For many years, I have always taken to the ritual of going to local area Haunted Houses or "Spook Alleys" as they are called in my area. For many years I have visited some very well done attractions. However, over the last several years the quality of these attractions have let's say fallen down the well. Several weeks ago I visited an attraction that I had heard of a few times but never went to. "The Castle Of Chaos" is located in South Salt Lake City, Utah and for reasons completely unknown to me, was voted one of the scariest attractions in the United States by The Travel Channel.
I went with several friends and after arriving at the location, the true chaos began. Their line queue was completely in disarray. Hundreds of people standing in line and many of them don't even know what line they were standing in. The inside attraction area didn't offer much hope either. Instead of building a suspenseful attraction that could be enjoyed by many family members, they construct a complicated mess of tight tunnels, pipes to crawl through, filthy walls and floors, and top it off with every cheap thrilled rubber cadaver gag you could find at a going out of business novelty shop.
Now I know what many are thinking. These things are not designed for people who have finished puberty. However, I saw many guests of all ages entering this disaster. What happened to the good old fashioned suspense and scare? I wish it would come back. I also just recently visited "The Haunted Village". This attraction is located among the many acres of "This Is The Place State Park". While last years village was a complete thrill and literally nailed it into the coffin at every turn, this year was not so fortunate. They removed many of the elements that made last year so successful.
What I am getting to with all of this, is businesses begin to disconnect with their clientele. Many companies will become complacent with the status quo and begin to settle for second best. They also do not take kindly to criticism. When I contacted the Castle Of Chaos I was completely ignored and blown off. However, that was not the case with the Haunted Village. They welcomed my remarks and responded in kind to them. They even admitted that my voice was not the only one that remarked at the changes and that this will help them do better next year.
It's important to remember that in your business, organization, or job, you learn how to deal with and correct problems when you receive guest or customer complaints. Now even though I didn't have the best of time at The Haunted Village do you think I will speak poorly about them? "No!" They made the attempt to correct the situation, and we both parted company satisfied. That won't be the same with the Castle Of Chaos. I wouldn't send business their way even if it were the last Haunted Attraction on earth!
Remember this lesson! It's far more expensive to attract new customers than it is to retain old ones.
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