South Downs ballooning

Do not pay up front and book a trip with this company without reading and accepting that the terms and conditions will be rigourously applied.My partner booked me a trip as a Birthday present. After two summers of repeated postponements due to unsuitable weather conditions, during which time I volunteered to go from any launch site at any time, I was given a date but was unable to fly due to a cycling accident which resulted in several cracked ribs. At which point I lost my booking due to short notice cancellation. I was told I would be placed on a reserve list to fly at short notice but have heard nothing since.My partner and I both found this company to be unhelpful and curt to the point of rudeness. We could not recommend them.

Do not pre pay for a balloon ride or you may be disappointed. My wife booked a surprise balloon ride with South Downs ballooning in June 2017. For a number of reasons mainly associated with a terminal illness with a close family member we were not able to book a date until just before the voucher expired. My wife had telephoned the company earlier this year to apologise for the late booking and explaining the reason. When we did book a date, still before the expiry of the voucher, the company cancelled due to bad weather. We then received a curt text saying if you want to re book it will cost an extra £100 ( she had already paid £250 ) read our terms and conditions".I find the companies attitude disgraceful and would not recommend the experience to anyone. They should be ashamed of how they treat their clients and one wonders if this is their attitude how is their safety - do they cut corners?"

Please do not even consider booking with this company, we are going through a horrible horrible time at the moment with my son, its the thing that we never want to happen in our lives, I have asked for a refund telling him the reason why and he got back to me and asked me on what basis do I want a refund, then I had to tell him again and he emailed me back saying that he could appreciate how I was feeling, but to get back in touch next year to make another booking... as if i could think about balloon riding at a time like this, I did say to him that if you were that hard up to keep the money, then I thought blowed it .. why should a horrible man like that have our well earned money , when we could use it to try and make our son more comfortable.

Rude, abrupt and appalling attitude for customer service. I think Alan is in the wrong job as he seems to be miserable and uninviting despite running this business!Doesn’t deserve the trade and reading other comments makes me realise others feel the same.