Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb NOT REFUNDING $$ Despite Pandemic Restrictions

[lexmiller]

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing issues with the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb Company, as we are disappointed and angered at their callous response to the customers that have booked climbs with them.  Last December, we booked a climb for the two of us for this spring - we were to fly to Sydney from America to cruise on the Celebrity Solstice on March 20 for 5 back to back cruises.  Ha, we all know that those plans were dashed.  So, involuntarily, we had to cancel all of the excursions/activities/hotels, that we had booked privately.  Many of these activities were "nonrefundable" but the companies have changed their policies due to the covid19 crisis - realizing that customers are having to cancel involuntarily, and, the companies want to ensure goodwill and not enrage their customers, hoping they will come back if possible, in better times.  We have had an overwhelming positive response from 99% of the companies - all, except the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb.

 

In December, we paid Bridge Climb $675.95 Australian Dollars for our climb this April.  They are allowing us a 3 year credit - no cash refund.  We have emailed them several times elaborating in lurid personal detail, why a credit does not work for us - this trip was scheduled NOW for a reason.  We explained that this was to be the trip of a lifetime, timed carefully between retirement and when our grandchildren are due to be born; the trip of a lifetime before we are "too" old and before our health issues get worse.  But, nope, they're keeping our cash - no refund for us.  This, from the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb!  This is a huge company, world famous, one I thought was reputable and ethical, featured on countless television specials - and yet, no refunds, during this time of pandemic crisis?? 

Many of their customers are local, or at least, more local than us, traveling from literally half way around the world - but nope, no exceptions for the customers with special circumstances, that are caught in the covid19 pandemic, forced to cancel, and unable to rebook due to the intricacies of such an itinerary at a very particular and unique time in our lives - we will not be able to return!  Bridge Climb doesn't care!  They've got our money and they won't give it back.

 

[possum52]

Sorry to hear that the Bridge Climb will not refund your costs. Perhaps contact the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission who may be able to help - https://www.accc.gov.au/contact-us/contact-the-accc

 

There is a phone number for overseas callers and an online query form listed.

 

My daughter and son in law have a similar problem - they have cancelled their holiday in Queensland for them and children but the accommodation where they have booked will not refund them and the credit being offered expires at the end of June 2020! 

 

I'm glad you have had positive responses from the other companies you had booked with.

 

Good luck!

 

Leigh

[MMDown Under]

$675.95 - Bridge Climb should be ashamed.  Didn't the Government just change the company which runs the Bridge Climbs.  The Government needs to contact this company ASAP and insist they are to give full cash refunds to people who can no longer climb because of the virus. 

 

Possum52 - Your daughter should insist on a cash refund.  Credit expiring end of June (3months) is a joke!  

I had to cancel my Melbourne accommodation booked for next week because the Melbourne Garden Show and everything else had been cancelled.  I had a non refundable, non cancellation, non transferable accommodation booking through a wholesaler, so thought I had buckleys getting my money back for accommodation as well as flights.  I phoned stating I had to cancel because of the virus.  The operator said it was up to the hotel whether they would give a refund, but please hold on while I phone them.  When she got back on the line, she said the money has been refunded to my credit card.  I had to hold back the tears, I was so happy.  Both airlines gave me vouchers with no fees, to use for future flight bookings, which is OK as I'll be flying to Melbourne again.  

When my girlfriend tried to cancel her flight bookings through a wholesaler, she was told $ for this $ for that, etc.  I suggested she phoned back, as cancellation fees were being relaxed because of the virus.  She ended up having no fees, loss of points, etc.  She was also very happy.

Possum 52 - Moral of story is to phone again and put something in writing if you are not successful!

 

lex miller - Write to Bridge Climb and let them know, if you don't get a full refund, you will be putting in a claim in writing, with Consumer Affairs.  You have to do that in writing, then you can put a claim in to Consumer Affairs in writing.  (You can speak with them on the phone first.)  When I did that once, I had a phone call a few days later on a Sunday that a full refund would be paid. YES!!

