New York Skyride

Review: Employee from NY Skyride selling tickets on the street to the venue stated that our tickets would give us express access to the Empire State Building 86th Floor Observatory. This was not the case as these were not exprss access tickets. Once we realized this and had passed through their security, we asked the cashier for a full refund as we had not gone through their show. She immediately gave me attitude, stating that wasn't going to happen. I then asked for a [redacted] and she stated that all of the [redacted] were in a meeting. I found this hard to believe as it was 6:00P.M. and there should at least be one [redacted] who would be available. She proceeded to tell me that they were not to be disturbed and that I could wait to speak to someone but she had no idea when it would be. Her 'speech' seemed very regular as if the company trains the employees to have this approach. I then stated that this was poor customer service and that I needed her first and last name so I could file a complaint. At this point, she ran off and went into an employee area leaving the cash register. As I did not partake in their service, I expect a full refund.Desired Settlement: Full refund of two (2) purchased tickets back to my credit card in the amount of $52.00.

Business

Response:

After receiving a complaint from [redacted], we assured him that the behavior described in his complaint was not dondone or supported by our company and we offered him a full refund for the purchase. This refund was done on his credit card on 10/**/2014. Please see attached email correspondence.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: On 11/**/2014, a man standing on the corner smoking a cigarette asked if we needed tickets to the empire state building I said no we would go to the building and buy our tickets. He said he was an employee of the empire state building, that he was outside on a smoke break. I asked if he worked for the building or if he was with another company that sells tickets. He said he worked for the actual building not the other company and said "see I wear a different colored vest then them" as he pointed across the street. He then told us that the empire state building sent staff out to sell tickets because the lines were so backed up and current wait time was 3 hours. He then pulled up the official empire state building website and showed us saying "this is who I work for" he then offered to sell us tickets so we could avoid the ticket line. I told him I wanted tickets to both the 86 and 102 floors that we need express tickets because my husband has MS that his wheel chair was back at the hotel and there is NO WAY and wouldn't be able to stand in line for 3 hours. He said he was able to sell us the same tickets as the one at the door but because I was buying from him he would reduce the price from $67 to the non express ticket price which would be $46 for adults and 40 for kids (showing us the ESB website price on his phone) and he would throw in the skyride for free. I gave him a puzzled look and said we aren't interested in the skyride. He said " but it free and you will not wait in any line at anytime the tickets get you a separate elevator that takes you directly to the top floor that and you can see all the floors under it too and the skyride is free ." I said so let me make sure I am clear we can go the both the observation deck and the VERY top floor with NO waiting for $46?" He said "yup $46 for adults and $40 for kids and a free skyride, its a great deal." he was talking to my husband giving him directions to the door we needed to enter as he ran my card then handed the tickets to my husband saying "I give these you to hang on to so she can sign, make sure you don't lose them" Then he said here I will hold this so you can sign. (What I didn't realize is he positioned my card over the amount he rang through.) then reached over and said I will stick this in here for you (putting my receipt in my jacket pocket) as I juggled the stuff in my arms. When we got to the right door, went through security and then were confused by being shuffled through lines I tried to ask where we were suppose to go for the express separate elevator we were told "right here" and put in line then they switch tickets for different tickets and I asked again stating we had express tickets for the very top floor. The person said yup you need to be right here (a line) once I figured out we were being shuffled to the skyride I tried to ask again but the employee cut me off saying you are I the right place. we waited 30 minutes for the ride... my husband had to sit on the floor (the incline to the fist room really threw his balance off and several times I tried to ask questions but the employees wouldn't stop to answer questions and when I went to open a side door so he could sit down we were yelled at (he was very embarrassed and was trying to cope so he didn't feel like he was ruining things for our family). The ride was a joke and after it we were shuffled into another line