Complaints

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:10/20/2023

  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 bought season passes after speaking with 3 different reps, first rep gave me misinformation about the age of who was free at the park, right age being 23 months and younger, confirmed with 2 other reps that if I bought bronze passes we could use them this upcoming weekend, both told me yes. So I went ahead and purchased and next thing you know, says this weekend is a blackout date. The blackout dates are on the site but not until you search for membership faqs. Spoke with a rep who tried to help and after 40 minutes told me to either go to the park and see what they could do(2 hours away) or try calling to get a possible coupon code or something that could possibly help, waited on hold for over 45 min and they never picked up. For a childs place this is terrible and their customer service is terrible and after purchasing only hours ago, I said let me just get a refund and Ill buy tickets just for this weekendthere are no refunds.I just believe that this is a terrible way to do business and others should know this also

  Business Response

  Date: 10/21/2023

  Please see your personal email for additional correspondence.

  Regards,

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/02/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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 tried to purchase 2 Plat Passes for Sesame Plat at 30% off ($25.50 for 9 months). The system gave an error and wouldn't let me purchase it

  Business Response

  Date: 10/13/2023

  Please see your personal email for further correspondence.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/24/2023

  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.

  My family and I (party of 4) made a visit to Sesame Place on August 21st. We purchased the Abby Magic bands and had a very poor experience. We were utilizing the water park and the staff for the slides were not checking bands for the magic entrance. Hence, we were waiting for very long periods of time. I complained to the staff person, who did not really seem to care. He said, oh, I'll check them. However, this did not fix the problem. People who did not purchase these very expensive bands were getting on the rides through the magic entrance. What was the point of purchasing these bands when others, who did not have bands, were allowed to enter the magic entrance? And, we ended up waiting for extremely long periods of time. For this, I could have saved my money on magic bands and waited on the regular line. Then when the staff person questioned the next guest (after my complaint), she said, well, you let all those other people get on without bands and he let her go. There were about 15 people who went through the entrance ahead of us who did not have bands. These happened multiple times and we left the waterpark. Another incident happened on the roller coaster where ten kids almost knocked my 11 year old down and rushed the magic entrance. They also did not have bands. My husband complained and the staff person said, what do you want me to do? By purchasing these bands, we were promised a certain experience and we were not provided with this experience. Again, these bands are super expensive and we did not receive priority entrance. When my husband went to customer service to complain, he was told to send a message to the customer service email - [email protected] - for a refund on the magic bands. I have sent three emails; 8/27, 9/6 and 9/20. I have not received a response to any emails. In the last email, I stated if I did not receive a response I would be filing a complaint with the BBB. There were other issues in my email that I want addressed

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2023

  Please see your personal email for further correspondence.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/11/2023

  The response to my email states that they will be issuing a refund.  I would like to keep this open until the refund has been issued.  It was not specific on what amount will be refunded.  Thank you.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/23/2023

  No refund has been issued.  I was also not told whether the full amount would be refunded.   

  The following email was sent from Sesame on 10/11/23:

  "Good afternoon,
  
  I appreciate your patience as we work through a significantly higher than usual volume of correspondence. I was able to locate an order in the system matching your contact information.
  
  A refund request has been submitted to the Refund Team for the Magic Queues on your order along with my authorization. Please allow 5-10 business days for the refund to post to your account, though we have seen some financial institutions take as long as 1-2 billing cycles to post a refund.
  
  *******************************
  Park Operations Manager
  
  Sesame Place Philadelphia • Operations • Guest Arrival
  100 Sesame Rd • Langhorne, PA 19047
  
  Phone: ************
  Email: *************************************************"

  Technically, ten business days would bring us to this Wednesday the 25th.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/26/2023

  Yesterday made ten business days and no refund was issued.  Thank you.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/29/2023

  I received an email that said a refund was given but it was not posted to our account.  I have sent an email back letting them know we did not receive a refund.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/05/2023

  They have credited our account $319.  Thank you so much for all of your help in resolving this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/12/2023

  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 visited Sesame Place Philadelphia for the first time on Saturday 8/12/23. Order # ***************.I emailed twice with no response. ---I was unable to feed my son and nephew at this park. We had to leave the park to get them something to eat. $271.75 in tickets, $55 for parking, $35 for a locker, AND WE HAD TO LEAVE TO FEED A FOUR AND FIVE YEAR OLD. Abby's backyard BBQ was closed, Mr Hooper's Food Market (the only "healthy" option available) was completely out of food. ABC eats had a huge line and one of the children we were with is lactose intolerant, so macaroni and cheese is out of the question anyway. Both big bird's burgers and bites and Elmo's pizza kitchen had excessive wait times; the line was wrapped around outside halfway to the sesame street neighborhood. We waited in line for over an hour at Elmo's pizza kitchen and were only about 1/4 of the way through the line. I cannot imagine how much longer we would have waited to order our food, then waited to receive it. My sister had to take my nephew out of the line due to it being loud and over crowded. He cannot tolerate those types of situations. Mobile ordering was disabled for all eateries on this day. Your website specifically prohibits outside food with the exception of a water bottle. I was later told by a manager at the welcome center that even though the website says that you can't, you can bring food in. I asked her how I would have known that ahead of time to bring my children food, and she shrugged. ---The park has 15 dry rides. At least 4 or them were closed. That makes more than 25% of the ride unavailable. --- In no way, shape, or form is this park, the way that it is being operated, "autism friendly." I am requesting a refund for my tickets, parking and locker rental. We were unable to remain at the park due to circumstances beyond our control; due solely to poor planning/management of Sesame Place Philadelphia.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/01/2023

