 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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Just to offer a smidgen of balance - when the ash cloud struck, it was TUI that came out of it smelling of roses (but tens of millions of pounds poorer). Above any other operator they stood by their customers who were scattered all over the planet and got them home. Those who had DIY'd on the other hand, were on their own and mostly stuck.
Crystal/Thomson and their other brands must shift approaching 25% of all UK skiers each season. They are bound to get complaints but I don't think we hear about them negatively in proportion to their size. In other words, for most, they do the job.
David Jarvis, that tone any good?
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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 like the text in that report that says: "Very late Easter is unhelpfull - We need to work hard to get across the great snow in March and April message"
before even knowing how great, or how poor that snow would be 
hey ho.
It's simples, if you go on a ski holiday at any time in the year, you're taking a chance with snow. It's clear from that report though that Crystal knew before hand that they would have to sell packages they couldn't fulfill.
At least they're trying to sort it out is suppose, but the OP did say that the holiday was booked around a couple of weeks ago in which case you'd have thought that the TOs would know exactly what was available at the time.
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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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Guys......there has been a mess up no dispute, but mess ups do happen it's a fact of life. Contractually, clearly it's Crystal's job to make amends but I think you should judge a company on how these things are resolved (yes...it shouldn't have happened in the first place I know). All evidence here is that matters were dealt with quite speedily and efficiently and to JanA's satisfaction. If not, a refund looks like it's being offered together with a small gesture- clearly this is not in the TO's interests!
I never book with TO's and am no apologist for them but actually if every business I dealt were to put its hand up and admit fault and made amends this quickly then life would be easier. If JanA had booked directly with the hotel and the same had happened I imagine it would be considerably more stressful for her.
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Its an all-round hugfest in here 
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Boredsurfing, just a suggestion here, but why don't you let JanA sort out her holiday with David Jarvis before you jump with both feet into a situation that, I'm guessing, you have nothing to do with?
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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, Read carefully she had before I did. Unless of course you consider linking to David and his boss jumping in with both feet, at that point I thought I was being helpful.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Mon 14-03-11 15:40; edited 1 time in total
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| Boredsurfing wrote: |
Bode Swiller,  |
tbh I don't like the tone of that.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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I suspect it was probably all down to an unscrupulous hotelier. 
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David Jarvis, just wanted to say well done for coming on here and addressing the issues (and the scope creep.....)
JanA, Personally I'd pick Courchevel over Tignes myself, some fantastic skiing to be had, north facing, lots of lovely and not very busy off piste easily accessible from a lift, and if you follow the links given earlier some very reasonable places to eat and drink.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| Boredsurfing, just a suggestion here, but why don't you let JanA sort out her holiday with David Jarvis before you jump with both feet into a situation that, I'm guessing, you have nothing to do with? |
That's a mad thing to say - JanA went public in cyberspace about it.
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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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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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Boredsurfing, I think people assume "in this day and age" that every business's IT systems are up to scratch, they all work in harmony with each other, nothing ever goes wrong and every eventuality can be dealt with at the flick of a switch.
If you've ever worked in travel you know this is not always the case unfortunately.
The important point here is that JanA's holiday is now back on track.
shoogly, this has to do with the way our business operates, and when people are able to go on holiday. Because of the much later Easter this year we have had a much longer 'low' season, where we still charter Thomson Airways flights into ski destinations. Normally there would be a peak of people wanting go skiing at Easter which is not there this season.
wigan you can find the Crystal Ski Industry reports going back a few years here:
http://www.crystalholidays.co.uk/category/press/crystal-ski/industry-report/
Bode Swiller, thanks for your comments
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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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Bode Swiller, advice was asked for. It was given by various SH's. Then, I'm sure to many peples surprise, the TO themselves entered the thread to reassure the OP and everyone else that the problem was being dealt with. Boredsurfing, then takes the opportunity to try and kick the TO with some snide and presumptive comments, something you obviously noticed because you felt the need to provide some much needed "balance".
David Jarvis should be applauded for joining the thread, not have rotton fruit chucked at him.
