 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there
Over the past year or so I've had dealings with a couple of ski companies who have, I think, behaved rather badly - going to the fine print to renege on agreements and generally not acting within the spirit of what they had offered. Rather than name and shame these organisations, I thought it would be much more constructive to name and fame the ones who have gone above and beyond what could be expected in their dealings with us mountain addicts. I for one would much rather deal with companies who behave with integrity! This isn't just about getting a good deal and I'd love to hear about all the guys who have really looked after us.
Here are my examples…
Firstly there are Whitedot and the Piste Office. I'm on Whitedot's mailing list and last spring I got an offer through with a discount on their entire range. The way I read it, the offer also included their already discounted models from the year before. Within seconds I went from definitely not buying a pair of skis that year to emailing the, ever dependable, Piste Office. Jon got on the case, but called me back to say that he'd been in touch with WD and there was a mistake with the email, the offer wasn't available on discounted models. Re-reading the email, it was a rather ambiguous but he was right. However, the blue touch paper had been lit and I told Jon I'd like to buy the skis at the original sale price (I have very little will power!). Half an hour later, Jon phoned me back to say that WD had called again and agreed the offer was a bit ambiguous (they were going to withdraw and reword the email), and would happily honour it! Neither Whitedot or the Piste Office needed to do this. They'd made the sale regardless, and I can't believe that either were making very much on the transaction. That certainly gave me a warm glow, and I have bought more stuff (I know), from both companies since.
Secondly, I'd like to mention Icicle Mountaineering. www.icicle-mountaineering.ltd.uk . I was booked on an off piste course, in Chamonix, with them in January. The week before, I managed to get myself admitted to hospital and couldn't make the trip. Due to an insurance f*ck up on my part, I was only going to be able to recover a fraction of the costs. Icicle tried to sell my place, but given it was only a couple of days before the start, they were unable to shift it. I'd been really looking forward to, what looked like, an amazing course and was absolutely gutted. In an act of huge generosity, Icicle very kindly offered to move my place on the course to later in the year at no extra cost! I don't think they are a huge company, and the courses are restricted to small groups, so this was surely a big chunk out of their profits for the week. Needless to say, I was blown away by their offer.
Finally, a quick shout out to our very own Admin (not a company, I know, but still a legend!). I was out in Tignes in November when the NTPSB was on, and was really struggling to find a transfer back to Geneva. Despite not being on the NTPSB, Admin very kindly organised for me to get on the Snowheads transfer, which was great. I even got to meet a few Snowheads for the first time, who were all lovely! I'm now seriously thinking about which bashes to book up on next year!
So those are mine, who's got any more?
p.s. Just for the record, I have no affiliation with any of the above companies!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 6-02-16 22:49; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@eversolazy, Thanks very much. Your kind words are truly appreciated. 
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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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Ice and Fire Ski http://www.ice-fire.co.uk/ I have not had time to write my holiday review since we got back a couple of weeks ago but they were excellent to deal with in every way. We were late arriving due to illness and car issues, I was poorly whilst I was there and well looked after. They even organised for a very scruffy but much loved pair of Crocs I left behind to be returned to me! From the first contact we had when considering the holiday till the last contact we had a week after the holiday communication, advice, and service could not be faulted! A week that could have been disastrous was very pleasant!
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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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Livigno Ski Holidays - https://www.livignoskiholidays.com
I was away with a few friends in Livigno over the new year on a DIY trip (not booked through the above). One of our party was heading on to Val D'Isere at the end of the week and had booked a taxi months in advance. The taxi cancelled the day before he was due to travel, and he couldn't find anyone who was willing to take him at short notice. Another friend of ours had booked a previous trip with Livigno Ski Holidays and had recommended them to us, so in desperation my friend visited their office to see if they could help him out. The guy (I think his name was Steve?) spent an afternoon on the phone and sorted out a taxi for him, hitching a ride with one of his transfers to Bergamo, then on to Val D'Isere. My friend got sorted and spent a week in Val D, just in time for the snow's arrival!
He didn't have to do it for us, we hadn't even booked with him, and he didn't charge my friend a penny. Will definitely book with him next time.
