Parents claim The Big Bounce Australia world record breaking jumping castle a scam

Employees of The Big Bounce Australia have joined a chorus of 500 parents claiming the company is scamming families, while also shedding light on concerning safety issues including burns and injuries.

The Big Bounce inflatable park. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

Former staff at The Big Bounce Australia jumping castle attraction, accused of ripping off parents, claimed they were subject to an abusive work environment and said safety concerns raised by staff were not addressed and that others suffered serious injuries.

The claims come as a chorus of parents’ claim they have not been able to get refunds for events which have been cancelled or rescheduled time and time again.

One former casual employee said the refund system was a mess – but the jumping castle wonderland wasn’t entirely a scam.

“I worked for Big Bounce for two weekends and quit due to safety concerns,” they said.

They said they knew of employees who were seriously injured on site.

The Big Bounce inflatable park. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

“They had to leave the site in an ambulance due to an injury on site,” they claimed.

“I loved the concept of Big Bounce and was excited to give people an opportunity to have a lot of fun as Covid eased. But I wasn’t willing to work for a company that seemed more concerned about making up for lost time and money than providing a safe experience of staff and guests.”

Another former employee said they had also brought up serious safety concerns.

“In Sydney there was a super-hot day and I warned them it would be too hot to open, they did it anyway and inside the castle ended up being 56 degrees Celsius,” they said.

“People’s feet were actually getting burnt, we eventually closed down for 2 hours.

“When Covid hit during Brisbane telling people to use hand sanitiser was their only method of keeping people safe. That’s when they got closed down and the whole rescheduling dates became an issue, from constant lockdowns and weather issues from then till obviously now.

“This whole refunding issue isn’t new. They block comments on their Facebook page.

“I have had a lot of issues with this company personally from the inside, including exploitation of workers, bullying, and (attending) ... to horrendous injuries — which we were not properly equipped to handle prior to signing our contracts.”

The Big Bounce inflatable park. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

The claims come as advertisements for The Big Bounce Australia events in cities across Australia continue to entice parents to the theme park’s gigantic jumping castle play park while a chorus of some 500 who have already purchased their tickets but not been able to attend an event or get a refund band together in protest.

According to more than 500 members of the public Facebook group Big Bounce Aus Complaints, the events are nothing more than ‘an elaborate scam’.

But organisers say they were shocked by the backlash and that no one was waiting on a refund.

Adelaide woman Lauren Beck founded the complaints group in April this year, after learning she was not alone in her struggles with the jumping castle wonderland event.

Some parents alleged they have been waiting more than two years to be refunded for tickets they bought to a cancelled event.

A Big Bounce Australia spokesperson however disputed the claims, and said any information from ticket holders claiming they were waiting on refunds or struggling to get a refund was incorrect.

“The Big Bounce have refunded over $500,000 this year alone, and continues to uphold their Standard Terms and Conditions – which offer refunds to customers whose events have been cancelled, or rescheduled to dates they can no longer attend,” the spokesperson said.

Since April, the Facebook group had grown exponentially with Aussie parents sharing screenshots of their struggles.

Ms Beck has also co-ordinated numerous complaints lodged to Fair Trading Australia and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

According to the group of parents, since the start of 2022, The Big Bounce Australia had allegedly rescheduled nearly all events across Australia up to five times each; sometimes with less than three hours’ notice given to ticketholders.

Hundreds of parents also claim they have been refused refunds, with many saying they are still chasing refunds for events scheduled up to six months ago while some parents say they are still waiting for refunds from a couple of years ago.

Parents claim the business had refused to respond to ticketholders’ emails, with email being the only point of contact available on the Big Bounce’s website – some parents say they have been sending daily emails with still no response.

“Another sneaky thing they do is they also say that you will not be issued a refund until the event has gone ahead on the new proposed date, but they then continue to push the date back further and further,” Ms Beck said.

The Big Bounce inflatable park. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

Some parents have accused the business of falsely advertising events.

“They have also pushed back an event in one state to the same date as another event they are advertising and selling tickets for in a completely different state. I believe they’ve done that twice now.

“Those who have actually attended an event have also highlighted the safety concerns and poor organisation.”

So far this year The Big Bounce Australia has operated 14 event weekends, hosting the sold-out events for crowds in five Australian States.

There was widespread television, digital and print media coverage of each of these events.

Some parents who said they attended events however alleged less than half of the jumping castles were actually open and aired their serious safety concerns.

One parent who finally got her refund said it took more than two months of daily emails to the company. Many other parents said they were in the same boat.

However, according to a Big Bounce Australia spokesperson, 2022 was a perfect storm of the Omicron outbreak and the worst rains most of Australia had seen in more than 100 years.

“It is important to note that we are an outdoor, mass participation event that is particularly susceptible to extreme weather and to the various issues surrounding the Covid pandemic,” they said.

“All dates that have been rescheduled by The Big Bounce can be easily cross checked with reports of significant weather incidents or outbreaks of Covid and its variants.”

A Brisbane mother said she was furious when she learnt an event had been rescheduled via a Facebook post.

“It’s a total rort … insane these guys are operating like this,” she said.

She said she purchased three tickets for a Brisbane event on Monday, October 24. She said an event was advertised for this coming weekend in Brisbane between October 28 and October 30.

“I felt confident purchasing these tickets as the event was only four days away and we are forecast clear weather for the next week onwards,” the Brisbane mother said.

“The next day I see the event being advertised by Channel 9 News and I see a huge number of people complaining about how this whole thing is a scam.

“When I look into it I see that these guys are changing the dates and rescheduling over and over without providing any options for refunds. I go back on to their site and they have updated the dates overnight and this event is now being held in Canberra this weekend.”

According to a Big Bounce Australia spokesperson, ticket holders were notified via email (using the email they registered with) as soon as a final decision about an event was made at senior management level.