 Poster: A snowHead
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T Bar, mate, 12.00 noon til 3.00pm ain't 'out of hours'
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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red 27,
No, but it's not untypical of a lot of other French businesses in my experience. A lot of small French towns and villages are dead to buiseness at this time. If the prices are genuinely low you have to keep staff costs as low as possible.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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T Bar, I know what you mean, but I just think selling airport transfers to UK based skiers bears no relevance to normal french business hours and so the transfer companies would be better tailoring their hours to suit their customers?
chamxpress left MrHole's enquiry unanswered from 12.00 til 15.04 while (t)he(y) went to lunch - that ain't great business, although I'll bet it was a great lunch so go figure right?
Better, surely, to give ghastly France a miss, go to switzerland and get the train - cheaper, nicer, better, quicker - but that's a whole other thread...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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red 27, yes, but then many of these people also go out to Cham to ski, and they ski in their lunch hour if they are working. That is normal business hours in France,they might open until 7 or 7.30 in the evening instead. ( and I am not entirely enamoured with dragging my luggage on and off Swiss trains either) .
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Helen Beaumont, Well yes indeed - not much point moving to france for a 'better life' to then have to slave away running a minicab company.
But my point is that 'normal french business hours' aren't really relevent to a web-based business that sells ski transfers to people in UK who of course are expecting UK business hours. am i wrong?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Andrew
the lack of a customer voicemail facility seems slightly odd given that presumably people might want to call you during your lunch 3 hour (which would almost completely cover UK lunch hours when I suspect most UK based potential customers might have time to make a booking). But hey its your business model.
Perhaps if you said clearly if you are booking within 48 hours of travel please contact us personally to confirm availability would prevent this type of issue arising.
I think everyone appreciates your response but I personally would be interested to know with how you cope with unpredictable flight delays and cancellations since by definition you are in the market of providing services to other than sat- sat package punters.
BTW I might be making a booking with you based on your willingness to engage here soon so these are genuine questions.
Thanks
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Fri 18-04-08 22:41; edited 1 time in total
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red 27,
What is ideal and where savings have to be made in the interests of cost are probably different for different folk. But as a comparison with the Swiss trains to get the discount swiss transfer ticket you have to book it five working days in advance for ordinary delivery or 1 day for special delivery which considering they have personnel at every station is probably not ideal for web based sales.
As far chamexpress ae concerned if they are genuinely budget I could tolerate shorter than ideal office opening hours as long as the actual transfers were reliable when booked.
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Boris, Helen Beaumont, Helen Beaumont, I meant that from his own point of view Chamexpress might have done better to say nothing. The explanation is a bit thin (3 hour lunch breaks, desirable though they may be, don't really cut it if you're answering a criticism of slow response). The length of his reply doesn't inspire confidence, either. I thought worse of the company after reading it than I did before.
I agree that it's good to have responses from companies who are criticised. If they're going to respond to every critisism made of them, Chamexpress need to go on a PR course, though.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| red 27 wrote: |
Helen Beaumont, Well yes indeed - not much point moving to france for a 'better life' to then have to slave away running a minicab company.
But my point is that 'normal french business hours' aren't really relevent to a web-based business that sells ski transfers to people in UK who of course are expecting UK business hours. am i wrong? |
But this company is in France, and is therefore not a UK business.
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Helen Beaumont,
I don't think this is a point about whether they are entitled to operate French business hours but more the shortsightedness of not offering an alternate form of contact when they are closed for 3 hours at what I suspect is the peak time of day for a customer sitting at a desk in the UK.
I don't know their target market but I suspect having spent a lot of time in Chamonix it isn't French locals who seem to be in a minority to hordes of Brit & Scandi punters.
