The Executive Director and General Manager of Doc's Friends, Inc. is a liar and a crook.

On Monday July 24th, my family and I attended Oshkosh Airventure 2023 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The B-29 called Doc had been flying over the Oshkosh airport throughout the day. Around 1:30pm, I stopped by the booth selling rides in the B-29 Doc. I asked if they had tickets available and the Excutive Driector of Doc's Friends (refeered to hereafter as "ED") stated that they have 5:30pm tickets available for that day. I said we would be attending the airshow that afternoon and I wasn't sure if it would be over in time to make a 5:30pm flight. ED stated that the airshow would be over around 4pm and I would have plenty of time to make the 5:30pm flight. With this information I told ED I would like to purchase 3 tickets for the 5:30pm flight. I handed the ED my credit card to complete the purchase. At this time, ED apparently went to an etix.com website, entered my credit card information, fraudulently accepted etix.com's terms, conditions, and refund policy on my behalf, and completed a purchase.

After ED handed my card back, he stated I needed to arrive at 4:30pm to catch a shuttle to another airport for the B-29 ride. This was the first mention that the B-29 did not depart from the airport we were located at and that the B-29 had been flying over. ED also stated that he would immediately email all the details for the flight. As of 1:58pm, I had not received an email from ED, only an automated email from etix.com stating I had purchased tickets for the B-29 ride. There was no contact information for Doc's Friends Inc other than the email xxxxxx@b29doc.com. At 1:58 I emailed xxxxxx@b29doc.com the following:

I have the below 3 tickets for a flight at 5:30. I received an email from etix.com but no other information. Can you send any additional information I need to this email?

At 4:04pm I had not received any response to my email and I sent the following email:

I bought these tickets from a person with your organization that told me today’s air show would be over around 4pm. It’s 4pm and the air show is not over. I would like to reschedule our B-29 ride to another time that does not conflict with the air show. Please respond to my email or call me at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.

Thanks,
Wes Reeves

At 4:18pm, I received the following email from ED:

Hello, Wes;

Unfortunately, I cannot control the air show schedule and we do not build our ride flight schedule around the air show schedule. I am not able to reschedule your flight at this time. You will need to check at the B-29 desk at 4:30 for the shuttle to Appleton.

-ED

The walk from where my family and I were seated at the air show was at least 20 minutes from the shuttle pickup location, so there was no feasible way to make the 4:30 shuttle time.

On the b-29doc.com website, there were many tickets available later the same day, as well as the following days and I would have been satisified if ED had at least attempted to reschedule the tickets I had purchased. Through a phone call, Josh refused to reschedule or give me a refund. At that point, I opened a dispute with my credit card company stating all of the above.

ED responded to my dispute with the credit card company stating that I had purchased these tickets online and I agreed to the "no refund" policy when I purchased the tickets. He also included screenshots from etix.com showing where "I" (which was actually Josh fraudulently checking boxes on my behalf) had accepted the refund policy.

The B-29 is an incredible aircraft and an amazing part of WW2 history. Unfortunately, there are only two B-29s still flying and one of them is managed by an organization under the leadership of a bad actor. Given the age and complexity of the B-29, I hope the maintenance on Doc is held to a much higher standard than the organizations Executive Director.

We missed the airshow on Monday.....and were on the bus for Appleton at 3:00pm. It was a nice ride on Doc.

What would have happened if you were at the pick up point at 4:30. Did they fly st 5:30?

It was our first Airventure and my 11 year-old has dreamt of seeing the F-22 (his favorite airplane) fly since we saw it on static display at the Reno Air Races several years ago. There was an F-22 demo during the Monday airshow he did not want to miss. We were there until Thursday, so riding Doc another day would have been feasible. I would have bought tickets for another date/time if the ticket seller who happened to be the Executive Director of the organization hadn't lied to me about what time the airshow would end. Even a simple response of "I don't know what time the airshow will be over." would have prevented me from buying tickets for the time I did.

We would have missed most of the airshow and, presumably, been on a shuttle to another airport to ride on the B-29.

We would have missed most of the airshow and, presumably, been on a shuttle to another airport to ride on the B-29.

There was no mention of a refund policy until I protested the charge with my credit card company and no mention of a shuttle until after I purchased the tickets. In hindsight, I think ED was having a hard time selling tickets that would require missing the airshow, so he went full "used car salesman" and lied to make a sale.

So you bought a ticket for a time and then based on your own other priorities couldn’t make the time you bought a ticket for, and that makes the other guy a liar and crook?

Did you think the B29, that you knew wasn’t even flying out of that airport, controlled the airshow? If so how did you think it controlled the air show at another airport?


Sounds to me like you bought something without thinking it out and now it’s everyone else’s fault, I’d imagine people like you are the reason for the no refunds policy


To me the only fault of the B29 was not just telling you to buy the ticket yourself online and helping you out by doing it for you, I’d wager he did all this directly in-front of you?
I’d also go out on a limb and say if he handed you the phone or tablet to fill out you would have also checked all the boxes needed to complete the sale and book your ticket?


You messed up, instead of calling another man a liar and crook maybe just use this as a learning experience for your son so he can see dad taking personal responsibility and the effects of changing schedules, vs dad calling names and blaming others

If you read what I wrote above, and your conclusion is that the behavior of the vendor was acceptable, please state your occupation and business so everyone can decide if they would like to do business with you.

It looks like the refund policy is transparent
https://www.b29doc.com/rides/#faqs

You avoid companies that take personal responsibility for their mistakes, while at the same time you want the B29 to take responsibility for YOUR mistake??

What do you think happens if they sell 20 tickets, 10 people flake out, they should refund the tickets and just have empty unpaid seats on the B29, or should they cancel the flight for the 10 who showed up when they said they would?
Do you have any idea what it costs per hour to operate a B29??




You bought the ticket and through no fault of the B29 missed your flight, full stop


Take some responsibility

Teach your son what a man does when he makes a mistake, it’s sooo easy to play the “I never make a mistake” BS, it is a much better example to be honest and show how a man handles his own screw up, in this case not even a major one, how one handles their own screw up is more telling and impressive

The vendor did everything appropriately. You screwed up by booking without thinking it through, researching the policies, and considering that no air show schedule is written in ink. You then blame your mistakes on someone else, try to get out of the financial obligations you agreed to, and then come here and make some nasty accusations that are not even backed up by your side of the story, let alone his.

If you were hoping for some sympathy, you are in the wrong place Karen.

The daily air show schedule for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023 has been set. AirVenture’s daily air shows feature a wide variety of performances from the world of flight — precision aerobatics, military big iron, rare and unique flying examples, and history coming alive. The daily schedule is subject to change at any time without notice.

Scheduled start was 2:15 4:30 would have been a good guess for ending,

I've made plenty of mistakes in my life. Thinking a person wouldn't intentionally lie to me while selling B-29 rides is one of them.

I'm not here for sympathy. I'm simply alerting others of my experience.

Most of us believe he told you what he believed to be true. He may not have guessed correctly. Good thing you did not come for sympathy cuz little or none is coming your way.
You chose to not app ar at the appointed time, end of story,