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Customer Service Stories (good or bad)

dlague

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This chain took place in another thread but we have all had good and bad experiences related to customer service. I know I have a ton of stories and I am sure others do too! Do share!

Bought 4 Unrestricted Sugarbush tickets for $199

Wound up costing me $199 to ski one day at Sugarbush last year because I got hurt.

Been there done that. We prepurchased two three packs to Burke at the Boston Ski and Snowboard show and my wife broke her shoulder on the first of three days. To add insult to injury - we also bough tickets to Sugarbush and Owls Head through Boston Deals which we never used that year either. Total cost was $310 for ten skier visits

However, we spoke to Buke and they gave us a couple of comp tickets for the following season and Boston Deals credited our account so we could repurchase lift ticket vouchers the following season. In the end we lost two visits out of ten! Technically the day she got injured was lost too since it was our first run!

But it never hurts to follow up with them to see if they will work something out!

Already did that. I could of have gotten tickets for others last year but I had to be there to get them. I wasn't going to ride to VT. sporting a hard cast up to my knee & walking on crutches. I contacted them a week or so ago to see if they could make some kind of adjustment if I purchased another quad pack this year, no dice.

edit: I'll more than make up for it though. I have a friend that works for the mountain on weekends. He gets me $30 employee discount tickets when I ski with him during the week (he skies free). Only reason I bought the quad pack last year is because he's not always available during the week (works other jobs).

You should have called their customer service I bet they would have given you a refund if you had.

Scotty read my post above. I contacted them last year & the only way they could be used is if I was there. Yes you can use the quad packs to get tickets for others but the person that bought the quad pack has to be there. The one ticket that I used last year they wanted to see my drivers license for proof of ID. Sugarbush is very strict about these things. They didn't offer me a refund even though I told them I got hurt & wouldn't be able to ski again last season. Even when I've used discounted ski club bulk tickets in the past they wanted to see a valid ski club membership card & it had to be dated showing you were a current member or have a current ski council sticker on the card. I also called them last week to see if they would give me a discount if I purchased another quad pack this year. I even got the call transferred to the head guy & he said no. I have no hard feelings towards Sugarbush because their policy is clearly stated on the purchase link.

I bought two 50% off vouchers from Boston Deals for Sugarbush and when my wife got injured I reached out to Boston Deals to get refunded and they told me to work it out with Sugarbush. Sugarbush wanted nothing to do with it - I purchased in advance for a specific season with no guarentees. Yes they are hard asses about this stuff. I ended up going back to Boston Deals becuase they said the deals are good for seven years (MA Law). They credited my account as mentioned earlier. BTW Sugarbush to Boston Deals that Vermont businesses are not subject to MA laws and told them they they were going to have to deal with it too!

Anyhow - get where you are coing from!

Getting back to refunds on pre-purchases. Last year I had a K midweek season pass. They offered an insurance policy if for any reason you couldn't use the pass. I didn't purchase the insurance last year but they still offered me a pro-rated refund anyway. As it wound up I wasn't eligible for a refund because I had already used the pass over 10 days. It was nice of them to offer though & to me that's good customer service.

This year I bought another midweek pass for K. At the time I purchased the pass they were offering the same insurance policy as the year before. I think it was 5% of the purchase price & I bought it, think it came out to a little more than $20. Last month K announced that their new policy was to offer the insurance policy at no cost to pass purchasers. I got a refund for what I had paid for insurance. That's even better customer service. Sugarbush could learn a thing or two from K.

I had a good customer service experience at Jay Peak! We went there on a rather freezing drizzly day but that was not the issue. We got there around 9 and the Tram side parking was full (was different a few years ago) so we parked Stateside (will be different now) the lift ticket window became inundated and the line got really long. On top of that they had network issues and about 45 minutes to an hour later finally got up to the window and they did not know how to process the RSNE Card so they sent us to the Tram side via the T Bar (no longer there) once over there we finally got our tickets and started skiing around 11:30. While skiing I started thinking about that whole experience and when I got home decided to send an email to marketing, customer service, and a few others. In the end even though I skiied on 2 for 1 tickets the comped me for my family X 2 8 tickets total. I think the times 2 was a mistake since they came in separate mailings and from different people. Either way that was cool, however, I tore my ACL so I never got to use them, but my family did while I drank Tram Ale in the Tower bar!
 

CoolMike

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A few years ago I bought a ski and stay package for the first week of January at Sunday River. This was my second full season snowboarding and my first trip to Sunday River. The package was awesome and included lift tickets and lessons. We stayed mid week because the wife and I both had really flexible work schedules this year. On the second day I decided to try out an intermediate lesson because I felt like I had stopped improving as fast as I wanted to. My instructor was a guy named Danny and it was his first season teaching. He was really very good and I toured the whole resort for 90 minutes with 3 other riders. Something about his teaching style really clicked with me and I made huge strides that day. By the end of the day I was bombing down runs I though were steep the day before.

