Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Busch Gardens Tampa's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Busch Gardens Tampa

  3000 E Busch Blvd Tampa, FL 33612-8734

• 

  Busch Gardens Tampa

  9205 Southpark Center Loop STE 400 Orlando, FL 32819-8651

• 

  Busch Gardens Tampa

  PO Box 9158 Tampa, FL 33674-9158

• 

  Busch Gardens Tampa

  10165 N McKinley Dr Tampa, FL 33612

• 

  Busch Gardens Tampa

  3605 E Bougainvillea Ave Tampa, FL 33612-6433

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/24/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I bought two annual passes on 01/01/2022. I did the monthly EZ pay option which came out to $35.48 per month. When I bought the tickets, I knew that it was a 12 month commitment. However, I was not aware that they would continue to charge me for every month after the initial 12 months until cancelling the passes completely. Thankfully I caught it early (they charged me for ******* and February of 2023), but the customer service rep I spoke to on the phone was adamant that they do not issue refunds for failure to cancel the passes as it states that the annual passes will continue on a monthly basis even after the initial 12 year commitment. Nowhere did I ever see that when purchasing my passes. When you click on the main website comparing all tiers of the annual passes it does not state this either unless you do more digging and click on the FAQs. Additionally, I went only twice in 2022. Once on 1/1/22 and the second and last time on 1/2/22. The company doesnt even email you to remind you that they will be automatically renewing your passes after the initial 12 months and withdrawing funds from your account. The charges even increased after the year and they have now charged me $37.30 for the last two months.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/07/2023

  As stated in the ** Pay contract, payments will continue on a month-by-month basis until your 12-month commitment has been met. Renewal of your Annual Pass continues automatically once you have met your commitment until you advise us you wish to end your membership. The ** Pay contract is signed at the time of purchase, we regret to read you were unable to locate this information prior to your renewal. Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out to the guest directly to assist further. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/23/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hello, On December 7th we purchased two Silver annual passes one for ***************************** pass- A537961590020758293 *********************** pass- A478680752695379025 for a total $461.49 On January 21st we drove 3 hours and were excited to go and ride all the rides. To our dismay a majority of the rides were closed down. Here is a list to name a few.************, Serengeti flyer, scorpion, wild surge, ******* falls, and the Serengeti express station were closed. i think its rather unfair to charge such an exorbitant amount full price when you have barely any rides going. Not to mention the $45 in burgers and fries that we bought that were completely cold and inedible. When I asked an employee if I could exchange it for some warm food they were rude and were unhelpful. in this economy, spending such a large amount of money, and receiving this is very disappointing. This was supposed to be a special occasion and it turned out to be sub par. I think its only fair to receive at least a partial credit for both of our tickets, considering that so much was shut down. I never would have purchased annual passes. Had I known that everything would be shut down.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/07/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team has reach out to this guest directly to assist further. At this time, our products are non-refundable, and we are unable to honor any requests for refund. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/08/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Inadvertent Double-payment for monthly passes July 2022 our family had 5 Busch Gardens passes expired. We renewed the passes on the monthly pay via the ** website and added an additional (Adventure Island) to the payments. Found out today, 2/7/2023, that the old passes continued to be charged to our bank account since July total of 7 payments of $72/mo ($504). We are also paying for the new passes since July at a rate of $84 per month.My husband and 2 teens went to ** on 2/5 and apparently, inadvertently, old passes were scanned.** supervisor (via their cust line ************) advised since my husband and kids used old passes, even once, could not refund as per "policy" - even though we had new passes. All ** could do was refund for the 2 passes that were not used, an amount of $50 (of the total $504 already paid on old passes.) Tried to come up with solutions with ** since we were double paying - the new passes are under contract so no refunds possible there, and they cannot transfer the usage to the new passes. ** has unfair practices noted in the conversation:- in good faith, we renewed in July, that is, extended into a new 12 months and added extra services. ** said that we *still* needed to cancel the old passes - nowhere during the transaction was it flagged that the old passes would still be active.- customers are not entitled to a refund of the month-to-month even though contract says only EZ pay plan is subject to the no refund policy. Was told even the $50 was a "courtesy" and "stretching their policy" per the supervisor. when I initially called in, the rep immediately recognized that we had double accounts and were double paying. Basically they have the means to know about dupe passes but choose to do nothing and have arbitrary rules to restrict refunds.Their offer: refund of $50 and quick queue passes and cancel the old passes.Ideal outcome: refund of $504 for the old pass payments and cancel the old passes. Change to policy.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/20/2023

