ComplaintsforKalahari Resort

• Initial Complaint

  01/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My family stayed at Kalahari Sandusky 1/26/24-1/28/24. It was me, my 3 kids, my brother, his wife, and their 2 kids. Saturday about 4:30, the kids were in the wave pool, a grown man inappropriately touched my daughter, who is a minor, multiple times and was recording her under water. We had to depart the water park. ***** from Security was fantastic, the local Sheriff's dept was amazing. The 27 year man ended up being a former employee who was there alone for a day pass and had 2 prior records of the same conduct to women in public places. The man was arrested and it resulted in a long night of dealing with the police until after midnight, filing charges and paperwork. Management never once checked on my daughter or asked if we needed anything. I went to the desk and asked to speak to management and asked if we could get a refund since our trip was completely ruined and there was no way my daughter was going back to the park the next day. She is a child and completely traumatized over the incident. They offered her arcade cards and in regards to the refund, she said "we don't really do that here." She said she could possible refund half of one night due to the "severity of the incident" but she was not sure and my card has never seen a refund. It was a horrible experience. Not only my daughter, but my young nieces who witnessed everything are so upset and devastated over the whole thing. I am so disappointed in Kalahari for their lack of sympathy with my daughter and lack of trying to make things right on a very expensive weekend family vacation that was completely ruined. They did not even ban this guy so my daughter was terrified he was going to come back.

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  Spoke with guest on phone about recent stay. Guest requested to have the last night refunded. As a goodwill gesture, the remaining balance of 2nd night $327.24 has been refunded. 

  Customer response

  02/16/2024

  
  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.

  Skai reached out from Customer Service, he was awesome. He was very sympathetic over the incident and understanding. I was happy to have the issue resolved quickly without hesitation. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  01/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My family visited Kalahari Sandusky OH 1/12/24-1/13/24. The only positive thing about the visit was them allowing us to apply our purchased day passes to our purchased room. On Friday we were celebrating with family who paid for their overpriced villa a birthday party. We were provided a ride from the resort to the villas and guaranteed a return ride. We called to return and after 15 minutes of no ride appearing, called back and were informed we had to figure it out on or own. No one came to pick us up. We made our way back and due to a horrible nights sleep in our rooms, decided to discuss with a manager before going to breakfast. He informed us that the night manager or security should have come to get us. The second horrible experience was the discoloration of swimsuits. We have pictures showing the original look prior to getting in the whirlpool a second day and the current status of discoloration. When talking to water park manager, he simply stated the wearing of the bathing suits in different places and different attractions can cause discoloration. A lie! One of the bathing suits was brand new and the other showed no signs of discoloration prior to getting into the swim up mudhut whirlpool. We did notice that someone was at the whirlpool a long time testing the water, but did not shut down the whirlpool. We informed the manager of that as well. I’ve asked for a corporate number in person, on chat, and even when a manager called today on Monday. They will not provide the number. One swimsuit was purchased in June 2023 at Disney for $200 and another on Amazon 1/10/24 for $40. We should be compensated. The attitudes and demeanor of the managers were “not their problem, but ours”. We were told that security was coming to complete incident reports and they did not.

  Customer response

  01/17/2024

  Consumer contacted BBB to let us know the matter has been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 11/2/23, I took my son and his friend to Kalahari in ********, ** to celebrate my son's birthday. We spent the evening in the waterpark then headed back to the room. My son went in the bathroom and discovered multiple ladybugs on the shower curtain, tub, floor; we tried to flush them but the more we flushed, the more we discovered. Then, in the main part of the room, there were about 20 more (at least) crawling on the walls and ceiling. I called downstairs to see if we could move rooms, but they said that there were none available. I said we could not stay in this room, and they said that they would send up a manager. No manager arrived, but about 10 minutes later, a man with a very old vacuum arrived. I said there was no way that would clean the bugs out of the ceiling/walls/bathroom. I called back downstairs and spoke to ****, who said that he would refund our room. Downstairs, there was a line, but Rich motioned me to the desk as I said we had spoken about the bugs in the room. He apologized and said that this time of year, Kalahari has a "bug infestation problem with stink bugs and lady bugs". It was busy, but he promised that he made a note to refund our stay as soon as he had a free minute. We left around 10:30pm for our hour plus drive home. In December, we saw that the charge went through on our credit card. I called Kalahari the next day and spoke to ********* and explained that I was promised a refund since our room was full of bugs. He said no, that in his notes it said I had agreed to a complimentary upgrade. I said that was not true and that **** (with both of the boys as witnesses) promised us a refund. ********* said a refund would not have been given for ladybugs in the room. I then sent his manager, ***************************, two emails to which he has not responded. Please Kalahari do the right thing and refund our stay. Detailed account attached. ********************** did send a complimentary upgrade certificate which is not what I want.

  Business response

  01/16/2024

  We have tried to connect with this guest via phone number provided.

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  July 7-8th, 2023: We were headed to check out and we were walking through the game room. My daughter asked me to look in the souvenir shop at the sweatshirts. When we slowed down to turn right to walk into the store, an employee carrying a stacked pallet of gatorades, was following us entirely too close and the top half of the case packs of Gatorade came tumbling down and several landed on my ankle. The employee looked at me in disgust and began picking up the drinks. Never apologized or asked if I was OK. I hid behind a gaming machine and began sobbing. My husband found me and he immediately went to speak with a manager at the checkin desk. We told an employee at the check-in desk what had happened and waited for a half hour for the manager, to be told the manager would look at the video and be in touch. Security informed us we must wait on the EMT to be looked at before leaving the premises. We waited an additional 30-min, filled out more paperwork and he wrapped my ankle in an ace bandage. He said someone would be in contact with me. I have tried reaching out to multiple customer service areas via emails and texts, all promising a call back, with zero success. I am baffled how I have taken my family to Khalihari probably 5-7 times over the past many years with zero complaints…but when I get physically injured from an employee’s negligence…I get ZERO follow-up from the management team! Not a single apology, the employee was never talked to about this incident (which was our initial request) and no one cared to see how my injury was. It has been almost 7 months!!! I am appalled at the lack of customer service from Khalihari!!!!

