Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Carowinds's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Carowinds

  14523 Carowinds Blvd Charlotte, NC 28273-6756

• 

  Carowinds

  PO Box 410289 Charlotte, NC 28241-0289

• 

  Carowinds

  300 Carowinds Blvd Charlotte, NC 28273

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/15/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was sold a silver pass which I paid full price and only lasted until September when we were never informed it would only last for a few months. We were told that passes would last one year and not a few months. We request a partial credit.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/16/2024

  Hello,

  Thank you for your inquiry about your Carowinds Silver Pass request. If you have purchased a 2025 Carowinds Silver Pass, as stated in our terms and conditions, the  Silver Pass is valid through Labor Day, Monday, September 2nd, 2024 and the first operating date of the 2025 season through Monday, September 1st, 2025; not valid for admission during the fall, to Tricks & Treats, SCarowinds, or WinterFest. Our Gold and Prestige Passes do give you access to the fall, Scarowinds and Winterfest Events. For more information on are passes, please visit **************************. If you are wanting to visit the park during the fall, or for SCarowinds or Winterfest, would recommend upgrading your passes to the ********* which would give you access to the park during this time of year. Silver Passes can be upgraded to Gold Passes for as low as $10.

  If you have any additional questions, feel free to visit ************** on your next visit or ************************** and on the bottom of the first page provides a way to get in touch with us.

   

  Thank you,

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/26/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was over charged at the food place on carowinds property. While they were trying to correct it the charged me again for the full wrong amount. I was able to get the ***** back that i was originally over charged, but after looking at my credit card statement and calling and emailing carowinds I havent been able to receive the credit of ****** back as they say it has to come from food and beverage! So each time i called they send a reminder email but no one i can speak to and customer service wouldnt even put a manager on the phone!!

  Business Response

  Date: 08/27/2024

  *******,

  Hello, and thank you for reaching out about your concern with a refund from Carowinds. I have reached out to our Food and ************************ to have someone reach out to you and get this resolved as soon as possible. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at Carowinds if you do not hear from someone from that team within in the next few business days.

   

  Thank you and we appreciate your business,

   

  *****

  Carowinds

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/27/2024

   
  I am rejecting this response because: this is going on over a month! I emailed early July and they responded i gave them all the information they asked for!! After that nothing was done. Then i called about 2-3 weeks ago and customer service said nothing they can do and they will send a reminder to the food and beverage. Again, nothing happened! I called again yesterday and they said looks like food and beverage hasnt done anything with the first reminder.. so i tried to speak to a manager and they said they dont have one available! I asked if one could call me back they said NO, all they can do is send another reminder to food and beverage!
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/10/2024

  Hello,

  The Carowinds F&B Management Team has attempted to reach out to resolve this issue but received no response. We will need a receipt from one of the transactions to complete any sort of refund to be able to track down the card used for the transactions. Please reach out to ************************* at **************************************** to resolve this issue.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *************************

  Carowinds

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/17/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My family went to Carowinds today and tried to drop off my kid. They enforced me to pay $30 for passing through the waiting line. We said it wasn't fair for the charge but they kept saying you must pay it. So we wanted to hear why they changed that money for just turning around but nothing was heard. I called their customer service but they just said it was policy without any reasonable explanation. A lady who I talked to was so rude and disrespectful. This bad practice must be fixed for everyone. I will sue their business if this will not be resolved. I need my money back ASAP. Their business is unfair and unethical at all. Let me know.at **********.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/19/2024

  Hello,

  We have received your concern and apologize for any confusion that may have lead up to being charged for parking. Carowinds does provide a drop off lane for Guests to drop members of their party off at no charge and is the far right lane at our **********. It appears you did reach out to us and a member from our team sent you a message on August 18th informing you that we will refund your purchase and just have to bring the receipt by our ********************* located at the main entrance of the park that is open during any operating day to complete this.

  We value your feedback and happy to process the refund when your available to do so. please don't hesitate to reach out to the park for any additional assistance.

   

  Thank you,

   

  *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/20/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Thank you. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/24/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Paid extra $10 for *** parking. Upon exiting the park I was told by a Carowinds employee I could not use the *** parking exit. Even after I told them I paid for ***, they refused to let me through and made me walk through regular exit.This is the entire reason I bought *** parking so I wouldn't have to walk as far to the car after a hot day.When I requested my $10 back, Carowinds said no refund. So they're basically cool with stealing your money by offering services they can't provide.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2024

  Hello,

  Thank you for reaching out about your recent visit to Carowinds. I am happy to assist you with your concern though looking for a bit more information. Per your concern you state you weren't able to use the *** Exit. I presume you are referring to the *** Parking lot? We do not have any type of *** Exit for the park only the *** Parking area. If you did purchase *** Parking and were not able to redeem it, I would just need a receipt/order number for it to verify and we can go from there. Please feel free to reach me at ****************************************************.

