 Poster: A snowHead
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As posted on the SCGB forum - worthy of wider dissemination 
http://www.crystalholidays.co.uk/emails/ski/skimay_landing.html
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| The '50% Money Back Guarantee (MBG)' is available on 7 night Crystal ski holidays departing in December '07 and January '08. MBG is applicable if 50% of the ski lifts and runs (local and area) are closed throughout your stay as a result of lack of snow. |
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would wager that all ski resorts have already committed to crystal that they would be able to run 51% of area/lifts at any time......
......... I am a tad cynical
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brian
brian
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Interesting that they're doing it for December/January. I wonder if they've done a bit of market research and seen attitudes hardening against early season trips ? Our apartment has only one week free from the last week in January through to the first week in April next season but no bookings before that. Not even new year, which was the first week to get booked last season.
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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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brian, hmmm, do me a deal for January then ? 
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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 guess they're gambling better to have bookings & risk losing half the money than have no bookings at all.
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brian
brian
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cathy, yep. Although as Boris the cynic suggests, in these days of snow cannons it might not be such a big gamble. Anyway, I guess a lot of these hols will end up at 50% of the original price last minute anyway.
nbt, if you put your tongue away I could be open to offers 
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I would imagine Crystal has just taken out a mega insurance policy and added the extra cost to its early-season prices.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
| I would imagine Crystal has just taken out a mega insurance policy and added the extra cost to its early-season prices. |
With HB in the Crystal Club Hotel les Deux Alpes, flights and transfers for 89 quid at the start of December last year they can keep their 44.50 money back and I'll hire a mountain bike and still have a good time (BTW anyone who followed my suggestion to book this deal at the time would have had some excellent skiing to boot, it was one of the best powder weeks of the season).
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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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Always worth reading the small print.....
| Quote: |
| To receive the early booking discount and the MBG the code 'MBG1' must be entered or quoted at the time of booking - this must appear on the booking invoice otherwise any claim will be invalid. |
I wonder how long they will be offering this money back guarantee?
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cathy, not sure I would trust Crystal for anything. After losing a day of our Christmas holiday due to flight cancellations and then being sent to the wrong airport we wrote to Crystal asking why they had no representative available at Gatwick airport to help sort out the chaos, even though they knew (well BAA did!) first thing in the morning that the flight was not going that day.
All I can say is that the letter we had back in response, was to be polite poor, in that the general message was tough luck, not our problem. Given they were happy to take our money and our contract was with them, it shows that they don't give a monkeys about customer service.
Buyer beware as they say 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Boris, I think you'd be right. A friend of mine died many years ago trying to ensure that his resort wasn't 100% closed. "They" will go to considerable lengths. No names. no pack drill.
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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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They say local and area lifts. I am sure there are plenty of large areas - e.g. PDS where once the high lifts are added up the 50% will be met even though the lifts close to the accomodation will not be open
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You know it makes sense.
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and it says "throughout your stay" so I assume there has to be at least 50% of the lifts closed on every single day - one day with 51% open and the MBG won't apply even if none open of the rest of the days. I think they're on a pretty safe bet.
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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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If you book your holiday based on a MBG then you've booked the wrong place.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Let's all be realistic here. They aren't going to make an offer like this if they think it's likely to cost them any significant amount of money. Therefore the guarantee isn't likely to be worth much to the punter.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| petemillis wrote: |
| and it says "throughout your stay" so I assume there has to be at least 50% of the lifts closed on every single day - one day with 51% open and the MBG won't apply even if none open of the rest of the days. I think they're on a pretty safe bet. |
Yup - I reckon you're right there! Even though the week I was in Kitzbuhel this year was absolutely dire, with about 8 runs open at the beginning of the week, on the last day more than half would have been open so they would have got out of it even with such bad conditions.
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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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Crystal are the best company in the UK at PR and self-promotion.
This is their way of getting column inches without spending any money.
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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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| cathy wrote: |
| petemillis wrote: |
| and it says "throughout your stay" so I assume there has to be at least 50% of the lifts closed on every single day - one day with 51% open and the MBG won't apply even if none open of the rest of the days. I think they're on a pretty safe bet. |
Yup - I reckon you're right there! Even though the week I was in Kitzbuhel this year was absolutely dire, with about 8 runs open at the beginning of the week, on the last day more than half would have been open so they would have got out of it even with such bad conditions. |
Yep, Crystal probably looked at all the resort data going back several years and realised the conditions under which a refund is valid are extremely unlikely to occur over the usual 7 night holiday.
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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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| Mike Pow wrote: |
| If you book your holiday based on a MBG then you've booked the wrong place. |
So should we all be pencilling in Japan for next Xmas?
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