 Poster: A snowHead
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Taking my que from A.N.Other skiing web-site, and not being able to find one here, I'm starting a thread naming and shaming complete resort rip-offs. Perhaps we can help each other avoiding the rip off places where much more reasonable fayre may be found close by.
I'll kick things off with that hardy perennial, The Folie Douch in Val d'Isere, for just about everything they sell + charging paying (not just visiting) customers to use the bog. Antidote: nip down the hill to Le Trifollet for slightly less painful prices and a much nicer crowd.
An honourable mention goes to Le Jump in Cour 1850 for a 8 euro apres beer 2 years ago (the pain is still with me). Antidote: there isn't one, not in 1850.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 5-01-11 18:38; edited 2 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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alti - dude, +1
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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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alti - dude, I object to buying food and drink and then having to pay to take a slash
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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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Being poor would be rubbish
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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 rip off - La Thuile, Roxies mountain hut. €6 for the most god awful hot chocolate with cream. It came in a plastic glass and was universally despised by our group.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 5-01-11 17:05; edited 1 time in total
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| Quote: |
I came in a plastic glass and was universally despised by our group.
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I'm not surprised . . . 
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Frosty the Snowman, quite, and you don't have to at Le Trifollet, which is the point of the post that alti - dude and Bode Swiller seem to have missed.
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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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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| I came in a plastic glass and was universally despised by our group. |
What? And you're surprised? What do you do for an encore? 
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| I came in a plastic glass and was universally despised by our group. |
Can't say I'm surprised...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Chasseur, curse your nimble fingers (and Frosty the Snowman's, while we're at 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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alti - dude,
now that's a very good point. Dentists, Docs, Solicitors, Plumbers, Builders and.....bankers et al hang your heads in shame if you dare moan about inflated prices in ski resorts (provocative..me?)
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Ooops, had to edit that I'm afraid. I have had some utterley fantastic meals in La Thuile but the service and food in the snack bar near the gondola base station was the worst I have EVER had.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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sunnbuel, if we are being provocative, can we add teachers who have the time to go skiing and who can potter down in a car during the day or take last minute deals 'sometime during April' so saving money to pay big beer prices as 'taking a couple of days to travel' doesnt matter 
Any other professions? Estate agents (whoops sorry - I did say professions so guess Estate Agents are exempt).
PS Dr John, hasn't told us what he does yet. Come on Dr John, fess up .. . . . . PS don't think I have missed the point - Dr John, wants to start naming and shaming those who he/she feels 'rip people off'. They only rip people off if they have absolutely no alternative and there is an emergency eg a dentist. I really hope he is a dentist - if he's being shy, can any of his mates inform us . . . .
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Poster: A snowHead
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alti - dude, stop being a berk, there's a good lad.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Frosty the Snowman, quite, and you don't have to at Le Trifollet, which is the point of the post that alti - dude and Bode Swiller seem to have missed. |
I haven't missed the point, you have. A rip off is only a rip off if you don't get what you expected for the money, having known in advance what the cost was likely to be. You pays your money etc...
Your "rip off" establishment only exists because people don't agree with you.
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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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Surely charging people to take a pee is a rip-off? One can hardly have expected that. When it becomes the norm, then it won't be a rip-off. Until then, i think it is.
But charging a lot for food and drink isn't, because you can see that before you order. Unless it is not up to standard when it arrives. Eg the legendary "assiette de frites" seems to contain fewer chips each year.
And please enough with the gratuitous insults to dentists, lawyers, etc. It's not big or clever.
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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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Bode Swiller, and if you don't know in advance what the cost is going to be or how good the service might be? Imagine if you were given advanced warning of the difference in costs for similar goods or services from establishments located close to each other. Imagine if books or web-sites existed to provide such information. Imagine if people might find comparative information useful in some way....
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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 thought that it was an EU jobby that any cafe/restaurant/eatery/served food to sitting people had to have toilet facilities within the establishment (for free).... hence the ryanair rubbish about paying for the loo (he'd lose a lot more chas not selling drinks and food than gain charging for a wee). Can any  whoh can be bothered to look into this look into it?...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I recall Rick Stein in one of his programmes telling the story of a "works" dinner he catered for, at which some present were complaining about the price of dishes in his restaurant. He asked what their trade was, and when the reply was "Lawyers," you can imagine his reaction.........
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Charging to use the toilets is going a bit far , I agree - but I guess they got fed-up with people nipping in to use the facilities without buying anything.
Maybe it's also worth remembering that you have to pay to use the toilet here too - including in places like Waterloo Station - so it isn't just confined to Ski Resorts.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
A rip off is only a rip off if you don't get what you expected for the money, having known in advance what the cost was likely to be. You pays your money etc...
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... or not, as the case may be.
I sent back two cokes in Brevieres. My wife needed the loo so whilst she was in I ordered them. I waited for a long time and they eventually appeared, two tumblers full of coke. I am guessing these had been poured from a 2 litre supermarket bottle, rather than being cans or even glass bottles.
Unlike every other bar in EK, the waiter asked to be paid there and then and produced a bill for €15.60. I said "Non, c'est trop cher" and got up and left. He looked at me in amazement.
Other than going in and looking for a price list, there was no way of knowing the price before ordering and I suspect they get most people through the embarrassment of them not wanting to cause a scene.
The place is called something Nieges and its the first one you come to. The others on the bridge were not much cheaper.
I'm told they get much cheaper as you walk into the village but my wife said she might not have made it that far.
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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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Dr John, well, you should know in advance what the likely cost will be. Normally a menu on display outside or the menu they give you inside is a bit of a clue. Bad service / bad food is rewarded by no tip and/or a complaint with a view to reducing the bill. After all, you don't pay until after you've eaten.
