ComplaintsforSeaWorld San Antonio

• Initial Complaint

  12/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On Dec 3, 2023, I purchased 5 season passes online for Christmas gifts and received them all on my one account email. There was no way to give the passes out separately for the recipient to create their own account. So I asked for a refund. They said I could only get a refund if I purchased the tickets again separately. So I did purchase another 5 tickets individually through guest services. And was told that the initial purchase online would be refunded within **** days. This was on December 14th 2023. I still have not received my refund and the worst part about it is that theres no way to talk to anyone in the SeaWorld administration offices. I keep talking to customer service people and they cant help me. I am out $606.18 and am considering filing a police report because SeaWorld is stealing my money.

  Business response

  12/29/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We have located the original order and will be submitting for cancellation, please allow 3-5 business days for review and processing. If you have any additional questions or to follow up on the request, please reach out to the team at ************************************************

   

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  01/02/2024

  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.
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  11/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife bought 5 season passes and is still paying for them on her card. When we visited Sea World I decided to upgrade one of the passes at the customer service area. They charged me for the upgrade and we went on to enjoy the day. Later I found out I am being charged a monthly fee to my card that I used for the upgrade. I called the first time and sea world was not able to help me and told me to file a fraud claim with my bank. After I got a new card I got another charge from sea world. My bank told me to talk to sea world again. I did so and they were able to tell me what happened this time. They said that when I did the upgrade they were suppose to cancel the old pass and issue a new one. They did not do that so now another season pass is being charged.l according to them. I advised them it makes no sense because we have 5 passes and do not need a 6th pass. All I did was pay for an upgrade. I was told they could not help me and that I have to pay for the 6th pass. They told me to resolve the issue with my bank. That they could only cancel the 6th pass if I pay 70$ that I still owe. They were not helpful at all. Not only did I pay for an upgrade on the day I went I am now being charged for a 6th pass without my consent and they refuse to fix it.

  Business response

  11/24/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  we have reviewed the account and see a refund was being issued after speaking to the call center. if you would like to further discuss please reach out to the park at swt,******************************************** and a representative from the park will be able to assist you.

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

• Initial Complaint

  10/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On August 6, 2023 I purchased 4 Aquatica tickets, the Sting Ray encounter and 4 lounge chairs, for a total of $******. During the online check out process, I got to the end, hit purchase and the page timed out and refreshed. So I checked my email for a confirmation and I had nothing, no confirmation or tickets. I went ahead and tried the purchase again and it went through fine. I checked my credit card 3 days later and sure enough there were 2 charges for ******. So I called Sea World, spent hours trying to actually talk to someone. When I got through, I explained what happened and they said they issued the refund and it will show in 5 to 7 business days. We went to the park and when we went to check in for our lounge chairs they said there were still 2 reservations in my name. I told them what happened and they said they saw the notes where they issued a refund but it obviously never went through. So they said they could refund the lounge chairs and encounter there but not the tickets, we were at a kiosk in the park not the main gate. So the kiosk in the park was able to refund $167.78 of the $******. I called Sea World San Antonio later to try to get a refund on the tickets again. After hours(not exagerrating) on hold over multiple days I finally talked to someone who said they put the return in and it would show up in 5-7 business days. It never came, again. So again I spent hours trying to get ahold of someone. Never got through so issued a dispute with my credit card. They just came back today saying Sea World never got back to them and they don't have the evidence to prove whether or not we used the tickets so they could not reverse the charge either. So here I am over 2 months later and I still have the $237.97 that was never returned for an issue that happened because of a glitch with their website. And again I've been on hold with Sea World San Antonio for over an hour this morning and yet to talk to anyone.

  Business response

  11/01/2023

  Greetings from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We apologize for the experience you been having trying to receive your refund. we have located both orders and have reviewed all notes on the accounts, we see that the tickets were not refunded and have submitted the refund for the tickets which would be $216.48 and the service fee of $22.49 totaling $238.97 refunded back to you. We have sent it in to be expedited for you, please allow **** business days to reflect back to your account, if you are do not see it by then please reach out to us directly at ************************************************ to be followed up with the refund team. again, we apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused and hope to have this resolved for you as quickly as possible. 

