Rasheena Phinisee was looking forward to Sept. 15.

Her aunt, who rarely travels with the family, had bought reduced-priced tickets to Clementon Park and Splash World for its customer appreciation day.

The family of eight woke up early that morning, packed two cars and headed to Camden County. But when they got there shortly after 11 a.m., they found the park’s gates locked, a lone security guard there to greet them.

The security guard told Phinisee there must’ve been some kind of mistake, and she needed to take the issue up with corporate, she said.

“At this point we’re confused, because they were advertising the park wouldn’t be closed until November 2019,” Phinisee told NJ Advance Media.

With two kids ready to cry in the back, Phinisee made plans to go swimming at a friend’s house instead.

“We did the best we could for the day,” she said.

The park’s parent company, Premier Parks LLC, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Although she was able to salvage the day, Phinisee remains confused and upset about how the park handled the situation. The tickets her aunt bought at the end of August state they are non-refundable or exchangeable, and could only be used on Sept. 15 for the appreciation day event, according to Phinisee.

But Phinisee said no one communicated to her that the park would be closing before schedule. The park’s appreciation day advertisement was removed from social media, but a Google Images search reveals it exists.

The advertisement says tickets for Sept. 15 were on sale for $9.99, on what it says would’ve been the water park’s last day of the season. The park was supposed to be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day, according to the ad.

Phinisee said the park told her only eight tickets were sold for Sept. 15 — which meant her family bought all of them. Phinisee said her aunt was later contacted by a woman on social media who said she’d also bought tickets for the event.

Phinisee said she only received a response to questions about a refund after ABC Action News in Philadelphia contacted a marketing firm that works with Clementon Holdings.

However, the money is besides the point, she said.

“There was no offer to remedy the situation, and they were completely unapologetic about the issue other than them rightfully giving their money back because they had to,” she said.

Jenna Wise may be reached at jwise@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennaRWise. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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