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bar shaker, there you go, you weren't actually ripped off but you were the victim of an attempted rip off. And wife got a free pee and you got a free sit down. You did the right thing. Note to self: continue to avoid France.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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sanman,
no...not an insult.
it was meant to be a reality check. (and yes i could have included lots of other well paid folk + no not all plumbers are well paid etc etc)
asBode Swiller, said, if you have a choice about paying and the price was not hidden from you then its not an actual 'rip off', but it may be stupidly expensive and terrible value.
leading on...many of the occupations i mentioned can provide services that sometimes may be stupidly expensive or terrible value (some folk may think of estate agents) but they are not 'a rip off' as hopefully you have alternatives and know the price before you engage them
so the locals (and others) in the ski resorts are making hay? as we keep hetting told, its supply and demand.
however, in bar shaker's, case that sounds like stupidly expensive, terrible value AND were they deliberately hiding the prices?
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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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My S-I-L told me they paid 22euros for 2 hot chocs with brandy in La Poudreuse on the slopes in Peisey Vallandry. Twas always a rip off, & it seems the new owners have done nothing to redeem its reputation 
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| Quote: |
Other than going in and looking for a price list, there was no way of knowing the price before ordering
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I think it's a legal requirement in France to display a list of drinks prices - but maybe they're not always displayed terribly prominently. I agree 15 euros for 2 cokes is just absurd and you were brave to walk out.
We had a magnificent salad for lunch - reblochon toasts, generous amounts of jambon du pays, big basket of bread, wine, water and two coffees. Incredibly cosy small, very old, refuge/restaurant on the mountain in Praz sur Arly. Just under 28 euros for two. You don't have to be ripped off. I would never, ever, walk into a place in one of the big resorts and order chocs with brandy without checking the price. Call me mean....
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You know it makes sense.
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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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pam w, no, not mean, just someone with commonsense. And you are quite right about the legal requirement to display prices.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hurtle,
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Frosty the Snowman, brilliant, is that really what you wrote first time round? If so, it was well up there (so to speak) with Helen's duck.
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agreed...a classic moment thanks Frosty it made me lol!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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So the excuse for the stupidly high prices in mountain ski resorts in france is..... getting the food and drink up the mountains.....however arent these the same mountains that food and drink has to be brought up in Austria?!!!!
The whole of France is a rip off though, great country, pity about the attitude and greed of some of its people.
I still go to it though, and was ripped off again in La Plagne this new year day in a self service piste side restauraunt. When I ordered a chicken in honey sauce, I was told it would be sent to my table, 15 euros spent and when it came I was horrified to receive 2 small chicken DRUMSTICKS, a dollop of honey sauce and a few chips served on a side dish plate, it was the size of a kids meal, not a meal for a hungry piste basher!. When I complained all I got was the french shoulder shrug. Pity I had paid in advance. They even had the cheek to say "mercie" as we left.
Roll on my trip to Austria in February.
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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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I paid €22 for a sausage and chips in the Folie Douce the other week. If its translation is what I think it is then I guess it's true. Still, at least the dreadful, dreadful chanteuse wasn't outside ruining great songs on the glorified karaoke like she was at Easter.
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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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| Quote: |
Oh rip off - La Thuile, Roxies mountain hut. €6 for the most god awful hot chocolate with cream.
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WHAT!? The Roxy's hot chocolate is universally acknowledged as the world's finest! 
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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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daveqpr,
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The whole of France is a rip off
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Yeah, right. 
As for your 'self' in La Plagne, you presumably saw - since the food being served to other customers will have been clearly on view - what other people were being served? Or did you not bother looking?
Btw, commiserations on your location. (West London suburbia is my own little generalised prejudice, which you will no doubt forgive.)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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jonm,
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I paid €22 for a sausage and chips in the Folie Douce the other week
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In heaven's name WHY??!!! You shouldn't even have gone in there, having been to the other one. I'm disappointed in you. 
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$8 + tip in 'Sevens' (gondola station peak 8 ) Breckenridge for a 16 oz. 'pint' of frozen porter 
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"As for your 'self' in La Plagne, you presumably saw - since the food being served to other customers will have been clearly on view - what other people were being served? Or did you not bother looking?"
Seeing as we where the only people in the queue there was no opportunity to see the other customers food, let alone the chicken in honey.
As for my location ... you mention Luton in your subtitle.......
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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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Hurtle, it was the first day of the week and I was tagging along with other people (bfg stuck in Edin, the rest hadn't arrived) and that's where we ended up.
I deliberately choose what I thought would be a cheap snack, I had no idea it'd be that expensive
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| Quote: |
The whole of France is a rip off though
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So why do you go? And do you go anywhere other than the Brit-infested ski factories?
Some people are like a tourist going to Venice, sitting in a caff beside the Grand Canal, ordering a Campari then having a heart attack at the price. and then complaining that "Italy is a rip off". Then going back to the same café and having their prejudices confirmed.
Anyone who pays 22 euro for a sausage and chips has to be daft, frankly. Especially as French "saucisse frites" are usually ghastly frankfurters. The going rate for which, round here, is 8.50/10 which is still far too much for such a disgusting meal.
Restaurants in the Espace Diamant vary in price. But in most, the "plat du jour", a picher of wine and a coffee will set you back about 15-16 euros each. It's not cheap, by any means, but it's not a rip off either. If you don't like the look of the "plat du jour" a generous salad, or enormous and delicious omelette, will be about the same price.
As we spend a long time here we generally eat in the apartment - lunch out on the slopes is a treat.
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FAQ