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio 

• Initial Complaint

  10/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Biggest con job I ever experienced. To start with I am disabled and have trouble walking due to a stroke. Because of that I purchased vip parking at a extra 30 and got there and every single up close parking was full and tons of cars driving thru there with the same vip ticket and not a single parking place. Ask the guy at entrance of up close parking which turns out to be same as vip. And was showed where it was first come first serve so I ended up at back of general admission parking. I had to stop and sit down 3 times just to make it to the entrance because they arnt capable of selling the same number of vip tickets as the number of spaces . Next I got gouged 115 for a scooter . I had paid extra for the all day food pass for 3 of us and could never use it cause I can't stand in line for a hour to get food cause of my leg and when I tried to use the pass at the food booths that sell lumches and you don't have to stand in line at for a hour I was informed it was only accepted at the restaurants with the hour lines in them that you can't take a scooter in and that I can't stand in line for a hour in. Next scam is the wonderful preferred seating pass that you buy only to find out there is no such thing and its all general admission. They charged me over 300 for all these extras that I couldn't use. Paying for a all day food ticket and not able to eat once cause you want to charge 13 dollars for a hot dog using the excuse it's only good at restaurants I can't get in is a absolute ripoff just like your so called preferred seating and vip parking I took my family to something that was a total nightmare. In 7 hours we got to watch 2 shows had no food and wasn't able to ride one ride because wait times were over a hour. I understand you have no control over crowds but you shouldn't be selling useless extras to people and conning them out of money

  Business response

  10/18/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We would like to apologize for the experience you had while visiting SeaWorld this past weekend. We would like to discuss further and see what can be done to rectify the situation. please reach out to our guest correspondence team at ************************************************ for further assistance. 

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio 

• Initial Complaint

  09/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had a Seaworld silver pass membership for myself and my wife from 2022 that I have been wanting to cancel and not renew in 2023. After several attempts to reach out to Seaworld via email, via their customer care my membership was auto renewed in June 2023 and I was charged $301. Through my credit card company as well I tried to decline the transaction multiple times but again 2 months later they came and charged to my account. Their customer care/phone numbers for cancellations are inaccurate and there is no one answering phones during normal business hours. I requested cancellation through website as well and no luck. It is almost like they dont want to take any cancellation requests and are forcing customers to continue forever. There is no email they send out after the online request to cancel is submitted. This is just bad bad business policy and I have never had such an experience with any other business. We have not visited Seaworld in this year and hereby I am seeking a full refund of my amount.

  Business response

  09/19/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We have looked up your account and do see the auto renew went through on June 23,2023. the original renewal date was 6/4 which i do see the decline and then the second attempt on 6/16, the system automatically does attempt payment a few times which in this case it went through on the 3rd attempt. We see you did put to end the passes on 6/30 however the charge was already completed at that time. We are able to submit a refund for the auto renewal, please keep in mind that it can take up to **** business days to reflect to the account. park access will be removed from the passes. if you have any further questions, please contact us at ************************************************

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  09/19/2023

  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.
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  08/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a bowl of fish to feed sea lion on July 4th 4:09pm. The pricing at the booth says $9 for one bowl and $20 for two bowls. Later I noticed that I was charged at $18. I contact them immediately by email as the phone number is never connected. But never heard back from them. People can only buy one or three bowls of fish at $9 or $20 price. There is no $18 item there and it makes no common sense that someone buys two and spent $18. Plus we have a video of us feeding sea lions with only one bowl of fish.

  Business response

  08/22/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We have reached out to the team at the park of an email from a guest with the same last name which may be part of your family, that e-mail was sent to the team over the area of the Sea Lion feedings for follow up and hadn't heard back from them. If you can please reach back out to the guest correspondence team they will be able to send a request for the team to review again as they had not heard back from the first time. We do apologize for this inconvenience and do hope to resolve this for you.

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  08/23/2023

  Complaint: 20493277
  
  I am rejecting this response because this is poorly worded. Im having trouble to understand those pronouns in the response. Did SeaWorld not getting back from someone and asking me to contact guest correspondence team? If you cannot get in touch with someone internally, how would I expect to get hold on them? Plus, if I do need to reach out to the guest corespondence team, may I have the contact? Preferably an email as its easier to keep the documentation. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  09/06/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  Please reach out to the guest correspondence team at ************************************************ as we understand the team was already aware of the situation by an email that was previously sent to them. if you are needing follow up on that please reach out to the email address provided.

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio 

• Initial Complaint

  08/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Sea world told us we did not have a valid membership and so we had to buy another season pass when we got home we found our passes and sea world refused to give our money back

  Business response

  08/20/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We have located two accounts from 2022 for 4 passes for the names of ************************* and *******. We do not locate a duplicate account for the same names, would you be able to elaborate on the situation.

  Thank you, SeaWorld San Antonio

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased three single day tickets for Sea World San Antonio. I also purchased all day dining. Undenounced to me, I was suppose to receive free souvenir cups. This was never told to me so I purchased the cups. I would like a refund on the cup amounts. I am also very dissatisfied with the dining as some restaurants were closed. Why am I paying full price for dining and food items are not offered.