Anyhow, the customer service part is this: The next morning I decided to use the lesson voucher again, but I was disappointed when they said Danny wasn't working that morning. I asked the instructor on duty if Danny was on the mountain or in the clubhouse or what not and it turned out he was. He jumped out of the cabin by south ridge that these guys hang out in to say hello and I asked him if he would take me around the mountain. He said sure and basically gave me a free private lesson. We dominated the mountain and had a blast for an hour.

I'm sure some of you guys remember that feeling from when you finally "get it" on the snow and feel like you can do anything.

Now whenever I go to SR (2-3 times per year) I find Danny down by south ridge and give him a high five.
 

dlague

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We were at Sunday River last year and I had asked if they have valet parking. The guy that was directing traffic a manager helping out said no but you can park in the pass holder section and opened up the rope for me! How awesome is that!

BTW you have to love the Waterville Valley valet parking service!
 

snoseek

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Opening day at Bretton woods this year.Closing day at Sunday river any year.
 

steamboat1

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Used a VT. pass at Stratton last year, wind was howling ,the gondola was shut due to wind. Took the American Express up to mid- mountain. Hit something while traversing over to Ursla & went flying like superman, a real yard sale. Got up to gather my equipment. One ski was off the side of the trail going down to a stream. Shimmied down & got the ski & got everything together. Contemplating going over to the chair but my goggles were full of snow. Decided to ski back down to clean my goggles in the lodge. Got to the bottom & put my skies in the rack. Didn't notice until then that I couldn't even walk. Realizing I couldn't ski anymore hobbled into to the base lodge & went straight to the ticket window to see if I could get a voucher for another day. Told the girl it was my first run & I was hurt. She said you just gave me a VT. Pass & I said yes. She said your face is bleeding, something I didn't realize. She reached to the side & gave me back my VT. Pass coupon. Sat down in the lodge & took my boots off after hobbling to get my shoes. Then stumbled downstairs to the restroom to wash the blood off my face, that was a trip. Hobbled outside to get my skies then limped to the car with boots & skies over my shoulders. Drove to town to get gas for the trip home. Had to limp inside to pay the girl. Then drove almost 5 hrs. back to NYC. Before going going home I stopped at the beer distributer to pick up a 30 pack. Girl saw I couldn't walk & went to the back to get it for me. She even put it in the car for me. My wife works a few blocks from there & it was almost time for her to get out. Parked the car outside her job & hopped on the passenger side. She came out & was surprised to see me since I just left for VT. early that morning. I told her you're driving home, I hurt myself. Got home & crawled into the house. Drank beer that night & went to sleep. Next day I went to the doctor, I was lucky my brother had a set of crutches so I could do whatever it is you do on crutches. After x-rays & examination the doctor told me I broke my ankle & blew out my ACL.

I'd like to thank the girl at Stratton that gave me my VT. pass coupon back. I was able to get my money back after selling all 3 coupons to a friend.

I'd also like to thank the girl in the beer distributer for putting the 30 pack in my car.

That's customer service.
 

crank

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My GF and I were at Alta last season and were planning to take one of those group lesson/ stash tours they offer but due to some confusion we missed the groups leaving from the mid mountain lodge. I called ski school and explained our situation and they had an instructor meet us at the bottom of the lift so we got a private guide/instructor for the afternoon for the same low price.
 

steamboat1

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Another story. My wife & I were at Vail. We were riding the bubble chair up to mid mountain. My wife laid her prescription sun glasses on the chair & they slipped off. Where they had slipped off was on a section that wasn't a trail & they fell in deep powder. I took notice of the next tower number & approximated where they fell. My wife went into ski patrol at mid mountain & told them what happened. I told patrol as best I could where I thought they fell. They said don't worry, come back here at lunch time & we'll have your glasses. We went back at lunch time & sure enough they had her glasses.
 

ScottySkis

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Mountsnow I was on the bus and came up knowing it was a windy rain storm the lifts were open for few hours but only lower lift bus decided to leave and Mountainsnow gave everyone a voucher so great job with that and great management and owners they don't miss ASC at all.
 

drjeff

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It will be 6yrs ago in March. My family was on a trip to Utah. My kids were 4 and 2 at the time. My wife and I had made all of the arrangements for them for daycare for the 2yr old and ski school for the 4yr old for 3 days at The Canyons and 3 days at Deer Valley. Our 1st morning we were starting 3 days in a row at The Canyons. I go to drop my then 4yr old daughter off at their ski school program, with all of her gear and the pre printed and filled out registration forms we had brought with us. No problems, she's all checked in and ready to go in less than 5 minutes. My wife went to go drop my 2yr old son off at the Canyons Daycare facility, she also had all the pre printed forms they had sent us when we registered him all filled out and ready to go. She gets there and goes to check him in, and they tell her that they had no reservation for my son for any of the next 3 days, and that they were completely sold out and couldn't accomodate him. Needless to say we weren't happy and had visisons of the 1st half of our vacation having some serious issues with childcare.

