Six Flags Fiesta Texas (SFFT) Discussion Thread

[3Mutts]

In this situation both the park and the guest are at fault. Firstly, the employee could have been nicer and just have let this guy wait for the next train and could have avoided the mess, but that didn't happen. Secondly this guy should have asked for the supervisor instead of the ride operations manager, problely would have gotten him further in his argument. And thirdly, I think the manager was a little mean because he was trying to refund a pass already over value from 2 previous visits and she may have been stressed out for previous complients (I know that working in customer service isnt easy). The point to this story is that sometimes bad days can happen at theme parks for whatever reason, whether it is a 1 rude employee or the company is a mess all together (Six Flags Premier Park Days) things like this happen and is an example of "life doesn't always go your way". IMO, I think that Six Flags is fine as a whole and I wont be turned off from a park for 1 incident, if this countinues to repeat and I get multiple things like this on visits then I wouldn't return.

[gforce1994]

Yeah, but lets treat it like the uncooked hamburger. If I take two bites and find that its not cooked all the way or has mold, I won't want to eat it. If I have not gotten a satisfactory deal which I paid my money to get a cooked hamburger, I will want a refund. This dude had an uncooked hamburger.

[deathbydinn]

^ Except that when you buy a hamburger you don't get a terms and conditions saying no refunds. It says on the back of a season pass that they will not be refunded, and as 3Mutts pointed out he already used the pass for more than he payed for it, so a refund would have resulted in the park losing money from any visits after his first and him getting those visits for free.

[studiobrandon]

Six Flags has always been.. Six Flags. They are a junky theme park chain that (IMO) have always had bad customer service, cookie-cutter duplicate rides, and poor management. They are no Disney, Universal, Busch/SeaWorld, or Cedar Fair and they have never come close.

 

I feel bad that this guy had a bad experience, but its just hard to expect a lot from them. And comparing them to Disney is just a joke. Disney sets the industry standard. You pay more for premium. Its like shopping at Walmart and expecting it to be Saks.

[cstrfrk67]

My wife n I visited yesterday, making our way straight to the Rattler after coming thru the gate. After about a 20 min. wait we boarded, and boy did we make a mistake. I shouldve known better than to ride middle of the red train.......that was the MOST miserable ride I ever can remember on this once great coaster. Our last few visits we've been riding front, usually the blue train, and its been a perty nice ride, even though I hate the trim brakes coming off the lift hill where you can feel it slow the train ever so slightly. I have to agree it's time for a change. One thing I DO know, that RMC will do a fantastic job on the NEW Rattler (nRat). Their Texas Giant (nTaG) project is awesome, it's just a little sad that it wont be a true woodie anymore. I guess wood coasters and south texas weather just werent meant to be.

 

R.I.P. Rattler, my old friend.

[texcoaster]

I guess wood coasters and south texas weather just werent meant to be.

 

R.I.P. Rattler, my old friend.

 

The problem isn't being a wood coaster in south Texas. Tx Cyclone ran just fine for 29 years - the only thing that ruined the ride were those awful trains.

The problem is being a HUGE-ASS wood coaster that requires a massive amount of yearly maintenance and being at a park unwilling or unable to provide it. Both SFOT and SFFT let those coasters get far too far "gone" before doing anything and the result is that they basically became unridable in all but a few choice seats.

 

Moral: don't build a ride you can't afford to maintain properly.

[jps294]

^ The thing is Six Flags didn't build Rattler... Fiesta Texas did!

[texcoaster]

^ The thing is Six Flags didn't build Rattler... Fiesta Texas did!

But it was Six Flags that let it deteriorate into the bone-jarring mess it became.

My point stands.

[marocg]

cedar fair operations are worse than six flags

[Top Thrill Dragster]

^No they are not.

 

 

Cedar Fair is much better than Six Flags in pretty much all aspects of running an amusement/theme parks.

[gforce1994]

cedar fair operations are worse than six flags

Bull.