   

  Thank you!

  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/17/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My trip at the ************** in ********* nc was cut short because of rude and unruly staff. I didnt get to enjoy the park with my family money was wasted and I didnt get to ride the rides I wanted. This trip was embarrassing for me and my family and we didnt get to complete or full day at the park because of an angry staff member and security.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/17/2024

  1 Cedar Point ******************* Dr *************************** ***** carowinds ****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/02/2024

  Hello,

  Thank you for reaching out about your recent visit to Carowinds. We are happy to look into your situation though need additional information about your visit including date of visit and an order number associated with the order for the any tickets purchased for this visit. Please feel free to reach out to me at ****************************************************.

   

  Thank you,

  *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/05/2024

   
  I am rejecting this response because:
    I gave all information to ******. ****** has not followed up. Please reach out to me asap this happened 6/20

  Business Response

  Date: 10/29/2024

  Hello,

  Thank you again for reaching out to us at Carowinds about your visit to the park this summer. Our records our showing that your issue was resolved with ***** and he assisted you with a refund for your visit. We hope you will come visit us again in the future and thank you again.

   

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/13/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased season passes along with meal tickets and season long drink passes. I went to Carowinds with my family Memorial Day weekend on the day the water park open. The entire day was a nightmare and there's not enough room in this chat to post everything that went wrong. The night came to an end with me sustaining a stage 2 concussion and hospitalization I was transported from the park and an ambulance and the park put my family up in a hotel for the night. I was promised by a supervisor at the park (have video of this) and then by ***** at guest services that I would get a refund for the cost of everything because I will never be going back there because of the horrible experience we went through that day. I was told to email Carowinds and they would process the refund within a week. The refund for four gold season passes six dinner passes and six drink passes. I emailed Carowinds over 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing. I want my refund as the day that I spent at Carowinds With my family was One of the worst days if not worse of my life.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/07/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Carowinds makes it harder to log into an existing account in order to get a renew discount than it is to create a new account with no discounts . I noticed that when trying to reset my password in order to log into my existing account , an email with the pin never popped up. So I searched ********************** in my email and nothing came up. So I decided to just create an account and the email pops up right away under cedarfair. I noticed that several other with different emails had the same problem and it is real suspect. It would make sense for them to make it easier to charge you more for a new account than to pay less on a renew account

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2024

  Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us here at Carowinds! We give our utmost apologies for the delayed response, but we do want you to know that your voice and your concerns matter to us. We look each day to improve the guest experience to ensure that Carowinds provides a smooth and fun transition into each new enhancement we implement. We are currently working through any difficulties our guests are having with the Carowinds App, please allow us the next few months to perfect the best experience for you all. As we understand your troubles, we would like to allow you 2 Complimentary Admission Tickets, and 2 Complimentary Single Meal Deals for you and 2 friends and/or family members to enjoy. If you would like to accept this offer, please respond back for confirmation. We look forward to seeing you in the park soon! 

   

   

  **************

  Area Supervisor, Admissions

  Carowinds

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/29/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I contacted Carowinds after noticing recurring charges on my credit card. After contacting customer service, I was advised by ***** that a contract was signed using my credit card as payment and signing up for a Go Pass which obligated me to pay recurring payments until December ****. When asked who authorized the contract, I was given my grand son's name. When I advised that I did not give authorization for a recurring contract and that my grand son was a minor (14 years old) I was told that Carowinds could not cancel the contract and I needed to contact my financial institution. Based on several other negative BBB reviews, I see this is a recurring theme. Carowinds appears to have a payment gauging scheme with these recurring payment contracts that needs to be stopped.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2024

  Dear Valued Consumer,

   

  Thank you for reaching out regarding to an order placed with Carowinds. As mentioned in previous correspondence, we would encourage any unauthorized purchases to be directed to your banking institution for implementation of necessary fraud verification processes. Carowinds can provide assistance with transferring the ** Payment Plan to an alternate card of someone who would like to take financial responsibility for the pass. Another option would be to cancel all future payments, however no funds from previous payments would be returned due to the Season Pass usage. Please let us know if you would like to proceed with any options Carowinds can assist with. 

