Adventure Balloons Avis 

first flight booked 29/6/22. seven more attempts made
last one was 21/8/23. after that we thought we would wait for good weather in 2024. asked for refund . was told not possible .advised to rebook. rebooked only to be told i was to late as voucher time had ran out and i would have to pay £50 extra to rebook. emailed them on 17 july to ask for explanation how it was not my fault that flights were cancelled. No one from broadland balloons has had the good manners to reply to my request. may be because what they are doing could be classed as dishonesty. i agree with the other reviews. Stay away from broadland balloons . they will willingly take your money but not give it back if they cancel. someone has that money for nothing. communication is virtually none excitant. Avoid this experience and keep your money.

Brought this as a gift. Flight was cancelled numerous times, then they sold our booking to virgin balloons. Unable to book and refused any refund. Vouchers now expired despite best efforts on my side. Actually believe this is a scam. Disappointing. Booked with a different company and got the flight that week... Avoid

Really bad. Got this as an expensive birthday gift from friends but every time I tried to book it was cancelled until the voucher expired and I wasn’t allowed to extend without paying them even more money!

Strongly suggest avoiding and going with someone more reputable.

Wish I could give a 0 awful company and even worse customer service. Bought a voucher for my mum and a +1 so spent over £200 with this company and they never even got to use it what a waste of money!! No one is even trying to rectify or help and now they don't even own it anymore! We had 5 or 6 bookings which all got cancelled due to "weather conditions" but one of these dates was fine so they could have gone up. The season then ended and they said they was going to rearrange for the spring after bur they're now saying it has expired and not being at all helpful!! Don't even waste your money. Absolutely SHOCKING and a waste of an awful lot of money which I really can't afford to lose.

Absolutely disgusting customer service. People need to be aware that any vouchers purchased prior to Dec 2022 from this company that they have now sold part of their business to Virgin, you only find this out when you go to book. They are not contactable by phone and their email address is not valid, they have not contacted any of their existing customers to advise them. I have tried to obtain a refund as I did not choose to fly with Virgin and I wish to seek alternatives with other companies. They are refusing a full refund and want to charge admin fees, for what? They are no longer offering the service you have paid for and fob you off with ‘their reasons’ which are not valid in my opinion. Buyer beware, read the poor reviews and fly with an alternative comapany.

Dedicated team who have their customers best interests at heart. The experience was amazing and I would highly recommend. Thanks team!

Brilliant flight with Gavin from Hickstead. Had 3 cancelled previously due to weather, but following Gavins advice booked a am trip. Bit of a faff not knowing if you fly until 11pm for a 6am flight but it is what is, safety first. Gavin was brilliant, the flight so smooth and we were all very hands on during the experience. Felt very safe at all times and well informed. A great experience well executed. Thank you all.

An absolute joke company. Avoid. They’ll take your money, cancel your bookings and not refund you. Please, don’t waste your time or money.

It’s virtually impossible to get through via phone. Because the website is difficult to navigate for bookings you’ll need to call. That’s the first frustration you’ll likely experience..

You have a year to book your flight, but what they don’t make clear enough is that if they cancel your flight and your flight passes it’s original expiry date (even after booking) you don’t get a refund. But wait, there’s more. You can pay MORE money to extend the booking window.. yippee..

I also forgot to mention, if you’re lucky enough to book your flight early, then you get up to 12 months of their cancellations before you can get a free booking extension. But you have to earn 5+ cancellation stamps first.. it’s a cracking deal! Buy 5 cancellations, get 1 booking extension free.. or maybe more extensions for free, until they’re not free anymore.. and that’s when they start requesting money to buy more cancellation opportunities.. Sorry my mistake, booking extensions..

So what has my money got me? Well, simply put, Nothing. I have lost my money, not had a balloon flight and been left feeling like I’ve been proper scammed..

I will not recommend them to friends, family, not friends and not family. And I certainly hope enough people read this review of my experience and take their money elsewhere.

If you’re considering buying a flight, and reading this because you’re not sure, I urge you to listen to your gut and bin the idea. Or at the very least continue reading other negative reviews left by others before opening your wallet. Then take at least another 24 hours to make sure you can afford the financial loss.. In hindsight, I wish I’d followed the advice of others.

@Adventure Balloons - Just do right by people. If you can’t fulfil the service purchased then pay the money back. I’m sure you’d expect the same if you were in our shoes! Shoes that are firmly on the ground and not in a basket high up in the sky.

A very disappointing experience, that was just the booking, e mails and cancellations. We never actually flew anywhere. It had to be booked as the company demanded a further payment of £140.00! for administration.
So a flight was booked. We had to wait until 11.00 p.m. for confirmation that it would fly, then we had little time to drive nearly 150 miles.
This booking was made by a family member as a birthday treat for my husband after a cancer diagnosis.
What was supposed to be a wonderful experience was nothing more than turmoil and disppointment.

