, allot of the air conditioned areas you would normally visit were very warm; the only cool business we found was the arcades in Coney Mall. This could have saved some face with the guest.

[KIfan1980]

In my opinion, blanket refunds should not have been given, however In the interest of customer service, something should have been done to ensure customers who paid to get into the park don't leave disgruntled. I do not know what was done, but at the very least, the park should have been handing out coupons for discounted admission on a future trip. This might have cost them nothing ( discounts are already available at Kroger/Meijer, etc...), but would have certainly had a positive impact on PR. Think about the ending go that news story. Would it have been better with a comment that anyone inconvenienced by today ls outage was given a coupon for a cheap return trip than a comment that no refunds were given.

[markr]

Was at park yesterday. The power outage seemed to be concentrated at the front of the park along International Street and the Action Zone Area. Planet Snoopy and Rivertown appeared to have full power although at one point Race For Your Life Charlie Brown appeared to lose power ( There was a log stuck at the top of the hill.)

Workers were all over with trays of ice water for the guests which I thought was very nice-they really seemed to try to do what the could to make the guests comfortable.

[CoastersRZ]

This would really be no different than if a thunder storm moved in and closed everything down for a few hours and here is their policy for that "Kings Island cannot issue rain checks or refunds for inclement weather." Granted, nothing is said on their site about power outages. Secondly, how would they know if they were giving a refund to someone they let in for free since it was a military day?

Actually there is a huge difference and of course you would have to have a ticket stub or something to show proof.

If it is something out of their control I could see it being under the same umbrella, especially when someone else can be blamed. Mother nature, power company, etc.

To cite the article that The Interpreter quoted:

\Johnna Reeder, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, said the failure was on Kings Island's equipment, not the utility company's.

"The problem occurred with the customer's switchbox where our equipment feeds into theirs," she said. "Our crews are still on site trying to help them restore power."

So this was a problem with Kings Island equipment not the power companies. I understand where you are coming from that KI has disclaimers stating operating hours, attractions are subject to change, and that they state they cannot issue refunds or rainchecks. However, seeing as how it was the 4th of July holiday, and it resulted in a lengthy inconvenience for guests, and was apparently a park equipment failure, it seems like refunds would have been the right thing to do (for those that paid for admission and had proof of purchased, ie a ticket stub or receipt).

And the pickle reference Interpreter is referring to Coney Island with is Coney`s customer service initiative they started last year. All employees have "pickle cards" that state "Give `Em the pickle" stemming from when a restaurant tried to charge for a side of pickles. That upset the customer. The end result was that had the restaurant given the pickles away, they would have had a happy customer. The Coney pickle cards includes the following among others:

Take Care of the Customer

Consistency Customers return because they like what happened last time. Stick to your high service standards.

I`m not disagreeing with what you said Brad. I just think that in this particular situation, the park`s reaction left a bad taste in people`s mind, and resulted in them not liking what happened last time. That will likely result in them NOT returning as customers. It is hard to regain a customer once you have lost them.

[IndyGuy4KI]

In my opinion, blanket refunds should not have been given, however In the interest of customer service, something should have been done to ensure customers who paid to get into the park don't leave disgruntled. I do not know what was done, but at the very least, the park should have been handing out coupons for discounted admission on a future trip. This might have cost them nothing ( discounts are already available at Kroger/Meijer, etc...), but would have certainly had a positive impact on PR. Think about the ending go that news story. Would it have been better with a comment that anyone inconvenienced by today ls outage was given a coupon for a cheap return trip than a comment that no refunds were given.

A decision was made and may have been the wrong one. I think the discount coupon idea would have been a good one. It may not have pleased everyone, but would have been something. It makes me wonder what would Holiday World have done in this situation?

[CoastersRZ]

I agree. I would tend to think, and this is just my opinion, that they likely would have given out comp tickets to all those that had paid for their admission (with proof of purchase).

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Was this an inconvenience? Yes.

Did it ruin some peoples nights? Maybe.

Did it completely ruin everyone night? NO

Many people were cheering and applauding after our 19 minute firework show. Lines were short well before the power went out. Most rides did reopen as soon as they could and stayed open. The park was open from 10 AM to 12 AM. have a power outrage, for my area it was an hour max, was a small inconvenience.

Small Inconveniences will happen, no the park should not give refunds to anyone when they were open from for 14 hours, and for a short time were nonoperational. Guests still had a chance to get their money worth .

[Purplehaze]

I do not care if they were open 1 hour or 14 hours. A lot of people plan this as their holiday weekend. It was ruined by this.