[Aus Traveller]

To Lesmiller, I think this is disgusting that the Sydney Bridge Climb is refusing to refund your money. Haven't they heard that the Australian government will not allow you to enter the country? I believe you would be entitled to a refund under Australian Consumer Law. For a starter, the company is not supplying the product/service you paid for.

 

Don't give up and please let us know what happens with this.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

My daughter and son in law have a similar problem - they have cancelled their holiday in Queensland for them and children but the accommodation where they have booked will not refund them and the credit being offered expires at the end of June 2020! 

 

This is also ridiculous. Maybe if they gave them 12 months to use their credit, it would be OK.

 

We take our whole family on a week's holiday to Sunshine Beach. This year was booked for 28th March. Several days ago, one of our sons asked if we could postpone. I couldn't see that we could as we have paid all the money - quite a lot for 13 people. I phoned the real estate agency and they were happy to postpone our holiday, which we did. We are all very relieved.

[NSWP]

Sydney Bridge Climb which is a private company who got the business by tender from the NSW Government will probably go bust with little tourism.    They are probably hanging on to their cash reserves, hence the refusal to refund.  Not a good look.

[possum52]

53 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

This is also ridiculous. Maybe if they gave them 12 months to use their credit, it would be OK.

 

We take our whole family on a week's holiday to Sunshine Beach. This year was booked for 28th March. Several days ago, one of our sons asked if we could postpone. I couldn't see that we could as we have paid all the money - quite a lot for 13 people. I phoned the real estate agency and they were happy to postpone our holiday, which we did. We are all very relieved.

Yes Aus Traveller, if the credit is extended to travel in 12 months that would be very acceptable but as of Friday that was not being offered. That may now change now that the PM has just announced there is to be no non-essential travel. I hope so, but I'm sure they will continue to fight for either the refund or credit extended much further. It is quite a well known resort on the GC so I would think they really don't need bad publicity at this time.

 

Leigh

[NSWP]

9 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Yes Aus Traveller, if the credit is extended to travel in 12 months that would be very acceptable but as of Friday that was not being offered. That may now change now that the PM has just announced there is to be no non-essential travel. I hope so, but I'm sure they will continue to fight for either the refund or credit extended much further. It is quite a well known resort on the GC so I would think they really don't need bad publicity at this time.

 

Leigh

Name and Shame the resort Leigh. Go for the refund. All the best.

[possum52]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Name and Shame the resort Leigh. Go for the refund. All the best.

Yes I will name it Les, it is the RACV Royal Pines Resort at Royal Pines Golf Club. Thanks I'm sure my daughter and son in law will fight for it.

 

Leigh

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

Yes I will name it Les, it is the RACV Royal Pines Resort at Royal Pines Golf Club. Thanks I'm sure my daughter and son in law will fight for it.

 

Leigh

Write direct to RACV (cc to RACQ).  These are our highly respected motoring organisations who have a lot of goodwill to loose over non refund and unreasonable credit deadline. 

[MicCanberra]

A shame that only a credit is being offered.

I think appealing to them may carry more weight under the current circumstances.

[The_Big_M]

I don't see this as an issue.

 

The tickets are non-refundable to begin with, and they have actually showed discretion by allowing you to use them at a future date, up to 3 years out. This is actually similar to but more generous than with Celebrity cruises themselves, which have also only offered future cruise credit on a cruise in coming months that is planned to occur that you do not take. I therefore don't see anything wrong or unfair with this policy.

[lexmiller]

8 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

I don't see this as an issue.

 

The tickets are non-refundable to begin with, and they have actually showed discretion by allowing you to use them at a future date, up to 3 years out. This is actually similar to but more generous than with Celebrity cruises themselves, which have also only offered future cruise credit on a cruise in coming months that is planned to occur that you do not take. I therefore don't see anything wrong or unfair with this policy.