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I've been to Courch 1850 a few times. We love it. I take it you are half board at the St Louis? You only need to sort out lunch and as has been said earlier this can be sorted out quite cheaply. We've done Couch no expense spared and we've done Courch on a budget. Both were as much fun as each other. We were in a very nice hotel just round the corner from the St Louis, but our daughter used to be in the Creche in the St Louis so we have been there quite a few times. At that time the public areas were great, restaurant looked lovely but the bedrooms were very tired. Seems they have refurbed the public areas for this season, hope the bedrooms have had a freshen up. The St Louis used to be a Crystal Club hotel, where the staff were British. Not sure if that is still the case?
The St Louis has a good location - just across the road from the Bellecote piste.
Hope you have a fantastic 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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| Dr John wrote: |
| David Jarvis should be applauded for joining the thread, not have rotton fruit chucked at him. |
+1
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David Jarvis, well I think you have handled it quite well and you had the guts to post on the forum and put your company's position across. Nicely done.
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| Dr John wrote: |
| David Jarvis should be applauded for joining the thread, not have rotton fruit chucked at him. |
Certainly don't think it was rotton fruit, more like firm/fair questions given the public nature of this forum and the fact that many must've been thinking the same things... why only 5 days notice? Gave Crystal the opportunity to explain. They did. Nobody died.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Dr John wrote: |
| David Jarvis should be applauded for joining the thread, not have rotton fruit chucked at him. |
Certainly don't think it was rotton fruit, more like firm/fair questions given the public nature of this forum and the fact that many must've been thinking the same things... why only 5 days notice? Gave Crystal the opportunity to explain. They did. Nobody died. |
poo-poo happens
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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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Bode Swiller, the irony being that David Jarvis came out of this looking good and Boardsurfing came out of it looking like a berk. Natural justice.
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i wonder if the OP still stands by her not booking another holiday with them again...
this could very well turn out to be the best holiday they've been on!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Dr John, in your opinion. I think boredsurfin asked some very relevant question, to which the closest we've seen to an answer is it was an IT problem from my reading of it, which caused a misunderstanding.
Kudos to David to come on here and defend the company and to sort it out though
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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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looks to me like the hotellier has stuffed crystal, who in turn have had to pass on the bad news to the end customer. crystal should not have let this situation happen, but sometimes it is beyond their control(before anyone comments i am not a big fan of Crystal, having had some less than perfect holidays including my honemoon in vail). however it looks like they are trying to sort this out so good on them.
So courchevel, i am a fan, sure it's not expert skier heaven, or off piste nirvana but if you like cruising the pistes, assming the snow is good then it is in my opinion a fabulous place. yes it can be expensive but it doesn't have to be. the courcheneige next to the bellcote run into 1850 is very good value given it location. small stella is 2.50 euros and they do set lunches for for about 25.
also 1650 restaurants can be really good value if you avoid the hotspots, and la tania is also good value. there is also a place in the forum (forgotten the name even though we went there twice only 3 weeks ago) who fed four of us, but enough for 6, with beer and wine for about 60 euros in the evening. i can also personally recommend the goulash in the bar le jump opposite the croissette.
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They did organise those buses when the ash cloud struck... They really did. I was on one of them with loads of other families.
26 hours on a French coach with a French driver who had been smoking non-stop (well the bus smelt like it anyway). The TV worked infrequently (luckily we'd got some DVD's) we had to fork out for our own meals and this was despite being told the chalet we were in was free the week after so we could have stayed for a few days at least (which was when flights started again)
Sorry but I don't search out Crystal as my first choice when booking.
Sorry about just charging in. I wasn't intending to, but then he ,mentioned THOSE coaches....
Last edited by 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  on Mon 14-03-11 21:43; edited 1 time in total
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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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Markoncarp,
Wow you are ungrateful!
I too was caught up in the ash cloud last year (Ski France) who also organised coaches home (about 23 hours).
For any TO it was a major logistical exercise to arrange coaches. At the time it wasn't known when restrictions were going to be lifted therfore the most sensible thing to do was to coach people home as close to their departure date as possible (with us the same day).
In our chalet some people would have been happy to stay on (me included) but for many a delay of any longer than a day would have caused problems and they were very keen to get home. Do you really think a TO should have canvassed guests and staggered their trips home?
A coach home wasn't exactly my idea of fun but compared to friends who ended up about £2k out of pocket by making their own arrangements I'm very pleased that I'd booked my first ever TO holiday.