[ernierocker]

Amazing. Let's go ahead and nip this one in the butt before it goes too far, NO Cedar Fair vs. Six flags arguments, please!

 

Thanks you.

[televisedconfession]

While I understand his frustration, I will say, I've now worked in the PR/Marketing for over two years now, and I would have done exactly what the PR girl did. I'm not saying it's right, but in that situation, the best thing a customer can do is just fill out a comment card, and move on. It really is. If everybody with a complaint wanted to speak to the "upper management", the managers would never be able to do their job. It's bad enough having to weed through all the "stupid" complaints from people which are totally un-legit. Belive me, people complain about the DUMBEST things and demand the same thing every time... "I WANT TO SPEAK TO THE PRESIDENT!"

Everything else that happened to him was total bull. I don't care if it is a Six Flags park or not, no one should have allowed that young man to treat a customer that way. The correct response from the beginning should have been "Sir, we terribly apologize for any rudeness, here is a front of the line pass, and we will handle the employee situation in the quickest and most appropriate manner." End of story.

[cfc]

I think this is a pretty good example of a "tempest in a teapot."

Edited August 2, 2012 by cfc

[DJeXeL]

While I CAN say I'm not surprised at this exhibition of horrid guest service coming from a SF park, It was however blown WAY out of proportion.

[ECZenith]

I agree with televised, and I don't think Fiesta Texas deserved the tongue lashing it got. Working at a major theme park for 5 years I was asked countless times by guests to speak with salaried management or even the park president over the most miniscule things. Some people just come to theme parks and can't wait to complain about how awful of a day they were having. I also don't think it's fair to say SF management doesn't know what they are doing. These are the same managers that have been very kind to us enthusiasts, especially during coaster events. Six Flags is a major corporation with more parks than any other chain, and I for one am satisfied with the work they do for the price I pay for admission.

[Swimace]

Is it just me, or does the Ultimate Roller Coaster guy just sound like a whiny entitled enthusiast? His whole story sounded so smug.

 

Not to say that SFFT is right, but he's acting like a brat.

 

While I understand his frustration, I will say, I've now worked in the PR/Marketing for over two years now, and I would have done exactly what the PR girl did. I'm not saying it's right, but in that situation, the best thing a customer can do is just fill out a comment card, and move on.

 

As someone who works in management in this industry, I mostly agree with you. I would have tried to get into some better guest service recovery. Also, whenever I get an irate guest, I have no issue giving them my name, my boss's name, and even my executive's name if they ask for it. Trying to hide that information only makes you look like you're being dishonest.

[Double0Kevin]

I definitely think this guy got a little overly worked up, but he has some valid points. In a situation where security is called, a manager should almost always respond. Having worked within ride operations management at a Six Flags park, this guy most definitely deserved to speak with at least the supervisor of the ride. It would have been much easier to let him voice his concern, allow him to hop on a row he wanted, and go on with your day. The Lo-Q guy can be left to his management to deal with but at the end of the day, a quick visit by a supervisor would have saved a lot of hassle.

 

As far at the Guest Relations goes, sometimes those people can get a little overly standoffish, so I don't have a hard time believing what happened to him. That said, he knew he could look up the GM's contact info online, so why push it with the GR girl so much? In my experience, the majority of guests are fine with filling out the form, but sometimes a manager is needed to come down and talk to them. 9 times out of 10 they just want to vent and then they are fine, for the 1 time out of 10 you give them an exit pass to make up for the inconvenience and they are happy.

 

Long story short, this guy went a little overboard, but the park also could have prevented it getting this far if they showed a little effort.

[TopThrill182]

Also speaking as someone who's worked in the theme park industry, I have to defend SFFT's Guest Services Department on this one. As others have already mentioned, most of these guest services employees receive hundreds of complaints throughout any given season. More often than not, the complainers (for lack of a better word) immediately want to speak with the GM / President.

