1800SkyRide / HeadbanD review: Buyer beware of hot air balloon rides! 36

Yes, these guys are dishonest. They have a history of fraud and deception. Someone needs to sue them. They have hundreds of sites for most states, like hawaiiballooning.com - there are no balloons in hawaii!

This page has a lot of info on them:
http://www.hotairballooning.com/skyrides.php

Hope you got your refund!

BEWARE of 1800SKYRIDE, this 'company' is THE WORST! STAY FAR AWAY ! ! ! !
They lure you in, take your money then after you set-up your fly date, THEY NEVER CALL YOU TO CONFIRM, YOU NEVER RIDE AND THEY KEEP YOUR MONEY!
WE FINALLY were able to get partial refund but, that to me is NOT ENOUGH! I have letters going to the Chicago Tribune and the BBB about them...PLEASE, STAY AWAY FROM THESE SCAMMERS!

Here is the 'communication' I had with them, after COUNTLESS phone conversations...

NOTE FROM 1800SKYRIDE TO ME
8-4-06
CustomerService@1800skyride.com
Stephanie, I am sorry for the inconvenience, just to go over somethings with you. The balloon ride really is nonrefundable we could have change to another event or sent you out a gc certificate, I understand you were promised a full refund, I will honor this refund minus the 25% admin fee that we will not refund, If you look on the web under terms and conditions you understand the 25% policy.

NOTES FROM ME TO 1800SKYRIDE
7-29-06

Just another documented note to you asking to respond to our refund request due to the fact that we still haven't had the 'hot air balloon ride'...

The ride was 'overbooked' so, per 'Ryan', we were told that we were rescheduled for July 16th (today) and no one called, left a vm or emailed us to confirm or cancel or 'reschedule' this ride. After speaking to multiple people (Ryan, Carla, Chris) Chris just informed us that you will be refunding our money.
Please inform us a.s.a.p. when the money will be deposited back into our accounts.

The rides were for:
'NAMES REMOVED' (1 ride)
'NAMES REMOVED' (2 rides)

7-22-06
Still haven't received a response and our credit cards have not yet been refunded the money, please advise.

"You can't scare me, I have a 2 year old."
Stephanie

Call your credit card company and tell them services were not rendered and you want a chargeback to the merchant.

CC companies usually side with cust0mers.

Next time ask for "N" numbers of their balloons. This is the FAA registration number and in the USA will begin with an N. It will give you an idea as to how legit the operator is. You can find out who the owners are and you can even look up their accident record (if any) with it. If they don't own any balloons, run, don't walk away.

Frank

I worked for 1800SkyRide, and you are absolutely correct. This business is just trying to get money from you as soon as possible and they completely slack on giving you what you paid for. It's unfortunate, but true. DON'T BUY ANYTHING from 1800SkyRide.

I was ripped off also by 1-800-Sky-Ride. I got a gift cert for a Warbird ride from my girlfriend back in 2005. I tried at least 6 times to redeem it and they kept putting me off and putting me off. It's now 2007 and my cert is about to expire. I called for a refund and they declined. My g/f lost $220 to these thieves and I'd never do business with them - ever.

1-800-Sky-Ride.com is DESIGNED to RIP You Off! They sell you whatever you want THEN push you off until your cert expires. Stay away from them...

This company is a scam. You will book a hot air balloon ride, hang gliding, skydiving, etc. and they will charge your credit card the same day but you never get what you paid for. I was going to have a hot air balloon ride in Little Rock, Arkansas, for my 40th birthday and after making reservations and paying I was awaiting their vendor in Arkansas to contact me and they never did. I called and emailed the company several times and was told they are scheduling it now and would call me back or that they hadn't reached my reservation date yet or simply that they do not have any vendors in Arkansas! I was able to find out some facts that I would like to share with the public. This company is based in Smyrna, Georgia, showing an address of 3240 S Cobb Drive St, Suite X, Smyrna, GA 30080, and their fax number is [protected]. I have filed a complaint with the Atlanta Better Business Bureau as well as the Federal Trade Commission. I have also reported this company to my credit card company as fraud. Please note this company goes by numerous names such as: 1800SkyRide.com; soaringsports.com; nevadaskydiving.com; Skydivingamerica.com; skydivegrandrapids and there are many more.

