WCPO: Woman asked to upgrade son's Jr Season Pass mid season

[BoddaH1994]

I see both sides of the issue. He wasn't talk enough for an adult ticket when they bought his pass, but the park has no way to know how tall someone is until you enter the gate. I suppose the real question is whether or not he used the pass previously this season. To me, that would make a world of difference.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/kings-island-makes-boy-5-upgrade-pass-to-adult-mid-season-because-he-grew-1-inch-over-height-limit

[JTW]

I posted this same issue in a trip report. My son was significantly under 48 inches when his pass was purchased and processed and barely over the line on the day of the incident. In fact, I'm not sure he would have gotten a purple wrist band that day had we not planned to spend the day in Planet Snoopy.

Long story short, I was not happy and my chances of being a repeat customer in 2015 are basically zero. Instead of taking the 450-500 dollars from my family for the passes plus in park spending of easily 50 dollars per visit they have lost money for the rest of this year and next.

Post rant...

I understand if you buy a junior pass online by mistake, but it should be caught during processing if the person in question is over 48 inches, or at the gate if they are clearly too tall. If someone grows a couple inches during the season they should not be squeezed harder, especially with the way Cedar Fair has been giving their gate away for those who visit once or twice a year.

I've basically boycotted the park because of this policy and the way it was sprung onto my family. There are lots of other options out there for my hard earned money and the little time I seem to have.

[BoddaH1994]

My thoughts are like this:

If it's May 10th, first visit of the season, and the kid is an inch too tall then yes - you should have to upgrade the pass. If it's August and they've made 10 visits and the child has simply grown over the height limit then they should give them a break.

They don't say it in the article, but it sounds like it was their first visit of the season. Lord knows they would have mentioned that they had gotten in X number of times without a problem.

I guess when it comes to Jr/Adult passes, they have to draw the line somewhere.

[The Interpreter]

Meanwhile, they are busy throwing pricing integrity to the wind.

This is...ridiculous.

[APE]

I say shame shame on Kings Island for this one. If he hit a growth spurt mid summer after using the pass and buying it at the smaller size that's what pass he should get to use for the year not be forced into an upgrade.

[Ffej]

Kings Island's action and response was a total failure here. The bad publicity and customer turnoff from this incident will cause significantly more loss than the difference in a Junior/Adult pass.

It should go like this: If the child is larger than the threshold on their first visit of the season, they should be required to upgrade their pass to an adult. If the child was previously scanned in as a junior in the season, and they grow past the threshold in the same season, they should be given a complimentary upgrade to an adult pass for the remainder of the season.

This should just be a polite guest services situation, as the number of times it occurs in a season is going to be insignificant to KI's bottom line. If an entrance employee finds a child too large for their junior pass and the parent says "But they've been using the pass all season," the employee should tell the customer to head to guest services, and the park will take care of them. Customers will appreciate KI's willingness to upgrade their pass, and there will be an even better chance that the parent renews in future seasons as a result.

[shark6495]

Well it dosnt say she used the pass previously. So if thats the case, she purchased one and didnt realize she bought the wrong one. Instead of fixing it she went to the media?

[jdf21972]

I agree with Don and Kings Island policy on this situation. "Guests are required to have the proper admission ticket or season-pass type for their height to gain entry into the park," he said. Quoted from Channel 9, he likes water slides and now he can enjoy all the water slides in Soak City. Just pay the difference of either $9 or $27 depending when they bought the pass , which being local is most likely gold pass, so they can enjoy the Haunt also in the Fall. Its been a height policy at KI for a while, so she needed just to pay the small difference of the upgrade and enjoy the rest of the season. I can't believe she made a huge deal from a common event at the park each year. I've seen this happen at least 10 times this year at the front gate.

[malem]

There's a fine line between good customer service and letting customers walk all over you.

I'm not sure what the proper policy is here, but the fact that this got to the local news suggests that it could have been handled better. Hopefully KI can avoid such dissatisfaction due to pass/height confusion in the future.

My suggestion: allow one entry with a pass when the child is over the height limit, telling them to fix the issue at Guest Services or an admission window before their next visit. Keeping a family of passholders out of the park for an unexpected $9 upgrade is stupid.

[Existential]

This is completely fair only if Seniors who shrink below the 48'' marker within the season get their money difference returned too.

[thedevariouseffect]

Someone did not have a #KIBestDay, that's for sure.

[shark6495]

Maybe the park could haw handled it better, maybe she wasn't happy and panned on going to the media immediately. Most people go BBB when they have true issues....

For all we know she bought the right pass and he grew after using it or she purposely/a accidentally bought the wrong pass and doesn't want to pay the difference

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest dtk1376]

She's just going to media because she knows doing that most of the time will get a company to bow. Doesn't seem like Kings Island is doing that this time. BBB doesn't do much with large companies unless a large amount of people complain, they generally affect smaller companies that use an A rating in their advertising.