   

  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/27/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My ******** friends showed up as a surprise on December 22. I told them about Carowinds at the spare of the moment we decided to go. ( I was at Carowinds Tuesday night with my NC friends it was plan so we bought tickets in advance at the website)We went to the ticket booth and I asked the lady (pls confirm with their cameras) "we're 13 people can we get the $24,99 ticket price if we paid with 4 different credit cards? She said yes. I was on a phone call so my friends paid and I was the last one. When she gave me my receipt (attached), it said *****. I said that was a mistake. It's just one ticket for *****. She said no, it's 44,99 plus tax. I said I asked you before we purchased the tickets. Please void the transaction, and I'll buy it on the phone. She said I can't. I said, please get me a manager. ***** the manager came I repeated everything. ***** said I can't cancel the transaction. I said I was going to file a complaint to the general attorney because it is fraud to say yes, I can charge ***** then charge ***** (13 people at ***** ******* instead of 13x*****=584.87 that's a dif of 260). My friend felt they were condescending and a little bit racist. please review the cameras. please refund $260

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2024

  Dear Valued Consumer, 

  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience purchasing our tickets here at Carowinds. We appreciate that you chose Carowinds for a night of entertainment during our Winterfest Season! We apologize if there was any confusion with our gate ticket sales versus our online sales, as we have many ticket sales and discounts available concurrently online. Our online ticket sales are available both in advance and on the date of visit, though prices may increase same day. For consistency, we only provide gate priced tickets in-person, and I apologize that this was not properly communicated to you. We strive to improve our communication each day to ensure our guests have the best experience from purchasing tickets to getting onto their favorite rides. Our associates are trained to restate the price and inform guests the cost of tickets before finalizing the transaction. 

  Unfortunately, we are not able to process a partial or full refund for this transaction, as printed on your tickets. However, Carowinds would like to offer a Return Tickets to your friends and family, along with Parking and Single Meal Deal Vouchers for your next visit in ********************* having a better park visit! Please let us know if you would like to proceed for the with **** Season Single Day Admission Tickets as many adventures and excitement awaits you here! Our park operating calendar and more information about our rides, restaurants, and activities can be found on our website (Carowinds.com)!

   

  ***********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/17/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Please advise the next step to receive the free single admission day ticket for 13 of us and the meal voucher.
  
  Thank you. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/31/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of transaction: 10/6/23 Business transaction: Item was lost and forms were filled out to retrieve items. The person who runs the ride "Copperhead Strike" promised to retrieve my items after midnight (making the date turn to 10/7/23). This person stated that he would give the items to the maintenance department so that I could come back to pick them up. After calling AND creating a new document online to report the lost items (my keys and fob), the customer service representatives told me they could not give me any information on my claim, they couldn't even give me an ESTIMATED time of retrieval or any updates so that I could come get my lost items. The *** also told me to "go ahead and file a complaint and see where that gets [me]". The main issue I have is that the gentleman who ran the ride could clearly see my keys when we were there. So either he chose not to finish the job he promised OR they have decided to keep my keys and just not DO their job. These keys are necessary to get into my house and vehicle, as I am having to request numerous people to rearrange their days in order to get me in our house or drive my (shared) vehicle. All I want are my keys back!!!!!!!!

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2024

  Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us here at Carowinds! We give our utmost apologies for the delayed response, but we do want you to know that your voice and your concerns matter to us. Our main goal when it comes to riding our attractions is to ensure that guests have the most enjoyable time while remaining safe. For Copperhead, we provide lockers to place all sensitive items before riding and our Ride Attendants are trained to go over a spiel to cover putting away lost items as Carowinds states we are not responsible for any lost, damaged or stolen items. We appreciate you going through all proper channels to retrieve your lost item and apologize on our end that we were not able to fulfill that request. I would love to offer another opportunity to come out and enjoy the park for a better experience and would like to provide you with 3 Complimentary Admission Tickets, 3 Single Meal Deals, 3 Fast **** Comps, 1 Parking Voucher to enjoy all day with a Complimentary Locker rental to place your belongings. If you would like to have an amazing start to a fun-filled summer, please respond if you would like to take this offer and the tickets will expire on July 31st, 2024. We hope to see you in the park soon! 

   

   

  ***********************

  Area Supervisor, Admissions

  Carowinds