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Bad Experience With TO

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Sorry, my mistake then. I always seem to be on a breakfast flight and in resort by dinnertime (sorry, lunchtime lol!). This season is no exception. 5.15am check in at Brum. Hopefully will meet most of my ski buddies at Turin, all four flights arrive within an hour and a half of each other.
ski holidays
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
We have used Crystal in the past, but have more recently organized our own for pretty much the same price in a better resort, better chalet, better food, better chalet staff. The only area that seems difficult to resolve economically is the transfer, this comes good if there are enough of you to justify a minibus taxi.

Booking with a TO takes one call, whereas independent requires booking the accommodation, flight, transfer and might require a trip to by a lift pass ... it isn't that difficult and is imo worth the effort to get something that is better quality.
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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?
DavidYacht, I agree with you, Transfers are the hardest thing to arrange cheaply. Otherwise DIY gives you better choices at better prices than the TO 'packages' if you are willing to make a couple more phone calls.

P.S. we used these folks for our 3V transfers the other week, they were very helpful and reasonably priced: http://www.skihame.co.uk/index.htm

(I believe SkiMottaret knows them). snowHead
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
We used 3 Valley Transfers, Chambery to Meribel, about Euro 500 return for seven of us, http://www.3vt.co.uk/ No parking, no peage, no chains, no petrol costs, no scraping the car off on the last day. No waiting in a bus for two hours waiting for flights to arrive. They were waiting as we arrived at Chambery and took us to the door and we got a full morning (powder) ski on the last day.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
DavidYacht, There were just two of us. Price was €60 each return. Our timings didn't get us there in time to ski day 1, but that was the flights not the xfers. snowHead
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
I worked as a rep for Inghams many moons back and it's certainly true that it's pot luck as to whether you get one that can spell customer service or not. Keep in mind that most are there predominantly for the skiing and partying first and the job comes a distant second. Smaller, more specialized companies are likely to attract and retain decent reps for longer than the big bucket shops who sell predominantly on price and hence are less than interested once they have your cash. Of course the specialised companies are usually more expensive and may have less choice so there is also an element of you get what you pay for.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
bobinch wrote:
I worked as a rep for Inghams many moons back and it's certainly true that it's pot luck as to whether you get one that can spell customer service or not. Keep in mind that most are there predominantly for the skiing and partying first and the job comes a distant second. Smaller, more specialized companies are likely to attract and retain decent reps for longer than the big bucket shops who sell predominantly on price and hence are less than interested once they have your cash.


This does sound likely to be generally true, but my recent experience of Crystal is that over the last 3 trips with them (spread over 4 years because I used Neilsons last year) is that one of the resort reps in Neiderau was the rep for my hotel in Zell am Ziller the following year, (and is now apparently area manager based in St Johann this year), and one of the ski escorts in the Zillertal was then a ski escort in the Schneewinkel area this year. So they certainly seem to have a reasonable retention of staff in some areas.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
alex_heney, when I was there Crystal, First choice (last chance) and Skiworld were the worst. Thomson had some decent people. Neilson were good and had been there for years and obviously Inghams were the best Very Happy

But clearly it changes from one year to the next and you always get people who break a leg and go home and lets just say they aren't exactly fussy in who they get in to replace them.
ski holidays
 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.
I ski mainly in Austria as a lone traveller and used to use TOs but over the last five years have gone DIY. Using the TOs may suit some people but I became fed up with the either pushy or AWOL reps and substandard accommodation. Probably a personal thing but I've developed a dislike of the feeling of being "processed" by the TOs and would willingly pay a bit extra to avoid them if I needed to but normally don't need to. I don't like this idea of basing the TO/DIY decision on the price of the trip; the TOs normally offer a limited number of hotels/guest houses in any location with many better options available directly through resort websites or other means. Booking directly normally leads to a better relationship with the host, rather than communicating through someone who doesn't necessarily know what they're doing. Living in SE England, the avoidance of TOs for me is easier than it may be for others in the more remote parts of the UK but I'd drive a good few hours to avoid using them if need be. I still use them when it's really inconvenient to avoid them, such as when accommodation is provided with a course but avoidance is the rule rather than the exception.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
The Inghams reps in Kitzbuhel are husband/wife (or at least partners wink ) and have lived out there for many years, doing summer and winter. I think for local knowledge for a rep you can't get much better than that Very Happy
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
We have recently come back from a trip with CS. The holiday itself was superb. However the TO should get to grips with their customer service.

Our friends had booked however a mix up with the names on one passport caused confusion when they went to collect their tickets. His initials are A D but the ticket said D A. So they advised him to change it and charged £50 for the privilege! They wouldn't give him the replacement ticket there and then but told him to collect it from the airport. On arrival at said airport the tour rep didn't know anything about it but gave him a replacement ticket anyway after informing him he didn't need one anyway. The check in girl said the same thing.

On returning to the UK he obviously queried all this. CS response...a £50 voucher to use next year (still hasn't received yet 6 weeks later!)

We ourselves had a small problem with our pre-paid lift passes. No one in the resort knew anything about them! The on site rep however made a phone call back to the UK and it was sorted within 30 minutes.
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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.
WHy accept a voucher? You might want to go with a different company next year. Anyway, you should get back what you handed over - ie real money. That's assuming the mistake with the initials was theirs not yours.
ski holidays
 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I think when booking a holiday as a beginner it pays to book to stay in the hotel where the resort reps base themselves for meeting. As we've used the kids clubs it tends to be where we're staying. The rep is pretty much on hand to help you every morning if needed, but particularly the first morning.

We've never had a problem with Crystal, we've got to resort late in the day, one time they kept the ski hire shop open later just for those of us who were delayed. This year I can say that the reps we had in Ellmau were probably the best reps we've had for any holiday (like others have said, the two reps were a couple who knew the area like the back of their hands).
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
hammerite, it would be difficult to find out that info if you were a beginner though. Perhaps choose a chalet instead?
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