If Celebrity cancels, which they have done for many of their cruises so far, you can get a FULL CASH refund.  If the customer cancels, then they are giving future cruise credit.  Celebrity is playing chicken and are indeed, holding onto their (our!) cash as long as possible, for cruises that are a bit further out, though they will obviously be cancelled by the cruiseline as the effect of the virus worsens - cash flow is of course an issue with companies effected by the virus, understood.  But these are difficult times and as per my original post,  if the customer cannot get into the country and the service cannot be delivered, most companies are realizing the optics are very bad if customer service and basic humanity, are not considered.

[The_Big_M]

6 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

If Celebrity cancels, which they have done for many of their cruises so far, you can get a FULL CASH refund.  If the customer cancels, then they are giving future cruise credit.  Celebrity is playing chicken and are indeed, holding onto their (our!) cash as long as possible, for cruises that are a bit further out, though they will obviously be cancelled by the cruiseline as the effect of the virus worsens - cash flow is of course an issue with companies effected by the virus, understood.  But these are difficult times and as per my original post,  if the customer cannot get into the country and the service cannot be delivered, most companies are realizing the optics are very bad if customer service and basic humanity, are not considered.

 

Yes, as you say Celebrity only gives the refund if they cancel, which hasn't happened with Bridgeclimb as Bridgeclimb have not cancelled.

 

Personally, with all the more severe issues out there due to this - sickness, death, disruption, unemployment, business failure - I don't see them actually being more generous with their contract terms, and in fact more generous than the cruise line, to be bad optics.

 

It's certainly unfortunate - but on the scale of misfortune that's out there, very low.

Edited March 22, 2020 by The_Big_M

[l1222]

This is disappointing but good to know.  In the cancelling of our Australia cruise and adventure, I worried about a few things like this.  We had tickets to "La Traviata", in the harbor, staged by the Sydney Opera House, bought through them.  After one short email, they refunded immediately, less a small fee.  I will remember this.  We haven't given up on Australia and hope to go someday.

[lexmiller]

2 hours ago, l1222 said:

This is disappointing but good to know.  In the cancelling of our Australia cruise and adventure, I worried about a few things like this.  We had tickets to "La Traviata", in the harbor, staged by the Sydney Opera House, bought through them.  After one short email, they refunded immediately, less a small fee.  I will remember this.  We haven't given up on Australia and hope to go someday.

We had booked tickets for a tour of the Opera House, and though they were "nonrefundable", they very quickly and honorably refunded the money to us, due to the pandemic crisis restrictions.  BUT, still, NOT the Sydney Bridge Climb.....

[Aus Traveller]

5 hours ago, lexmiller said:

We had booked tickets for a tour of the Opera House, and though they were "nonrefundable", they very quickly and honorably refunded the money to us, due to the pandemic crisis restrictions.  BUT, still, NOT the Sydney Bridge Climb.....

Maybe you should contact the Sydney Bridge Climb company and ask, with the restrictions announced by the Australian government that could extend for six months, will they be able to provide the tour you booked for next month. If not, they should refund.

[Aus Traveller]

The Sydney Bridge Climb Company website has the following message:

BridgeClimb is temporarily closed until further notice

BridgeClimb has taken the step to close its operations to join the efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Australia. See media statemen

It is a heartbreaking time, and we’re so sorry to all climbers who were hoping to see us soon. For all climbers currently booked to Climb, a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly – we ask for your patience as we are of course experiencing a high volume of calls and emails.

***Stay connected***

Through the current sadness, we are excited to look ahead to when we can re-welcome all to BridgeClimb again and would love to stay in touch with you in the meantime!  (end of quote)

 

There is provision for you to enter your email address for them to contact you. They are obviously closed following the restrictions brought in by the government on Sunday. Now that they CANNOT provide the service you paid for, they should refund your money.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Aus Traveller

[NSWP]

I just read their media statement, they are either very tight or going broke or both.  Any decent company should give a refund.  

[Aus Traveller]

7 hours ago, lexmiller said:

We had booked tickets for a tour of the Opera House, and though they were "nonrefundable", they very quickly and honorably refunded the money to us, due to the pandemic crisis restrictions.  BUT, still, NOT the Sydney Bridge Climb.....

