Detroit Zoo

Reviews 3

MC

mcdrew

I THINK THE ANIMALS COULD RUN THE GUEST SERVICES BETTER THAN THE EMPLOYEES. let me tell you what happened. last night my boyfriend bought himself and I tickets & parking passes online for the zoo today, August 22. he selected to have them printed at home. we were told on the confirmation page that there would be an email sent including our tickets in it. we went to sleep that night, thinking that we would have the email containing the tickets when we woke up this morning. to our inconvenience, the email was nowhere to be found. we thought there might be just been an issue with the website, so we tried calling customer service, who was no help to our situation, and she transferred us to guest services. no answer. called again, no answer. left a message. we called the customer service desk again, and were told they were "super busy" today. thats no excuse for bad service. every guest should be tended to, or maybe more workers should be hired. we kept calling and calling and finally after 9 tries, got an answer. the man confirmed with my boyfriend the email in which the tickets were sent to, and said he would resend them and if we did not receive them, to call back. to our annoyance, still no tickets. we called him back, no answer. called a second time, no answer. at this point we were livid. it was already 1PM when we planned on going to the zoo at 12 so we would have plenty of time to walk around. we wanted to just have the tickets so we could go a different day because by this point, we wouldnt be able to spend the day there like we wanted to. so we drove an HOUR to get to the zoo, not knowing if anyone was even going to be able to help us. we get there and are referred to guest services. he recognizes our situation and remembers speaking to us on the phone. he was not apologetic, nor helpful. we did not catch his name, but he had brown flippy hair & a goatee. he was young, maybe early 20s. we explained our situation again and stressed to him that in total we have called guest services 11 times, we drove an hour to get there, and by this point it was 2:30 (the zoo closes at 5) and we were frustrated that we werent going to have the time to walk around and spend the day at the zoo. he blew off our frustrations of the service we had received, handed us the tickets and basically shut us out. we were at least expecting tickets to come another day, or maybe JUST AN APOLOGY? when we expressed to him we drove an hour here to speak to anyone about our situation, he once again blew us off and pushed us on our way. our day was wasted being that we had to rush through the zoo in order to see everything. our moods were ruined and so was our day. the Detroit Zoo website states that $1.14 million dollars was expenses for guest services last year (on the financial tab of their site) and Im wondering where that money is going? certainly not to the training of their employees. you would think those who are handling the guests would have a nice attitude, but apparently not. this man had zero sympathy for our situation and could give a rats ass if we wasted our money and time. several of my family members have memberships to the Detroit zoo and spend lots of money here. many of them are in the school district, and coordinate where field trips take place. I can assure you that the detroit zoo will no longer be on their list. instead, the Toledo Zoo seems like a WAY better option. or anywhere for that matter. all in all, I know my family, my boyfriends family, and everyone we know will be made aware of our horrendous experience at the zoo and will be warned of their foul people skills. we will be taking out business elsewhere. thanks for nothing.

LO

LOGAN JOHNSON

The zoo is the most wondrous place. It is full of enchantment and delight. I take my young children to see the capybaras, which are their favorite. The staff however, treat the animals horrid. I once saw a penguin being mashed to death by the trainers and keepers. Another time, I saw a lion gorging on the next door sloths. Next was the most horrible experience. The butterfly house. There were thousands of wings flapping in my face. There were no cages whatsoever. It was a madhouse in there. I had to lay low in the mini canal to avoid the wings blocking my vision. As I was finally able to leave, the birds got me. The parrots and vultures running rampant at the enclosure. I made it out alive, however I had lost chunks of flesh from the beaks of the birds. The ferocious aquatic beasts were next. These large, terrifying, rabid otters nearly escaped via tube leading right out to the sidewalk. These wild creatures were clearly untamed and uncared for. The reptile house was another area of straight fear. The frogs had been cut loose. It was like the ten plagues all over again. Warts were everywhere as they jumped, bounced, and leaped every which way in a mad dash for sunlight. The crocs nearly got me. I was leaning over the tank when the massive, powerful jaws of these nile crocs nearly decapitated me. The zebras were outrageous. They neighed and whinnied like no other creature held prisoner in this zoo. Their thunderous galloping could be heard from miles around, creating what was essentially a sandstorm within their boundaries. The prairie dogs were fearsome. As I walked down into the prairie dog tunnel, into what seemed like Satans dwelling, I noticed that several children were being held captive within the tube. I tried to save them, but for them their fate was sealed. The prairie dogs got them. Rest in peace. The great apes. Although they are closest to us within the animal kingdom, they do not feel so. I scaled the wall and entered their home. These savage beasts spotted me immediately and charged. So I did the only thing I knew how. I summoned all my strength and flung my feces like them, and they accepted me. I was one with the ape. These lovely creatures picked off my dandruff, as I returned the favor, eating the bugs residing in their fur. We pranced about the grasslands for hours on end, putting aside the fact that we are not the same species. During the night, they all gathered up and hoisted me out of the cage, and we said one final goodbye. I told them "oooo ooo ahhhhhh", meaning I would soon make the journey back to be with them. The zoo is my second home, it is my safe haven. I know one day I will return, indefinitely.

RY

Ryan Borden

2nd worse zoo Ive been to in my life. Poor experience, few animals, over priced for what it is and concessions are massively over priced. Too many other good zoos around to even consider ever going back. Ive been to a lot of zoos in a lot of states from Michigan to Arizona and in between and the Detroit zoo gets the great title of 2nd worse in my lifetime. The price to get in was average. The membership price is actually below average. The concession prices were 60% higher then any zoo Ive been in and higher then amusement parks even. Like the Icee is $5.25 and they give you a 14oz cup and then its $2 for a refill. There is about $.20 (twenty cents) worth of product in that cup. Id expect to pay about $4 with a $1.25 refill. That was the theme across the board with all food, I could have easily spent $100 just to feed my family. On the flip side they were amicable to people bringing in their own food and drinks, which some zoos are not. Thats one reason they get 2 stars instead of 1. The penguin exhibit that the website raves about was boring. 40% of the exhibits that were big exhibits were either closed or had no animals. Now I understand animals go in their caves, but out of all the bears for example, not a single bear was out in any of the several bear exhibits all day (save the polar bear, which was the single best exhibit of the zoo. Without that it would have been an utter flop). The train ride seemed like an afterthought. One of the great things about a zoo train ride is you can get a glimpse of many animals, and with most zoos you cant cover them in 1 day so it can be a good way to get to see a little more in a short time. We saw Bison and tall wooden fences, more tall fences and yet more tall fences. It also didnt go thru any woods or anything it was purely to accomplish moving you from one end of the zoo to the other. The other thing I noticed was there as a lot of security and a lot or people running around cleaning up (like more then I have seen at any zoo ever). Overall the zoo seemed to be trying to suck as much money from patrons as possible and provide as little in return as possible. I honestly began to believe that the zoo doesnt even have some of the animals they have exhibits for, because so few animals were out. Its memorial day mind you, the weather is perfect for 99% of the animals in there. I guess the zoo is either broke or spends all their money on security and cleanup, but with zoos like Toledo so close by (only an extra 15 mins for us), we wont be going back. I honestly dont think I would even go back if someone gave me free tickets.

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