Chris S.
Yelp
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR YOUR MONEY! We signed up for the rafting trip down the Watauga River but never made it past signing our waivers. I had the extreme displeasure of meeting one of the guides that went by the name Jed (not to be confused with the owner Jeff Stanley). As my friend and I were walking to the bathroom Jed asked us where we were from and when we told him North Carolina he told us we looked like a couple of terrorists! To my surprise, and as the words slurred from Jed's lips, the two employees that were sitting next to Jed had zero reaction to his statement. They just sat there and let the whole incident occur without saying a word to stop it.
After telling Jed that wasn't cool I finished my trip to the bathroom and walked back toward the front to finish checking in. On my way Jed said he was only kidding about the terrorist comment, and in the same sentence asked again if we were! I just shook my head, disengaged, and continued on my way. Once all the waivers were signed our party made its way to the rear of the property where Jed and the other employees were gathered. Jed again tried to converse with me by asking question about where I was from, how we all knew each other, what schools we attended, etc. This wasn't just a "friendly, trying to get to know you" type of conversation. I felt like I was being screened for a background check.
Jed's demeanor continued to remain antagonistic and hostile, and when he said he was just trying to get a sense of who was going to be on his boat, I told him not to worry as I wouldn't be getting on any boat with him. Jed concurred and told me he was going to put me in a boat with one of the "retarded guides" (his words, not mine). At that point, already having been told we look like terrorists, and now Jed telling me he's going to put me in a boat with a "retarded guide", I told him we were cancelling our appointment and wanted a refund.
The driver of the bus, on his way out to the trip we were booked on, attempted to apologize to our group by informing us that was just the way they do things around there in good ole Elizabethton, TN. He said not to take it personally, that they just joke around by calling each other derogatory name like "hillbilly", "retard", or "terrorist". He concluded his apology by pointing his fingers directly at me and telling me I take things too seriously. WOW!!
The kicker to this whole incident is that when my friend called the main office to get a refund, the owner told him that he's not responsible for the actions of another employee and since we were attempting to cancel within 24 hrs of our trip that he couldn't give us a refund! Wow, 10 people at $50 a head . . .so basically, we paid them to ridicule and demean us.
As I write this review my friend is waiting to hear back from the credit card company to see what recourse he may have, since he put the whole trip on his card.