The reason for my question of Andrew is the implication that its your own fault if you want to book at short notice - well what if GVA has had flights cancelled and you need to put your return back 24 hours or more?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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fatbob, I would have thought an answer phone would be a good thing to have.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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mmm, never used either company so difficult to comment on levels of service ...... however skymole posted a bad experience which he suffered.... Chamexpress [andrew] posted a response which seems to bring into doubt some of the points made by the origninal poster...... turns out major problem is not with chamexpress but with the other buss company...I say well done Andrew for defending your company, if someone had written a report about me in that manner which was not 100% acurate you could be dam sure i would respond, even if it was to offer an apology for a problem if we had caused it. not sure why so many have jumped up to the skymoles defence and criticised Andrew for posting a response, like many people who operate small businesses the forums are a place where people talk about these businesses, if the information is positive then great, if it is negative then why is it because the company has done wrong or is it that the complainant is mad that X happened and wants to vent his/her anger or is it a combination of both
Chamexpress, i would hoever possibly invest in an answer machine or an alternative method of contact just in case
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Chamexpress,
Check your pms please
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You know it makes sense.
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First time poster appeared to be slagging off someone he had a gripe with. Said taxi service responded with other side of picture. Interesting OP has seemed to retract his origional allegations, probably realises that it is indeed libelous to say the things he did if they were not 100% true.
Chamexpress, your rebuttal would have been sufficient and not get the drivel of an expert to go into the ins and outs of your website! Would respectfully suggest however that you get a answer machine for the future!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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wow! Hadn't realised this thread had become so long! And haven't logged in for ages 
Now we have a fandabidosy online booking system that displays LIVE AVAILABILTY 24 hrs a day. Simply enter your flight time and it displays all the available transfers for you to pick the one you want.
Book, and you pay by credit card through the banks secure server, and HEY PRESTO you receive INSTANT TICKETS to your email inbox. Just like easyjet!
Full-time office staff from 10.00am until 6.30pm. No lunch breaks, and friendly, helpful reps to greet you at Geneva Airport.
AND still only 25 EUROS - Door2Door.
www.chamexpress.com
AND
for winter 2009/10 exactly the same service from GENEVA to MORZINE & LES GETS!
Cheers.
Andrew
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Poster: A snowHead
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Chamexpress, Well done. Will give you a buzz for Avoriaz this season.
I think you were right to defend your action and the fact that the OP has not come back to defend his criticism mutes his argument.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Seeing this thread again reminded me that I was going to report back on my experience of Chamexpress in April this year ('09)... [I'm not going to comment on all the stuff above, people can make their own minds up about that]
We were going out fairly late season (coming back the weekend that Chamexpress and Alpybus both stopped running), so I was a bit worried that the service might be dodgy (especially having read this!). Very relieved to find a rep at the airport, even though we turned up early. I was even more pleased when she explained that we only had one other person on our transfer so we could leave as soon as they turned up. Don't know if they'd be that accommodating at busier times, but it's a good sign that the rep was still 'on post' and not sat in a cafe somewhere!
The only downside of the airport pick-up was that the minibus seemed to be parked on the other side of Geneva. I've been picked up before just outside the arrivals hall...my arms had nearly dropped off by the time we'd reached the Chamexpress bus.
That aside, the experience was pretty positive - the journey there was fine, we got dropped off at our appartment and the return bus turned up right on time. I'd use them again.
...
Chamexpress, the cheque's in the post, right? 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Add Verbier to your destinations please!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Transporting customers from France to Switzerland is a major minefield and most operators "sub out" these transfers. I know that you can get this type of transfer with alpline www.alp-line.com so give them a try if you are looking for Verbier of anywhere in switzerland
Andy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I know of others, I would like to see Chamexpress bring some competition to the prevailing prices. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'd add in very positive recent experience with Mountain Dropoffs. Couldn't try Chamexpress as they've always ceased service for the season whenever I've tried to use them.
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Although I have no reason to doubt the OP experience with Alpybus.I have used them for group transfers on 4 occasions to 3v,s and Verbier over the past three seasons and found them reliable,helpful and extremely good value. No problems at all 
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On Saturdays and Sundays throughout the winter ski season, Geneva Airport authorities ban ALL transfer minibuses from P1 (which is the short term carpark directly outside the arrivals terminal). We all have to use P33 which is the car park the other side of the shopping centre (pain in the backside for everyone - but that's the Swiss for you!). Monday to Friday the transfer companies are allowed to use P1 again.