I booked a hot air balloon ride for my wife and I on 4-11-05 for our 5 year anniversary. It is now 4-11-07 and we still have not taken our balloon ride. I have tried to contact this, sorry good for nothing, company well over 100 times to try to take our ride and keep getting the run around. I called the HELP desk #(what a joke) and tried to get a refund but I am put on hold for 20-30 minutes every time I call. No balloonist in our area will take skyride customers anymore, so that means we are out of $400. This is worst company I have ever dealt with. I would never advise anyone to use this company for any of your adventures, unless you like flushing your money down the drain.

Has anyone ever gotten a refund from this company, and if so how did you do it? Please e-mail me and let me know thanks.

1800SkyRide.com stole over $600 from me! I don't know who to go to or what to do, if anyone has any advice, please help!

Tell me how to get involved with your complaint, 1800SkyRide.com got over $600 from me and I would like not only the money back, but this company stopped, I've contacted the news station in my area and am not stopping there, so any advice would help, thank you.

I also have gotten ripped off by 1800SKYRIDE. I had made a reservation for six for a hot air balloon ride . This was reservation was made in January for May 6, 2007 for San Antonio. Guess what- this was never going to be a hot air balloon ride. There is no pilot! I have called and emailed and all I am getting is the round around. I have just found this website tonight and couldn't believe all the complaints against 1800SKYRIDE. It makes you sick. I spoke with Ryan yesterday and today and he gave me all kinds of excuses. I would like to get a full refund.

I am having the same trouble with these idiots! After trying my hardest to get a refund from the company, I concluded they were frauds, I found out after the fact that I was right, by looking on websites such as this one. If only I had looked this up sooner! I have already tried getting my money back through my bank and I am currently waiting on their response. I have contacted my local news, and I was about to contact the Better fussiness Bureau, but after discovering the 200 and something complaints filed against them... I knew it wouldn't be any use. Instead I am filing with the Govorner's Office of Consumer Affairs in Atlanta, GA... which I hope does something, because if not... I will find a way to get my money back and put these jerks out of business! Who's with me?

I completely understand where you are coming from... but Ryan and whoever else you will talk to will not do anything for you... I guarantee it! Maybe if we all got together and some how sent a mass email or a letter to a news station so we can get them EXPOSED... that's the only thing I can think of... any other suggestions? I have tried everything and my local news station said if it wasn't a local issue and if there isn't more than one person involved in the area they can't do anything about it. So, my next step... I'm working right now on sending in all of the info on these ### to the Governor's Office of Internal Affairs in Atlanta, GA and I am also going to check up on Dateline NBC... but I am open to any suggestions and anyone else who is willing to put these guys in their place and get us our money back! Please email me if you do!

I couldn't agree with you guys more! These people are true ###, who prevent you from handling things in a mature and business fashion, because by the time you finally get a live voice on the phone in order to TRY and get some sort of response, you are so totally pissed that all you wanna do is cuss someone out! Obviously, the only customers they care about are the ones that haven't paid yet! As far as there recording that plays in the background while you are on hold, oh my God, I don't think anything pisses me off anymore than being 30 seconds into the 12th minute on hold , and hearing that crap!

Donica

I have a similar story as well. Wife tries to get me a Warbird ride (a late 30th birthday gift we put off until this spring), through ThrillPlanet.com. We are told there is a local facility that does this, and choose a date. They charge our card $250 on 5/11. The day of the ride arrives (5/19), but we never got confirmation. We call, and are told they couldn't contact the local facility. They offer to reschedule or give us a gift certificate. We decline and ask for a refund. Not hearing anything, I call on 6/4 and am told I need to send an email confirming my refund request, to none other than 1800skyride.com. So, Thrillplanet is yet another of their "front" sites. Today, 6/13, my refund is still pending approval and that's all they can tell me. I think I may have to see what my dispute options with the credit card company are. I always get to speak to someone at 1800skyride with 10 minutes or so when I call, but the usually friendly reps seem powerless to do anything beyond attempt to take your money.

I was given a gift certificate for 750.00 dollars for a plane ride and the company won't call back to book the flight. This has been going on for a months.

I have to say that I had a good time using these guys and liked what 1-800skyride did for us. Just a positive note.

I AGREE!