After speaking with one of the supervisors at The Canyons, we realized that it was a dead end there, and they apologized profusely, since as they told us, unless we had actually registered our son for their daycare, that there was no way that we could of had their enrollment forms like we did. My wife in the mean time as I was dealing with the Canyons supervisor, called up Deer Valley to see if they had space for our kids for an extra 2 days. Not only did they have space in the ski school for my 4yr old and daycare for our 2yr old, but after hearing our situation, they coordinated for one of their regular staff to come to our hotel room and babysit our 2yr old that afternoon so my wife and I could get out on the hill! By 11:30AM, one of their childcare staff, was at our room, watching our son and my wife and I got an afternoon of skiing in at The Canyons. The next 5 days we skied at Deer Valley with our kids in their programs and had a blast.

To top off Deer Valley's GREAT customer service, our last day there when we went o pick my daughter up from the ski school program, my wife and I did one of the classic parent moments where I thought she had grabbed my daughters helmet and she thought I had grabbed her helmet, but neither of us did. It was already 5 o'clock and we were back at our condo starting to pack for our flight back the next day. We frantically called Deer Valley and one of their supervisors for childcare/ski school told us that yes her helmet was there, that she was about to leave, and that she had to go right by where we were staying and would gladly drop it off to us!

Deer Valley customer service kicks butt! :thumbup:
 

C-Rex

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A few years ago I went up to Jay with my now ex-wife and some friends. It was my first time there and it dumped all day. At the time it was easily the best conditions I'd ever ridden. On our second run my ex broke her wrist. The guys in the stateside patrol house did a great job calming her down and immobilizing her arm, but I had to bring her to an ER like 30 min away. Knowing I'd spend the rest of the day in the hospital, the patrol guy gave us a voucher for free passes good through the rest of the season. However, we never made it back. The next year the Tram house lodge opened and we snagged a deal to stay there. While booking the room, my ex told the story about breaking her wrist and missing out on a powder day, not ask for or expecting anything. The agent gave us an additional discount on the room and honored our passes from the previous season.

Another time, years later, I went up to Jay with bulk tickets from my ski club. This was the first year of the RFID system. We got there early and were excited to be in the group for the first tram only to find out our tickets didn't work. The attendent felt bad about making us miss fresh tracks but he had to send us to customer service. He told us to head right to the front when we got back. We exchanged our tickets and headed back to the tram. Sure enough he waved us to the front and got us right on. What really amazed me was for the rest of the day anytime he saw us in line he waved us to the front.

Just two of the many reasons Jay is my favorite East Coast mountain.
 

Puck it

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Few years ago at Killington for T-giving we booked the penthouse at the Grand Summit with our family and sister-in-law. They had top to bottom the week before then a deluge hit. Wiped out the whole mountain they shutdown for the week. I forget what year it was. We paid in full for the lodging. They gave us a full refund.
 

freeski919

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I'll tell a customer service story from the other side, being the one providing the customer service. I work at Stowe, and have worked at a couple of other mountains in the past as a ski and snowboard instructor. Every place I've worked at, it can get crazy busy on Saturdays, especially on holiday weekends. In the kids programs, its always a madhouse, everyplace I've ever worked. And believe me when I say, the management is always trying out different ways of expiditing the check in process. Anyhow, a couple years ago at Stowe we changed from having people waiting in line to check in to a system where we give them a number and call it, kinda like a deli counter. This at least gave the families a chance to sit down and get their kids boots on, and they didn't have to worry about losing their spot in line because of a bathrooom break. Even with this, some people would have to wait a while before being able to check in. I had the dubious honor of being the person calling out number and acting as traffic control for this process when it was first implemented. Rather than just stand at the top of the stairs and call out numbers, which was the minimum this job required, I would crack jokes, make conversation with the people waiting, and overall do what I could to keep the people waiting entertained. It was awesome, and I loved doing it. I realized I was making some kind of impression when I was waiting for my students in front of the bathroom at lunch, and a little guy in another lesson comes up to me and says, "Are you the guy that calls the numbers?" I said yes, and this kid got all excited and ran back to his instructor like he'd just met a rock star. It made me smile, and made me glad I was doing something to help make somebody else's day.
 

dlague

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A few years ago I went up to Jay with my now ex-wife and some friends. It was my first time there and it dumped all day. At the time it was easily the best conditions I'd ever ridden. On our second run my ex broke her wrist. The guys in the stateside patrol house did a great job calming her down and immobilizing her arm, but I had to bring her to an ER like 30 min away. Knowing I'd spend the rest of the day in the hospital, the patrol guy gave us a voucher for free passes good through the rest of the season. However, we never made it back. The next year the Tram house lodge opened and we snagged a deal to stay there. While booking the room, my ex told the story about breaking her wrist and missing out on a powder day, not ask for or expecting anything. The agent gave us an additional discount on the room and honored our passes from the previous season.

