 Poster: A snowHead
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WTF  Just had a "we have updated your invoice" message from Crystal with a £90 refund for ski carriage.
Any suggestions on what to do about it? My OH is a very experienced skier with a decent pair of skis. I am an old codger (OK.....just old enough to get a 'senior' ski pass) with a snowboard I feel happy on.
Basically it looks like we are being forced TO HIRE kit; additional expense, inconvenience at the resort, expensive to hire the quality of skis OH is accustomed to and a bit disconcerting for an elderly snowboarder who would prefer a board I am familiar with.
How on earth can they accept a booking, accept ski carriage at the time..... and then just cancel it?? It isn't the holiday we booked. Unfortunately I saw the email a few minutes after 8pm so their office is closed. Might be an interesting call tomorrow!
Anyone else in this situation??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Where from and to and with which carrier?
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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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Manchester-Geneva and presume it is TUI (it's a TOM- flight).
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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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@JanA, when?
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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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Seen a few similar posts already this season, never saw the result but worth doing a search for threads mentioning Crystal and having a read to see what happened with others.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@JanA, Can't see any obvious issue with that route or aircraft type used then. A phone call seems to be in order then. Good luck.
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@JanA, Courier them?
Or, perhaps state where/ when you are going and ask if ang fellow SH are driving that way? They might give your hardware a ride.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 19-02-20 22:28; edited 1 time in total
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| chocksaway wrote: |
| @JanA, Can't see any obvious issue with that route or aircraft type used then. A phone call seems to be in order then. Good luck. |
Thank you 
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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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| Markymark29 wrote: |
@JanA, Courier them?
Or, perhaps state where/ when you are going and ask if ang fellow SH are driving that way? They might give your hardware a ride. |
It's a nice idea but, as we live in the wilds of Cumbria, it may be bit of a nightmare getting skis/snowboard to a fellow SH. I guess we just have to suck it up, have bit of a rant at Crystal tomorrow and pay the ski hire fee
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
| @JanA, when? |
10 days time
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| JanA wrote: |
| I guess we just have to suck it up, have bit of a rant at Crystal tomorrow and pay the ski hire fee |
I wouldn't come off the phone with anything less than Crystal giving you free ski hire. It's their f*** up so you shouldn't have to pay for it.
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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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Ask for full refund on your holiday & book elsewhere.
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You know it makes sense.
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Good luck, you should definitely get more than the refund they are offereing. Sending them is cheap enough and easy, they'll come to your house and pick them up, done it a couple of times in the past
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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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No experience myself, but there are a number of send-my-bag type companies that come up when you Google something like "ski baggage delivery"
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Poster: A snowHead
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@JanA, quote directly from Crystal’s Ts & Cs, pasted below. As far as I can interpret these they are obliged to either
- find a way to forward your equipment to you OR
- provide you with equivalent rental equipment until yours arrives (which currently looks like it will be your whole trip).
Directly from Crystal Ski Ta & Cs..
“
If you wish to have skis or snowboards added to your booking, these must be added at the time of booking. For any reason, should your carriage fail to arrive on your flight, the charge will be refunded and skis forwarded to you in resort free of charge. We will also arrange hire for you until your skis arrive. For each pair of skis/board that you have paid carriage for and that does not arrive, you will receive hire for 1 set of skis and/or snowboard.”
Basically start by playing them with their own rules. At same time ask for explanation of WHY they took your money for equipment transit if they couldn’t do it. Surely they have a weight limit and keep a running tally of bookings as they come in??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Once had this previously and the carrier KLM told me it was subject to available space and they reserve the right to cancel if the flight was busy and potentially they wouldn’t have room. We went with Lufthansa instead....not sure how contractually obliged airlines are once booked, could be subject to available space.
The above may be once they are checked-in and they are bumped off, once had this with Lufthansa years ago.
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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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@Markymark29, as it's a full Crystal package I'd consider that they have greater obligation...whether that's the case in law or bit is a different matter, but the OP will be dealing with a customer services department rather than legal
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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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@SnoodlesMcFlude, the law is pretty irrelevant but T&C’s is what they usually refer to, ime dealing with customer services depts if computer says no that’s it.
Hope not in this instance for OP sake but we choose to fly with Swiss and LH for reasons of reliability, TO’s are all about bums on seats not service.
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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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A friend has just booked late with Crystal to join us on a trip on 01/03 into Turin. They booked ski carriage (from Stanstead). Received a call yesterday & told it’s cancelled as no room. Crystal are paying for their ski hire & refunding their carriage.
Just getting twitchy now they don’t cancel ours (BHX).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Oh no hope you get decent hire; I'd be really annoyed as got new skis last season.
I booked where I did for next week with Crystal specifically as I wanted ski carriage- had some crap rental skis with TOs last few years (appears if you want skis that aren't floppy you need advanced skis and then you can only get racing piste skis- not all mountain- I don't want to race).
Might be worth checking out which shop they use at your resort and checking what skis and boards they rent out. Also noticed in La Thuile the shop Crystal used was renting out all mountain skis to other renters but if you were in the Crystal masses the choice was limited to only certain piste skis. if not you could search other ski rentals- means you're out of pocket but I think I'd prefer that than a much anticipated holiday with rubbish equipment.
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@Bob, probably easier, and for peace of mind, just to get the refund and book it themselves
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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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that's what I mean, get them to reimburse. I've shipped skis loads of times always works well.