On July 5th (Thursday) I called 1800skyride to reserve a hot air balloon ride for my boyfriend's birthday which seems to be the same story like Melissa's. I spoke with Andre (ext 1719) and I asked him if there were any balloon rides open soon for a birthday occasion. He than said he would and would call me back. Andre called me back the same day and stated there only one available opening for the summer and was for July 14th. I told him clearly I will ONLY authorize the charge if it was CONFIRMED for July 14th. On July 6th (Friday) I missed a call from Anna stating my flight for July 7th will not take place due to weather conditions. I than tired to call back and no one answered. I called back on Monday July 9th stating my flight was suppose to be confirmed for July 14th to Anna [protected]. She stated well it was scheduled for July 7th and there were no openings for July 14th and would call me back and did not. I called back once again and spoke with Jill and I told her that my credit card should have NOT been debit because I did not authorized that transaction for July 7th and she said rudely she would submit my issue to the claims department for a refund that would take 15-20 business days. I waited the 15 business days and still did receive any word or refund check. I called back once again and spoke to Michael who was the manager of the claims department and stated he could not find my paperwork and would call me back which he did not do. I than waited for the exact 20 business days and had no response. I called again and now spoke to Eric who told me Michael no longer works for the company and he will be taking care of the issue. I stress to him I wanted my money back (I mean how is it so easy to debit my money and not easy to debit it back!) because they charged my card for a date that was not authorized and I need my money back now. He than assured me he would look into it and would call me back and DID NOT! I called back again and he did not answer several times so I left a message and I stated to him the next call they would receive would be from my bank for an unauthorized charge. I spoke to my banker and she stated she needed my dispute in writting and would credit me the funds and dispute the charge with 1800skyride. These people charged the following:

07/06 $404.30 DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 070607
WWWTHRILLPLANETCOM [protected] GA

These people ruined my birthday surprise DO NOT USE THEM! THEY WILL GIVE YOU THE RUN AROUND! AND TAKE YOUR MONEY!

I wish I would of found this complaint page sooner. I wanted to do something special for my boyfriends birthday this year, it was his first birthday with me. I searched for hours calling local areas for a hot air balloon pilot and was unable to find anyone or have anyone available for the date I needed. I got desperate and got online and to my lack of luck found 1-800-Skyride. I gave them all my info on Friday Sept. 28, 07 and suposedly booked a flight for the next Monday morning at dawn going out of Reno, Nevada, which is four hours away from where we live. They stated they would send me an e-mail to confirm the transaction and serve as my receipt, and that I would receive a call to let me know of wheather information and directions. That Saturday I called to see how everything was coming and they said they would contact me 24-48 hours before the flight so that they could check the last wheather report. I get down to Reno and call again on Sun they can't give me any information or connect me to anyone. They gave me the pilots number to call, and when I called he said he had been getting calls about this company for about a month and a half. He was a pilot, but he was leaving town and couldn't help us out because he had no record of our flight information. Now I have to wait until Monday morning to call my bank and make sure that I got my refund. My future inlaws that we are staying with near Reno helped us talk to them and let them know due to breach of contract and lack of services they had to refund us the complete amount or we would be taking them to court for tripple the amount. So in the end I have nothing to do for my boyfriends birthday and his firtst birthday with me is ruined. This is not a true company and don't let them scam you.

I agree! I booked a hotair balloon ride in MN for a wedding anniversary am one month into my struggles with ThrillPlanet.com refunds department. It is amazing how identical my experience has been to all previous complaints. Even the names! Michael (the manager) must be fired and rehired on a daily basis :)

Today I filed a complaint of fraudulent activity with my CC company and am hopeful that they will see this as I do.

Thrill planet nearly ruined my anniversary... BEWARE!

1800SkyRide.com is affiliated with Taparu LLC. I purchased skydiving lessons for October 13, for three people, (paid in full in advance) and told the sales representative that October 13 was the only possible date because the wedding was scheduled for the next week-end. Needless to say, when I contacted the jump school, they had no reservations and refused to schedule a jump for that day.

1800SkyRide.com now refuses to respond to me in any way. Richard Crowder [protected] indicated that I would be receiving a refund, but now refuses to respond to my phone calls.

Beware people!

This company ruined my husband and daughters Christmas present. I made plans on December 21st for a Balloon Ride for December 29th. I was told by the represenative that someone would be contacting me within 48 hours and I never heard a single thing. I did however get the information of which balloon service that they would be using in the area the night I made the purchase and decided to call the local company personally to get all dates, locations to meet, and information for the date of the flight and was told ,"Nobody has contacted me, and I"m completely booked". This company debited my card in the amount of $456.00 and time after time, call after call, I was given the run around and was either put on hold or got a answering machine. This company is a BIG SCAM. NOBODY EVERY USE 1-800-SKYRIDE.com for anything unless you want to be the next victim. Also, they do have a lawsuit pending in Atlanta coming up soon and I would suggest everyone that deserves justice contact them to get in on the suit. Information regarding the details of the pending suit can be found in the following website provided below.