Another time, years later, I went up to Jay with bulk tickets from my ski club. This was the first year of the RFID system. We got there early and were excited to be in the group for the first tram only to find out our tickets didn't work. The attendent felt bad about making us miss fresh tracks but he had to send us to customer service. He told us to head right to the front when we got back. We exchanged our tickets and headed back to the tram. Sure enough he waved us to the front and got us right on. What really amazed me was for the rest of the day anytime he saw us in line he waved us to the front.

Just two of the many reasons Jay is my favorite East Coast mountain.

Like! Great story!
 

thetrailboss

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Steamboat's experience does not sound like the Sugarbush I know and love.

I always had good luck with Win's folks. ASC was a different story.
 

thetrailboss

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Gotta say that Jay Peak knows how to do it. They treat folks really well. Good karma there.
 

thetrailboss

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My wife in the mean time as I was dealing with the Canyons supervisor, called up Deer Valley to see if they had space for our kids for an extra 2 days. Not only did they have space in the ski school for my 4yr old and daycare for our 2yr old, but after hearing our situation, they coordinated for one of their regular staff to come to our hotel room and babysit our 2yr old that afternoon so my wife and I could get out on the hill! By 11:30AM, one of their childcare staff, was at our room, watching our son and my wife and I got an afternoon of skiing in at The Canyons. The next 5 days we skied at Deer Valley with our kids in their programs and had a blast.

To top off Deer Valley's GREAT customer service, our last day there when we went o pick my daughter up from the ski school program, my wife and I did one of the classic parent moments where I thought she had grabbed my daughters helmet and she thought I had grabbed her helmet, but neither of us did. It was already 5 o'clock and we were back at our condo starting to pack for our flight back the next day. We frantically called Deer Valley and one of their supervisors for childcare/ski school told us that yes her helmet was there, that she was about to leave, and that she had to go right by where we were staying and would gladly drop it off to us!

Deer Valley customer service kicks butt! :thumbup:

Deer Valley is the best. Often imitated but never duplicated. Last year I wrote them an Email asking if Stein Eriksen could sign my Deer Valley Book. I figured it would get lost and/or get a no. Instead, the rep from marketing got a hold of me, said that he'd love to do it, and really helped out. I got my book back with the man's signature in it and I have a lot of smiles. Oh yeah...I skied there 4 or 5 days instead of 1 like the year before. Can't wait to go back this year...and tell everyone how awesome it is.
 

steamboat1

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Steamboat's experience does not sound like the Sugarbush I know and love.

I always had good luck with Win's folks. ASC was a different story.
Like I said TB I have no hard feelings towards Sugarbush. Their policy was/is clearly stated on their link to purchase the 4 packs. They stand by that policy, nothing wrong with that. Could they change their policy? Absolutely!
 

BeefyBoy50

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Bad experience at Killington:
I was skiing in the trees with my friend on Patsy's in questionable conditions. I don't remember if patsy's was closed that day, actually, I'm fairly sure it was open. There were about 6 inches of powder on an icy, thin base but it was better skiing than we could find elsewhere on the mountain and it was enjoyable. Anyway, somehow back there I skiied into a stump that was entirely hidden under some powder and my ski immediately felt different. When I got out of the glade, we found out the stump had torn down some of the laminate bottom of the ski (how does that even happen) so it was dragging in the snow and exposed the core.
All I wanted was to finish the day's worth of skiing because it was a sunday and the last day of our trip. I went down to the K1 base and found a ski shop after a large amount of being redirected. When i got in, all I wanted was some duct tape so I could fix my ski for the remainder of the day. I gave the ski to the employee who #1 taped it perpendicular to the ski (so the tape would be more easily peeled back) and #2 when he finished made me pay 5 dollars. I was so stunned I couldn't even refute him and wound up paying him which now that I consider it was dumb but I was 15 and probably wouldn't have argued with him.
 

freeski919

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Like I said TB I have no hard feelings towards Sugarbush. Their policy was/is clearly stated on their link to purchase the 4 packs. They stand by that policy, nothing wrong with that. Could they change their policy? Absolutely!

Chances are, the policy is so strict because they experienced some abuse of it in the past. For example, somebody buying up a whole ton of quad packs, then reselling the tickets for price higher than he paid, but lower than the individual ticket price. As a general rule, mountains bend over backwards to keep their guests happy. If they refuse to work with you, there's for sure very good reason why they aren't. Sucks, but it is what it is.
 
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