Discussion Not so good experience with Windsure but great customer service from Grooster

Back in June I purchased Grooster passes for windsurfing and booked a date later in the summer.

So we drove 45 minutes to the Jericho Sailing area, paid for parking and waited. There was only one staff member at the counter and she was rushing back and forth trying to answer questions from different patrons.

6:00 PM - no news yet, but the girl ensures that we'll get our full 2 hours.

At around 6:30 pm or 6:40 pm, way after the class was supposed to start, the staff member comes back and tells us that our instructor got sick and is throwing up. These things happen so it's totally understandable, but I would expect there to be relief instructors, especially after paying for parking and waiting around for over half an hour.

The worker tells us that she can extend the Grooster passes to October 1 no problem. I inquire about a refund or a possible discount and she says no, it's against their policy. At this point, I think a refund is more than reasonable.

We tried to go again a few times, but they've always been fully booked. Turns out that practically every other group buy site in Vancouver had a deal for Windsure. Groupon alone sold over 1000, so it was almost impossible to get a date that would work for my group. September was no good either, the weather was unpredictable and often sucked. Most people had work and/or school.

I emailed Windsure AND Grooster with my predicament. Windsure replied restating their no refund policy, but they said they'll extend my passes to the next summer. I didn't want a credit hanging around for a year, especially when it was intended to be used 2-3 months ago.

Grooster talked to Windsure on my behalf and got a similar response. However, Grooster returned all of my money anyway AND gifted a $30 Grooster Pass for Bistro Pastis for my troubles.

So even though Grooster's policy is that there's no refund or exchanges, contact them anyway as they seem more than reasonable to accommodate.