Beware: bad business practices; borderline false advertising. "Highway robbery" would not be too inaccurate to describe this outfit. Multiple layers of false pretenses.
For starters, the company "South Park ATV" promotes a website showing ATV'ers in a deeply wooded and mountainous area, fording a shallow stream. This is NOT what you will do. South Park ATV will immediately sub out ATV booking to another company, "American Safari Ranch" which this review is mostly based on.
Once reservations are solidified, they do not tell you your time is the start time of your ATV tour. This is misleading, because if you pay for 90 minutes, there is about 30 minutes of liability waiver paperwork, helmet fitting, ATV familiarization to do before the tour actually begins. They don't tell you your ATV tour time includes this administrative necessity.
Upon arrival at our reservation time, our group arrived at a very authentic looking "dude ranch". Our group wasn't greeted by anyone who could check us in and complete the paperwork or check out helmets or take payment. Instead, some of the tour group leaders were just mingling around and nonchalantly went to get the manager who could start our check in.
Pay attention to the negotiated price. Online and on the white board behind the counter, 90 minute tours are listed at $85. The manager told us the price was $95. When initially rebutted citing the website price and price told to us over the phone, again, he said the price was $95. When we pointed out the board behind him said the 90 minute tour was $85, the manager didn't apologize, however stated he was just a simple cowboy and doesn't work a cash register very much. This is the only person allowed to work the register, and concerning.
While our credit cards were being ran, the ranch hands/tour leads began cleaning our goggles. Again, something one would expect to have been ready to go for an appointment. Understandable if we had been a "walk in" group, but this was not the case.
Once all the admin was complete and everyone was escorted to the ATV's, take note of the last inspection date. Most ATV's will be last inspected in 2013, with anywhere between 3000-6000 miles on them, and every one will display the "oil change" reminder light. After a familiarization ride inside the ATV corral, that will probably take 10 minutes, you will depart for your tour.
This is where things get fun. You will not be led anywhere that even closely resembles anything on South Park ATV's website. Instead, you will be led in a couple laps in the field around the dude ranch, at speeds not to exceed 10 mph, in a single file line, with a ranch hand tour guide in the front and in the rear. After these painfully boring laps, you will be led across the road into the field across from the dude ranch. Nothing else changes, and you will still not exceed 10 mph, nor venture out on your own along the ATV trails. The entire ride will only take around 15 minutes, and the remainder of time is spent on a loop that you will get very familiar with that takes about 5 minute to complete. After five or six laps on this loop, you might get lined up for a photo op. Again, you might get a couple more laps on this loop, all following the leader at 10 mph max, even on smooth flat terrain. At a couple points, some ATV's stopped working, and ranch hands had to tend to their maintenance. One completely ran out of fuel and needed to be abandoned.
Then your ranch hands will lead you back to the ATV corral and call it a day. Since our appointment was for 3:30pm, and a 90 minute ATV tour, we were returned to the ATV corral at just before 5pm. After pointing out we had paid for a 90 minute ATV tour, and several rounds with the main tour guide about how he can't authorize any time past 5pm, despite only riding around in what would bore an 8 year old to death for less than one hour, he conceded, and consulted his manager. Since one ATV was abandoned on the trail, and was in need of fuel, they agreed to let us accompany them to retrieve it and fulfill the remaining 30 minutes we had paid for.
All things considered, the underhandedness of the management of these companies cannot be ignored. From taking up tour time with nonchalant administrative paperwork, to blatantly trying to overcharge, these cowboys are only concerned with taking as much money from you for as little effort as they can get away with. read more