I immediately said we have express tickets to the top floor, the employee took it from my hand and said "no you don't wait here" I said yes we do and pulled the receipt from my pocket to show her what we paid for saying they must have screwed up when they swapped the tickets at the counter and asked her to get us a manager. She never even looked as she said again "no you don't but there is a wait for everything because of the holidays. The managers are busy. wait here so you can get to the 86 floor then come back they should be available by then and able to fix your tickets as she was walking away. At that point I looked at my receipt and realized not only did we not have the tickets we were told we were getting we also were charged A LOT more then the quote amount. I then stepped out of line to go find an employee who again said the managers were busy and said "go enjoy the 86th floor and see us after." There was no "enjoying" anything after that. I was very upset and after I immediately asked for a manager and explained the whole thing She apologized said "to bad he left his wheel chair at the hotel you wouldn't have had to wait at all if he had it" I said if I would have gotten the ticket I asked for and was TOLD I was paying for we wouldn't have had to wait either. She said that another manager would need to help us and to wait here for him. We watch as 3 other people/families complaining about the same thing. at one point the manger walked away. as we waited several employees approached us at different times. Each time I said we were waiting for a manager and they would reply "there are no refunds".... "did you use your ticket if you did what are you complaining about?" "its your fault for not knowing" I finally asked the guy in the uniform (who did work for the empire state building) he stumbled over his words then said " I can't say anything, they rent space" after another 10 minutes during which time we saw the guy that sold us the tickets get off the escalator and walk into the same room as the manager. I again asked for the manager and was told "no refunds" at that point I said get the manager. she mumbled "stupid" as she walked away. When the manager walked up he listened he took my charge receipt and said "I cannot get you tickets to the 102 floor, we don't even sell those and I am very sorry for your wait we don't sell express passes we have fast passes" he explained the difference then said "let me go check to see if your card has been charge through if it hasn't we will just void the charge if it has I will see what we can d to get you a full refund tonight" when he came back he apologized and said he could void it and "unfortunately I can't do a cash refund but I can refund your purchase by mail, you will get a check for $336.00 in the nest 2 weeks" he was cut off by a loud voice hollering "their lying I put a sticker on it.... you tell him your lying and you saw the sticker" I looked up as the guy who sold us the tickets was walking to us. The manager jumped in front of him telling him to go away he was handling this the ticket guy continued to holler then walked over to the girl at the counter saying "find the slip I put a sticker on it you guys are LIARS" .... it was crazy and scary. when the manager got him to walk away (he was hollering at us the whole time) he again apologized and said we would get a full refund and said "that shouldn't have happened" I asked what the guy meant by a sticker (I was really confused as to what the sticker was and why I was being accused of lying about it) The manager said it didn't matter and said" fill this refund request out so we can mail you your refund check" Which I did and then I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture of it and the request and receipt. The employees and manager got jumpy and said I didn't need to do that but my husband stepped in front of the guy and I took a picture anyway. After we were back at the hotel I told my husband that I think we were scammed again by the manager and explained the bottom of the refund request said it was a request and not a guaranteed refund and showed him the picture. I said I think they did that to appease us and get us out of there and we will never get a check. we call or credit card company who told us that we could file a dispute after the charge was no longer pending. We also considering calling the police to file a report but chose to give the company the benefit of the doubt that they would mail us a check. It has been 2 weeks. We have NOT received a check. I filed a disputed with my bank and now I am filing a complaint here. I would love to see this company put out of business! What they did was VERY wrong! but unfortunately until the Empire State Building or NYC decides to do something they will keep scamming people.Desired Settlement: initially all I requested was an apology and for the tickets to the 102 floor for my family....I was told that they (NYC skyride) couldn't do that and was told I WOULD be refunded $336.00. Thus I want the refund.