  As per our agreement accepted at the time of purchase, annual passes will automatically renew a year from the date of purchase unless we receive a request to cancel prior to the renewal date. Please note that we have reviewed *****'s account and have confirmed that she has accepted the offer presented by our ******************** team on 2/7/2023 and complimentary products were sent directly to her. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2023

   
  Complaint: 19348188
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  Business has missed the point of the complaint completely.  To clarify further and this was debated with BG CS, when we renewed/upgraded our plan, we were under the impression that paragraph 1 in the terms listed below was in effect.  Basically that the existing ** Pay would be terminated, instead the old plan had converted to the month to month, while what we thought was a renewal was actually a whole new plan purchased.  No where during the "renewal" did it alert to the fact that the old account was still active.  BG actually said that to see the old passes, we'd have to look up the account with the pass # and that it would not be linked to our passmember account that's accessed with our username and password.  In other words, yes, even though it expains the terms of ** pay in the fineprint, BG makes it difficult to have any recourse for mistakes due to arbitrary rules. First, the ** Pay renewal process is not straightforward, then the account details of old and new passes not linked toegther in the user account and has to be looked up separately, then because the old passes were inadvertently scanned instead of the new passes, that counts as usage and therefore cannot be refunded even though the new passes were also being paid for under ** Pay. The only acceptable recourse so that BG doesn't seem like a scam company is to allow users to consolidate their passes into their online account and allow easy renewal of the payment plan, with option to opt-out of the roll-into month to month available in the consolidated user accounts.  Other honest companies do this but BG currently doesn't.  What does that say about BG and their practices?

   

  Contract terms refereced are highlighted below:

  -Par. 1 in the Initial Terms

  For existing ** Pay Passmembers who are upgrading an existing ** Pay Plan, the Initial Term shall begin on the date of your next monthly payment (as established by your existing ** Pay Plan payment schedule), on which date the Down Payment is due. The Initial Term shall continue for the number of months listed above (as reflected at TOTAL NUMBER OF PAYMENTS FOR INITIAL TERM (including down payment) ). Your existing ** Pay Plan will be terminated effective on the Initial Term start date for the new, upgraded ** Pay Plan"

  -Buried in Terms & Conditions

  "AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF THE INITIAL TERM UPON PROVIDING YOU WITH NOT LESS THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS ADVANCE WRITTEN NOTICE OF SUCH CHANGE TO THE ANNUAL PASS RATE. TO TERMINATE THIS CONTRACT EFFECTIVE AFTER THE INITIAL TERM AND TO PREVENT AUTOMATIC MONTH-TO-MONTH RENEWAL OF THIS CONTRACT AFTER THE INITIAL TERM, PLEASE CONTACT SEA C/O SEA WORLD CONTACT CENTER, ********************************************************************** TEL: ************ OR GO TO YOUR ACCOUNT PAGE AT *******************************************. I MAY CANCEL MY AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED MEMBERSHIP(S) AT ANY TIME AFTER THE INITIAL TERM HAS EXPIRED (AUTOMATIC RENEWAL NOT APPLICABLE TO ** PAY PASSES FOR ************ USAGE ONLY). IF I PERMIT THIS CONTRACT TO RENEW, IT SHALL RENEW ON A MONTH-TOMONTH BASIS AND SEA SHALL BE ENTITLED TO CONTINUE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITHDRAWALS OR CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD WITHDRAWALS EACH MONTH."

  Sincerely, 

  *******************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out directly to this guest for further assistance.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/08/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  I'm happy that they've at least promised to bubble the concerns up to leadership.  I'm not one to put people or companies on blast in social media so hoping they have the ingerity to follow through.  

