Those of you from the FFF, pardon my putting a copy of my BMZ post here, but I want as many people to know about this as possible.
I have always considered myself a very savvy, careful consumer. Despite this, I just got freakin’ ripped off. BASTARDS!
Okay, here’s the scoop. There’s a company (I believe it’s only in California, but if not, then TAKE HEED) called Fightertown Entertainment. They offer the unique services of providing “flights” on full-motion jet simulators. The company has received rave reviews, and a “flight” seemed the perfect gift for my mechanically infatuated fiancé for this past Valentine’s Day. I bought him a gift certificate for a ride on the F-14 Tomcat simulator, and he was thrilled.
Then the problems began.
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I was double billed. Bizarrely enough, I received two gift certificates, weeks apart, for Brian. A call to my credit card company revealed what I feared–they’d charged me twice. I called Fightertown to rectify this, and was told they were crediting my account and to return the extra gift certificate–or, I could just bring it in when Bri redeemed his original certificate (this is what I opted for). They lied. My account was not credited, a fact not revealed until I got my next Visa statement. Now, hold that thought while the saga continues…
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We called around March to schedule his appointment on the simulator, only to find out the platform for the F-14 simulator was being upgraded. Call back in a month, I was told.
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I called back a month later to both check on the status of the platform and correct the double-billing problem. Here the more ominous signs began. Each time I called that weekend–and it was in the double digits–the number was busy. When I tried the following Monday, I got an automated phone system, and when I tried to transfer to a live person, was put on hold for 20+ minutes on a several occasions. I was finally able to get a hold of someone a few hours later. This time, the apologetic employee credited my card on the spot (I verified this the next day), then explained the F-14 simulator platform was still being upgraded. He offered two suggestions–we downgrade to a cheaper simulator, and use the extra credit for a baseball cap or somesuch crap, or wait and call back in a few months to see if the simulator was ready. We opted for the latter.
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Stupidly enough, just a few weeks later I recommended Fightertown Entertainment to a friend desperately looking for a gift for her brother. She called and ordered a gift certificate–and it never came. When she called a week later, the number was disconnected.
Uh oh.
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When she told me this, I went ballistic and called the company myself, to make sure she’d dialed the same number, and I, too, got the “We’re sorry, that number is no longer in service” riff. GAH! I called information to see if the number had changed, and they had no listing for the company at all. I then tried to see if they had a number at their address, and nope–nada. AHHHHGGGHH! So, I called Puente Hills Mall (their location) to find out whether they were still there, and got the biggest ass-sucking bomb of them all:
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FIGHTERTOWN HAD GONE OUT OF BUSINESS!
[Stan voice]Bastards![/Stan voice]
Turns out it was a complete surprise to the mall as well. From what I understood, they had given little to know notice–they were just gone.
I have contacted Visa and am disputing the charge–what good is the gift certificate now?–and so is my friend. This just boils my blood. I had spoken to them just a few short weeks before, and they’d said to call back in a month or two…and now they’re just…gone. Frick!
The biggest ass-kicker out of all this is** their web site is still up** and still shows the Puente Hills location. Go, look for yourself: http://fightertown.com In fact, you could still “buy” gift certificates and merchandise through their links! They list the location in Mountain View (supposedly) if I want to make the 8 hour drive. Um…no.
Frickin’ jerks.
Anyone know how to get that damn site down? The Better Business Bureau appears unable to help me, as Fightertown is already gone. (I went to their site and tried to lodge a complaint, but they don’t recognize the name of the business or the address as it is no longer there.)