La Ferme du Ciel

This was meant to be a special family gift for my wife's 50th birthday, a balloon ride on a beautiful September weekend. I paid for the cancellation protection, but the trip was called off. I don't know why, and while my wife was very disappointed, we're not balloon experts, so we had to accept that part. The refund is another matter. After a lot of emails, I got only a third of my money back in November, and there has been no communication since. It's February now, nearly six months since the flight didn't happen. These trips aren't cheap, so be careful when booking for a special occasion.

They eventually said we should be happy with a 50% refund. I suppose that beats getting nothing, but the customer service was terrible in my opinion. The flight was cancelled because of fog, even though we hadn't cancelled, and we hadn't realized there was an extra cancellation fee to select. Check that box carefully when booking. Another one-star review, and with all the negative reviews here, it doesn't seem like the company minds.

A surprise balloon flight for my family was supposed to end our lovely vacation in St Emilion on a high note, but it turned into the worst customer service we've had anywhere in the world. The website asked for the children's ages, yet those details didn't matter when they charged my husband's card. When it was time to fly, they said it wasn't possible. We later realized the balloon was for four people, the number in our family, but another couple had also been booked on the same flight. Two of us couldn't go, although we had paid for all four. The lady pilot was extremely aggressive and disrespectful. She spoke only French even though we don't, and said bad things about us in the car, apparently thinking we couldn't understand. It ruined what was meant to be a happy end to the vacation. Don't pay for this, look for something else.

We spent two nights at Patricia’s farm, and our sunrise balloon flight was the highlight. It was amazing value for money. Highly recommended!