Skiset - Has anyone ever got the skis they ordered?

A snowHead

Secon trip this year, second time we've pre-booked skis online with Skiset.fr. Both in Les Arcs and noe La Plagne. Both times, fobbed offwith any old tat. This time, the shop (read "hotel rental area") didn't even have the makes advertised in the shop. Now, I know very little about skis, so I trust the company and pay a bit extra to get decent skis. So when I'm given some scruffy pair, 5cm too long with chunks missing, I get a bit agrieved to be honest. Can't change them as they have packed everything for end of season. I don't know if I'm being ripped off - judging by the quality I think I am.

Anyhow, anyone ever get what they ordered?

A snowHead

PS will tidy spellings when I get home - posting on a phone isn't easy youu know! :d

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

mdemon2, being scruffy and bits missing doesn't necessarily mean they're cr@p...

SkiSet are a franchise so the web site may bear little resemblance to what you get...

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I emailed Sport 2000 before I went to Les Arcs because they said they had the 4FRNT STL (among other park skis) to hire, which I was hoping to try. When I actually got there, they didn't have any sort of twintip, at all. The guy in the shop was really helpful though, and by the next day I had a pair of Fugatives to ski on. But I no longer trust what websites and random people on the other end of an email address say about what they do and don't have.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We have only had bad experiences hiring online, apart from Banff (I forget who with now though, they do all Rossignol stuff). Have our own gear now, but kids still have hire skis, we use a local shop and they are really helpful and not too expensive.

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Helen Beaumont, I didn't realise Durham had many ski hire shops... NehNeh

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mark_s,

After all it is free

I used them a couple of years ago in Selva for some first timers in our party and we did not get the equipment they advertised and booked for us.
We all have our own gear now partly as a result of this.

Hi, new to snowheads but you should try www.ski-republic.com - they promise good things and word of mouth has been good from friends this season who have used them.

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mdemon2, NO!!!

I got some really old battered skis when in Saalbach and I'd paid for the expensive ones. Mad

However, I did do better with SnowRental earlier in the year.

http://www.snowrental.net/be/ski.asp

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So why bother pre-booking?

You save what £20-£30 which as a share of the 600 - 1200 you spend on a ski holiday equates to perhaps one meal out (i.e not a lot)

In return you loose all the flexbility you have if you don't like what the pre-booked co offers you.. plus sometimes my mates have had to schlep to the other end of the resort when they find the pre-booked shop isn't local.

Doesn't sound like a decent enough trade to me.

snow reports

bertie bassett, If you do your homework you can find out where the Rental stores are before you book, as there is usually a choice. We hired from one shop and returned the skis to their other branch - I was also able to change my skis with SnowRental, and may well have been able to with SkiSet, I just didn't bother. £60 per couple is a lot of money to us as we do our trips as cheaply as possible to enable us to go skiing more often. snowHead

These websites usually say something like "this model or similar" or "example only" in the small print. If you have your heart set on an exact model then prebooking with one of the major chains is obviously not for you.

You know it makes sense.

Helen Beaumont, (Ski Stop), i've not heard much good about them!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Jen007,

We used ski republic this mainly for the 2-4-1 offer, which does make them a ridiculous amount cheaper than anywhere else! Hired in resort rather than online as it was very lastminute, and although cheap we weren't particularly happy with the service!

We asked for the 'Sport' package (cheaper as opposed to 'Performance') as neither of us were good enough to really notice any difference, and without mentioning anything to us they gave us and charged us for the 'Performance' package. Now I know we should have checked the amount before my friend signed for it, and so we've accepted that officially we can't really complain as we accepted the amount, but we didn't notice at the time (too keen to get skiing!) and anyway, you don't expect someone to give you something different to what we asked for without mentioning it! We went back when we noticed the mistake and they said we were probably given Performance skis as they probably didn't have any Sport skis left (we arrived in the ski shop first thing Sat am having driven overnight, so unlikely, but not impossible I suppose). At the very least if they didn't have the product we'd asked for they should have told us and given us the opportunity to go elsewhere.

We were then told it was physically impossible for them to refund us the difference! (the computer system didn't allow it apparently... rolling eyes

) Then they said they could refund it if we gave the skis back (so does the computer work or not?!) - we said fine, no problem, we we'll have Sport skis instead - apparently no Sport skis left at all. So basically we could have the difference back, but no skis!