 

While upper management will frequently deal with guest issues, they can't possibly attend to every single guest complaint. They, quite frankly, have other (more important) matters to deal with. If a park's GM were constantly tied up responding to criticisms about the park's stale food, no refund policy, etc.--s(he) would never be able to focus on the larger operational issues. Don't get me wrong; those criticisms deserve someone's attention, but not the GM's. Quite frankly, there are other "lower" employees more than capable of dealing with the situation.

 

And wanting a refund on a season pass that's already been used twice--yeah, good luck with that one. Few parks are going to acquiesce to that request. So, quite frankly, I'm confused what the Guest Services employee did wrong here... I can't see any evidence that she was "lying" to the OP; parks often specifically train their employees to avoid involving the GM in issues that can be handled by someone else.

 

I certainly agree that the LO-Q employee needs to be reviewed, and his behavior--if accurately described by the OP--addressed. But, in all honesty, telling the LO-Q manager that the employee needs to, "learn a lesson in his young life and... be fired," seems a bit unreasonable IMO. It certainly sounds like the LO-Q employee handled his interaction with the OP quite poorly, but he may very well have been trained to fill all available rows without giving guests a choice on where they sit. Still, though, it doesn't sound like there was a need for security to be called, and I can understand how that would be frustrating and embarrassing.

 

Overall, this all seems really overblown. It's definitely the OP's right to be frustrated, but I don't personally agree that SF deserves the black mark he's given them.

[Skycoastin Steve]

cedar fair operations are worse than six flags

I know a mod said nip it in the bud, and I won't go further than this, but

 

[gforce1994]

I think the main point of the article was how Six Flags was unable to let a man take his final ride on a coaster in a seat of his choice. Instead of attendng to the simple request, which at other parks is simply done without question, the park was unable to cope with his request and ended up ruining his day.

 

Smilies Version

 

Final Ride of Coaster : - Doesn't want back seat: - Mean Lo-Q dude: - Shocked Guest: - Security Understands Problem: - Guest Services is unable to provide service: - Day is ruined:

[Jerrykoala2112]

I rode Rattler on July 7th (Saturday) and had a similar experience. After waiting an hour for Rattler, the ride broke down. I was in the station already and maybe 50 feet from getting assigned a row. After 20 minutes or so, many people start to exit the ride by entering the station and leaving through the Flash Pass entrance, but many people pretended to exit and got in line for a row of the ride. I eventually did the same as nearly everyone was almost out of line and I got in line for the front row. I could see how frustrated the Lo-Q guy got, but there was nothing he could do with so many people already in the station waiting for their row.

 

Like the post on Ultimaterollercoaster said, I waited an hour+ for Rattler, I wasn't gonna get assigned the back row to enjoy my ride. It's a dumb Six Flags policy and in his situation, it escalated quickly. I'm glad I got my farewell ride, but I could tell there were some problems with this 'policy' .

[TXman308]

All of this amuses me, because I loved the back row on Rattler. Made Mean Streak seem butter smooth.

[Homer]

In regards to the whole "Eric" situation - I had sympathy for him until he went to customer service. I understand the frustration of not being allowed something, especially when it comes to getting a last ride on a coaster that's closing down. In his situation, I would have just dealt with it, even if Paul seemed rude.

 

But the moment he "quizzed" the manager on who's the best park operator made himself look like a butthead. I don't like it when I hear a customer nitpick about their opinions right to my face when I'm working and belittle where I work; if you like how others do it so much more, please leave. I know it's impossible to satisfy every customer, but if they overblow a situation like this, why should I satisfy just one customer when thousands of other customers every day seemingly don't mind/have fun.

[Double0Kevin]

^ Agreed, It was also so annoying to take a guest complaint where they started with "At Disneyland..." or "They would never allow that at Disneyland!" If you loved Disneyland so much, go there!

 

I re-read the post and I'm more against this guy. Talk about a diva. The whole quizzing a guy on park operators and demanding a refund is just absurd and childish. This guy should know better. It's these kind of people that make parks resistant to working with enthusiasts on events and all that. And to be so cold that you think a kid should be fired because he was following his training and assigning you a seat? Granted he was rude, that's still a bit far.