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VAIL SUCKS

BenedictGomez

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Be careful if you're renewing EPIC passes. They add in a $1 "forestry donation" per pass, but they make absolutely no mention that they've added this fee to your bill. It only appears on the very final page where you click to pay, and you'd have to notice the math on that last screen where you click "pay" isnt quite right like I did.

Then you can explode a billings detail if you click on it and only then does is say "Donation $1.00" - huh? Even if you do this, it still doesn't say what the donation is for, and there is literally no way to remove it from the bill from that final payment screen where it appeared.

You have to exit back out, and then click on your cart and navigate back to the sales page a second time, and only then will the below display with the explanation of what this $1.00 fee is & a checkbox option where you can remove this $1.00 per pass fee so you dont have to pay it.

Basically, Vail made it very difficult to even notice that this charge was applied to your bill on the very final screen, and then made it doubly difficult for you to figure out how to avoid paying it.

1712943612300.png
 
Last edited:

Edd

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From the Epic Pass site, I’m not seeing when prices go up. Can somebody tell me so that I know the date is when I hate myself for buying something from Vail?
 

drjeff

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From the Epic Pass site, I’m not seeing when prices go up. Can somebody tell me so that I know the date is when I hate myself for buying something from Vail?
April 14th. The price traditionally hasn't changed at the 1st deadline, but you don't get any buddy passes with your pass.

Guess we'll see in a few days if that traditional scenario holds true again
 
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snoseek

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From the Epic Pass site, I’m not seeing when prices go up. Can somebody tell me so that I know the date is when I hate myself for buying something from Vail?
You're on a vet pass so you don't get buddy passes anyway just thenski with a friend ones. I wouldn't rush at all
 

4aprice

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Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Granby Co
Be careful if you're renewing EPIC passes. They add in a $1 "forestry donation" per pass, but they make absolutely no mention that they've added this fee to your bill. It only appears on the very final page where you click to pay, and you'd have to notice the math on that last screen where you click "pay" isnt quite right like I did.

They you can explode a billings detail if you click on it and only then does is say "Donation $1.00" - huh? Even if you do this, it still doesn't say what the donation is for, and there is literally no way to remove it from the bill from that final payment screen where it appeared.

You have to exit back out, and then click on your cart and navigate back to the sales page a second time, and only then will the below display with the explanation of what this $1.00 fee is & a checkbox option where you can remove this $1.00 per pass fee so you dont have to pay it.

Basically, Vail made it very difficult to even notice that this charge was applied to your bill on the very final screen, and then made it doubly difficult for you to figure out how to avoid paying it.

1712943612300.png
Very astute pick up. I certainly would have no problem with donating to a good just cause dealing with the forest and park land. The sneaky part of it I don't appreciate but Vail is only one among a host of corporations that pull these stunts.
 

thetrailboss

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Very astute pick up. I certainly would have no problem with donating to a good just cause dealing with the forest and park land. The sneaky part of it I don't appreciate but Vail is only one among a host of corporations that pull these stunts.
It’s a tax write-off for them.
 

BenedictGomez

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Vail is only one among a host of corporations that pull these stunts.

Yeah, I've seen fees added before, but never quite like this. It's intentionally hard to notice, and even if you do, intentionally hard to figure out how to avoid. My guess is this isn't really Vail's doing, but rather some crunchy, twenty-something, left-wing, web engineer thinking s/he's saving the world.
 

djd66

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So they collect $1 and then donate $1 - how does this benefit them?
 

AdironRider

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Do the forests not benefit as well, asking for a friend?

Complaining about a 1 dollar donation on a pass that costs anywhere from $400 to $1000 really seems like grasping at straws, notably given your environmental impact as a skier probably warrants it anyways.

As for the tax break, something tells me Vail isn't relying on that. It could just depreciate one of its new lifts at a faster rate and realize a gain substantially more significant if it so desired.
 

djd66

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Tax breaks
Companies cannot deduct your donation from their taxes. You can deduct it from your taxes, if you itemize.

To get more technical, the company would record your donation as an increase to it's cash and an increase to it's liabilities (donations payable or something similar). When they send the cash collected to the charity, they'll record that transaction as a decrease to cash and a reduction of that donations payable liability. It never hits the income statement, so it would not be included in a corporation's tax calculation.
 

crystalmountainskier

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Aug 20, 2006
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Be careful if you're renewing EPIC passes. They add in a $1 "forestry donation" per pass, but they make absolutely no mention that they've added this fee to your bill. It only appears on the very final page where you click to pay, and you'd have to notice the math on that last screen where you click "pay" isnt quite right like I did.

Then you can explode a billings detail if you click on it and only then does is say "Donation $1.00" - huh? Even if you do this, it still doesn't say what the donation is for, and there is literally no way to remove it from the bill from that final payment screen where it appeared.

You have to exit back out, and then click on your cart and navigate back to the sales page a second time, and only then will the below display with the explanation of what this $1.00 fee is & a checkbox option where you can remove this $1.00 per pass fee so you dont have to pay it.

Basically, Vail made it very difficult to even notice that this charge was applied to your bill on the very final screen, and then made it doubly difficult for you to figure out how to avoid paying it.

1712943612300.png

It’s right in the cart immediately after you select a pass and clearly labelled optional. You must have missed it on the first step. Also isn’t new.
 
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