We've tried all sorts of alternative ideas, but the airport always rumbles you! And the police stick expensive tickets on your windscreen - so for the moment all transfer companies are stuck with it.
As for Verbier, The Swiss Authorities do not permit anyone to operate a scheduled airport transfer service in competition with their railways. So for now, you're stuck with paying top dollar.
Anyway, guys, thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you this coming winter!!
cheers,
Andrew
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Transporting customers from France to Switzerland is a major minefield
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last time I booked a local taxi to pick up friends at Geneva (February 2009) they had to meet him over on the French side of the airport - he told me French taxis weren't allowed to meet people on the Swiss side. It was no problem - they just had to be told to get themselves over there. It's a lot easier than walking a long way down the road carrying heavy bags.
The Chamexpress service sounds very good - and very reasonably priced. People who moan about the cost of transfers obviously haven't spent much time driving in and out of Geneva airport on busy days, especially busy days with lots of snow. I usually do it for free, for friends and family, but I do tell them that if they want to fly in on a Saturday, they're on their own.
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Chamexpress, Have you tried to use your 'new' all singing-all-dancing booking system? as a 'user friendly' interface it's bloody awful, resource wasteful and an insult to web functionality.
Try looking at it as a 'user' and not as a 'supplier' . . . way too many steps and pages that are redundant with better initial design
Kudos for taking on board that you needed to 'up' your game . . . a raspberry for doing it so poorly.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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TY Freerider for your feedback... However, whilst both you and I are 'internet savvy' the system is designed to be totally 'muppet proof'. (which unfortunately, is these days a necessary requirement). Hence the 2 or 3 summary pages, which enable our customers to check, re-check, and check again, that the transfer they are booking, is indeed the one they actually want.
You'd be amazed that some people do actually go through 7 steps of the booking process, pay, and then phone up 5 minutes later and say.. 'oh sorry, I've booked the wrong date or time etc...'
So.. a challenge...... everyone take a peek.... www.chamexpress.com and see what you think..
Cheers.
Andrew
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Chamexpress, I thought it was ok, although I would prefer all the options on one page (but I'm savvy too)
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thought I might give the booking engine a whirl then - definitely seems to do what's required and great to hear that it's all 'live' - perhaps that might be worth explaining a little more on the homepage, after all it's your main sales message - "Like airlines, once you've booked with us you'll have the piece of mind of knowing that you're transfers are sorted!"
Some other bits of feedback - feel free to ignore as you wish
a) I think you run the risk of pissing people off with too many steps - whilst I've now spotted a 'step 5' why isn't it obvious how many steps there are in total - step 5 on a 6 step process is good but step 5 on a 20 step process is bad. As Masque suggested there also seems to be too many 'confirm this order' buttons when the next page you're confirming the order again.
b) If you want your drop off point to be x then why not assume that you want the collection place to be x as well, perhaps a checkbox for 'use these details for the pickup point" would be good and cut out other steps in the process.
c) I would imagine a lot of people won't neccessarily know there drop off point but want to book their transfers, perhaps suggesting some default locations might be a bonus here - otherwise I'm sure a few customers will give up at this point thinking "I don't know where in argentierre etc'"
d) You've error-trapped a kid trying to book without an adult nicely, but if I'm booking a return ticket with one adult passenger outward - then I don't really understand why you need me to select a 'passenger breakdown' for the return journey - by definition only 1x adult can be the traveller.
e) Actually what's the point of the passenger breakdown? Why do you need to know - after all If I'm the group leader and have booked 3 seats, surely that's all that matters.
f) There's a bug in this screen - if you 'error' on the number of passengers - i.e. don't select an adult at all, then when you next select the drop down box it comes up with valid entries of "0,0,1" rather than "0,1"
g) When you press confirm this order (finally) and go to the credit card page it looks like something a spammer has mocked up on their letraset kit - I would be reluctant to put my credit card details into a site that looked that poor - perhaps if you explained that when a user finally presses submit they'll then be transferred to a page run by the card company (paybox) in this case. Also if a user then cancels at this stage they get dumped back to the home page off your booking system which isn't that handy
h) Why not take paypal - good for those people (I would be one of them) who don't like the idea of the paybox site then this could be an alternative?
i) the site homepage doesn't work well in Firefox (3.0.12) on XP - the graphic at the top right overlays the 'every seat 25 euro strapline' and the bottom of the page looks particularly messy. Attually (IMHO) the bottom half of the page (below the phone number) looks a mess even in Internet Explorer
j) You've asked people to register and yet there's no obvious note of how you will handle customer's personal data, which I think you should address.
