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A new class action lawsuit accuses SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment of failing to provide refunds on park passes after its parks were shut down due to coronavirus.
Janet Gurwell and Brad Sylvia, both of Suffolk, Va., filed the class action lawsuit after the sea life park failed to refund the cost of the monthly passes each had purchased.
Gurwell holds a monthly membership to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., and Tampa, Florida, both of which are owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, according to the SeaWorld class action lawsuit.
Gurwell says she pays about $20 per month to be able to access the parks whenever she wants. Similarly, Sylvia pays about $15 per month for his monthly parks membership, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.
The parks have been closed since March 16, shortly after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and President Donald Trump declared states of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No patrons have been allowed to enter the parks since they closed. Only recently has the sea life park company started to reopen the parks, according to the SeaWorld website.
Because the parks have been closed, Gurwell and Sylvia have been prevented from accessing the parks. However, the plaintiffs say, the company continues to charge their accounts with the full monthly membership amount.
The SeaWorld class action lawsuit claims that the defendant has not refunded any of the fees the plaintiffs have paid while the parks have been closed. Gurwell allegedly contacted the defendant for a refund but never received one.
Both plaintiffs signed up for the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment’s month-to-month membership plan believing they’d be able to access the parks on the dates provided by the defendant as indicated with the membership package, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit states.
Gurwell and Sylvia say that, had they known they wouldn’t have access to the parks, they wouldn’t have paid for the memberships or wouldn’t have paid for it on the same terms. The plaintiffs say they continue to be harmed by incurring monthly charges while the parks remain closed.
The annual memberships in question entitle members to use the parks whenever they want. But since the parks have been shut down, no member has been able to use the services they are paying for, even though the defendant is continuing to charge thousands of members monthly fees, the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.
The defendant has become unjustly enriched and “has willfully, falsely, and knowingly misrepresented that its Parks are accessible during certain days of the year,” the SeaWorld class action lawsuit says.
“However, Defendant in fact charges full price for annual memberships even when the Parks are closed to the public. These misrepresentations and omissions were made with knowledge of their falsehood.”
This is not the first class action lawsuit to be filed against SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment in relation to the company’s memberships.
In a similar case, plaintiff Lisa Kouball claims she pays almost $50 a month for four annual passes to SeaWorld.
After it was announced that SeaWorld would be closing, Kouball says she expected she wouldn’t have to pay for the memberships during the closure. However, she says she was charged the full monthly price of her memberships.
Kouball says she and other parks members are not getting the benefits of their annual passes due to the park closures, and therefore shouldn’t be forced to keep paying membership fees, her class action lawsuit argues.
Gurwell and Sylvia are pursuing a class action because they believe members of the proposed Class “number in the millions,” the complaint explains.
The plaintiffs say “the expense and burden of individual litigation would make it impracticable or impossible for Class members to prosecute their claims individually.”
In their SeaWorld class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs ask for an order stopping SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment’s “unfair, deceptive, misleading, and fraudulent practices;” actual damages in an amount to be determined at a jury trial, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at the maximum rate allowable by law; restitution or disgorgement in an amount to be determined at trial; treble and punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and costs; and any further relief deemed appropriate by the Court.
Read more about coronavirus lawsuits and legal issues in Top Class Actions’ complete guide.
Are you paying for a membership you are unable to use because of coronavirus business closures? We want to hear from you. Tell us your story in the comments.
Gurwell and Sylvia are represented by Jodie E. Buchman Esq. and Pierce C. Murphy Esq. of Silverman Thompson Slutkin White and Ryan J. Clarkson, Matthew T. Theriault, Bahar Sodaify and Zach Chrzan of Clarkson Law Firm PC.
The SeaWorld Parks Membership Class Action Lawsuit is Case is Janet Gurwell, et al. v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc., Case 2:20-cv-00312, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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29 thoughts onSeaWorld Class Action Seeks COVID-19 Refunds
Hi, we did not have season passes but were booked at discovery cove april 13, 2020. we had the 4 park option thru a 3rd party vender. we tried to get a refund since we had to book a specific day and they closed not us deciding to not go. Would we be able to be a part? The 3rd party vender got all our other tickets refunded but not these. We were denied a refund. Now when you look at discovery cove’s site it says they will refund new bookings. I called and asked the 3rd party vender if that meant if i booked and then canceled could i get a refund and they said no. its for new bookings. We have a heart transplant survivor, and 3 asthmatics in our party. It is to dangerous for us to reschedule.
