ComplaintsforXL Event Lab dba The Big Bounce America

• Initial Complaint

  08/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We selected 6:30 pm because that is what worked for us. They changed it to 7:00 pm, which we could make work. Then they sent several (one of three is attached) confusing emails about rescheuling, which turned out to be an error, but no less confusing. Then they changed our start time to 3:30 pm, which would not work for us at all, because we had a committment. There is not process for refund or even a credit to come back another day. Nothing. Take it or leave it. The whole process was awful.

• Initial Complaint

  08/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I need the full refund of $76.30 plus $10 for parking. You can see the first screen shot below of my confirmation email from a week earlier when I bought the tickets. Then the second one came less than 24 hours before the reservation and went to my junk mail. And in that email it never even said sorry we have to change your time or anything like that. This must be rectified please. Im a single dad with 2 kids that were super excited all week to go to this event. We drove an hour and 45 minutes to be told about this change. The staff was rude until they realized and admitted the mistake of the company. They told me to contact the company for a refund. Company said they can only give me a voucher. This is unacceptable given this was the last weekend of the event. They wanted to give me a voucher for 10am the next morning which was the last session. I did not have the boys that morning so that wasn't an option not to mention the hour and 45 min drive and gas!

• Initial Complaint

  07/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Purchased tickets for this event and drove over 2 hours to get there on June 14th. Event was canceled due to bad weather within 30 minutes of arriving and we were told to go online and send an email to get a refund but its been weeks and we have gotten zero response in our many requests for a refund.

• Initial Complaint

  06/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We attended one of their events on 6/15/2024. Within 5 minutes of entering, multiple bounce structures began to collapse. We were hesitant, but felt they may have had the situation under control. However, less than 15 minutes later, my children were on one of their bounce castles when it began to collapse. A siren began going off and terrified event goers were frantically attempting to get off the ride. Small children began to fall as bigger individuals stumbled upon them. We were fearful our children would be trampled and fought our way through the collapsing structure to grab them.Staff workers for this event are mostly volunteers and were clearly overwhelmed and unaware of how to handle the circumstances. We do not believe they had proper training. After only 25 minutes at the event, we asked to speak to a manager of any sort- however no employee/volunteer could tell us who that was. Under duress, not a single person could pinpoint who was in charge and that brought some alarm given the nature of what could potentially go wrong in such a wide scale event.We insisted on a refund in which a volunteer could only direct us to the companys website. We also felt the company should be informed of what had transpired and acknowledge the safety concerns as something potentially serious. We most have not heard back from any representative or employee from The Big Bounce of America, despite multiple emails (were confirmed as received) and further attempts to reach anybody representing the company on social media.This event is disorganized and uncommunicative. They do not seem to have any particular safety procedures or proper protocols in place that could assure the safety of event goers, especially children, despite the nature of the event. Even upon the structures collapsing, we would find young children dangerously hiding underneath them, yet not a single staff member or security guard was present to enforce order and safety for all.

• Initial Complaint

  06/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I purchased 4 tickets to Big Bounce House America on January 17, 2024, for $76.30. Reference number *********************** charged by FH* Big Bounce Ame via www.thebigbounceamerica.com website. The tickets were for June 9, 2024. When we got there, they closed all the bounce houses due to heavy rain. They told us to proceed to the exit and speak to the people in the front about a refund. They said they dont give refunds and that I must speak to someone online. No one replied back from their website. Please help! I am willing to speak to the news about this company.

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I originally purchased tickets (3 Juniors, 1 Toddler, 2 Participating Parent/Carers) to the Junior Session of The Big Bounce America - Columbus ** ************* | **************************************************************** (Confirmation # *********) on June 4, 2022. My credit card was charged on June 6, 2022 in the amount of $209.28. The event was scheduled for July 16, 2022 from 9:00AM-12:00PM. I received an email on June 28, 2022 informing me that "Unfortunately, due to unexpected issues with our proposed venue we have no choice but to postpone our ******** stop on our 2022 tour. Were just as disappointed as you are but rest assured that our team is working hard behind the scenes to finalise details with our replacement venue. Well update existing ticket holders with that information as soon as possible." and that the event was rescheduled to 23rd-25th September 2022. On September 9, 2022 I emailed The Big Bounce to inquire what the new venue was. I received a response from CSR ***** on September 12, 2022 that they would be located at *************. I had received a separate notification just 3 hours earlier on September 12, 2022 that this was again rebooked for October 8. This time it stated "Due to logistical reasons, we will now be in ******** on the 7th-9th October 2022." Unfortunately, that date didn't work and I submitted a request for a refund on 9/12/22. I have yet to receive the refund on my credit card and have not received a confirmation email or updates regarding the refund. I inquired 3 separate times on 9/21, 9/23, and 9/26 about the refund without response. I also contacted ****************** and learned that they have never had a contract with The Big Bounce, but The Big Bounce continues to advertise it as their venue. I would like a full refund immediately and for The Big Bounce to stop advertising dates and locations that they have no ability to deliver on.

  Business response

  10/06/2022

  Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to review and respond to this complaint. The customer is in the process of being fully refunded. In regards to the concern regarding the venue location of the event, the venue was in fact booked for the dates in question, however the event unfortunately had to be postponed and the event is in the process of moving to a new venue. Our website has been updated to reflect this.