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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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Edge and Wax last week, sorted a replacement Douchebag ski bag I'd had since last June. Never used it but it was a damaged zip. No quibble they just got it sorted, new one arrived Thursday excellent service
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oxygene skis school Val D'isere. My first time with lessons - I got confused which ski school I was with (I had booked through a TO and I think I was too busy drinking wine to listen properly). I was wandering around looking for my class and although not being on their list Oxygene took me for a lesson with them. It ended up I was with another school which I sorted out the next day. The Oxygene instructor I had still said hi to me everyday and I was never asked to pay for the lesson with them.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Sat 6-02-16 19:40; edited 1 time in total
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I've nothing to contribute here yet, but this is a great thread!
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+1 for @Admin
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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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Great thread
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Skiworld when the Icelandic volcano erupted. The eruption was on the Thursday and they had coaches there on Saturday morning to get everyone back and even gave us each a packed lunch and 10 Euros for the journey. Also my old man was due to fly to Gatwick and get a connecting flight to Glasgow which he obviously missed, so they let him join the other bus that was going to Manchester so he'd be closer to home.
I appreciated even more how good the service was when I got home and saw all the people on the news who had just been abandoned at the airport by various companies.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Great post & nice to actually praise those that provide service beyond what is really expected, big thanks to all of the above companies 
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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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Mrs Angus. Our ski lesson in January was ace, although the weather caused problems due to us staying in Tignes and Clare being in Val. We had to cancel one meet because links were closed. Clare happily rearranged, and even offered to drive round if the weather was bad again. 
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This is so uplifting (no pun intended) to read!
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You know it makes sense.
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Last year in Sestriere, Neilson. Well, maybe not the company but their rep, G (name withheld) 'Showed us around' magicked us discounts everywhere on the hill and at night and was top company. Then three weeks ago we were in a resort over the hill and we hooked up again. Result. Neilson are good and some of their guys are superb.
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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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All the guys and gals with ICESI in Val D'Isere. We did a 4 week performance course with them in January. A nicer and more interested and interesting bunch of instructors I have never met. We spent most of the course with Mark Jones, but also a few days with the endlessly enthusiastic and chirpy Dave Cowell and a couple of lessons with Rupert Tildesley. For the moment we arrived on 3rd Jan, Rupert and Mark already knew who we were and at no point did we feel like we were just punters. The time they took to analyse and help our skiing meant did not feel like they were just trotting out the same old stuff (even though they were). We had an excellent time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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http://www.familyfriendlyskiing.com/ stayed with them last Easter and little extra things like driving us from the chalet to kids ski school each morning, sorting out kids ski hire enroute to chalet after arrival really stand them out from the "big boys". Looking forward to using them again in, ooh, 7 weeks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The childcare with Crystal in Tignes (this season at least!). Our four year old son has autism, although it's not quite typical autism, it's a type called Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) which is not widely recognised yet although things are improving. Normal autism techniques don't always work with him and can even make him worse. Whilst most of the time he is a lovely happy little boy, if he feels people are making demands on him - even something as simple as "Come and eat your lunch now" if he's already anxious - the results can be, uh, spectacular.
We went out in early January and before we went, Crystal were very proactive in putting the childcare manager in touch with us to discuss his care, they were extremely open to all the information I sent out. They made sure every member of staff had read it all. The night we arrived, they came round to our chalet and spent an hour chatting with us, and getting to know our son so he was familiar with them. They even picked up our privately rented ski gear and drove it over to the nursery in Val Claret (we were in Le Lac) so we didn't have to carry it all the next morning on the bus with all the children.
Then over the course of the week they did an outstanding job with not just our son but our other three children too, who were incredibly sad to leave and got very attached. For our son they introduced me to his ski teacher, stayed with him for part of that first lesson (and again at several times over the week). During the afternoons they were very sensitive to his needs and if he looked like he was getting anxious they'd happily take him out the room for distraction/cooling off, protect his precious Lego models from other children (a massive trigger for him!!) and at all times they were so positive and cheerful. Our older two (9 and 7) told us about the things they'd been doing - they really were going above and beyond.
As a result he had an absolutely fantastic first week on snow and really enjoyed skiing even if he didn't exactly progress much!
They could have just taken the information we'd given them, skim read it and done the bare minimum (which could well have resulted in him needing to be excluded from past experience with some of the childcare he's had here in the UK) but instead they did everything they possibly could. And our holiday was a happy success as a result!