We gave up arguing after a while - ultimately it was our final responsibility to check - but very disappointing for a company that is selling itself on superior customer service....

Plus, my skis looked pretty bashed up to me when I got them, but I'm no expert on skis at all, so this may have just been some general wear and tear that didn't affect their performance....

I'd go there again for the price probably (same way I keep flying Ryanair no matter how many bad experiences), but I wouldn't expect the promised excellent customer service, or what you've asked for/booked! (though obviously the online booking system may actually work fine). Maybe it's just a case of getting what you pay for....

A snowHead

A snowHead

A recent group I had out had rented from Ski Set and not only did they have rubbish gear (rear entry boots, skis not serviced and unsuitable lengths for the skier etc.) but the shop completely failed to check the skiers' weights, regulate the bindings, and in one case only adjusted the length of one ski! I had a nervous lady beginner of 8st 8lbs with toe bindings on 7! Shocked

This is not the first time I've had clients with rotten equipment and service from the SkiSet shops here. Sport 2000 shops are much better. I realise it's a franchise, but none of their shops here are good. I can't speak for any other resort.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I think it was Skiset in Villeneuve (on our first trip to SC) that gave my kids totally unsuitable equipment.

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I could not bring my own skis as the car i got lift in had no room for them so i hired........The Ski Set shop in Vaujany (far left of square at the top of the resort) fobbed me off with a pair of skis with very bent and very blunt edges as a platinum set, after one day of sliding everywhere (and having to reset the bindings) i went back and complained. they just ripped into me (mainly it seemed because i wore a helmet....so that must mean that i thought myself as a good skier and how could i tell they were blunt etc etc?). Eventually after much shouting they produced another set, which were new....(after they claimed they did not have anything else) and skied great, but the service and attitude was dreadful.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I've never used skiset, but looking on their website, the shop that they use in Zell am See and Kaprun is Europsport who I've used a few times. The kit that they have given us is by far the best I've ever had with a school group.

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Just got back. Glad we're not alone - or actually, maybe it's a shame we're all being let down.

I heard a moan from a more seasoned skiier who pointed out that renting skis from a hotel rather than a shop is always a mistake as the shop is likely to have a turnover of and therefore better skis. This would seem to make sense.

The GF swapped her boots ("Gold" package") twice as they were so painful. On day two, the replacements were so bad the went back to exchange again to find there were no boots left in the shop - all gone back to base apparently. So she went out and bought a pair. Did she get a refund? Did she hell!

Interestingly, there were two proper shops where we were (LaPlagne/Centre). Robino Sports ( a Sport 2000 franchise IIRC) and Allais, a skiset one. Allais were linked to our hotel. Guess what? We went to buy boots there only to have a very disinterested guy say that he only had one set of boots in her size (7!). Stuff that! Went to Robino sports and seven boots later, she ended up with a great set. Ironically, we didn't hire skis from there because we thought it would be more convenient hiring at the hotel... How wrong we were and I wish we had.

FWIW, her Gold skis ended up being Dynastars. My "Silver" pair were Head Monsters.

In summary, I won't be using Skiset again.

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Used Intersport, Tignes, this year, booked on-line at good discount, cheaper than any of the other on-line options (snowrental, skiset, ski 2000). Got to resort, skis all specifically marked up for each of us, good equipment, no issues whatsoever. One additional benefit was getting a "teenager" price for my 13 yr old, when all other websites quoted as an adult.

So will definitely use Intersport again.

PS. Skiset in Tignes Le Lac have changed from Favre Sports, a pity since have had great service from them before.

After all it is free

richmond, can they juggle/dance? The circus may give you a good price..

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We used Skiset in Avoriaz this year and they were fine... mainly because we got a little muddled about our accommodation and got the bigger discount anyway.

// Edit: worth noting the shop opening and closing times in resort... particularly the lunch time shut down.

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We were in Les Menuires last week. Half our party pre-booked from Ski-Republic, because we wanted to pre-select the exact skis, and the other half wanted to use the nearest shop to our accommodation, which turned out to be a Ski Set shop.

Ski Republic: In asking for directions I was warned not to go there by a local instructor, so, yes the animosity does exist. The shop had 2 of our 4 pairs right. I was after a pair of Rossi Z9s and they gave me a pair of 170s which, for me at 6'4", was silly. They were also gouged badly and didn't look as though they'd been serviced at all. After I complained they just pulled out a perfect pair of 176s (were they trying to fob me off? I don't know). For the other wrong pair they found the right ones, though they were fairly scratched. Some of us hired boots, which were no better or worse than elsewhere. The 2-for-1 offer made the week's hire cheaper than ski-set.