  Please see your personal email for additional correspondence.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/07/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/19/2023

  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 visited Sesame Place on July 7th. I am a platinum member season pass holder. I used 5 of my guest passes for the day purchased the Abbys All Day Magic Que to skip the line and paid for the preferred up front parking. I am deeply upset with how as a platinum member guest I was treated. Myself and my family went on the Oscars Wacky Taxi roller coaster ride. We were at the front of the line waiting our turn with our magic que passes. The attendant of the line skipped us and let the regular paying passes go first and didnt even let us on the ride. We then waited for the ride to start again and we were skipped AGAIN! with paying over 200 dollars for magic que passes I do not expect to be skipped once but twice!!!! Why did we bother to pay 465 dollars for the day to be treated like garbage. After returning home, I then went to the website and posted my thoughts on my visit in the reviews and did not hear back. I then posted again about my experience from July 7th and no one returned an email or call. I then called sesame place and was told there was no one to speak to about this!? This is absolutely ridiculous. I will never return to this establishment and waste my money on. Any upgrades because you do not deliver these upgrades. I have attached 2 credit card statement pictures one that shows my platinum membership purchased on 7/4 and the second purchase on 7/7 of my magic que passes.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/27/2023

  Please check your personal email address for further correspondence.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/29/2023

  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.

  My friends and I bought gold card members respectively. They both have two free tickets through July 30, while I only have one. Why should we treat customers differently?

  Business Response

  Date: 07/29/2023

  Hello,

  All of our current Season Pass Holders qualify for two tickets. A technical issue has caused some passes to only show one ticket when they are entitled to two.

  If you visit the park before the end of the promotional period, you can stop at the Guest Relations Windows and we'll get it printed out for you. The two tickets that have been added to each season pass are only available and usable for July 30th.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/30/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:I already went to the park yesterday. My friend bought his own ticket
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************
  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/31/2023

  Please have your friend contact us through our Guest Comments email address at [email protected] and reference this complaint.

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2023

  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.

  Sesame Place advertises they are a cashless institution. No problem, until you go to pay for ANYTHING, and they add a 5% fee for using a card for your purchase. How is this legal? You won't accept cash and make customers convert it to a card inside the park (which can't be used anywhere else) and then charge for using a card for purchases. I bought $92 worth of merchandise and then was charged a $4.60 surcharge for using the card. The team members just laughed at us when we questioned them about it and said "Don't like it, don't buy it!" Is this how a supposed family-friendly organization treats families? I want my money refunded.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  Please see your personal email for correspondence regarding this matter.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  Please see your personal email for correspondence regarding this matter.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/14/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/11/2023

  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.

  Refund policy is unfair and out of date. purchased tickets for my family and i on a sale, realized we were not going to be able to go, asked for refund was told no. I can Choose another date at a higher price and pay the difference. I told them i bought On a sale why can they not honor the price told no they can’t and have to pay. Asked to speak to a supervisor and was told they will tell me the same thing. I’ve noticed this is a usual thing as other complaints and reviews mention the supervisor not being given and being told they will say the same thing. My family is Not able to use the tickets and can not choose another date. Unfair and out of date policy. I should Be able to cancel a week prior. Don’t know any other place that doesn’t allow that. Even for a small fee.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2023

  Please see your personal email for additional communication.

  - *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/09/2023

  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.

  We are going with a large group of people and all the families purchased their own tickets. I do admit I purchased the wrong tickets. It took me 3 days to get in contact with someone after several calls and webchats. No one was available. When I finally got in touch with someone the gentleman on the phone agreed to give me a refund so that I could repurchase the correct package. He never did so and I can't repurchase until my refund is processed because I need the funds from the other order for the new order. They said they would refund and it hasn't been done yet.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2023

  Hello,

  Please check your personal email for further correspondence.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/29/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they purposely waited until after the date of my tickets to reply. Forcing me to use them or I'd be losing out on even more money. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2023

  I have responded to your most recent message in our existing email chain.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/07/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is ****
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: **************** said he would get this refunded waiting to hear from him.

  Regards,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/30/2023

  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 bought a gold season pass for my family because this year they falsely advertised a new wave pool. I go on Memorial Day weekend which they also advertised stating that their new wave pool is open now. I excitedly go check it out only to find out that there is no wave pool. And to make matters worse I spoke with some team members and they told me that there was nothing new done to the park it was an attraction that was always there just renamed and opened as a wave pool. I’m very upset as my son who’s only 5 loves going swimming in the wave pool. There is absolutely no pool at sesame place big enough that he can swim in that has waves in it. Now I’m stuck with a season passes to a park that has no wave pool. What upsets me is that I had my choice of water parks to choose from. I was considering doing hurricane harbor and I chose sesame place because it was targeted more to smaller children. If you see their advertising about their new wave pool dont believe it because it doesn’t exist and everything about it being new is all a lie !!!!

  Business Response

  Date: 06/03/2023

  Please see your personal email for further correspondence regarding your order.