We had a two (2) two-park passes. Both individuals for whom the passes were for high-risk individuals. Bush has taken over $200 of my funds. Due to our high-risk status, we will not return to the park or any entertainment venues until a vaccine is developed at minimal. I’ve asked for a refund and was told I can only receive two months refunded. That was over two months ago and I have yet to receive a refund. I wrote to Seaworld Headquarters requesting the entire amount deducted from my account in 2020 returned. I have yet to see any actions. Seaworld has lost a long-time member.
Can others join the class action suit?
I was paying for 3 platinum passes for BGWB. I cancelled the passes in May and they said I could only get a refund for 2 months. I called back in Juky because I had not received a refund. The person said I could get all 3 months back. I called today and was told that the second request was denied. I still have not received a refund for the 3 months for 3 passes and it has been almost 4 months.
I had a silver pass that I was paying monthly for and they continued to charge me both through the pandemic and after my year membership had passed. Without permission, they increased the monthly payment and kept charging me. After weeks of trying to get ahold of somebody to resolve the issue, they responded that they would look into why there was a pay increase and refused to refund the money they charged during ththe pandemic. Instead, they told me I’d get 4 months extended visits. Two months has gone by and they no longer respond to my e mails.
Hello im not sure where to turn. Just before covid we paid for bush gardens season tickets totalling in almost $600. We had been planning this trip for months and had everything set up from hotel to time off work. With us having 4 kids and on assistance this was the first time in 8 years we had a vacation planned. the day before our reservation Bush gardens shut down. We never got to use the passes and once my husband lost work from covid we needed that money back because obviously we were not going to be able to go to the park and with my husband out of a job we called for a refund. This was on APRIL 6TH 2020 They told me it was going to be up to 13 business days to get back witch i understand and agreed……. Fast forward to now. I have spoke to so many agents and waited countless hours on hold and all i get is that its coming…. We are going on 4 months!!! My family needs help . if there is anything you can do
for us we greatly appreciate it.
After being told the only way to cancel our passes was to pay them off, I had to argue for them to agree to a refund. I purchased a pass with 3 free months, then they said that I don’t have those months on top of giving me 3 “free” months (the months that I paid for when the park was closed.) I have the platinum passes and can use nothing on my pass but admission, even though I paid for extras. After agreeing to refund us and waiting 7 weeks at this point, they tell me to keep waiting. I’ve gone to the bank as well to see if there is anything that they can do and there isn’t.
My husband is Jacob Wilson, but I just had to add that our children have been miserably affected. They are 14,12,7, and 5. The passes were a gift to reward them for being strong after we PCSed (moved again, said goodbye to friends, etc.). We paid $500 outright for food passes which could have been used to buy a nice Game System, A multitude of books, board games, and other resources to keep their hands and minds busy. They deserve for the funds their parents rewarded them with to go toward their care and keeping while trapped at home. Not sitting here with little to do, miserable and bored because a callous company doesn’t have the heart to stop ripping $120 out of our account every month. We are fortunate that we have family that has heard how badly this has hit us, and have reached out to help. But they shouldn’t have had to. Busche Gardens should do the right thing! REFUND us, and STOP taking money for a park that isn’t open!
We are a military family of 6. Bought our passes and food pass in November as a splurge to delight our children. It was super expensive, but we felt it would be worth it for the kids sake. Then covid hit. We are STILL paying monthly through EZ pay and it’s devastating. We can’t buy our kids board games, or indoor entertainment because we have to keep paying for a park we can’t visit. We tried calling and begging Busche Gardens Williamsburg but they blatantly refused and didn’t seem to care. Our investment has turned into a nightmare.
Busch Gardens continues to charge my CC account $10.99 per month (auto-withdrawal). Opening it in June of 2019 with a deposit of $62, all the do us send emails saying, continuing this and adding to that (discounts and no blackout dates,, etc) But if I’m not going because of Pandemic…. what’s the point !!
Ohhh, add me to this action !!
These plaintiffs are laughably wrong in claiming Busch Gardens is enriching itself unjustly. In fact, Sea World is losing millions of dollars every day due to the governor overstepping his authority and refusing to allow theme parks to open. Busch Gardens has done what feels is best and extended passes for whatever amount of time the governor forced them to remain closed. Please do not blame Busch Gardens for the actions of our Governor. They are the big victim in this situation.