Business

Response:

After receiving a complaint form [redacted], we assured her the behavior described in her complaint was not condone or supported by our company and we offered her a full refund of her purchase. This refund was done on her credit card on 12/**/2014. Please see attached email correspondence and refund slip. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------...⇄ Hello again: Attached you will see the refund slip for the credit done on your Visa card ending [redacted]. It usually takes 3 to 4 business days for it to be posted in your account. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Thank you and Happy New Year!

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: On 7/**/2014, my husband and I were visiting New York for the first time. We walked over to the Empire State Building. When we were in close proximity to the building we were approached on the street by a man, named [redacted], who claimed to be an Empire State Building employee. We later found out he was not an employee of the building but rather an NYC Skyride employee. He told us that there was a three hour wait on the other side of the building (the main entrance) and that we could pay $7 dollars more each for express tickets and would have no wait. He said our express ticket included the [redacted] floor observation deck as well as the [redacted] floor observation deck. He said as a promotion right now they were allowing guests to ride the NYC Skyride and tour the museum both free of charge that it was a promotional going on. We had no clue what the skyride even was, but figured if it was free with the cost of the ticket we would go ahead and ride it. He had my husband sign a receipt then proceeded to walk us all the way in the building to the security check point before giving us our receipt and sending us on our way never stopping to look at our receipt as we proceeded through security and to the simulator. We ended up paying $138 for the two tickets. The receipt read 2 VIP combo packages which we found out the combo was not the two observation decks as promised but actually the regular admission [redacted] floor and the skyride). After riding the very outdated simulator we headed to the [redacted] floor observation deck which was very crowded. We decided to go to the [redacted] floor to see if it was less crowded where we were denied access. We were informed that our tickets were not only not express, but they were also not good for the [redacted] floor. They were just regular admission [redacted] floor tickets. At this point my husband and I were very upset and asked to speak to a [redacted]. She was very polite and informed us that the person who has sold us the tickets was not an Empire State Building employee and that we had been lied to. She flat out used those words. She instructed us to enjoy the view and stop back at the second floor and ask to speak to an NYC Skyride [redacted]. We did this and the so called [redacted], named [redacted], was the rudest, most unprofessional [redacted] I have ever seen. She never once apologized to us or addressed us. All she did was call our salesman to come in and talk to us then avoided us the rest of the time. While we were waiting for our salesman there were two other couples (a man and woman and a father and son) who came to complain for the very same reasons. We had been scammed. Upon meeting with our salesman he makes us come out of the building out across the street before he would talk to us. He took my receipt. He claimed the reason was because his credit card machine would work in the building which was of no consequence because he wouldn't refund us any of our money. We said we wanted to go back into the building and speak to a higher up [redacted] and I asked for my receipt back. Upon me trying to retrieve my receipt from him he snatched it away from me and would not give it back. We went back into the building and he disappeared claiming he was going to get a [redacted] named [redacted]. We waited for what seemed like an eternity. While we waited the rude [redacted] was eating and talking on the phone to someone about us saying we were complaining that we were promise this and that and it was nonsense. I was so offended that she would talk about the customer so negatively right in front of us when we had done nothing wrong. Finally our salesman comes back with our receipt which he has purposefully ripped distorting part of it and put back together with their skyride stickers that state the ticket is not for [redacted] floor. Finally [redacted] shows up coming from the escalator as if he came in from another location and was in regular clothes nothing even indicating he was a skyride employee. After debating with him about the lies we were told he tells us there is nothing he can do cause we already rode the ride. We asked for the [redacted] last name and he would not give it to us. All he gave us was an NYC Skyride business card that was sitting at the popcorn stand. We told him we would be going to the Revdex.com. We were not even apologized to for the scam we had fallen victim to nor for the way we were treated by the employees. I cannot believe this is allowed to go on. I still have the receipt and stubs.Desired Settlement: I would like an $80 refund. This would mean we paid the $58 ($29 each) for the regular admission ticket to the [redacted] floor observation deck as we would have purchased these either way. This would rectify being lied to about what we were receiving and the horrible treatment we received.

Business

Response:

On July [redacted] ww received a complaint from [redacted] and after assuring her that the behavior describe on her complaint was NOT condone by us, we offer to give her a refund for her purchase. Even though she asked for a partial of $80 refund, we gave her the full amount of $138.

Attached you will find the email correspondence and the txt for the pdf file with the refund slips attached to the email.

Thank you!

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved. I did receive a full refund as promised.

Sincerely,

Review: We were a family of 11 out of town without much time looking to go to the empire state building. One of the NY sky ride sales people approached us to get there with 0 lines through express admissions and also admission to [redacted]. When I pointed to the sales rep ticket explicitly states that it excludes [redacted] and fast pass, he said not to worry, it always says that but it is included in the tickets. After going inside, we quickly realized that he sold us tickets to sky ride which we did not want, he also did not include [redacted], I paid additional 180+ dollars to buy separate tickets. I had come all the way down to re-purchase tickets and the inconvenience it caused with a party of 11 is inexcusable. I cannot imagine in this day and age, businesses will let such scams run. I am instructing my credit card company to stop payment.Desired Settlement: I need a refund for the sky ride portion of the ticket and fast pass fees. I am willing to pay what is the regular admission to the Empire State Building which is $29 instead of the $61 I paid per ticket for 11 tickets.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

We approached the enterance to the empire state building wanting to go to observatory. A person representing skyride told us we couldnt go in that way and he said we had to follow him around to the side cause that was the enterance for the day. He brought us in the empire state building to the second floor and he said that 2 adults would be $128.00, and I said "it says on the sign in the front where we were that its $32.00 per person." The sales agent than said that wouldnt take us up the observatory like we wanted and that there would be a long wait. This was a lie. We were completely misinforrmed and paid twice the amount of money we planned to pay. The skyride portion was a 20 year old suffer ride that we werent even informed we'd be on. Complete waste of money and the sales agents for skyride should not be allowed to take customers looking for the observatory from the front enterance of the building.