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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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When we were running the chalet we had a pre-christmas group booked in, but the resort sent our an email on the Wednesday before resort opening was scheduled at the weekend saying the lifts would not be open due to the lack of snow. I informed the guests of the lift operators decision, and although we had no liability to do anything if they chose to cancel (they wouldn't have had a refund because we were not liable for the lift companies actions), we still offered to move their week in to January - one or 2 of the guests were very upset and we had some heated exchanges over the phone about the costs they'd incurred because of the lift compnies choices. I think they realised how reasonable we were being when I told them that moving their booking would leave me £5000 out of pocket in lost revenue and I in fact had no obligation to offer them the move.
They came in January and ironically had to leave a day early because of the amount of snow in the forcast and their transfer was brought forward to 02.00, so they left the night before.... without dinner.
Later in the year a guest cornered me and threatened us, so we decided to quit the game.
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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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Masterclass in Alpe d'Huez. We were there the 2nd week in January. We'd booked a 09:30 private lesson with Jimmy, their new instructor (but by no means new to teaching skiing). We woke up to rain at resort level, but went across to the meeting place in the Le Lac Blanc cafe all the same. Jimmy suggested that the conditions really weren't going to be very good for teaching at our level and suggested rescheduling for the next morning. We did, and had a fantastic lesson in fresh snow. It was so good that we booked another lesson for later in the week, which was also brilliant. It wasn't a busy week in resort, so the timings of the lessons were pretty flexible and both lasted well over the allotted time.
Jimmy was brilliant. I think he's ex coach of the British Alpine skiing team, and is an old mate of Stuart at Masterclass. His teaching style is relaxed, but incredibly focused.
I'd happily recommend Masterclass to anyone at any level, from beginner through to advanced.
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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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Ellis Brigham Chester. I'd bought my lad some snowboard bindings in the summer, but we only actually tried to attach them to a board in December, and found that the base disk was much smaller than most and had a weird screw pattern that didn't fit any of our boards. Despite buying the binding at the Manchester store, 4 months previous, the staff in Chester were spot on and realised we'd been sold a pup, so gave a full value exchange and some great advice. I had my old battered late '90's board with me (yes I am a cheapskate) and was going to buy some P-Tex. Staff looked at the boards, especially the edge beginning to separate from the base and suggested a service and repair. I gave it to them the week before Xmas and it was ready before New Year. £45.
I took it to the Alps and had a great week, it was as if my board had a new lease of life. 1m of powder did help though
It's rare to go into a ski/board shop and find any staff who have such an in depth knowledge of snow boarding.
Most chuffed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DFDS Newhaven to Dieppe and back. Unexpectedly had to fly back and leave the car in Austria. I emailed DFDS customer services to explain. They said don't worry, sort things out and let us know when you want to return. After many weeks I sent them a proposed return date - they said no problem, no charge. I emailed back my thanks and the actual human being replied "It is a pleasure. Drive carefully."
Civilised ferry and quite decent food too.
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I'd like to add 'ROME' to the list. Specifically for their help relating to my Rome snowboard bindings. I lost a part to my old (7 years!!) bindings. I managed to get hold of a UK rep by email, which he forwarded to a Europe rep who told me that as it was such an old binding they didn't think they had the part but that she would look. Two days later I got an email saying they had found the part and had sent it by post. Two days later I had the part..... No charge. For this alone my next binding purchase will be Rome.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Mon 8-02-16 10:29; edited 1 time in total
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| Dodge wrote: |
| I'd like to add 'ROME' to the list. Specifically for their help relating to my Rome snowboard bindings. I lost a part to my old (7 years!!) bindings. I managed to get hold of a UK rep by email, which he forwarded to a Europe rep who told me that as it was such an old binding the didn't think they had the part but that she would look. Two days later I got an email saying the had found the part and had sent it by post. Two days later I had the part..... No charge. For this alone my next binding purchase will be Rome. |
Now I think about it, I've had a pretty similar experience with Union too so would recommend them for the same reason.
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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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All of our dealings with Ski Safari have been excellent. Rupert & Andy in particular have provided invaluable advice when booking non standard ski trips. Couldn't recommend them highly enough.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Reach4TheAlps - company with catered and self-catered accommodation in Morzine and Les Gets. Gina and Marcus have been so accommodating with the 3 trips we have done with them to Morzine. For our last trip we stayed in one of their self-catered chalets. Gina agreed to get someone to collect our online shop from Carrefour Drive and put in all in the fridge for us ready for our (late-ish) arrival. A life-saver with 2 small children in tow. They also arranged a late check-out for us so that we had somewhere for the children to rest in the day as we had a late flight back. Lovely company.