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@JanA, fascinated to hear the outcome of your rant at Crystal this morning! Please let us know if you have achieved a satisfactory result.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @Bob, probably easier, and for peace of mind, just to get the refund and book it themselves |
This. Use a discount broker such as AlpinResorts, save a bit of dosh and some faff. Move on, life is too short to get stressed about such stuff.
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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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@Bob, how far in advance do you have to book usually?
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My brother had something similar happen, and successfully managed to get the travel company to agree to send his skis out with one of luggage couriers. They were collected from his home and delivered straight to resort.
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You know it makes sense.
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I'm usually pretty organised as it a choice I make at the outset, so I organise a couple of months in advance. You'll probably need to look at each provider separately.
You may need to provide a rigid 'ski tube' with TSA lock for packing/shipping.
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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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Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. I tackled Crystal about it this morning and got a reasonably useful outcome.
They did try and argue that we'd been told in the terms & conditions "Ski carriage is full and cannot be added to your flight by the contact centre or at check-in". I pointed out that the wording was misleading as it implied that we couldn't "add" any further skis at a later date .... we didn't wish to, we'd already booked our two items on, paid and received confirmation. Apparently the computer programme shouldn't have let us book any ski carriage in the first place!
Anyway. the alternative offered was to fly MAN to Chambery instead so that we can take our skis/board and, despite always being a little apprehensive about the joys of Chambery, we accepted their offer.
It seems that the problems are pretty genuine. TUI is having to go around borrowing planes off other airlines because of all the grounded 737 Max aircraft that were written into their schedules for this winter. Some of the aircraft are smaller than the 737s hence the carriage limit.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@JanA, Yes I've just been advised that my Crystal / TUI flight has been changed to a different airline (and different plane type) so they're obviously having a bit of a mare for the reason you mention.
I'm now Titan air on the way out and Albaster (  ) on the way back... Happily flight times & airports are the same (so far...)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@JanA, I've flown to Chambery a great many times over three decades....and whereas it's not great to fly into and miserable to fly out of, the vast majority of the time, there has been no problem.
It is true, that it can be put out of commission more easily than most....but you will be unlucky if that happens.
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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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@JanA, well done. This sort of thing is one of the main reasons I much prefer to do DIY and fly, in the main, with SWISS and their enlightened attitude to ski carriage!
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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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FYI. I did have a problem with Crystal last year the flight I wanted was an early flight, where they were using Jet2. Ski Carriage went through but was then canceled the following day. Crystal rebooked us on a later flight with an alternative airline.
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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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| LOTA wrote: |
| @JanA, well done. This sort of thing is one of the main reasons I much prefer to do DIY and fly, in the main, with SWISS and their enlightened attitude to ski carriage! |
You could also argue, that Crystal has done more to sort the problem than Easyjet, when they (Easyjet) cancelled their flights and gave little to no Customer 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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| Old Fartbag wrote: |
| LOTA wrote: |
| @JanA, well done. This sort of thing is one of the main reasons I much prefer to do DIY and fly, in the main, with SWISS and their enlightened attitude to ski carriage! |
You could also argue, that Crystal has done more to sort the problem than Easyjet, when they (Easyjet) cancelled their flights and gave little to no Customer Service. |
True; that's why I don't use EasyJet for any outward ski trip flights and much prefer SWISS or other flag carriers. (Coming home is slightly different when a little less bothered about my skis arriving with me!  )
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@LOTA, +1
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Just a heads up - if you book with Alpinresorts the ski hire is cheap - but if you CARE about what you ski on it might be better to pay a bit more and deal with the shop direct. We always use Alpinresorts because we are intermediates and don't care, but I suspect we get older kit - and that no matter what "level" you book you get whatever is in stock. This year someone took hubbies skis and the shop told us that if we'd booked direct they could have done something because we would have paid by CC, but as we'd booked through AR we would have to pay 400E - and that was because the skis he had were "expert" we only paid for "red" skis but they said that was irrelevant as the charge was based on the skis they gave us rather than the skis we booked. We had no idea he had "expert" skis, cos we know nothing about them! In the end the skis were found and exchanged with the other skiers shop so it cost us nothing - but definitely got the impression that because we'd booked through Alpinresorts we were being treated as 2nd class customers, and we know to watch out that we don't get given really expensive ones in future!
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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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@skimummk, I booked my family's kit through Alpinresorts this January with Jordan Sports in Les Gets for 4 adults Red level skis and 5 children (my wife and I have our own skis). Two of the adults got new boots and new current season pristine skis, not a scratch anywhere on the boots, skis or bindings, the other two had last seasons skis used but serviceable, with good edges and waxed bases. The children's skis were basic kids skis and fine.
When I booked there was an option to pay an additional fee for a damage and theft waiver which I chose to pay as I figured that the chances were pretty high that one of our party would either damage or "mislay" their skis and it stopped me worrying that they would. Even including that premium renting skis, boots and helmets for nine through Alpinresorts was £400 cheaper than either Skiset or Skimium and about £100 cheaper than going through their own website.
Jordan Sports definitely did not treat us as 2nd class customers but I suppose it all depends on whether you get lucky with a good shop or not.
I would always pay the damage/loss waiver as I have heard tales of unscrupulous shops ripping off customers on damage claims much like some hire car companies
Glad everything worked out for you. Wouldn't your travel insurance have covered you for the loss?
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@skimummk, I think the lesson is that pre-booking through the likes of Skiset or Alpinresorts is taking a risk and will result in seeing 50% of your money taken by a booking agent who will contribute nothing. What you actually get is a matter of luck. Much better to contact the appropriate ski rental place in resort in advance and agree a price for exactly what you want. You win, the shop wins. The greedy middleman loses.
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FAQ
