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| - I am not impressed with this company, and they caused us to have a terrible experience with Adventures Out West/Unicorn Balloon Company.
To start off, I made reservations for my balloon ride three months in advance. I planned this as a birthday gift for my mom's 50th birthday. All she'd wanted to do for her birthday for the longest time is ride in a hot air balloon. So, this was supposed to be an exciting, memorable event! At the time of reservation I was told I was the first one to reserve for my specific day, and that there wouldn't be any problems.
About 4-6 weeks before the balloon ride, I received a phone call from the company telling me they were overbooked for our specific date, and they asked if I'd be able to reschedule since we had the smallest group that day (3 people). Well, I was driving out from Albuquerque just to be there, and there weren't any other days we could do it since I was only in AZ for such a short time, so I told them we couldn't reschedule. I was then told that wouldn't be a problem, that we would still be able to have our balloon ride that day.
So, the day of our balloon ride I woke up at 3am, drove an hour to get to the meeting spot, and it wasn't until we were there I was told my name wasn't on the schedule for the day. The balloon was full and we wouldn't be able to ride. What? We we SO mad!!!! How did they mess up our reservation? Apparently the office staff is incompetent and someone simply forgot to take note of the final conversation we had and our names didn't get on the schedule. I wasted all the time and gas money to get out there, plus several hours of sleep, to get nothing. And, it ruined my mom's 50th birthday.
If I hadn't purchased the balloon rides through Groupon for half off, then I absolutely would have requested a refund and gone with a different, more reliable, company. I hope this was just a rare occurrence for something like this to happen, but for a professional company where people are paying them quite a bit of money for their service, this should NEVER happen. I was offered a refund, or the option to reschedule, which we did for the following month. But then I had to drive all the way back out, wake up early again, etc. I was also told they would upgrade our flight so that we'd get a video as well as continent breakfast, but they didn't follow through with that either. I didn't push the issue because frankly, it wasn't worth the bother. I just know I'll never use their company again, and I will steer any friends and family away as well.
One good thing was the balloon pilot, John. He was great. He was very competent and made the flight enjoyable.
More negative things (sorry, I'm on a roll): at the end of the flight you do get a champagne/orange juice toast, but most of the other companies I looked in to also provide breakfast. Seems like a simple thing to provide. Another company landed next to us, and we watched as they at yummy breakfast on picnic tables with table cloths they had set up. After waking up at 3am and spending a few hours out there in the hot dessert, you get pretty hungry! And another thing: if you weigh more than 200lbs they charge an extra $50. Pretty ridiculous it seems, and I didn't notice other companies charging that.
So, do your research before you settle on Unicorn Balloon Company, as I think there are better options out there!
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