[IndyGuy4KI]

I agree. I would tend to think, and this is just my opinion, that they likely would have given out comp tickets to all those that had paid for their admission (with proof of purchase).

And guess what, with my free ticket from HW when we went to the Holiday Hustle event, they gave us a free ticket due to the Timberliners not being ready. I took the whole family last week. Buying a ticket for my wife and son. Spent money in the park on food and my wife bought a shirt. Stayed a few days at Lake Rudolf as well. The free ticket made them more revenue had they not given it to me! HW knows this, and why they seem to have record attendance years every year!

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

I do not care if they were open 1 hour or 14 hours. A lot of people plan this as their holiday weekend. It was ruined by this.

It only ruined their plans, if they let it ruin their plans.

[CoastersRZ]

Exactly why I think it would have been smart on KI to issue refunds to those who requested it and paid for admission. Yes, they would be loosing the admission fee when that guest returned at a later date. But they would be getting at least them in the door again, where they can spend money on food, games and merchandise. And as you stated, they may well bring other people to the park, purchasing admission tickets that they did not intend to buy this year, thus creating even more revenue for the park. Not to mention the good vibe that the guests would have about the park knowing that the park truly cared about their experience and valued their time and money in choosing KI over other entertainment options.

[Theora]

I'm surprised they didn't at least give return tickets (although, maybe I shouldn't be surprised, considering...) to guests requesting refunds. My daughter and I were there from about 8 PM - 11 PM, and she even asked if the people who didn't have passes would get their money back. Going from past experience, I told her that they would at least get return tickets - CF really screwed the pooch with this one.

I-Street never came back up, as far as we saw, and the fireworks were without musical accompaniment (which had the surprising effect of making a ten-year-old who loves fireworks incredibly bored). It seemed like everything with water or AC (with the exception of FoF) was down, although WWC did come back up later (like after fireworks later) in the evening.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Was this an inconvenience? Yes.

Did it ruin some peoples nights? Maybe.

Did it completely ruin everyone night? NO

Many people were cheering and applauding after our 19 minute firework show. Lines were short well before the power went out. Most rides did reopen as soon as they could and stayed open. The park was open from 10 AM to 12 AM. have a power outrage, for my area it was an hour max, was a small inconvenience.

Small Inconveniences will happen, no the park should not give refunds to anyone when they were open from for 14 hours, and for a short time were nonoperational. Guests still had a chance to get their money worth .

I do not care if they were open 1 hour or 14 hours. A lot of people plan this as their holiday weekend. It was ruined by this.

OK, here is an idea. For those that thought it ruined their day and decided to leave, they should have been given a free ticket of discount ticket for another visit, with the stipulation they would not be getting their had stamped for a reentry that same day?

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Um, WWC was up all night as was RFYLCB

[brick52]

It seemed like all the food places remained open, but the fountains did go off.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Um, WWC was up all night as was RFYLCB

I thought you said in another thread you were sent home early. Did you return to the park last night to verify this?

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

That was saturday night, I was sent home early due to crowd attendance. 4th of July I was trucking in Rivertown

[IndyGuy4KI]

That was saturday night, I was sent home early due to crowd attendance. 4th of July I was trucking in Rivertown

OK I see, just wondering. Not calling you a liar, just making sure I understood how you got your intel.

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

From what I could see all of Rivertown, PS, Vortex, and BLSC were up and running by 6:30 at the latest.

[Carowinds2005]

Carowinds had a power outage a three weeks ago around 5 pm and the park closed at 8pm. A major storm had moved in and hit a generator a few miles down the road. As a result the park issued Twilight after 4 tickets which I thought was a very nice gesture.

[Theora]

Um, WWC was up all night as was RFYLCB

Oh, okay, I must have imagined the two employees stationed outside of WWC, turning people away. That would also explain how I hallucinated RFYL with no water coming down the flume and a log stopped at the top.

EDIT: To be fair, I didn't notice that you said "by 6:30" - I saw them down around 9. My comment still stands, though - "by 6:30" doesn't quite equal "all the way until midnight."

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

At about 5:30 these rides were shut down. Both reopened around 6:30ish

[Purplehaze]

Theora, can I have some of what your taking? hahahaha

[Purplehaze]

That was not the only thing down, and remember not every paying customer goes to ride rides. They go to browse, eat and shop and take in the scenery.When something like this happens it ruins the experience for them. As I said before it was not the parks fault it happened and they did what they could to fix the problem but the problems go deeper than just the electric. Most importantly is the guests satisfaction.