Snipes Farm and Education Center

Review: Snipes is an organization in our area most known (at least to my family) for their Shooting Range and Golf Course, which is well maintained.I was searching for a venue for my boys' 2nd birthday party and came across Snipes. They host birthday parties at their farm including hay rides, petting farm, etc. They have several pictures on their website showing the party area as well as the kids' play area, etc. I booked with [redacted] and even as recently as last week asked [redacted] if she had pictures specific to my party location, Grove # 2. She referred me to the pictures on the website and while we were on the phone she described exactly which ones I should be looking at. I was happy with what I saw. When discussing parking arrangements for both ourselves (the hosts) as well as the guests, [redacted] suggested that I stop by this past weekend to basically get the lay of the land and we could also see our exact party location. We went to see the venue this past weekend and were, quite literally, horrified at what we found . I have many pictures depicting that actual state of the grounds which are so dilapidated and grossly different than those pictured on the website, at first I thought there must be some mistake. Unfortunately, there was no mistake. The grounds are a mess, at best. Not only that but there are so many safety hazards for children, also captured in the pictures. Rusty metal everywhere, not to mention the fact that it looks like the place is falling apart and has not had any sort of maintenance for a very long time. I have spent nearly a month planning this party. I have spent lots of money and invited 36 people, all of whom were planning to attend. After seeing the grounds and the major safety hazards, I knew I had to cancel the party and with only a week to go, I have no time to make alternate arrangements in time. This has been a devastating experience for us.See pictures here illustrating what was advertised versus reality[redacted]Desired Settlement: Not only did I spend a lot of money preparing for this event, but I now have no venue to host my boys 2nd birthday party. Devastated is an understatement. I want this company investigated for false advertising and I want some kind of financial compensation. I spoke with [redacted] this morning and she said she was refunding my deposit and understood why I was so upset (I shared the pictures with her). She will have the owner, [redacted] Snipes, call me.

Business

Response:

May 13, 2014Dear [redacted],I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the complaint you received regarding our birthday party grounds. The complainant visited our site one week before her party was to occur. She wanted to familiarize herself with the site ahead of her guests’ arrival one week later.I was in touch with the customer on Monday afternoon, May 5, 2014. I listened to her concerns and assured her that the grounds would have been fully mowed and raked ahead of her party and that hers was to have been our first party of the season. She was concerned about some stakes in the ground left over from the previous fall weekend events. These and many other small issues such as raking the ground of fallen leaves and repainting objects are part of our spring clean-up. Her refund was in the mail to her the same day we received her complaint.She also received an apology that we were not able to accompany her when she stopped by the farm so that we might have described the refurbishing that did, in fact, happen last week, I include dated photographs in order to corroborate this.We host many extremely happy birthday families each year. We take pride in giving families a real-farm experience that includes a hay ride, an informational session about barnyard animals and lots of time to play in the great outdoors, if any additional information would be helpful in resolving this issue, please let us know.

Consumer

Response:

[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 Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

Again I would refer anyone reviewing this case to look at the pictures posted on their website advertising the birthday party area versus the actual pictures I captured one week before the party was to have been held. I just looked and they still have the exact same pictures on the website. Not only are they misrepresenting the current state of the grounds but the play area in the pictures is no longer there - they have changed it completely. Also, this was clearly not a simple matter of "spring cleaning" - there are multiple, major safety hazards and I would love to see current color photos capturing the exact areas covered in my photos.