I read Les' comment about the BridgeClimb company.

 

To Lexmiller - Presumably you paid for the Bridge Climb by a credit card. How long ago? If it wasn't too long, can you appeal this through your bank on the grounds of "non-supply of services".

[lexmiller]

13 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I read Les' comment about the BridgeClimb company.

 

To Lexmiller - Presumably you paid for the Bridge Climb by a credit card. How long ago? If it wasn't too long, can you appeal this through your bank on the grounds of "non-supply of services".

Yes, thank you, we have done that.  Our card says though that this may take several months, as the funds can go back and forth, before it's definitely settled - we contest the charge, then Bridge Climb can contest, so on and so forth.  But thank you so much for the advice as frankly until this situation, we've never had a problem and we did not immediately consider this option.

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, lexmiller said:

Yes, thank you, we have done that.  Our card says though that this may take several months, as the funds can go back and forth, before it's definitely settled - we contest the charge, then Bridge Climb can contest, so on and so forth.  But thank you so much for the advice as frankly until this situation, we've never had a problem and we did not immediately consider this option.

You can stop worrying now.  The money will eventually get returned to your credit card!

[MicCanberra]

Good result.

 

[lexmiller]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

You can stop worrying now.  The money will eventually get returned to your credit card!

 

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Yes, thank you, we have done that.  Our card says though that this may take several months, as the funds can go back and forth, before it's definitely settled - we contest the charge, then Bridge Climb can contest, so on and so forth.  But thank you so much for the advice as frankly until this situation, we've never had a problem and we did not immediately consider this option.

Well that would be great, but our credit card co said that BridgeClimb can contest us - they can argue, that they don't have to give us our money back - as technically, they don't - so the money can go back and forth on the card a few times.......I have also filed two consumer complaints, thanks to the suggestion of an earlier poster.

ALSO - I just saw, a climber fell 10 m down a ladder on the bridge this past Saturday, suffering head and spinal injuries!  It sounds that he will be ok, thank heavens!

[lexmiller]

On 3/21/2020 at 7:45 PM, MMDown Under said:

$675.95 - Bridge Climb should be ashamed.  Didn't the Government just change the company which runs the Bridge Climbs.  The Government needs to contact this company ASAP and insist they are to give full cash refunds to people who can no longer climb because of the virus. 

 

Possum52 - Your daughter should insist on a cash refund.  Credit expiring end of June (3months) is a joke!  

I had to cancel my Melbourne accommodation booked for next week because the Melbourne Garden Show and everything else had been cancelled.  I had a non refundable, non cancellation, non transferable accommodation booking through a wholesaler, so thought I had buckleys getting my money back for accommodation as well as flights.  I phoned stating I had to cancel because of the virus.  The operator said it was up to the hotel whether they would give a refund, but please hold on while I phone them.  When she got back on the line, she said the money has been refunded to my credit card.  I had to hold back the tears, I was so happy.  Both airlines gave me vouchers with no fees, to use for future flight bookings, which is OK as I'll be flying to Melbourne again.  

When my girlfriend tried to cancel her flight bookings through a wholesaler, she was told $ for this $ for that, etc.  I suggested she phoned back, as cancellation fees were being relaxed because of the virus.  She ended up having no fees, loss of points, etc.  She was also very happy.

Possum 52 - Moral of story is to phone again and put something in writing if you are not successful!

 

lex miller - Write to Bridge Climb and let them know, if you don't get a full refund, you will be putting in a claim in writing, with Consumer Affairs.  You have to do that in writing, then you can put a claim in to Consumer Affairs in writing.  (You can speak with them on the phone first.)  When I did that once, I had a phone call a few days later on a Sunday that a full refund would be paid. YES!!

Thank you so much for the advice about Consumer Affairs - I submitted two consumer complaints - one with the ACCC - Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and one with the NSW Fair Trading.