Flights Over America: Consumer Warning!

There are hundreds of reputable balloon ride companies worldwide, ranging from small single-balloon part time operations to large companies flying in multiple cities.

Like any industry, there are a small number of balloon ride companies who have been caught lying, cheating, and using business practices that harm consumers.

We have recently caught a company using our Balloon Ride Seal of Approval without our permission.

The website "Flights Over America" was using our Seal, misleading consumers into thinking they were one of our approved balloon ride businesses.

Even though they have never applied for our Seal of Approval, they would not have qualified since they re-sell balloon rides to other companies. We have always suggested consumers deal directly with the actual companies providing balloon rides rather than a re-seller or broker. The 'middleman' business plan (taking your money, skimming profit off the top, and reselling to a local company) has been used for years by dishonest companies and has generated many consumer complaints and lawsuits.

Here is a screenshot taken from the Flights Over America website showing the illegal use of our Seal:

When we discovered Flights Over America was using our Seal of Approval without permission, we wrote a formal demand that they stop using the seal on their website.

When no response was received and the seal was not removed, we filed a complaint with the web hosting company. The site was shut down until our Seal of Approval was removed.

Amazingly, when the site was back up we saw that our seal was replaced with another as you can see in this screenshot:

It's kind of hard to read, but the new seal is from The Joint Commission, which certifies health care providers! What does that have to do with balloon rides??

This may seem funny at first, but it brings up serious concerns about this company's ethics. First, why would a company display a seal of approval when they haven't earned it? Once they were caught using a seal of approval without permission and were forced to remove it, why would they replace it with a different unauthorized seal?

There is only one reason we can think of, and that is to mislead potential customers.

This company was forced to remove our unauthorized Seal of Approval only after having thier website taken down by their webhost. This says volumes about the company's ethics. They could have removed our seal willingly when we requested, but they chose not to. They instead continued to deceive their potential customers and continued to knowingly violate Copyright Laws until they were forced to remove our seal.

Even more amazingly, they replaced our Seal of Approval with one used for the medical industry! We searched the list of organizations on the Joint Commission's website and found no listing for 'Flights Over America' to indicate they are authorized to use the Joint Commission's Seal - what do YOU think? Is this a clear cut example of a company deceiving the public?

If they are this determined to deceive the public with unauthorized seals of approval, what other illegal and misleading business practices might they be engaged in?

Oh - notice that Better Business Bureau "Accredited Business" seal on the above screenshots? There is no listing for "Flights Over America" at the BBB website. The parent company, Sonoma Thunder, is not a BBB Accredited Business:

Sonoma Thunder? Yep. that's the name of the company behind Flights Over America. The Flights over America website has purposely failed to provide any real contact information, with only a 'Contact Us' web form and a phone number. Why would a company not want their customers to know where they are or who they are? Could they not want you to find them after they take your money? How easy will it be to track them down if you feel you deserve a refund?

The domain registration for the Flights Over America website has also masked the owner's contact information, making finding out who is behind the business more difficult for the general public.

We do not endorse or recommend Flights Over America due to their actions which we view as deceitful, illegal, misleading and unethical.

Be sure you know who you are dealing with when you buy a balloon ride gift certificate. We present the above information to help consumers make a smart buying decision. We have always recommended dealing directly with the balloon ride company who will be providing the flight. You can find many reputable companies in our directory of approved balloon ride companies.