Skydive New Mexico — Local services in Belen

If possible, I would give zero stars. I am highly disappointed and upset with the service of Skydive New Mexico.

Long story short: terrible communication, frustrating, disappointing, had high hopes but was severely let down. Do not book here.

Here’s why:

I booked 2 skydives over a month in advance and paid via PayPal. I did not receive a confirmation email so I had to reach out myself and ask if the reservation went through. A few days later, staff tells me PayPal is not accepted and they cancelled the transaction, but asked me if I wanted to confirm my existing reservation and that I could pay in person. I responded “yes” quickly but I did not receive a confirmation email.

I reached out again closer to the date and was told that I needed to rebook my reservation because my payment did not go through. I went ahead and rebooked, but I communicated to them that they asked me if I wanted to confirm. I did not receive a confirmation email.

The day before our skydive, I received an automated email saying that they were ready for us to skydive the next day! I was excited.

THE. DAY. OF. Our reservation was 10 AM and we arrived to the gate at 9:50 AM but had no way in. My sister and I waited for about 10 minutes and fortunately another employee from the area saw us and helped us out and let us stay with them while I tried to sort this out. I tried calling Skydive New Mexico multiple times, but was unable to reach them. I texted the number as well and received no response. After probably the 5th time calling, someone picked up and told me that their pilot and backup pilot were not available and they wouldn’t be running until next week. NEXT. WEEK. I don’t know why this wasn’t communicated to me the instant they knew, which was INCREDIBLY frustrating.

Their website is not organized so well and is hard to find information. I’m not sure about desktop, but the mobile site is definitely not organized well.

Overall, I was reading such awesome reviews of this place and was soooo excited, but was ultimately let down by the lack of communication and organization of this establishment. I guess the only star I’m giving is because I was able to get a quick refund, but it was still an incredibly frustrating and disappointing experience. I get the vibe that Skydive New Mexico doesn’t really care about customer service because the communication...

Absolutely abysmal on every level. Booked weeks in advance and even was confirmed the night before our jump. I made the hour drive to only be met by an unkept empty building. I waited for two hours and made repeated calls and texts to the company line and the admin who contacted me the night prior, with no answer. In talking with others at the airport, it would appear this is not the first time this has happened.

Issues arise sometimes and that is when a company's true values are revealed. In this case, Skydive New Mexico's leadership was inept and cowardly in that they couldn't even be bothered for an apology, explanation, or an attempt to make things right. In short, I'm glad it didn't work out since I wouldn't want to put my life in the hands of people that can't even handle scheduling and communication.

I can only imagine how dangerous this operation is if Skydive New Mexico applies the same lack of attention and professionalism to their safety protocols and equipment maintenance. It's also worth noting that in my attempt to find out who to contact to get my deposit back, I discovered that the "company" doesn't even have a valid business license with the state of New Mexico, letting it lapse years ago.

The operational lapses, along with previous court cases for personal injury should give anyone pause on possibly utilizing their services. There are other and better options at the same airport. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Additional notes: As mentioned in the owner's response, I did receive a refund over 12 hours later. As for the other claims of offering to rebook and an offered apology or explanation; this is a complete fabrication and I welcome any proof of such. Trying to lie about such an easily proven thing is the truly "weird" thing here. The extent of ANY correspondence from your company was a text from Shanda stating that she had just heard what happened and offered me a refund via PayPal.

As for your license status, I can only go by what the state of New Mexico provides, so I suggest you contact them for any such concerns...

I had communication problems with the company back in September when I was initially trying to book but I gave them the benefit of the doubt since my cousin had recommended them and my son was really looking forward to the experience of skydiving. Now, nearly a month after our jump, we haven't received the photos we already paid for nor can we get through to anyone. I've texted, called, emailed, and have even commented on their Instagram, and yet, we still don't have photos nor a response. I don't like to give bad reviews but maybe this will get their attention or at the very least, warn future jumpers.

Edit to update: The original post was November 3rd. I was finally able to get a response using the website "Contact Us" section. I did finally get my pictures November 14th 🥳🙌 however, due to the lack of communication and seeing how difficult it is to get through to them, I still opt out from any future business with them. The experience itself was exhilarating and highly recommended (maybe at another location), but leading up to it and after was like...