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  Hello, 
  

  I am reaching out to you in regard to the complaint that you left with the Better Business Bureau. The Safety Team has conducted a complete investigation into the incident. We have found that Kalahari staff acted in accordance with all policies and procedures. We will not be moving forward with a refund. But, because you had such a poor experience, I'd like to extend 6 complimentary WP passes to you and your family. Let me know if this is something that you'd be interested in.  
  
  I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season.
  
  Best,
  ****** ***** - EMS & Safety Manager

  
  

  Customer response

  01/08/2024

  
  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

  11/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I booked a stay with Kalahari on 11/22/2023 for 11/25/2023 I canceled the reservation and the charge went through on my card still. Now Im out that money after rebooking the stay at a lower price. I would like to receive a refund for the cancellation of the original stay. I understand if they have to deduct the $100 for canceling within three days of the stay.

• Initial Complaint

  11/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My stay at Kalahari Resorts was a complete nightmare. Not only was the service abysmal, but my experience was marred by a shocking incident. During my stay, I had the unfortunate experience of having my iPad stolen, and to make matters worse, nobody from the resort has bothered to reach out or address the issue.The fact that there is no immediate recourse for reporting a stolen item other than an online form is utterly absurd. It's a clear indication of their disregard for guest security and satisfaction.Furthermore, the overall atmosphere of the resort left much to be desired. It's disappointing to see an establishment with such potential fail to provide the level of service and security one would expect. To sum it up, my experience at Kalahari Resorts was not only unpleasant but also left me feeling unsafe and unsupported by the staff. I strongly advise against staying at this establishment.I am seeking compensation to ensure I am able to replace the iPad and accessories stolen.

  Business response

  11/28/2023

  We have tried to reach out to this guest and left voicemail on 11/28

• Initial Complaint

  10/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello Me and my girlfriend went to stay overnight for a little getaway at the ******** Kalahari upon purchasing everything in advance online as we approached the check in I was told i needed to pre authorize a 200 dollar charge onto my card for any amenities that we had for the night (dinner, arcarde, gift shops, etc...) and on the Kalahari website it states any funds out of the 200 that was preauthorized will be returned to the card that was preauthorized. So i thought cool that shouldn't be an issue well I got my invoice and the 200 preauthorized never showed up on my invoice but its pending on my card and my folio balance is ***** which that should have been covered from the 200 that was preauthorized which means I should be receiving a ****** Credit back onto my card that I have not yet received, PLEASE HELP

  Business response

  11/07/2023

  Good evening, I am happy to hear a member of our billing team was able to reach out and get this issue taken care of!

• Initial Complaint

  08/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  customer service representative, ***, refused to give me my NYS DOCCS / first responder discount which i am entitled and when told i was eligible hiked the rates up. later she refused to give her name and refused to allow me to speak to a supervisor. i was trying to book a king whirlpool suit for 2 mights 3 days oct 10 through 12, 2023 at Sandusky Ohio location with my discount

  Business response

  08/20/2023

  Good morning, a member of our leadership team has tried to reach out and left a voicemail.

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Checked in on July 31. My card was charged a $200 deposit to cover any charges made while staying. I kept careful track to make sure that my family did not go over this $200. We left on August 4th, and had spent $199.14. I assumed within a few days I would have the 86 cents credited to my account as this is what had happened the previous 2 years when we visited. Instead, today 4 days after we left my card was charged again for $199.14. So not I have charges totaling $399.14 on my bank account. I can't afford to be $200 short on my bank account. What was the purpose of placing the hold if they were just going to charge my card for the total anyway? I spoke to someone today that said that holds were refunded within 3 days of leaving. I said that it had been 4 days and was given a number and extension to call to speak to someone. I called and there was no answer so I left a message. I can not wait days to get a response as I need this money back in my account! I spent over 2 grand on this stay and for them to overcharge me is ridiculous.

  Business response

  08/13/2023

  A member of Kalahari's Guest Billing Team has reached out in regards to this.

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On July 27, 2023 I purchased 4 day passes for the indoor water park at Sandusky,OH for admission on July 28 2023.During the process there were numerous issues with the payment form rejecting both me and my husbands visa debit cards numerous times. I tried multiple times calling for assistance only to be hung up on transferred, or have no one answer. We then used my husbands capital one Mastercard and it approved transaction. Upon arrival, we were denied admission because we didn’t bring the card with us or have a screen shot of the card. My mother then had to repurchase our tickets. We were told 3-5 business days we would be refunded and still have not been. Then on August 5 our bank sent us an alert that Kalahari was attempting to suddenly process the a transaction from July 27 for $600 which would have been 3x the purchase a week after our visit luckily it was stopped by the bank. This was our first and last time visiting your resort and I would greatly appreciate my money back, as your staff still continues to hang up on me or place me on an endless hold. Truly terrible experience I have attached our credit card receipt

  Business response

  08/08/2023

  Hello,

  We have processed your refund for $159.96. You should see the refund in 3-5 business days. 

  Thank You,

  ***** ******

  Waterpark Director

  419. ******** ext. *****

  Customer response

  08/08/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  as you can see I’ve attached the receipt showing the purchase on July 27. Today is august 8 we are past 3-5 days now
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** And ******** ****

*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. ↩