Good luck for next season, and well done for taking onboard the feedback above. I might well use you for Morzine at some point, but never for Cham as I won't be back
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks Bertie! Top feedback.
a) Will take a look at this one.
b) Good point. Quite a lot of people return from a different pick-up place, then their drop-off. Especially in the summer, so this was done to cater for them. However, a check box would speed up the process for everyone else.
c) We ask people to select a default location if they don't know their pick-up/drop-off point. All default locations are listed under the 'public' drop-down menu
d) some people want to book 1 seat in one direction, but 2 or more in the other. This gives them the flexiblity to do that
e) we need to know the number of children so that we can make sure that the customer has also selected the correct number of booster/baby seats, as by law kids have to have them
f) will get onto this
g) the payment screen is actually one of France's largest banks; Credit Agricole, so is 100% safe. French design skills are somewhat lacking though! 
h) Paypal is not practical. commission rates are huge - which would have to be passed onto the customer - and they hold onto the funds for ages.
i) The site is currently undergoing a complete redesign and will be launched by 01st September. Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari browser issues are being addressed
j) being dealt with under i)
Thanks for all your comments guys - it really is much appreciated!!
Cheers.
Andrew
www.chamexpress.com
www.morzexpress.com
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Poster: A snowHead
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On thing.... its probably not the best marketing decision youll ever make reviving a year old thread containing "Bad Experience with CHAMONIX EXPRESS" as part of the title. Oh well - you cant be accused of shying away from criticism.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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JDC, It would appear that the OP joined the site with the sole purpose of slagging off a couple of companies, fair enough but once the veracity of his claims were challenged he came up wanting!! 
So it would appear that Chamexpress, and another operator were possibly not at fault at all! Possibly the OP knows that in his heart of hearts that he should have booked earlier. We have all made some mistakes when booking holidays but sometimes it is better just to admit the phuqup one self!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Chamexpress, Thanks for the great transfer yesterday. From booking to arrivals at GVA it went as smooth as silk. Just one thing though, what with smart phones, why are your customers told they must print their tickets out? I complied with this printing requirement, which was a bit of a pain, but the driver didn't ask to see the ticket.
Thanks again.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Only used Chamexpress once, on a trip to Morzine, but absolutely nothing but praise. Up the hill was on time and quick and the return was also excellent especially as I changed my pick up point once just before the holiday and then again whilst in the resort.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Gerry Thanks for your comments. It's not us, but the French authorities that insist that their Control Staff can see a paper ticket, if they decide to stop and check a vehicle and its passengers. (they're still in the dark ages i'm afraid!)
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| Chamexpress wrote: |
| @Gerry Thanks for your comments. It's not us, but the French authorities that insist that their Control Staff can see a paper ticket, if they decide to stop and check a vehicle and its passengers. (they're still in the dark ages i'm afraid!) |
Ok, thanks for that.
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For those who remember this market a few years back, one of the features with Alpline, was that you did get a booking confirmation straight away. Which meant shuttles ( shared ) transfers to Val D'Isere with 1 pax. These were about 50 eur. But the cost to them was 6-7 hours of driver time, depending where they lived ( EUR 110 if you include cotisations ), EUR 20 of tolls ( depending which way you went ) EUR 25 of fuel, CHF 4 waiting at GVA, a day's van rental etc... They went into liquidation a few years ago.
Couple that with running un-filled busses is also not great for the planet, and you understand why other transfer companies might like to reach their break-even point before committing to a trip.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Can anyone help with a transfer from GVA to Val D'Isere on Tues 13th Dec for 2 people? Or any suggestions, I've looked at a few private companies but they are way too expensive! thanks
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Sorry we land at 13.45 on 13th Thanks
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FAQ