[Ffej]

I agree with Don and Kings Island policy on this situation. "Guests are required to have the proper admission ticket or season-pass type for their height to gain entry into the park," he said.

Here's the issue with that cold response. If a child was of junior height for 95% of the season, they only had access to the junior experience during that time. Why should the parent have to pay the upgrade price to an adult for an entire season? At some point, there will be a child that has used their pass all season, and then they're forced to buy the adult upgrade on their last visit of the year. You never want to put your customer at a disadvantage like that.

If Kings Island really wants to pinch pennies, then they could prorate the upgrade cost over the time of the season. If there is 30% of the season left, then the parent would be charged 30% of the upgrade price to an adult. However, this would need to be clearly stated when buying a junior pass, and it's still of debatable customer service. The park would make out better financially if they followed the procedure I previously mentioned.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Ok, friends, time to introduce a "Growth-Flex" pass, for those who know their kids will grow an inch during the upcoming season...

[The Interpreter]

Offend and upset parents with tweens who actually visit the park together during the tweens' formative years.

Now there's a growth strategy.

Delight and surprise the customer by exceeding their expectations. Or, they could do this.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[upstop]

WWDD? (What would Disney do....) Well, they used to have a junior ticket pass...that was eliminated and the price was adjusted to age 3 and up prices...no discounts.

[kikid74]

I didn't know that season ticket prices varied by age. Looking back at my Gold Pass receipt from October, I was charged the same for Jr/Sr as I was for the adult pass. Looking at KI's website, I see that there is a current price difference for their regular season pass and the Platinum Pass. Gold Passes are no longer available for sale.

That said, I think WCPO did a terrible job with presenting the facts of this case.

In terms of the KI policy, I believe the most consumer friendly position would be to use whatever the height of the child is on their first visit. For renewing customers, you'd have to have the kids get a new picture/height check required on their first visit of the new season. I'm not sure how burdensome that would be on their pass processing team. For example, my youngest is about to turn 6 and his pass photo is still from shortly after he turned 3 in October 2011.

[KI Guy]

"Congratulations jr. passholder you're now tall enough to experiece many adult rides. That'll be $27 dollars." They should just make it from when you PURCHASE the pass even if purchased the fall before the season. It's a one time issue for said guest. You are fairly likely to get the additional scratch next year and in years to come. In situations where a business must decide on "the customer walking all over you" and good customer service always err on the side of the latter. In rare situations where the pass was renewed online AND unused, I could see the park's point a little since no employee ever saw the child under 48" at purchase.

[APE]

I can't stand when people try and be so black and white about certain things. The situation needs to be taken into account.

[kikid74]

This is completely fair only if Seniors who shrink below the 48'' marker within the season get their money difference returned too.

"Seniors" with a season pass who turn 62 years old mid-season should go to the guest services to request a partial refund.

[upstop]

Maybe they should install age (height) and weight games at the entrance of each ride...you lose, you don't ride....LOL

[thegajone]

I agree with Don and Kings Island policy on this situation. "Guests are required to have the proper admission ticket or season-pass type for their height to gain entry into the park," he said.

Here's the issue with that cold response. If a child was of junior height for 95% of the season, they only had access to the junior experience during that time. Why should the parent have to pay the upgrade price to an adult for an entire season? At some point, there will be a child that has used their pass all season, and then they're forced to buy the adult upgrade on their last visit of the year. You never want to put your customer at a disadvantage like that.

If Kings Island really wants to pinch pennies, then they could prorate the upgrade cost over the time of the season. If there is 30% of the season left, then the parent would be charged 30% of the upgrade price to an adult. However, this would need to be clearly stated when buying a junior pass, and it's still of debatable customer service. The park would make out better financially if they followed the procedure I previously mentioned.

You bring up some great points, and that's actually not a bad compromise IMO.

As others have said, I understand both sides. KI wants to get the money they feel they deserve from kids who grow into being able to ride some of the "adult" rides during the season, while parents don't want to pay more for their child's pass than they already have.

However if you're KI, you should use common sense. If they don't force kids to upgrade in midseason once they reach a certain height, they miss out on what, a few hundred dollars per year max in aggregate from all the kids with season passes who hit that height mark during the season? Instead someone goes to the media and I notice this story 4 different times on my Facebook feed this morning from parents who have "shared" it. Really really dumb move by KI in my opinion to enforce this and defend the policy to the media.

[blueangel04]

We also had the same problem this year. WCPO has there information wrong about Cedar Point. There policy is that once the pass is processed and used it is good for the season. We have the platinum pass so we where able to take are Jr. pass that KI was trying to charge us almost $70 to upgrade to Cedar Point and because of the problems we had with KI they just changed the status of his pass to a adult for no charge.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/29825-jrpasses-at-kings-island/?hl=%2Bseason+%2Bpass

[trevor75]

We have the same situation with my oldest daughter. We purchased the Gold Pass in early October 2013 for the 2014 season at the time she was under 48 inches. We knew she might be over 48 inches by the time the season came around. Her first visit she still was under 48 inches, her second visit she was right at 48 inches. We have not been asked to purchase an adult pass for her at this time, but know that might be a possibility for her next visit. I would expect to have to pay the difference between the two. Now I do understand with it being a Gold Pass and those aren't available at this time in the season, it should be pro-rated for the rest of the operating season.

