Sportations?

[matthewcline 0]

There does appear to be a "bot" responding to a bunch of the posts.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[bdazel 0]

Quote

Quote

Sportations just started another Tandem deal throgu Groupon in the Tampa Bay area. $119 tandem jumps at Chalet Suzanne,

just great. That is the third Groupon tandem deal in Tampa area in 6 months. Talk about polluting the market

These deals seem too good to be true.
They certainly appear to be unsustainable in the long run.

There is something that vendors using Groupons need to know.
This is explained on Groupons website Terms Para 3 at bottom

Quote

According to applicable law, the Merchant may be responsible for allowing you to redeem your Voucher for the cash value based on the money you actually paid for your Voucher (i.e. if you paid $20 for a Voucher which gives you $50 of value to the Merchant, the cash value that you paid is $20, not $50), for a period of time that extends beyond the expiration date on the Voucher. While the expiration date on the Voucher dictates the last date that you can use your Voucher at Merchant for the promotional offer stated on the Groupon, applicable law may provide that the Merchant is responsible for honoring the cash value that you paid for your Voucher for a period of time beyond the expiration date stated on the Voucher. In other words, you should be allowed to redeem the cash value (or purchase price) of your Voucher up until the greater of: (1) the Voucher’s expiration date; or (2) the minimum length of time allowed by applicable law for a Voucher to expire. In the event that you have an expired Voucher and would like to redeem it for the price you paid to acquire it, please contact the Merchant. Once again, the Merchant should allow such redemption if applicable law requires it, and we have instructed the Merchant to do so. If you have gone to the Merchant and the Merchant has refused to redeem the cash value of your expired Voucher, and if applicable law entitles you to such redemption, then please contact Groupon [and explain your situation in writing] and Groupon will refund the purchase price of the Voucher in either U.S. Dollars or credit for purchases of future Vouchers from Groupon (presently known as “Gs”).

Applicable law includes and is not limited to 2009 Credit Card Act that says this about gift cards (and Groupons are gift cards) "Prohibits retailers from setting expiration dates less than 5 years after the card is purchased."

Say you or a customer buys a Groupon and pays $125 for a $250 tandem with an expiration date 1 year from the deal date.
The customer comes in after the expiration date. The vendor MUST honor the amount paid by the customer, in cash if he wants it, for a time period up to 5 years from date of purchase. The vendor must honor the 'deal' up until the expiration date.

IOW, you might be paying a Groupon customer the cash value of what he paid for it 5 years after the purchase.
That means the vendor loses. Cash value - Groupon take - 3rd party take =~ 60-70% of the cash value (if that).
You'd be paying out $125 when you only took in ~$85.

.

Although I don't know any details of these Groupon promotions, I think Groupon could feasibly construct this promotion to avoid the 2009 Credit Card Act.

For example, one exclusionary clause in the Act is the following:

(D) Exclusions

The terms “general-use prepaid card”, “gift certificate”, and “store gift card” do not include an electronic promise, plastic card, or payment code or device that is--

...

(v) issued in paper form only (including for tickets and events);

...

15 U.S.C.A. § 1693l-1

I don't know the details, but if Groupon requires that a certificate be printed and taken to the dropzone in order to take advantage of the deal, perhaps such a requirement satisfies "issued in paper form only." This presumes that "paper form" is not otherwise defined somewhere in the statute, and that the online purchase does not count as an "other" form of issuance so that printing the certificate is not the "only" form of issuance. This also presumes that the Groupon deal is a "general use prepaid card," "gift certificate," or "store gift card" as defined in the statute - a point which I think is debatable.

[userid 0]

Why isn't there a Dropzone.com listing in each state for Sportations, Groupon, and Living Social where victims can post their reviews of these companies for all to see? It's great that DropZone.com allows easy comparison of dropzones in each state, but the relative difference between them is minimal compared to the difference between legitimate drop zones and the scammers, and yet there is no mention of them whatsoever to help customers compare and potential legitimate DZ to reference and defend themselves.

There should also be a listing for the many unlisted SlyRide accepting drop zones like the one in Warrenton, Virginia who Sportations says accepts their certificates.

The drop zones and third parties who won't list themselves are the ones that everyone most needs to hear about in reviews.

[bdazel 0]

Quote

Why isn't there a Dropzone.com listing in each state for Sportations, Groupon, and Living Social where victims can post their reviews of these companies for all to see?

Perhaps because dropzone.com is not a partisan in skydiving industry politics (aside from the obvious bias of a some moderators); a trait which I think directly relates to the success of dropzone.com. I don't at all agree with skyride's scruples and marketing methods. However, there are many perfectly legitimate dropzones that use skyride. Personally, my view of dropzone.com would be diminished greatly if it decided to go on a witch hunt and put up a page attempting to besmirch dropzones that use skyride.