Yea this whole Sky Ride deal is a joke,ripoff,scam, and all the other words...
I luckily made out with a refund (minus the $80 service charge) After having to write a 3 page email explaining every detail that they F'd up on. I called them 3 times a week for 2 months calling to confirm my date and time and I was given a confirmation every time. Then THE DAY OF the trip, some chick called and said that the pilot over booked the trip and there was not enough space on the balloon unless we wanted to drive 325 miles to a different launch site...yea SURE WHY NOT!...she didn't apoligize or anything, in fact she was quite a BIT**. Nothing but a hassle with these Mo' Fugaz!

So then I went to a different company called Life Thrills in Kennesaw, GA and they actually seemed somewhat legit. I received paper work and everything confirming my order and dates and everything. So then I call back to confirm 4 months later and now they have apparently gone out of business. I paid about $300 to these guys and now I'm sure I'm screwed on getting my money back. All this time you think your doing a kind gesture to surprise someone but it's just end up being a waist of your time and MONEY!
I can't believe I fell for this... Live and you learn...

My wife brought me a gift certificate to skydive and this place offers no place in my area and when i ask for a refund, they want to take 25 % of the bill as a fee. This is the biggest scam!

We also had similar negative experiences with SKY-RIDE. You might want to try reporting them to the Better Business Bureau of Georgia, where they are located:
BBB
503 Oak Place # 590
Atlanta GA 30349
Ph: [protected]
Web; http://www.atlanta.bbb.org

Also, the Department of Justice for your state. We live in Oregon os it is: [protected] toll free

We just yesterday reported them, so don't know if it will do any good or not, but if EVERYONE did so, it might!

This company is horrible. I bought certificates for skydiving for me and my boyfriend at the time which was christmas 2006. We anxiously waited till it was warm enough and tried to book skydiving plans with 1800skyride. When I confirmed the date they said they would send me information and a confirmation email and everything. This never happened. I called back and they had no idea what I was talking about when I said I booked the trip. Finally they said that we were confirmed and the date was good and everything. The morning of we got a call from a woman saying that they overbooked. We then tried a few more times and every time there was an issue whether it was weather or lack of instructors. I naively thought that fate was keeping me from going. It has now been a year and the coupons say they are good for 2 years. I tried to call today and was given the run around, i was hung up on, put on hold, told to call somewhere else all this ###. Someone help. I don't know what to do from here. I spent 400 dollars and I feel like a fool. Can anything be done? Anyone get anywhere with this?

This is what they do... They work hard to sell things like skydives, balloon rides etc... They have many websites and spend quite a bit on advertising. But they harbor an embarrising secret...

...that they don't have any facilities/aircraft/balloons/instructors etc. They sell the tickets AND THEN try to arrange with local REAL providers to get you up. Sometimes they can't get it arranged and they'll give you the runaround - the only thing they can do is take your money.

As a custumer you are not the only one being ripped off. I work as a skydiving instructor and we have a equally difficult time getting money from them.

They are unprofessional - halfwitted - scamming - oxygen thieves. I'm confident the future will not be kind to them.

If you booked a skydive with SKYRIDE ... REVERSE THE CHARGE ... on your credit card. Your credit card company will do this and require them to prove they provided the services you paid for to prevent the charge-back.

Or if you live in/around Altanta ... pay them a visit and let them know what you think of them!

Today I provided a service to a prospective hang gliding student. A good time was had by all...so much so that the gentleman's wife decided to take a tandem also. What I wasn't aware of was that he had paid 1800SkyRide.com $210 for the booking and $20 for a T-Shirt. Needless to say when it came time to settle up with me, he was more than happy to pay me for his wife's adventure but was rightfully reluctant to pay me for his.

I am trying to build a good reputation for hang gliding and those who dedicate their time teaching others to fly, so I agreed with him to tag team this company to see if they will pay me as the provider...It's not looking good so far. What gets me is that I never signed up to be a service provider for this company. They must have found my website on the internet and used my good name in vain. I only charge $95 per person for my tandem service and this gentleman was charged $210.00 He did get the service that he paid way too much for and was so impressed that he and his wife want to be repeat customers, however, I am in serious doubt that I will ever see a single penny from these scammers.