Easy2Ride, a ski school also in Morzine have been awesome. During the difficult start to the season we ended up having lessons diverted to Avoriaz (more snow). A friend had booked with another company that had decided to stick to lessons in Pleney. She was a complete beginner so I was worried about her not having us around in the morning to get her up the bubble. Edwina and Sarah from the office in E2R were really understanding and diverted our lessons back to Pleney so that we could help our friend.
It's so great to see these smaller companies really understand how to make a huge difference to customer experience.
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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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Yes, it's a fine line companies tread with their 'don't ask don't get' customers. Give 'em what they want and get praised, refuse and risk a social media shytstorm.
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^^^
I think the only time I've used social media to vent my displeasure was when a bar in La Clusaz knowingly short changed us €50 and then shrugged at us when we challenged them. This was not mentioned in my review - just a warning that customer service was poor (disappointing as the venue was awesome 
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You know it makes sense.
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@Mountaindoc, For sure there are still many reasonable customers about. Actually I do quite enjoy reading about the outrageous demands some make and then how their attempts at social media revenge end in a good flaming and even more upset for them.
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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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It just seems to come naturally to Whitedot and The Piste Office to put customers at the centre of what they do without being all "have a nice day" about it.
Spyderjon at the Piste Office has some serious product knowledge going on as well. I wouldn't have anyone else work on my gear.
Also a great fan of Mountain Tracks as a guiding company - down to earth, no big deal, just get on with delivering a good job and are as nuts as their clients about sliding down hills (and walking up them for tourers!).
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Gerry,
I hear you. With my requests to E2R and R4TA there was never an expectation that my requests would be met but I thought I'd ask (and told them I totally understood if it wasn't possible) and was pleasantly surprised when they were able to help. If I requested these things again and they couldn't help I wouldn't start spitting fire. Similarly if something goes wrong (these things happen) I always feel it's best to calmly sort it out there and then. I never used to be this measured - must be getting old... 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Big Paua, +1 for Whitedot and Spyderjon at Piste Office, I also highly rate Snowsafe (plus Edge & Wax as above).
Personally I buy my gear from these guys and Germany.
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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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AbsoluteSnow for refunding the wife the price difference on her coat when she found it on sale somewhere else online cheaper in a sale two days later.
Family Friendly Skiing upgraded us last year and saved us some cash this year arranging shared ski lessons for our kids and another family at the same time.
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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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Stayed with Alpine Escape in La Tania back in 2010. My wife injured herself snowboarding and we ended up in the medical centre at Courchevel 1850 until 8pm. Our chalet owners kindly drove round and picked us up while keeping our dinner warm. Saved us a taxi bill to get back to La Tania. It's going that extra mile that makes all the difference.
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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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Scott in Ellis Brigham Glasgow has been so very helpful over the last few years with sorting my boots and skis. Really nice guy with great knowledge!
My other shout out would be Evo2 in Tignes - girlfriend emailed them about getting a guide last season for me without me knowing and they sorted her out, spent 3 days with Kev who helped inspire my love of powder and coming out to France this season!
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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've had great service this year from
SS20 in Oxford via phone and email a few weeks ago.
TSA posted me out a damaged snowboard and couldn't/wouldn't source me a replacement.
SS20 had a superb offer on bindings if bought at the same time. Gave the guys a call, he checked that my (old-ish) boots would fit the bindings with some stock they had from last season. Checked the set-up didn't look like a dog before posting it all out and arrived next day with enough brochures/magazines/stickers to double the weight of the packages!!
Even when I had cause to mention a slight cosmetic manufacturing defect they refunded me even more money above all the discounts I had already received. Top service and if I can buy it online from them in the future I will.
Joe
Joe
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Can't fault The Piste Office. admin has certainly helped me above and beyond. Never bought anything off Andrew - but having met him, I am not surprised at the favourable reports.
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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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For constant excellent customer service, especially when I am d1cking them around organising big group holidays I heartily recommend Snowfinders https://www.snowfinders.co.uk/
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FAQ
