 Poster: A snowHead
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When I pointed out to them that i was just trying to help them, they said that they weren't preapred to enter into any more correspondence. In other words, they had no interest in improving their service. Thought that said it all really.
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Just goes to show maybe that they have so many complaints they cant deal with them effectively.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Tony Ellwood, that really is a p!ss poor customer service attitude, quite shocking.
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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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Shame i'm having to boycott them now as their new First Choice Villages look like they've got great pools for the kids (summer hols) . Have had to stop myself from having a sneaky look on the internet in case I cave in and push another few grand in their direction! 
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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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Just to balance things up, I've used First Choice a few times and they have been excellent every time. Their reps have been very good and have helped beyond the call of duty, when asked. I had no reservations about booking a holiday with them again this year. The golden rule in booking holidays, something that HH says she didn't do until later, is that the letter with your booking confirmation will ask you to check the details and report back on any errors. If something is missing from these booking details, for whatever reason, it is not part of your contract with them.
HH's contract with First Choice did not include creche facilities nearby. If they were available nearby but were fully booked when HH did notice the error, First Choice can hardly be blamed for not being able to put the omission right. It is to their credit that they offered to cancel and make a full refund, losing £11,000 of business. That HH decided against this and proceeded with childcare that she knew was 'some distance away' does not create any right to compensation for this child care actually being... some distance away.
| brian wrote: |
| I'd like to nominate johnnyh as my official spokesman on all skiing with kids type issues. Well said. |
Me too, Johnny and I will be keeping my parenting views to myself from now on.
Oh, by the way. My daughter is now 19 and has never invited me on one of her skiing holidays. There's gratitude for you 
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Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Thu 22-01-09 15:13; edited 1 time in total
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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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Tony Ellwood, something seems to have gone wrong and you're quoting me on something i didn't say
for the record, now that HH has clarified that the "agent" was actually someone from Firstchoice, this does sound poor
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The one thing I like about this type of thread, is it reminds me why I always take the DIY approach when going skiing
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Boris, but what's to stop you booking DIY, finding a nice hotel next door to the local creche, only to find out when you travel that the creche has moved to nice new premises at the other end of town ? 
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masmith, nothing obviously - but doing the DIY approach, when I have booked creches etc I have contacted them directly myself so I know exactly what I am getting. Having a 3rd party involved doesn't help IME, particularly when the 3rd party is trying to sell you a holiday and may be economical with the truth.
If it does go all pete-tong then at least I know who to blame - Mrs Boris 
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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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Boris, Yes, agreed, just making the point that things also go wrong with DIY (of which I am a great fan), but at least you know any complaints to Mrs Boris will be taken seriously. 
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Just to balance things up, I've used First Choice a few times and they have been excellent every time. Their reps have been very good and have helped beyond the call of duty, when asked. I had no reservations about booking a holiday with them again this year. The golden rule in booking holidays, something that HH says she didn't do until later, is that the letter with your booking confirmation will ask you to check the details and report back on any errors. If something is missing from these booking details, for whatever reason, it is not part of your contract with them.
HH's contract with First Choice did not include creche facilities nearby. If they were available nearby but were fully booked when HH did notice the error, First Choice can hardly be blamed for not being able to put the omission right. It is to their credit that they offered to cancel and make a full refund, losing £11,000 of business. That HH decided against this and proceeded with childcare that she knew was 'some distance away' does not create any right to compensation for this child care actually being... some distance away.
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I have used First Choice many a time and have found them to be fine, other than the odd missing rep etc. However, the time when I did have a problem (this whole creche thing) I found them to be useless.
I did check my booking confirmation, unfortunately missed that the creche booking was missing! I checked the flight times, airports, dates, names, hotel, destination etc etc but simply did not notice that they had not booked my childcare. However you state that my contract with FC did not include a creche facility nearby. Legally probably very correct, but their sales guy told me in no uncertain terms that the creche was nearby and that is why I went ahead with the booking. So are you trying to tell me that if you booked a holiday with someone because they had assured you of a detail in that booking that you would not then be pi**ed off if they had lied through their teeth?