Any of you reading this message...DON'T USE A BOOKING SERVICE...especially this one. Each of the aviation disciplines has a national organization that you can get information on providers in you area. All the national organizations are member funded and provide this information free of charge. In the case of hang gliding its www.ushpa.aero. If you go to this site you will be given a list of certified providers around your area. Providers from this list will not charge you until service is provided as their services are weather dependent. At most you will be charged a small deposit to guarantee that you will show up when scheduled. No middle men, no muss, no fuss, and ever so much less expensive.

I will post again for better or worse when I contact this company to find out their policies and procedures for paying actual providers.

For those of you still trying to take to the skies, don't be discouraged by this company. Reach out directly to providers...I haven't come across one yet who doesn't really love to pass on the enthusiam they have about their particular dicipline...I know, I'm one of many.

When evaluating the information you find online regarding a company it is important to consider the source of the information. Although complaint boards can be a resource for frustrated consumers to use, they can also be a venue for competitors and/or other persons with personal vendettas to masquerade as legitimate consumers to discredit a business. It is often difficult to distinguish between an actual consumer and someone else who may have an entirely different agenda or set of motives than the stated purpose.

Use good judgment when evaluating any information you find online, and carefully weigh the reputation and reliability of the source. Also consider whether the website containing the information disclaims responsibility for the accuracy of the information found there and allows unverified information to remain on the site. You may often find information about a site's policies regarding the information on that site in the Terms & Conditions for the website.

I have been trying to reach them to schedule my handgliding service. The phone goes to a message machine, no call backs.

This was a gift and I feel sorry for the person who got stuck for paying for a service that I will never be able to use.

After reading the litigation filed on Aug 18, 2008 and seeing the names of the hundreds of people that "Thrill Planet" AKA 1800Skyride has scammed, I find it unbelievable that they are still in business. I have reported my incident to the BBB of Georgia and also the FTC, as well as reporting fraudulent charges to my credit card company. I purchased two hot air balloon tickets from this company. The tickets had no phone numbers, addresses, or names for the actual air balloon company that was providing the service. When we made our reservation MONTHS ago, we were assured we were all set. However, the provider of the service NEVER HEARD OF US and refused to honor our tickets. Big Surprise? It shouldn't have been. They have been allowed to scam hundreds of people and all of their employees in their "customer service" department just play along and pretend that someone will get back to you. I've got documented phone calls to Chris, Terrance, Monica, and Michael (supposedly their manager) who never returned ONE phone call after at least a dozen calls to them. Someone needs to step in and slap them with criminal charges, or this company will continue to lie/cheat/steal from other unsuspecting clients. And, the poor decent guy out there who really offers a reliable service will never be trusted because of SLIMEBALLS like this that get away with it!

Records indicate this customer's complaint was verified as legitimate, and was later resolved by the company.

STAY AWAY from these guys! These stories sound way too familiar. Like some have mentioned, request a charge back from your credit card company claiming that services were never rendered. I recently did and they just confirmed that they are going to credit my account. I had my credit card company do a search on Google and read all of these horror stories. Good luck!

Let's do something about these CREEPS! Let's shut these people down! I just called and told "Priscilla" that they better watch out b/c this crap is coming to an end!

I WANT MY MONEY BACK! They promised to refund the whole amount talking with a name Stephanie and said they will call beck. They never called nor I reveive any refund by mail. I called and they said it was declined. They said they can request again then they will call with in 2 weeks. They siad they declined.

It was a surprised bday gift for my partener! Came and had the flight but ended up paying from my own pocket as the place they said on the telephone didn't have any idea of sky-ride company at all! I was trying to get my full refund in behalf of sky ride's own mistake!

Then, they said they can only give me some part of the money they will have to deduct some percent and will send it.

I never got anyting from them. It is good for 2 years and it is now almost 2 years on July 7 I still havn't got any money from them. They are now offering me ONLY Certificate so I can go ride again some place.. I refused as I have read many article regerding refused baloon fly certificate as the busness no contract with sky-ride at all!..

I WANT MY MONEY BACK AND I WANT TO SUE THEM BUT NOT SURE HOW. ANYONE CAN HELP ME, ANY LAWYER OUT THERE WHO READ THIS PLS CONTACT ME AT GIELANE0505@YAHOO.COM

THANKYOu!

These guys are being sued over skydiving fraud, too. IMO the only way to get these guys for good is to have a FEDERAL level court with all state jurisdiction go after them for their many many tales of customer abuse, outright fraud and lying.

They stole photos to put on their cookie cutter skydiving websites. Google skyride photo theft and you'll see that too.

NEVER use 1800 skyride or [protected] (same place)

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM, believe me, you will thanks me.