  Thank you BBB for helping me bridge the gap with companies like this. As a consumer, sometimes it feels like we have no power or recourse when big companies seemingly overstepping with what they can get away with.  With BBB it feels like I at least can be heard and not have to compromise and just accept the companies' reponses to these issues.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased tickets to Busch Gardens Tampa (order #***************) on November 23rd, 2022 for a trip I was going to take to the area the week of Decmeber 5th, for use on December 8th. Unfortunately, one of my traveling companions got COVID which forced us to cancel the whole trip. I messaged them explaining the situation, and they told me they can't give refunds but they can rebook the tickets. Ok, I was going to reschedule my trip anyway so that works. Last week I message them to rebook the tickets, and they want almost $100 more to do so! Nowhere in my first interaction did the agent say that I would possibly have to pay a different price- I actually specifically asked them if the tickets would expire if I did not use them, they said no they would still be valid once they go unused. Again, no mention of me possibly having to pay a different price. I tried emailing the company after this incident explaining my frustration and asked if there was any assistance they could give- no response. This is absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful customer service, especially considering it was a COVID related situation. If it is indeed their policy to charge people more for the tickets they already bought, they should train their customer service agents to make such policy clear when people try to rebook their unused tickets.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out to the guest directly to assist further. Our team is always happy to review requests for assistance with duplicate or unused products. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/21/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/09/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I ordered 2 Penguin tours for my wife's birthday a month ahead of they had no problem charging me and sending me a confirmation but then bird flu happened. They called me up to tell me that they had to cancel my experience . When asked how I wanted to handle it I asked for refund. I should have known when the kid seemed hesitant that he didn't know how to issue 1. Needless to say I never received it. When I called up to get this desituated nobody in customer service could handle it. They promised me that they credited the money back into my accounts but searching through my account I could not find any evidence of this period they refuse to provide me proper evidence of them refunding me the money and told me to handle it with my bank.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/12/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out directly to this guest for further assistance.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/06/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We made reservations in July 2022 with hotel and length of stay tickets for 3 at Busch gardens through the Busch Gardens vacations website for Dec 30-Jan 2. After making reservation and paying we got a confirmation for the Busch gardens dog kennel! My wife emailed 4-5 times over the next few months asking for the real reservation and what was gong on. We never received any information. We finally got information a few days before leaving due to the Hotel Holiday Inn calling and telling us despite 3 names being on the reservation we were only booked for 1 person in a king room. Not enough beds. My wife called for 2 days and finally got through friday morning Dec 30 and was told tough luck we cannot help you. I called as well and talked to a person on the phne and then demanded to speak to a manager. Our reservation was screwed up by their online reservation system which initially booked us in the busch gardens kennel. And only because we kept asking were we then put in a hotel but only for 1 person. These are all mistakes on their end not ours. And we tried to fix it over several months with no response. The manager told me tough luck, this is your reservation. Nothing we can do. Its your problem to solve. You have 1 bed and that is that. He said he would call the hotel to confirm we had a room with 1 bed and that was all. Would not call the hotel to try to help us. We had a terrible time at the park. Rained out and all rides closed first day. Second day we went back and rode a few rides and then decided to go ********** early due to the lack of fun we had at the park. We did not even stay the final night. Im angry that the manager did not accept his mistakes that his reservations were faulty. First in a dog kennel! I have the confirmation email still. Then making a reservation for 1 person with 3 names on the reservation and 3 length of stay tickets.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2023

  We certainly apologize for any miscommunication with our ************* team. Vacation reservations are typically provided immediately after confirming your purchase. Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out to the guest directly for further information. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased two passes with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Jan of 2021. One for me, and one for my wife. We have two kids at the time that were young enough to not need a purchased ticket. The person I spoke to on the phone helped set up the 1 year contract for about $34 dollars a month for 12months.I was told that after the 12th month we would need to set up a new contract for 12months. We went maybe 3 times that whole year Never, anywhere, were we told they would still be charging and auto renewing our passes after the 12months were up. I have had passes before and never had this issue. I did not realize they had been charging my debit card for over a year (apparently they stop sending any notifications to my email regarding the Ezpay as well) and that it auto renewed. I had an issue getting into my account or even finding the login information because it is now Jan 2023 and I had long since forgotten it. When I finally logged on and checked the dates of the ticket purchases they do not even line up. There was a date for March 2021 in there and he also mentioned November 2021 that I did not see but could not explain why none of them matched up when I had purchased the tickets at the same time. He told me that the autorenewal was in the terms and conditions of ***** but I informed him we did not consent to that and the lady we worked with on the phone said quite the opposite. When I called customer service they said they could refund me one month but that their hands were tied? They have charged me without my knowledge for a year now. Jan 2022 it should have ended it is now Jan 2023. I have included two pictures of the information I have on my account and the one with the January date gives no details? This whole thing is sketchy at best and i just want to be refunded for the 12months after Jan 2022. August 25th 2021 is the last day we went. Why would I pay for something I never even used in 2022. ******* who apparently is a supervisor sent me the terms and conditions just today 01/04/2023 which I do not have in the email I was sent up is on purchase. I have also attached the initial email and the document for the terms and conditions she just sent today 01/04/2023 stating I signed it. There are no terms and conditions anywhere to be seen.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/10/2023