Secondly, you say it is to FC credit that they offered for me to cancel my holiday? They had me over a barrel...to have rebooked so long after my initial booking would have cost me £19000 rather than the initail £11000. FC are not stupid, they knew what had happened to the market following the collapse of the two airline companies ie prices immediately went through the roof so if I cancelled they could have resold my holiday for almost double (this was New Years week - the busiest week of the year I am told).
Thirdly, I have never asked for or indicated that I wanted compensation. It what I want is to be treated like the decent human being that I am. I had to make about 15 phonecalls to the company about this problem with my holiday and other issues arrising out of their transfering the ski side of the business to Crystal. Each time I phoned I was on hold for approximately 40 minutes before getting through to an agent. I even had to phone them three times after paying for the holiday because they'd messed that up aswell due to the transfer of business between First Choice and Crystal. Even though I 'd paid for the holiday and if I phoned up they'd confirm I 'd paid for the holiday I was getting letters asking for the balance to be paid or they'd cancel my holiday. This was not a case of their admin being slow, it was because First Choice and Crystal lost the money between them.
Now you obviously think that this level of service is satisfactory. I doubt many others do.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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[quote="HH"]
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Thirdly, I have never asked for or indicated that I wanted compensation. It what I want is to be treated like the decent human being that I am. I had to make about 15 phonecalls to the company about this problem with my holiday and other issues arrising out of their transfering the ski side of the business to Crystal. Each time I phoned I was on hold for approximately 40 minutes before getting through to an agent. I even had to phone them three times after paying for the holiday because they'd messed that up aswell due to the transfer of business between First Choice and Crystal. Even though I 'd paid for the holiday and if I phoned up they'd confirm I 'd paid for the holiday I was getting letters asking for the balance to be paid or they'd cancel my holiday. This was not a case of their admin being slow, it was because First Choice and Crystal lost the money between them.
Now you obviously think that this level of service is satisfactory. I doubt many others do. |
That`s an interesting point. Back in the days when I embraced the Dark Side and was regularly instructed by holiday companies I frequently came across people - in court - who didn`t really want to be there. What often happened was that they would write to the TO, complaining about some aspect of their holiday. More often than not, all that was wanted was an acknowledgement that something had gone wrong and a decent apology. What they invariably got was an aggressive letter repudiating all liability and accusing them of being `in it for the money`. This so incensed many people that they promptly went off to get legal advice - and once in the hands of lawyers it frequently ended up in court.
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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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stoatsbrother, You have me all wrong I love kids. I grew up with them.
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| clive5 wrote: |
| stoatsbrother, You have me all wrong I love kids. I grew up with them. |
That's nothing... I used to be one 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Scarpa wrote: |
| clive5 wrote: |
| stoatsbrother, You have me all wrong I love kids. I grew up with them. |
That's nothing... I used to be one |
My wife says I still am.
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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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My kids are about so much more than 'making sacrifices'. Why do you resent yours so much?
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Hear, hear.
This quality time theory confuses me, when I was a kid, most of the time the last thing I wanted to do was be with my parents. Knowing they were close, would feed, clothe and love me unconditionally,and povide pocket money yes, but spend time with them? Get real  I would have killed for a ski holiday with them, and if that meant being in child care and ski school with my peer group, that would bave been magic. And once I could actually ski I might have deigned to ski with the old man occasionally to keep him happy.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| bar shaker wrote: |
This is not the first post recently containing self righteous drivel about the undesirability of putting kids in creches on skiing holiday. Where on earth does the idea come from? Don't you send your kids to nursery school? |
Without criticising the OP in any way, I actually think it is sad that SOME people DO seem to think of their children as getting in the way of THEIR holiday.
Would you feel comfortable being totally dependent on others, and being left with strangers in a strange place, in strange country? Yes kids learn to deal with it, but that isn't the point.
Yes, my daughter goes to nursery - while I go to work. Then, when holiday comes, we BOTH get a break from our usual life and have a week of fun. Why should I have a holiday, but just give her more of the same?
As for the OP (sorry, can't see your name from this page!) they tried to get a balance by sending their daughter to creche for half a day. That seems a pretty good balance for all concerned. But the creches I have read about in brochures proudly state that you need not see your child from first thing until the lifts close.
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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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that you need not see your child from first thing until the lifts close
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Yeehaaa! Result!
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FAQ
