James W.

Are you a thrill seeker? Do you enjoy the thrill of getting tangled in a confusing service cancellation process, being assessed late payment fees for no good reason, and possibly being turned over to collections or running the risk of a bad credit rating? Then, I recommend that you buy Six Flags membership pass.

Six Flags' Fright Fest arrived early for me, when I saw what a nightmare it was to cancel my 6 Six Flags passes. After one full year of meeting monthly payment obligations, I satisfied the eligibility requirement to request a cancellation of the memberships. I submitted my request around a week prior to the appropriate date (July 5th), and received an email stating that the cancellations would be getting processed.

Unfortunately, there was a strange hiccup. On July 5th, for one final transaction, the credit card on file in their payment system was declined. The facts are that this card is not expired, is and was completely paid down, and it has been successfully used to process transactions with other vendors before and after July 5th. However, at a critical moment, this card failed to function for Six Flags.

Of course, it would make sense for Six Flags to quickly reach out to me to resolve this matter. Instead of doing that Six Flags started a 10 day timer. If I didn't resolve the matter from my end, Six Flags was permitted by its own rules to charge me a $10 late fee for each pass and to withhold $20 deposits made for each pass. (6 x $10= $60, and 6 x $20=$120.) This is what happened. So, instead of receiving a return of $120 for refundable deposits, I have been charged $180.

Six Flags provides limited means for you to dispute a transaction. A chatbot is the first and most obvious resource. Phone messages that insinuate a collections process refer to a webpage that only leads to a "Page Not Found" error message. Voicemail is available, but there is no telling when or if it will be answered. Email generates a canned response that can't seem to clarify matters. After days of trying to settle this matter once and forevermore, I finally achieved what was once thought to be impossible: I discovered the Six Flags phone line, where I could connect with a live human. (This was found somewhere in the depths of help pages.) I have now verified with a support agent that the cancellations will be finally be processed and that no further charges would be assessed.

Refunds for the late fees and deposits simply cannot occur, according to Six Flags' own rules.

To be completely honest, I can live with these charges. After all, the park has always offered an insanely good value. What I cannot live with is ever returning to Six Flags again. There exists the specter of a future nightmare hanging in the air. Six Flags has no incentive to make things right, and numerous incentives to make things wrong.