[Driver1 0]

Quote

Why isn't there a Dropzone.com listing in each state for Sportations, Groupon, and Living Social where victims can post their reviews of these companies for all to see? It's great that DropZone.com allows easy comparison of dropzones in each state, but the relative difference between them is minimal compared to the difference between legitimate drop zones and the scammers, and yet there is no mention of them whatsoever to help customers compare and potential legitimate DZ to reference and defend themselves.

There should also be a listing for the many unlisted SlyRide accepting drop zones like the one in Warrenton, Virginia who Sportations says accepts their certificates.

The drop zones and third parties who won't list themselves are the ones that everyone most needs to hear about in reviews.

I know of 2 links that I believe offers the info that you are referring to. The first is the Dropzone.com thread, http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2992399;search_string=dz%27s%20that%20accept%20skyride;#2992399
and the second is the independent site, but a bit more comprehensive and includes links to the real dropzone sites, www.1800skyrideripoff.com/dzs

There will be no addressing the customers as "Bitches", "Morons" or "Retards"!

[userid 0]

I don't see where that offers a place for customers to review them like they can a drop zone.

[Driver1 0]

Quote

I don't see where that offers a place for customers to review them like they can a drop zone.

You have a valid point. I recommend you contact Jumpdude and/or Billy Vance and offer your suggestion. Maybe they can add some details or some kind of link to offer that info.

There will be no addressing the customers as "Bitches", "Morons" or "Retards"!

[Thedivingdog 0]

Obviously Jeff cares a whole lot about skydiving, as do all of us. But is it just me, or did Jeff's reaction go way overboard, and kind of paint skydivers as a whole in a bad light? I may be a noob, but I hate what slyride/sportations is doing to our sport as well. Going over that thread though, Jeff ends up looking a bit nuts. To an outsider, that may make all skydivers look a bit nuts, and in the end we are all just trying to help the sport we love.

[Driver1 0]

Quote

Obviously Jeff cares a whole lot about skydiving, as do all of us. But is it just me, or did Jeff's reaction go way overboard, and kind of paint skydivers as a whole in a bad light? I may be a noob, but I hate what slyride/sportations is doing to our sport as well. Going over that thread though, Jeff ends up looking a bit nuts. To an outsider, that may make all skydivers look a bit nuts, and in the end we are all just trying to help the sport we love.

I agree with you that he may have carried that thing too far, and I agree with you that it may not look good to the people who don't know about what he is trying to expose, but he stayed on topic and stayed after them which is more than a lot of jumpers do who hate, or say they hate Skyride.

There will be no addressing the customers as "Bitches", "Morons" or "Retards"!

[AllTheWay 0]

Quote

Quote

Browsing slickdeals.com and saw a link for a Groupon that linked to Sportations.com for cheap tandems.

http://slickdeals.net/localdeal/58747/119-for-skydiving-session-from-sportations-up-to-349-value
http://www.sportations.com/product_listings.php?typeName=Skydiving&flash=y

They are REALLY vague about dropzones. Anyone know anything?

If it smells funny, there may be a reason. Apparently Sportations is part of another group that starts with S

Read this
http://sportations.net/

Yeah--thats a scam--I live in Valdosta, and the closest DZ is St Mary's, GA--2 hrs from here. The only jumping here is military.

[matthewcline 0]

Quote

Quote

Don't these Slyride guys get the hint yet?

I'm convinced that they probably are making and hiding/laundering as much money as they can (probably offshore) before they finally have to disappear and go underground under assumed names to some remote corner of the world.

This may be intersting:

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/198075-doj-investigating-e-book-industry?utm_campaign=HilliconValley&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[skydiver30960 0]

They're still at it: I saw a groupon for them in our area a few days ago. A friend of mine got in touch with me and asked me about them, thank Heavens: I was able to warn her off. She'll be jumping at Eloy soon!

Elvisio "bastages" Rodriguez

[BillyVance 34]

Quote

They're still at it: I saw a groupon for them in our area a few days ago. A friend of mine got in touch with me and asked me about them, thank Heavens: I was able to warn her off. She'll be jumping at Eloy soon!

Elvisio "bastages" Rodriguez

Right on! Everyone needs to do their best to steer friends away from the Skyride umbrella sites.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

I don't see where that offers a place for customers to review them like they can a drop zone.

The site is a listing only. You can offer reviews of the DZ elsewhere. Personally, I don't really care what "reviews" of his site may be...he's doing a good thing.
The real problem is that he makes the rest of us look like apathetic assholes....all talk, no action.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[alabamaskydiver 0]

Quote

Quote

I don't see where that offers a place for customers to review them like they can a drop zone.

The site is a listing only. You can offer reviews of the DZ elsewhere. Personally, I don't really care what "reviews" of his site may be...he's doing a good thing.
The real problem is that he makes the rest of us look like apathetic assholes....all talk, no action.

Who are you referring to? Jumpdude or Billy?