Ski-Set: Our group ended up with a rag-bag of skis of various vintages. The intermediate skis were OK, a bit scratched but they had been serviced. The worst thing was that a lady beginner was given a pair of old Rossi 9Xs (Slalom skis) - so they were just giving out any old ski to them just because they didn't know any better. They didn't quibble (or apologise) when we exchanged them. My daughter ended up with a pair of Rossi "Rainbow Busters" which actually were quite a nice ski. I think for the equipment hired the costs were quite high. You are paying for a service which includes selecting the most appropriate skis for your level, but I don't this applies if you go for the cheapest hire option.

I agree with other posts - in future I will might not pre-book but just look and see what they have in stock at the time (and the condition), you can always walk away and go somewhere else.I think the flexibility is worth sacrificing the "discount" you might have received.

Paul

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We must have been lucky as we have not had a problem with Ski Set - in fact for the two consecutive years we have used them, we were very impressed with the service and the equipment. My brother did take his skis back on day 2 as he felt they needed waxing but this was done immediately, with apologies and no hassle. The resorts were Grande Terche (near Morzine) and La Tania. Only slightly annoying aspect (in La Tania) was that we could not leave our hire gear in the shop overnight, and walking boots during the day. This is the only hire shop I have used, where this was the case. Luckily, our chalet was quite close by, but it would have been a pain otherwise

In Belle Plagne last week did not get the skis I ordered. In Montchavin 4 weeks previously I did.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

When not using my own skis that I leave in France, I never pre-book. Would prefer to look what the shop has and take what I fancy! Members of our group do the same, the GF nearly always makes a comment when members of our group go for the "Top of the range" skis. These are normally not suitable for the members of our group, she often gets teenager skis as they are cheaper. She always but always is faster than us all.

Gold, Platinum are good marketing gimmicks that can fool us all!!!

A snowHead

I didn't have a great experience with Skiset's local agent and when I complained afterwards the response from Skiset gave the impression that, actually, they couldn't care less!
Exchange below ...

From me to Skiset

To whom it may concern:
I am emailing to complain about the standard of service provided by your local agent 47 Degree North in Bad Hof Gastein.
Using your website I booked and paid for skis described and illustrated as Atomic Cloud ETM.
On arrival at 47 Degree North, as a member of a party comprising 17 people, the shop staff seemed simply to want to push people through the system as fast as they could.
In my case they did not refer to my Skiset booking details but just asked for my height and weight and skiing ability, grabbed a pair of skis which had clearly seen a great deal of use, set the bindings, found a pair of poles and moved on to the next person.
Although I had booked boots in advance I decided to buy some properly fitting boots before going to Austria and I am very glad I did as if I had had to use 47 Degree North boots I expect the week would have been uncomfortable.
On day 3 I noticed that a small section of the metal edge of one of the skis was separating from the main body of the ski.
I took the skis back to 47 Degree North and a member of staff agreed to change them. Yet again he simply reached for a pair of old skis which looked even more battered than the first pair.
I pointed out that I had made the pre-booking through Skiset and had expected a pair of skis something like what I had ordered. (They did in fact have a number of pairs of these skis – in a variety of sizes – in the shop.)
I was told that if I wanted such skis I would have to pay an additional 40 euros – 20 euros for each of the remaining days – as they were of 'superior' class.
When I protested he stated that he was not responsible for the way in which Skiset represented its products on the Skiset website and claimed that he is constantly having problems with Skiset customers and that if I wasn't happy I should complain to you.
Well, I am complaining to you. Clearly there is a breakdown in communications between yourselves and your local agent is he is incapable of providing goods of a similar quality to that which your website leads the customer to expect he will receive.

From Skiset to me

Hello,
Thanks for having contacted us; Further to your request, we apologized for this disadvantage you experimented at the shop with this agent. On another way, concerning the materiel you can get the model of ski you choose or the equivalent one. Anyway, we took in account about your complaint concerning the agent.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Best regards
Isabelle
Service Clients SKISET

SKISET/CFLS
Service clients / Customer service
424, Bureaux de la Colline
92210 Saint Cloud - cedex
FRANCE
Tel : + 33 (0) 1 41 12 97 97
Fax : + 33 (0) 1 55 39 30 10
service_clients@skiset.com
www.skiset.com

A snowHead

Holy thread revival!! Laughing

Hopalong, Your email was too long and having run it through Google translate skiset haven't understood a word of it, hence the pro-forma reply.