  Business response

  07/28/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We apologize for the inconvenience, we will get with the culinary team to get this refund taken care of. If you can please message us at ************************************************ for follow up. Refunds typically take **** business to process.

  thank you, SeaWorld San Antonio

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  About 45 minutes into the park, our grandmother fainted from heat exhaustion. It took the first aid team that was a 2 minute walk away an entire ***** minutes to finally arrive. The strangers around us were more helpful than the first aid team. Our grandma was UNRESPONSIVE and they did not call an ambulance. Finally we wheel her to the first aid clinic and it has a heavy weed smell by the entrance of the first aid door. Then once we make sure our grandma is finally responsive and a bit better it too another ***** minutes for the other team to arrive. The team that was sitting with us was even saying that they shouldve called 911 and it wouldnt take more than 3 minutes to respond or assist. Then while were assist our grandma with her current situation. The first aid tech steps outside for a smoke break. We didnt get to enjoy the park or anything and they refuse to provide a refund. We just want a refund for this because we do not feel safe in this park. We were told to call the customer service number because guest services said they dont do refunds. Then the customer service number said the same thing. I understand this is a case by case basis but I do believe this calls for a refund. We bought 6-2 day 2 park passes and didnt use them. We dont live near this area it took us 6 hours to get here just for this to happen.I would like a response to my email on file ****************************

  Business response

  07/18/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We are sorry to hear what happened to your grandmother, we will send your concerns over to the first aid leadership. As for the admission tickets, unfortunately they are nonrefundable. Tickets to return for another visit is what should have been offered and given to you, we will follow up on why these were not issued out. Again we do apologize for the situation with your grandma and do hope she is doing much better now, however we are unable to refund the tickets we would be able to reissue you tickets for those visits.

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  07/28/2023

  Complaint: 20326878
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I dont live in San Antonio, Tx. I had to make a trip to do this. I wont be returning for some tickets either. I would like a refund. 
  
  Regards,
  
  Ginelie *******

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  Greeting's SeaWorld San Antonio,

  Again we do apologize, however the policy is to issue tickets for another visit. The tickets would be emailed to you and can be used when you choose. We do apologize for the inconvenience.

  Best Regards,
  SeaWorld San Antonio

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We love visiting SeaWorld/Aquatica S. Antonio with the kids. Recently, I reached out to get help on complimentary ticket for two Gold passes bought during Black Friday (BF). Agent helped and informed tickets will be sent to my email. The next day I receive an email informing me my tickets were not completed yet and had to add guests names. With two Gold passes, I was expecting a total of 8 guest tickets so I click on the link and added the names of my guests. Later, I noticed the tickets were for dining.I reached out to correct them but was told there was an actual 9 All Day Dining ($400+) purchase made. I explained that wasn't possible and made no sense since I had already bought 6 All Day Dining with my BF purchase. At this point I smelled fraud since it happened a day after I had contacted SeaWorld.Usually, I receive an email with "Your Order is Ready" subject line but I noticed I did not for this "purchase". I asked for my account to be investigated but Agent referred me to my bank. I did and they cancel my credit card and started fraud case. I tried to get the tickets canceled and refunded by SeaWorld but they wouldn't. I ended up canceling my SeaWorld membership.I sent an email to SeaWorld about a month ago then a follow-up a week later, asking for an investigation to be done on my account. No response. I don't know if this was one time issue or others have been impacted but at least, take and a look and come to some conclusion and share your findings with me. Could someone reply to my email? On a side note, we visited two weeks ago for 3 days total between Aquatica and SeaWorld. We used 2 All Day Dining each Day (6 from BF purchase) but during various times of our visit, we were informed those were told those tickets were invalid. Hope that is not a retaliation or a way to force me to use one of the 9 I didn't purchase. Anyway, just to be on the safe side, I've also changed my password. I hope I can have someone respond to my emails with an update.

  Business response

  07/18/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  I'm glad we were able to resolve this over the phone, if you need any further info or assistance in the future you can also reach out to ************************************************

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  07/19/2023

  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.
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  Customer response

  08/07/2023

  Complaint: 20324259
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I had accepted the resolution because SeaWorld called and informed me that they had confirmed my bank had initiated a fraud case with their Finance Team in ******* and requested a refund. The lady I spoke with confirmed the All Day Dining Tickets had been canceled and assured my that SeaWorld Finance team will process the refund. My bank credited my account to initiate the fraud case but has since applied the charges back. They informed me SeaWorld responded back saying charges were valid. I now have go through disputing the charge with my bank through a longer process. I reached out to SeaWorld customer service and was informed my account shows "Your Charge back was received". They cannot confirm how the refund was sent back or received so they referred me back to bank. My bank requested some form of confirmation to help with their research but I can't get one. Not sure where the refund went and still don't know who placed the order on my account in the first place. Please refund me the $400+ asap as this will be getting to interest charges soon. I accepted your word but it looks like someone did not resolve the issue through. Thanks!
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  08/07/2023

  Greeting's from SeaWorld San Antonio,

  We will look into this for you again, as stated when we previously spoke the issue was taken care of. We do apologize for the inconvenience and will escalate this.

  Best Regards, SeaWorld San Antonio

  Customer response

  08/12/2023

  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 do see a refund in my bank account now.
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

*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. ↩