Complaints

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:11/12/2022

  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 paid $71.80 online in good faith for four tickets (one senior, two adults, one toddler) to go to a "pumpkin village." Upon arrival, we encountered unsanitary conditions. Trash cans around the front of the property were overflowing with remnants of food and other refuse, as well as a pile of rotting apples, that had attracted swarms of insects, especially bees. My family members have serious allergies and realized, looking in from outside, that we likely would encounter similar conditions throughout the grounds. We explained to an employee, *****, who was scanning QR codes to provide tickets, that we have severe allergies and were concerned about the huge number of insects. She sent us into the building for assistance.Inside, an employee named ****** said she could not help and made exceptionally nasty remarks.We went back outside and spoke again with *****. Because I was extremely worried about losing my money, we had decided to go to the event briefly and hope that none of us would experience a health problem. ***** advised us not to use the tickets and instead email the "admin person." She said, "This has happened before and you will get your money back. All you need to do is write to our admin person who will be back on Monday. She confirmed the email address and told me to use her name.I sent the email and waited five days for a reply that did not come. Then I called the Leesburg Animal Park and spoke with an employee named ****, who disclosed that the admin person is the owner, *****************************. After I sent a second email, ****************** replied, denying the refund and ignoring my other feedback.Although this business has a usual "no refunds" policy, the website stated that weekend tickets had to be purchased online and we were coming from a distance. Further, it is reasonable to expect an event that is not invested by bugs due to a negligence in removing rotting food and other trash.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/03/2023

  LEESBURG ANIMAL PARK
  
  BBB
  1411 K St. NW, 10 th Fl
  Washington DC 20005-3404
  December 9, 2022
  
  Re: Complaint ID ********; ******** ******
  Dear BBB:
  This response is outside the 14-day window because the complaint letter was not received until 12.08.2022.
  Some things in the complaint are unfounded. Based on the parts of the park *** ****** described that she visited, (admission area and inside building) there were no piles of
  fruit at all. There is one large trash can by the entrance which was full but not overflowing. “Swarms of insects” is a bit over the top.
  *** ****** was advised when she phoned, that Shirley J******, park owner was out of town and would respond upon returning. When ******* responded to the email (copy
  enclosed), *** ****** was politely reminded of the refund policy, but was offered the opportunity to use the tickets any time through the end of the year for a different event.
  

  Sincerely,
  
  Shirley J******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2023

  [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 as Answered]
  
  
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because owner Shirley J******'s response is dishonest and member of her staff (Karen) clearly assured my family, in person, that we would receive a refund of the price we had paid for tickets. Based on Karen's assurance, due to the conditions found when we arrived and our concerns about severe allergies and asthma, we did not use the tickets. Absent Karen's assurance, we would have used the tickets to enter the park, if only briefly, so as not to entirely waste my money as well as our time. (We do not live close by.) However, Karen adamantly discouraged us from doing so, insisting that we would receive a refund and that similar situations had occurred in the past.

  
  

  Regarding Ms. J******'s specific comments, first, I submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau on November 12, 2022, the same day she responded to my emails rejecting my request for a refund. It was certainly timely.

  
  

  Second, during the afternoon that my family arrived at  the park, Ms. J****** apparently was not there, so she cannot speak to the conditions we found. There was a large pile of rotting apples (that is, fruit) that had attracted a huge number of bees and other insects. More than one trash can surrounding the entrance area was overflowing with remnants of food from the morning "Pumpkin Festival" session that also had attracted swarms of insects. The refuse should have been removed before the afternoon session began.

  
  

  On that date, an employee named Eileen, whom Karen identified afterward as the gift shop manager, was exceedingly rude and only advised me to write to "our admin person," whose email address she wrote on a Post-It note. She said the person was not there and did not identify "the admin person" as the owner.  I wrote to the email address on November 6, 2022. I did not call the Leesburg Animal Park until five days later, on November 11, when I did so to follow up on my email and reached an employee named Evie. It was then that "the admin person" was identified as "Shirley J******." I only found out that Ms. J****** was the owner by conducting a ****** search. Though perhaps irrelevant information, Evie only said -- with regard to my not having received a reply to my email -- that Ms. J****** had had a tight schedule that week and had to be out of town. Evie was not discourteous on the phone but later sent me a nasty message via **** in response to an online review.

  
  

  Finally, while it is true that Ms. J****** offered that we could use the tickets during the final weeks of 2022, that does not help me in any way. My family purchased online tickets in good faith, in response to a posted message that an advance purchase was necessary, only to find that the park -- even at the entrance -- that a failure by staff to remove trash and rotting apples had attracted a tremendous number of menacing insects that posed a threat to our specific medical concerns. When we sought help, we encountered shockingly rude comments by the employee named Eileen. By contrast, another employee, Karen, was polite but adamant that we should not use our tickets in favor of requesting a refund, which we would certainly receive. I was shocked when, after more than one attempt to reach "the admin person" who turned out to be the owner, she replied that Karen had not made such a statement. Either Karen lied to Ms. J****** or Ms. J****** lied to me. Either way, the level of viciousness by this merchant's representatives is, in my experience, unprecedented. We cannot and will not be returning. All I want is not to also have to pay my hard-earned money for tickets to a place that has left such a bad taste and went -- as Karen encouraged -- totally unused. 

  
  

  Thank you for your assistance.

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