And I'm off on my first ever Crystal holiday this weekend - hope I don't get a call tomorrow!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I went on holiday with Crystal earlier this season and it was GREAT possibly the best chalet hosts I've ever had...
would I book with them again - YES very likely indeed. I went with another group a few weeks later with Ski France and it was quite a let down compared to crystal, and no I don't work for them I'm just a happy
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| e17phil wrote: |
Markoncarp,
Wow you are ungrateful!
I too was caught up in the ash cloud last year (Ski France) who also organised coaches home (about 23 hours).
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Oh OK... I'll consider myself ungrateful... But when there are that many young children on a coach which has obviously been smoked in and we see other TO's shipping clients home in luxury coaches then forgive me but it DOES seem a bit rich. For an aparantly child friendly company to hire THAT is not good.
As far as the chalet and host were concerned, I couldnt fault them. Just (as I've already said) think its funny that he used the reaction to the ash cloud as an example of how wonderful they are when our experience was just the opposite.
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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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Markoncarp, I won't call you ungrateful (but only because you paid for return travel) but I will call you totally unrealisitic given the logistical nightmare that unfolded over a few short days. And a coach smelling of smoke is a lot different to one being full of smoke - like wot it used to be like on all trains, planes and buses.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Bode Swiller, He didn't have to fork out for the return journey. Markon Carp on, only had to fork-out for food on the return journey.
But it was smelly with no telly.
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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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jzBun, did it take long to think of that? The whole Carp on thing is awesome. I hadn't even considered it...(especially since i'd only posted twice on the subject) Bravo. Let's see how hilarious you can be with your next reply... Could you make it a Limerick? I'm from Camden Lock. 
Bode Swiller, I wouldn't call myself unrealistic. Just conscious of how crappy the journey was for those of us that had young families. It might not be a popular belief (and it's probably going to send certain SH's into spasms of frothing hissy fits) but I just expect a TO that professes to be kid friendly to supply a coach that
A) hasn't got the smell of stale smoke throughout it because it makes kids vomit.
B) has a TV that works as little children get a bit fractious after 23 hrs on a coach.
If everyone had had the same problem I would have understood but I spoke to people at Calais and they had great coaches put on. It seemed we got the cheapest that could be found.
Obviously you aren't allowed to voice concerns on here without being hauled over the coals for daring to suggest a TO is at fault...
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Markoncarp, Oh come on. With what you've posted on this thread it seemed remiss not to. You really should develop a sense of perspective (and humour)...I don't know how many buses Crystal had to find but to expect them to inspect each one before allowing them to be used IS unrealistic.
They would simply have phoned their bus contractor and asked for 30 buses (along with every other TO in the Alps). You were unlucky and got a malodorous one. What sort of Victor Meldrew fit would you have thrown if they'd told you your bus had been cancelled because it was a bit whiffy and you would have to wait another 10 hours for replacement?
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Markoncarp, man up.
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Um....this makes me think of going back to the garden late at night and finding the bonfire embers you left hours ago are still well alight 
*Bucket of water or some other convenient jet of liquid to put it out...anyone?*
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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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| jzBun wrote: |
Markoncarp, Oh come on. With what you've posted on this thread it seemed remiss not to. You really should develop a sense of perspective (and humour)...I don't know how many buses Crystal had to find but to expect them to inspect each one before allowing them to be used IS unrealistic.
They would simply have phoned their bus contractor and asked for 30 buses (along with every other TO in the Alps). You were unlucky and got a malodorous one. What sort of Victor Meldrew fit would you have thrown if they'd told you your bus had been cancelled because it was a bit whiffy and you would have to wait another 10 hours for replacement? |
You know what. Im sorry. I heartily reccomend Crystal and all their holidays. They are perfect. Awesome and Wonderful... I am just a big Grumpy Old Man.
I do wonder why people post on this forum with any concerns when it seems that to do so, generally results in being flamed by the regulars...
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Markoncarp, it's a question of context. If it was a scheduled 23 hour coach journey I'd say you'd have a good point. But in the context of a rescue mission in the middle of the biggest crisis to hit the European tourist industry for 40 years, I'd say you could probably cut them a little slack.
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