I’ve had one of my worst experiences in the last week ever in dealing with Universal Orlando. When I bought my pass last year I opted to do the FlexPay program - it wasn’t even a month before I realized that was a mistake but the gravity of the situation didn’t become as evident as it did in the cancellation process… Actually, I didn’t want to cancel but… Well.
So halfway through my 12 month term I upgraded to premier at the park… I paid the difference of the 2 passes in full and then just continued to pay the monthly payment for the power pass that I initially got… I had thought that the excess paid would be credited – it wasn’t. That wasn’t the really upsetting thing… The notification that my 12 month term was up was realized when my credit card was charged $80. In calling customer service to cancel they initially told me that I was unable to cancel because I entered a new 12 month term and I’d be able to cancel in November 2024… I told them that’s not what was indicated when I signed up because, as I understood out, I was in month to month terms. My ultimate goal was to cancel the Flex Pay but renew (at the renewal rate) a Power Pass via a one time payment… I was told I can only do that if I stop by guest services… An absolutely unreasonable thing to ask of anyone but especially someone that lives numerous states away. Incredibly the company that always had one of the best customer service teams of any major theme park became just like Comcast (who would have thought, huh?) and clearly didn’t care in the slightest about their guest… I was told to just keep my pass active until I could visit again… Absolutely not an option at the higher prices.
In the end I was forced to cancel my pass… But Comcast Universal had one last trick up their sleeve. You can’t cancel FlexPay over the phone… It has to be done in writing and you are responsible for continuing to pay until they get around to canceling your pass which meant I ended up paying another $80 payment.
All said and done I completely pissed away $160 and received absolutely nothing in return… And if/when I want another pass I have to pay full price.
As much as I love Universal these little Comcast games keep creeping in… I suppose it’s been a miracle that Universal survived as long as they did without Comcast dictating stuff but it feels like that’s starting to change with this and the mandatory mobile ordering (requiring you to install an app that hoards data from your phone).
I actually thought about locking my card but was worried they’d give me issues if I get another pass and they hold it against me.
TBF the email wasn’t like a huge deal but it was the fact that they intentionally delay it. I should have done it sooner but the whole point was I didn’t actually want to outright cancel - I wanted to renew at a lower level but that’s where they said I couldn’t because I had already been automatically renewed into a new premier pass and couldn’t change that without going to guest services in person. As it was explained to me I can only change levels before the renewal date if I want to do it over the phone… The only thing you can do when your in month to month is cancel.
Honestly I don’t even think Six Flags ever pulled that kind of bullshit with their memberships. I’m still furious that $160 just is gone… That’s an entire month’s electric bill for me.