Edit to correct typo of be to been

Edited August 8, 2014 by trevor75

[Voicetek]

Maybe it would be best if KI just sold passes based on age alone and not age and height. The article said that Coney Island just base their tickets on age and not height. I feel this would eliminate a lot of confusion because no parent knows for sure if their child will have a growth spurt between the time they purchase the pass, and the end of the season. This is ridiculous. Just have a cut-off age for the Jr. Pass and be done with it. No more confusion and no more unexpected upgrade charges for parents because their kid grew and inch.

[medford]

I didn't know that season ticket prices varied by age. Looking back at my Gold Pass receipt from October, I was charged the same for Jr/Sr as I was for the adult pass. Looking at KI's website, I see that there is a current price difference for their regular season pass and the Platinum Pass. Gold Passes are no longer available for sale.

That said, I think WCPO did a terrible job with presenting the facts of this case.

In terms of the KI policy, I believe the most consumer friendly position would be to use whatever the height of the child is on their first visit. For renewing customers, you'd have to have the kids get a new picture/height check required on their first visit of the new season. I'm not sure how burdensome that would be on their pass processing team. For example, my youngest is about to turn 6 and his pass photo is still from shortly after he turned 3 in October 2011.

I don't believe there is a "junior" Gold Pass. I believe a Gold Pass is the same for everyone no matter the age. We typically buy ours in the fall of the season prior, at the lowest prices available.

Bottom line, KI has a bit of a confusing policy on this matter, and a little flexibility could have gone a long way in making this customer happy. On the other side, the mother is expecting something for nothing and failing to take accountability for reading the fine print when she bought the season pass. Both sides are to blame, there really are no winners.

[medford]

Maybe it would be best if KI just sold passes based on age alone and not age and height. The article said that Coney Island just base their tickets on age and not height. I feel this would eliminate a lot of confusion because no parent knows for sure if their child will have a growth spurt between the time they purchase the pass, and the end of the season. This is ridiculous. Just have a cut-off age for the Jr. Pass and be done with it. No more confusion and no more unexpected upgrade charges for parents because their kid grew and inch.

But a big problem with kids who "look older" than said age. How many parents take their 3 year old thru the que, passing them off as a 2 year old (no charge)? Now imagine if there was a cut off at 5 or 6 or 7 or 8? My 6 year old has the body of an 8 or 9 year old, but often the maturity of a 4 year old. People guess his age wrong all the time, ask what level of baseball he plays and were shocked when I told them he was only 5 (at the time) and playing tee ball. A policy like that is going to have to either be very lax to the point where you take the parents word for it almost to a fault, or risk creating a lot of bad PR. There is a reason why Disney went to the full charge for everyone 3 & up.

[disco2000]

Cross-threading - this is a problem with the media today and general public today - this is really a non-story. If it is the policy and it was agreed to by such at purchase and signature, then the media should have told this family "sorry but we investigated and this is policy". In fact, it cost WCPO more in gas/staff time to go to this family's house than the difference in such said pass.

But what media outlet is going to turn down an opportunity to make a company look bad. Unfortunately, no matter how balanced it is presented, the general public will have a field day with it negatively against such company. And if such media outlet did nothing, the family would simply go to another and another until a media outlet made a story out of it. If I were in media (and wouldn't last long), I would have made the family look bad for wasting my time on a non-issue.

Let's face it - this type of media coverage is no different than the frivolous lawsuits brought forth every day that have no merit.

Let's have Judge Judy settle it and have a field day on this family!

They make it out like it is the park's fault because the family didn't read what was on the back. I love the general public that goes on the media and says "Well yea I signed it, but I didn't read it". Why doesn't the media go off on that person instead of making a company look bad.

As far as the park is concerned, sometimes you have to stand your ground simply for the principle behind it. You cannot roll over every time someone goes to the media or you set yourself up to roll on every situation.

I am waited with baited breath for the story tonight about someone that got a little rain on them and left the park and is upset they were not issued a raincheck!

[DiamondAceExpress]

About eleven years ago, we bought our season passes for the following year in August. At the time, we had a one year old and a 35 month old. We decided to wait to buy the nearly three year old a pass until he would be actually three. So in October we went to buy one Junior pass for him and they seemed confused that that was all we wanted. We said we already bought ours and now he's three and we're buying his. He said "oh, if you bought yours before he turned three, then he doesn't need a pass." And he said yes, for the whole following year, the year he turns four in September. I was surprised and thought that was very generous. All that next season I was waiting for somebody to ask to see his ticket/pass but they never cared.