  We have confirmed that our Guest Correspondence team has reached out directly to this guest for further assistance. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a 4 Park pass for the 2022 year... It has an auto-renew that I want to CANCEL and also CANCEL MY PASS BEFORE THE RENEWAL DATE in February, because I do NOT need the 4 Park pass anymore.I have called, emailed & chatted NUMEROUS times and the pass is STILL ACTIVE with the auto-renew feature ON.All I want is the pass CANCELLED and auto renewal turned OFF. No one has responded to my emails, I've been placed on hold, chats have been disconnected, and I've been purposely lied to by the customer service and told it was cancelled but I can clearly see it has not been. It's still an *********** on my Busch Gardens account with auto renewal on. I have been a pass holder for years , before that a loyal fun pass holder & this new system and the no option to adjust my own account payment options/pass options is the worst change they have made to their company. I need this resolved BEFORE the charges are made for a pass I don't need or want.Thank you.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  We have confirmed that our Guest Correspondence team has assisted this guest through email on 1/5/2023 and that the automatic renewal was cancelled on 12/31/2022 by the guest. The guest's past will remain valid until 2/20/2023 as the guest purchased their pass in full and our pass products are valid up to a year from the date of purchase.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/06/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as in February the pass cancels & no automatic payment is charged to me. At this time the resolution is fully one sided with my actual resolution to be seen in February.

  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a ticket online 12/28/22 to visit Busch Garden for the very first time. I arrive to the park at approximately 3:30P and the trams/trolley to park was very unorganized with pick up and drop offs. The trolley were full and not stopping at all stops to drop off and pickup passengers. So the wait was really bad. I went into the park and the park had a sign stating five of the main attractions are closed. That was horribly disappointing. Then the first ride said 1 hour 30 mins wait and we waiting for 2 hours and 30 mins before boarding the ride. I was absolutely disappointed with my first experience there. it seemed as as ride we went to was closed not just the ones mention on the sign. I want a complete refund of my $93.99.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team has reached out directly to this guest to assist further.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/20/2023

   
  I misunderstood the next steps.   The company reached out to me but I have
  not received a reply from my reply.  At this time I have not received a
  satisfactory resolution
  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/20/2023

  Our Guest Correspondence team is processing a higher-than-normal volume of requests at this time, we apologize for any inconvenience. They have reached out directly to the guest's last response with further resolution. As products are non-refundable and this ticket was used for entry, we are unable to honor any requests for refund at this time. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/30/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Went to **** gardens on 11.24.2022 had a lot of problems ranging from the handicapped parking to problems with my child not being able to ride rides feeling like we spend a whole day wasted with upset children. Filed a complaint with the business and i got a reply back over a week ago they couldnt find my tickets i sent them a copy of my receipt and i havent got a reply back its been well over a week

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2023

  We have confirmed with our Guest Correspondence team had reached back out to you on 12/16/2022 providing complimentary tickets to return to the park on a future date. Our Guest Correspondence team has resent a copy of this email directly to the guest.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 18547539
  
  I am rejecting this response because: i love in ** only go to ******* once a year they only made the tickets available for one year how is it fair that i live so far and they are only going to give us 1 year to get back down there. I apso asked for seaworld being that they are with that park ans i was told no 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 01/12/2023

  We have confirmed that this guest has accepted the complimentary products issued to them through our Guest Correspondence Team. This offer is unable to be extended to SeaWorld ******* as guest had purchased a 2022 Busch Gardens Tampa Fun Card which does not provide admission to SeaWorld *******.