Parachute punters not being refunded as skydiving club grounded in Kilkenny

Thrill-seekers have been left angered and disappointed after paying out money to take part in skydives, which then did not go ahead.

Irish Skydiving Club CLG, which operates out of Kilkenny Aerodrome, are claiming ‘regulatory interference’ from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is putting the club in a position where they are unable to conduct flights or accept bookings for skydiving. 

The club is currently in a legal battle with the IAA.    

As the legal proceedings continue, people who have paid money to Irish Skydiving Club CLG have been venting their frustrations. 

One person impacted had a charity skydive cancelled on short notice months ago.

“I signed up for a skydive and booked it for April 1, 2023 and paid €240,” they said.

“I got it for half price as I was doing it for the Irish Cancer Society and I raised money and told everyone about it. On the eve of the skydive I was halfway up the motorway from Cork to Kilkenny (going home to Kilkenny specifically for the skydive) to receive an email 18 hours before I was due to jump saying it would not be going ahead.”

The email cited ‘regulatory interference by the IAA’ as the reason the skydive was cancelled and also stated that the company had ‘issued High Court Proceedings’.

The IAA says that the ‘matter is currently the subject to legal proceedings’, and that they are ‘therefore unable to comment at this stage’.

The unlucky person who booked the skydive stated that to receive such short notice was ‘very disappointing and frustrating’.

“I waited a few weeks and heard nothing from them so I emailed them asking for a refund almost two months ago and am yet to get a reply. I’ve since come to understand that I am not the only one in this position.”

Another person who reached out stated that they paid hundreds of euros to the company back in April of 2022.

“The dive kept getting put off at the time because of the weather and then a year passed,” they said.

“I got in touch with them in April of this year and asked if they would continue to honour it and they said they would.

“I said, well in that case, I’d book another dive, so that I could do it with another person. They accepted another nearly €500 at the time, and this was only back in April of this year, so if they knew they were going to cease activities then maybe they shouldn’t have taken that sale.”

According to the Court Services website, Irish Skydiving Club CLG commenced legal proceedings with the Irish Aviation Authority months before that second sale was processed.

The person who paid the money claims that they have been trying to get in touch with the company since that second sale, to no avail.

“We tried to ring first, no answer,” they said. “Then the Facebook page was gone, now all we have is an email address and we’ve been sending emails but they are not being answered.

“We’re down nearly a grand in total and we’ve been left with no option but to try and claim the money back via our credit card company.”

On their website, Irish Skydiving Club CLG state that the company ‘is not in a position’ to offer refunds to their members.

“The Club provides private membership and not consumer vouchers,” the website states.

“Club memberships that have been adversely affected by this matter will be extended for the same period of time which it has been affected for at no further charge to our members.”

The website also states  that a ‘minority of members have threatened the Club with legal action’.

“This is unhelpful and any such action would only serve to guarantee the total failure of the Club resulting in all of our members losing out,” the website states.

“We will have no difficulty in publishing the names of our members who threatens [sic] or brings legal action against the Club.”

According to abridged unaudited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2021, Irish Skydiving Club CLG were then carrying a retained deficit of €216,597 and €445,173 in deferred income.

Deferred income is a liability on a company's balance sheet that represents a prepayment by customers for goods or services that have yet to be delivered.

Irish Skydiving Club CLG has been reached out to on three separate occasions to comment on the matter.

No comment has been received at the time of going to print and many people are still looking for answers.