  Customer response

  10/06/2022

   
  Complaint: 18137826
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I have not received my refund, nor any response regarding the details and status of my refund.  If my refund is being processed, please provide details including a firm date.  Also, the venue was never updated on their website.  They did, however, just send me an email today notifying me that the event was rescheduled to May 6, 2023, but still at the same venue.  This email also makes it seem like they didn't receive my prior refund request and I would need to submit another.  I responded to this email stating that I had already cancelled and requested a refund the last time they rescheduled and I asked for an update on my refund.  They responded with the following canned message: 

  "Hi there,
  
  
  Your inquiry has been received and a member of our team will respond soon. We aim to respond to the majority of emails within 24 hours, but during busy periods this may extend to 36 hours. During busy periods we prioritize emails about events being held this week before responding to those that are for the coming weeks.
  
  
  You can also check www.thebigbounceamerica.com/FAQ which answers most of our commonly asked questions. 
  
  
  For alerts when we're back nearby you can sign up at www.thebigbounceamerica.com/updates
  
  
  Big Bounce America"

  So far, no one has responded, but it hasn't yet been ***** hours.  If I receive a response within ***** hours I'll be shocked, as it's been nearly a month of me writing emails asking for an update on my refund with zero response.

  If my refund is already being processed, then why would I receive this notification?  Also, my wife called and spoke to ************* and they confirmed that they never had a contract with The Big Bounce America for the venue.  Why would they lie to her about that?  Also, as you can see below, they have blamed the most recent reschedule on "logistical reasons outside of [their] control."  I would like to know what that means, because it appears that they had sold tickets without having the venue booked, then "rescheduled" for an arbitrary date that they had no intent to deliver on.  They had also listed October 7-9 as rescheduled dates for two other cities (NY and ************).  Do they have 3 sets of equipment?  Or, were they falsely advertising?  You can see on their social media pages that there are other customers with similar concerns.  Some of these customers had indicated they had booked travel (rental vehicles and/or hotels) to be able to attend the scheduled dates/venues, only to find out last minute that the event had been "rescheduled" due to unforeseen logistical reasons.  This is a false reason for the rescheduling.  This was easily foreseen when they knew they didn't have a contract with the venue and they had events in 3 different cities scheduled at the same times and dates.  I believe the entire purpose of this is to string people along so they can continue to delay refunds and hope that customers will eventually give up or forget and they can keep the money.  This is fraud.  Here is the text of the event postponement email I received today:

  "Dear Bouncers,
  Thank you for purchasing tickets to The Big Bounce America event in Columbus.
  Due to logistical reasons outside of our control, we had to postpone your scheduled session. Weve now rebooked you into a new session and you can view those details below:
  Your New Session Details:
  SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2023 | JUNIOR SESSION | 9AM-12PM
  We will send your new tickets shortly via email. If you haven't received your tickets within 4 business days please check your junk/spam folders. Please take note of your timed bounce house slot as youll need this for entry on the world's biggest bounce house.
  For those who would like to retain their tickets for our upcoming Columbus event in 2023 will receive one complimentary ticket on us! Those who decide to keep their existing tickets will be sent their complimentary ticket by October 18th, 2022. Please follow this link to confirm your complimentary ticket https://bit.ly/3CflQrk.
  Refund Request:
  Should you be unable to attend this rescheduled session you can apply for a full refund. Simply follow this link https://bit.ly/3CflQrk to fill out the form.
  Our team is working hard to rebook and respond to everyones emails, so please be patient and well respond to you as soon as we can.
  We cant wait to bounce with you all soon!
  Many thanks,
  The Big Bounce America Team"
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Business response

  10/13/2022

  Thanks again for providing us with the opportunity to respond to this complaint. An email was sent to the customer on 10/11/2022 at ******* EST to confirm that a refund totaling $209.28 was issued to MasterCard ending ***3. Per the email, it may take up to ******************************* bank to return the funds.

  Customer response

  10/20/2022

   
  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.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  04/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Booked 3 tickets on 3/18/2022 for 4/23/2022 9 AM-12 PM and paid $100.80.I realized that dates were wrong and I needed a reservation on 4/24/2022 instead of 4/23. Website policy on transfer...*****************CAN I TRANSFER MY EXISTING BOOKING TO A DIFFERENT SESSION?Subject to availability, you absolutely can. Contact our ticket inquiries department at www.thebigbounceamerica.com/family/contact with the below info:Name and Email address you used to book your order The session day and time you would like moved into The bounce house slot start time you would like moved into *****************Contact made and information and request provided to change ticket dates on 4/15/2022.**************auto response received from bounce america: Your inquiry has been received and a member of our team will respond soon. We aim to respond to the majority of emails within 24 hours, but during busy periods this may extend to 36 hours. During busy periods we prioritize emails about events being held this week before responding to those that are for the coming weeks.***************2nd message sent on 4/19/2022 as no response received. there is no contact phone number on their website and I called their number listed at BBB *************) and left a voice mail on 4/20/2022. Per attachment below site was running out of spots for 4/24/2022 and I placed a new reservation for 4/24/2022 from 9 AM-12pm. While at the they event I received an email response at **** am that they had moved my saturday booking to sunday 12 pm-3pm and that the tickets are not refundable.*************This business did not meet it promises on its website and with customer service contact as it took them 9 days to respond to my transfer request. Thus, I believe I am entitled to the refund of $100.88

*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. ↩