Review: Visited NY from July [redacted] until July [redacted]. On July [redacted] at about 9PM (NY time) we decided to visit Empire State Building. Outside the building we were greeted/stopped by one of the NY Skyride employees to offer to sell us the tickets needed to avoid the long wait lines. He also claimed that with those tickets we would go all the way to the top of the building (not just the first stop) and avoid the long queues. The tickets were quite expensive (4 tickets) hower he also cliamed that the price was the same we would pay inside. The fact that an Empire State Building Security guard was next to him all the time made his claims more crideible. We purchased the tickets (he even put a red sticker on them as an indication we paid for them) and we entered the building from a side entrance. We were guided to take a Skyride Simulator ride (1st time we were told about it) and noted on the tickets that they were NOT Fast Path tickets but rather a comination of regular tickets plus the simulator ride. I immediately asked for the [redacted], and she showed up after 15 minutes. I asked for a refund, and she refused as the two children had already done the Simulator ride (before we noticed the problem/issue). I said I will pay just for the ride, and she asked for 42USD + tax for each person, something almsot equal to the 51USD ticket price we paid, thus it was just a gimmick. I asked for her name, and she refucesd to give it to me (however I heard another employee calling her [redacted]???). I asked for the employee's name who sold me the tickets and she instructed me to go outside and find him my self. Upon returning home to [redacted] (August [redacted] after a week cruise to Bermuda) I noted that the tickets have a s a date on the them July [redacted]!!!!! How can that be if I was in New York on July [redacted] onwards? In the end, we opted to go to the top of the building in order to avoid loosing all of our money, however we waited the long lines as everybody with a regular ticket.

Please note that I have a serious [redacted] - doctor certificate can be provided) with an implantable defribrillator so If I knew about the simulator ride before hand I would have never opted for it as I am not allowed to take such rides. In addition my wife has a severe spine problem and such rides/suddden movements are definitely not allowed for her. So, why pay for 4 rides (if I knew about them) if only 2 family persons can physically attend such rides? The whole experience was the most negative part of our New York visit and ruined a perfect evening for me and my family.Desired Settlement: I request that NYC Skyride stops such selling practices onto unsuspecting tourists and to instruct their employees to avoid such sales using false claims. Given the aggrevation that this caused me and my family I kindly request for a full refund.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: We were in New York heading to the Empire State Building and were approached by someone who said he worked for the ticket counter. He asked if we wished to purchase express tickets and when I asked how long the line was he said 1 hour and 45 minutes (not true as it turns out) and he said that we could get express tickets for only a little more money and not have to stand in this line. So we said sure and purchased 4 tickets, two adult and two children. He vaguely mentioned some sort of flying ride we would go on. I had no clue what he was talking about but followed his instructions to the door we were to enter. When we entered we were shuttled into a room where we watched 2 videos and then on this really awful ride and then were sent on to the top of the Empire State Building where we find out that these tickets were NOT express tickets at all and we had to stand in line. I was sick at my stomach to realize we had been scammed and sold something else other than express tickets. This was false advertising and come to find out all the other people that were in the room/ride with us were sold their tickets the same way saying that they were express tickets. They are lying to get sales and it's not clear that you've been given something other than what you were sold until you get into the actual line for the [redacted] floor. At that point you can't get back to the place they gave you your tickets to get a refund or get express tickets. This is FALSE ADVERTISING and this company should be shut down for illegal sales.Desired Settlement: I want my money back. $214

Business

Response:

Hello [redacted]: Attached is you refund receipt done on your card for $214. The amount should be posting in 3 to 4 days in your account. If you have any other questions please let me know! Thank you and have a great day! [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: NY Skyride's salespeople working the line for the Empire State Building (ESB) in New York on 5/**/2014 told us they could upgrade our pre-purchased tickets to "Express" access to the ESB's Observatory Desks. They explicitly advertised, in words, that buying their service would be equivalent to buying the "Express" option offered by the ESB.

However, this is a complete misrepresentation of their service. As soon as we bought their tickets and got into the Express line at the ESB, we were told very clearly that NY Skyride does not have the license and does not offer upgrades to the "Express" line to the ESB Observatory Deck.

Not only did we pay for a useless service, we also lost over an hour of valuable time standing in the NY Skyride line.

Bottom line, we were intentionally lied to, misled, sold a useless product, and lost over an hour of valuable time.

NY SKyride should be in jail.Desired Settlement: Stop false advertising to tourists trying to see a major NY attraction. Stop scamming unsuspecting travelers and stop wasting their time and money.

Business

Response:

Hello,

After receiving the letter from the Revdex.com, we contacted [redacted] thru email and assured him that the behavior he experience while visiting our attraction was NOT condone by our company. We also informed him that his complaint was forwarded to our Operations Department so it could be addressed to our employees. We then offered a full refund for his transaction and after receiving the necessary information, [redacted] was refunded his full amount on 6/*/2014.

Attached is our email correspondence.