Voucher purchased in 2018. Flights cancelled by company: 14/6/18; 2/7/18; 26/7/18; 13/8/18; 14/9/18; 28/9/18; 14/5/19; 21/5/19; 19/7/19; 15/8/19; 3/9/19; 23/9/19; 9/10/19. Covid disruption. Several unanswered emails (they answer reviews here more than emails, and I will not be wasting time looking at their response, they have already robbed me of enough time and money). In one unanswered email I asked dated 15/3/21 I asked if the company was still operating and had no response!
Post-pandemic, as with the reviewer below, I was told I could not renew (despite this being MID-flying season, so grey area re their own T&C) as I had not tried to book. Tried to persuade them to allow the renewal by booking (the only flight available was in Kent not local to me) which they did (otherwise they wanted to charge £140 extra to renew my voucher). I had to wait until 11pm to find out if it was flying or not. Sod's law: it was to fly. By this point I was just so fed-up with the company that I decided I didn't want to go. By this time I'd read the bad reviews on here and decided the company were unprofessional, so the balloon ride would probably be a shambles too.
I didn't even bother to tell them that I'd completely given up on them. "Even the attempt to communicate would be weaponised as an 'extra fee'" I thought!
The emotional toll of booking and re-booking, having unanswered emails, being threatened with not having your voucher renewed is just not worth it. Originally this had been a present for my father and I have never regretted buying anything as much as this voucher.
Clearly the company are unethical given the number of dreadful reviews they receive. There's even a community of people (which I've joined) on Facebook called 'Ripped off by Adventure Balloons UK'
I strongly urge anybody who is considering buying a balloon trip with this company to reconsider. They will "take you for a ride" (but only metaphorically, of course).

Received a voucher before Covid and tried to book several times. All cancelled due to weather. Now I'm told the voucher has expired and 'that's it'. I acknowledge that in the small print it says that you need to try 5 times to retain the voucher but there is no consideration for Covid or limited availability of flights in my area. Terrible service. Wish I'd looked at Trustpilot before choosing this company as there are multiple similar issues. I will try to get my moneyback from the Voucher Company as there is no hope with Adventure Balloons.

Amazing experience. Pilot was polite & very informative. Good explanation of instructions. Floated from Hop Farm in Kent. Able to see for miles. So peaceful & feel like your looking down on to a model railway set. Would definitely do it again.

Please read the negative reviews!!! 6th attempt at booking for tommorow morning 18th July 22 and has yet been cancelled due to strong winds!! Have already paid an extra 80 pounds to extend the voucher

Shocking customer service.

Flight cancelled due to adverse weather conditions (which happens) and because the voucher we have will expire before any other flights we are unable to re-book - without paying a substantial amount on top of what has already been paid.

Probably the least customer-centric response I have ever seem from an organisation. Appalling way to treat customers

After several cancellations due to weather, my husband and myself were able to complete the experience as It was a birthday gift from 2 years ago.
The wait was definitely worth it, the whole experience was amazing from start to finish. The weather was beautiful. The setting up and deflation of the balloon added to the experience. The pilot ( gavin) was very professional, friendly and put us at ease all throughout the flight. He gave clear instruction on what was to be done before and after.
Thankyou for a wonderful experience on the champagne sunrise flight.

My parents organised the balloon flight as a birthday gift.

After a cancelled flight or 2, it was all set to go. I can honestly say without any exaggeration, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

The pilot Gavin, was excellent and everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing from start to finish. Gavin was friendly, professional and really made the flight a memorable experience.
One of the surprise aspects was actually helping with the balloon inflation and packing away which I personally loved and I thought added to the whole experience.

I could not recommend these guys highly enough, and I have subsequently purchased this as a return gift for my folks.

Thanks again guys!

Chris

Finally flew with Justin and Bill and it was well worth the wait. Due to COVID and the UK weather I have had my voucher extended a couple of times. The balloon flight started in Tring and the whole experience was fun, safe and most enjoyable. Helping before and after was a laugh too. Thanks for a great flight

Fantastic experience with adventure balloons! Absolutely lovely crew, beautiful views, super friendly and so much fun getting involved with setting up/ packing away. Everyone should book their flight with adventure balloons!

Fantastic morning and great fun from greeting to departure. The pilot was brilliant, I was so impressed with the landing skimming across pea crops and popping the balloon down 5 feet from the edge.

BEWARE THIS COMPANY IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE AND YOU WILL GET RIPPED OFF.!!
68% negative feedback says it all.
Also, the positive feedback are clearly 'plants' by their own staff or family members.
A company run by faceless and cowardly scumbags.
A complete joke of a 'company'
Been trying to book this for almost 5 years, always cancelled, supposedly due to bad weather, which may have been the case where they are based but has never been the case in Essex, where we were meant to be flying from.
Then after almost 5 years, they now say they don't fly from anywhere in Essex and we must travel over 100 miles to their nearest flying area. This is not possible due to work commitments and children,
So, they were informed of this and basically said 'tough sh#t'.
Then they try to pass the buck to Red Letter days, even though they already have the money.
So, trading standards and now onto them, as are my own legal representatives.
They moved the goal posts after they have received the money and not issuing a refund is fraud.
So if you are an idiot, then book with this shambolic, gutless shower of crap.
If you are sensible and only like to deal with real people who understand customer service then avoid this bunch of fraudsters like the plague.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, USE A PROPER COMPANY !!!