As someone above said previously, the pics on the website are just for illustration purposes with all the big chains in France, a bit like when you reserve a hire car.
The choice of skis in the shop is down to the shop owner, though normally he will pick from a list of stuff approved by the network.
He might have a better relationship with Rossignol than Salomon for example, so that's where his stock will come from. Tough luck if you had your heart set on the Salomon whatever.

In these circumstances, ie you really really want a certain ski, you must ring the shop and check they have it. I repeat, ring the shop, not the Skiset head office because they will likely never have set foot in the shop and won't have a clue.

All these networks are just that, networks - not franchises or big corporate outlets.
There are standards to be applied in order to stay within the network, but no real obligations to buy certain skis or boots. Along these lines, a complaint to the network might result in a phone call to the shop to let them know someone complained, but nothing more than that. You're better off complaining directly to the shop and hope you get the owner, not just the serving staff! It does sound, in your case here, like the guy was a more than just a bit of a funny fellow!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

albinomountainbadger,
Thanks for replying. It sounds as though it might be best not to order online but to go to the biggest rental operator in the resort and hire direct. Blow the discount for online ordering.

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Hopalong, I have to say, i've hire ski from 47 Degrees North in Bad Hofgastein a few times over the years and have never had a problem with them. Always requested some decent skis and they've provided them no probs. However, i've not used Skiset and just booked with them direct. I think they're a good local shop ... maybe you caught them in a busy week?

I usually use the local shops in resorts than the big operators. I generally find you get a better service and they are less about pushing people through as quick as possible.

I hope your experience was just a one off? I imagine when you turned up a with a group of 17, you must have filled the shop! It's only a little place.

Cheers
Kersh

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Kersh,
Thanks for this. Well, they were empty when I went back with the wonky ski but it's possible that I was just unlucky to encounter Mr Attitude. Still it's not fair to judge the whole 47 DN outlet by one bolshy staff member, I suppose.
Hope you enjoyed all that Gastein has to offer.

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Seems earlier threads were from april 2008. Problem is in April all best skis will be battered because they have been rented out most weeks of the season and skis are mostly designed to only last a season anyway. I am disappointed re Hopalong, experience as I have always skied on near new skis in January, but I always pay extra for premium skis, seems this wasn't case for Hopalong as he/she (which is it?) was asked to pay 20 euro extra for better skis, so skis he/she bookedo were probably last years

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Have used Skiset's agent in Les Gets, Michaud Sports a couple of times and have found them quite helpful. We returned one of our party's boots several times and they were pretty obliging. Also returned basic level skis, they upgraded to the next level, brand new blizzards, and charged €36 for the week which I thought was fair enough.

I would think it all depends on the local shop. Still using Skiset to prebook skis as good price point.

After all it is free

If your tight, or skint then buy skis from a shop? Then you can't moan about the quality of the gear when you get given any old crap in a resort at half term.

It 's easy, take your money and exchange it in a shop that sells skis, for some skis!

snowHead

Rented skis from Skiset in La Tania once in Jan 2012. They did not have my choice of skis (pre-booked online). They were rather helpful and upgraded it, though the K2 Rictor were already amongst the best they had. I got a pair of Kastle instead. Couldn't really complain about. I went back to the shop 2 days later (really wanted to try the Rictor out). They gave me a pair without fuss and ended skiing with them for the rest of my week.
Found them over all very helpful and cheerful. Guess Patrichsh is right to mention the dates of the older posts. I went there in January, one of the quietest weeks of the seasons. However, I've noticed that they get lots of people even then, who have booked their skis through TO such as Thomas ski or Crystal (same people really). So they get really busy on Sunday morning as most of them arrive on Saturday. I just can't imagine how they can cope and give a good service during high season!
I also went to one of their shops in Courchevel 1850 to get my bindings tighten. It was a different universe! Much nicer shop with staff of a different attitude and higher level of service! So it does depend on the resort too.

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We've never had any problems with Skiset- used the ski selector thing the last 3 times and got the exact skis that each of us chose when making the bookings.

However, prices have gone up a fair chunk this year compared to last year- almost 25%! Shocked

Help!!

Skiset - Has anyone ever got the skis they ordered?

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