THE QUESTION: I saw a story about a branch falling on a zip line, and I was wondering, how do I know if your trees are safe? PARK SPY
We try not to throw any curveballs in Park Spy missions (unless it’s a blatant screwball, of course, which we’re upfront about), and this question seemed uncomplicated to us considering, you know, lots of zip line tours travel past trees and stuff. And even if the most recent news cycle didn’t include an incident involving a branch (or tree) falling on a zip line, news of past incidents isn’t hard to find. Plus, branches fall on zip lines—sometimes harmless - ly, sometimes resulting in tragedy. The point is, many staffers reacted as if this question was a curveball when they simply could have eased the Spy’s concerns with some polite reassurance. A couple folks did that and scored high as a result. The rest, however, either got defensive or were rudely ignorant in response to the question. One may think we were talking to jaded, tired staffers in late October, not freshly trained employees with fresh attitudes in May. Been asked an interesting question this season? Send it to dave@adventureparkinsider.com for the Spy to pose to other parks! We won’t tell anyone the question came from you. Plus, if we use it, your park will be immune for that issue.
PARK #1, CA First Contact: Female. API: Stated question.
Staff: No problem, have a great day! Score: 4
Our manager is out on the course now, but I can have him give you a call. API: That would be great, thanks. ( gives contact information ) Staff: OK. Someone will be in touch. API: Thank you. Staff: Yep, goodbye. Score: 2 Comment: Interpersonal communication is clearly not her strength. It’s OK to not know the answer, but it’s not OK to act like you don’t need to know the answer. From her attitude, I feel like my contact information ended up in the garbage. PARK #3, MN First Contact: Male. API: Stated question. Staff: I never heard that story. Which park was that at?
Comment: Good to know they inspect daily and are highly regulated, but a more thorough explanation when talking to a worried customer was need- ed—and getting defensive, and being rude, was not OK. PARK #2, NJ First Contact: Female. API: Stated question. Staff: ( snippy ) What are you asking? API: I was wondering how you make sure your trees are safe for zip-liners? Staff: ( annoyed ) Oh, well, we do daily inspections. API: OK. What does that entail? Staff: I am not sure ( long pause …). I can see if someone here knows. ( on hold …)
Staff: Um, may I ask where you saw that? API: I just saw an article about it while I was browsing the internet. I can’t remember the park’s name.
Staff: ( annoyed ) What was that? API: I just saw it ( interrupted… ).
Staff: ( rude ) A news story? Well, that’s interest- ing. Um, so I can tell you that we go on a course inspection every single day before guests go out there. We are highly regulated. Our number one priority is safety here. Um, that’s really all I have to say about that. API: Great, thanks for explaining that. Staff: And I will be looking into that story so thanks for bringing it to my attention. API: Yeah, no problem. Staff: Can I help you with anything else today? API: No, that was it. Thank you.
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