Frequent Universal Studios Florida vacationer Victor bought a premier annual pass for $300, which gave him free kennel service and $50 upgrades from regular rooms to suites.

He says Universal pulled the red carpet out from under him by taking full advantage of the terms of service that dictate the benefits are “subject to change without notice.” When he called to make his reservations, he found the discount room upgrade and free kennel service are gone. He writes:

I am a premier annual pass holder for universal studios Florida. Me and my family vacation there often and stay on site. When I purchased my pass I did so to take advantage of the $50 upgrade to a suite from a basic room (this is at the Portofino). This advantage was a huge factor. Well, Today I called to make reservations and I was informed that this benefit was gone as well as the free kennel service. Now there was no $50 upgrade and the kennel was no longer free. It was only 50% off the kennel. I paid $300 for this pass and agreed to the terms at the time of purchase.

I understand that these soulless corporations probably put “subject to change without notice” under the benefits, but I still feel like its a slap in the face that people who are still traveling and spending money in this harsh economic climate are having the rug pulled out from under them on services they’ve already purchased. Talk about a bait and switch. These kind of unscrupulous business practices perhaps underly a slow shift away from trying to reward long time customers/benefactors and instead shift to a model that puts profit ahead of the entertainment , enjoyment, and overall experience of paying guests. This is borderline fraud in my mind. I figured that I’d let you in on this so that others know that if they enter into an agreement with universal studios they shouldn’t count on the terms staying what you initially paid for.

It seems Victor is well within reason to demand a refund. And since this is serious money we’re talking here, he might consider an Executive Email Carpet Bomb if he gets any guff. Any thoughts on what Victor might do to get his money back?

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