ski hill rip off

[zack]

I have to say that I was very disappointed with opening weekend. I know that no one has control over the weather so I won’t complain about that (even though it was pretty sad… )

But I thought it was rather insane that they were charging full price to ride 3 of 10 lifts. Even on the lifts that were running, so much was closed. I realise why things are closed early season… but to charge full price for a fraction of the services seems to me like greedy business.

Every year the price goes up and the service goes down.

[dg]

Welcome to fernie and RCR.. better get used to it. Wait until the timber chair goes down on alberta family day and there’s like 10,000 people stuck at the base..

[edwin]

why then did you go on opening day>?>

dont pay, dont go….start your own protest!!!!!

[sparkes]

edwin has a point, there are other mnt’s in fernie and surounding area, I have heard the hill in Sparwood is ok,….well who knows but you could try, It is true every year they charge more and every year it gets worse. If you were only paying 30$ per adult you probably wouldn’t be as pissed right? It’s too bad, the hill will never be the same.

[bagpuss]

Ever tried France? Service? What service? Queues? Nah, don’t bother, just shove. Canada is fantastic compared to what us poor European buggers get stuck with. That’s why we come here – sorry

It may well be worth pointing out about the lift prices at customer services. You can return the pass within an hour if you’re not happy, but that of course means you can’t ride again that day. The more people who make the point, the more likely they are to change it (*wishful thinking*)

[username]

Most ski hills are not even open. We open early and your complaining? The only reason the ski hill even opened was for season pass holders. They already have “your” money for the season pass that you bought, so opening early is a bonus for you. They could keep your money and remain closed for another couple weeks. Would that be less greedy? It is actually costing the ski hill to be open right now. Yesturday there was only 125 people on the hill , and 7/8 of those 125 people were season pass holders. You should be glad the ski hill is even open and allowing you to ride their lifts. You could still be hiking up to the top of the Bear with your PASS buring a hole in your pocket.

[elsie]

Let’s say you go to the grocery store, and you want to buy some apples.
The apples are all kept in special bags, and to open the bag, you need to buy an apple pass.
You purchase your apple pass for $10. You go to open the bag, only to find that half the apples cannot be eaten, at least for another 2 to 3 weeks. However, the apples were full price.
What do you do? You need to make a pie today!

Answer: You go back to the store, you talk to the manager, they give you a discount and or you can return your apples.

And they do it courteously, because they want you to buy more apples. Perhaps they might even give you a free orange to ensure they keep their customer happy.

[username]

LOL …..What ever.

[bagpuss]

lol, love the apple analogy

[czar from afar]

Elsie,

There are aspects of Quantum Physics that remain a little fuzzy to me. I would be grateful for any analogies that might assist.

BTW I agree. RCR gets that hill open because Fernie has a comparatively short ski season, and they would have an increasingly difficult time selling passes if they kept the hill closed longer then absolutely necessary. There is no reason to soak the paying customers in the process by charging full rates for partial service.

I bequeath one bushel of rotten apples to RCR.

[username]

I’m not sure if you guys realize this but Season Passes actually makes up the smallest portion of the ski hill revenue.

[elsie]

Hey, I’m not sure your realize, I’m not talking about revenues, I’m talking about service and growing your business by serving more than the bottom line.

Everyone in business is in business for one reason, and that’s to make money. Simple, right?

The difference between effective, strategic businesses and those that flounder is their ability to be innovative, to anticipate the market, and to grow their customer base over the long term.

Everyone knows that Intrawest does a great job at this, however you feel about their mega-resorts. What’s so hard about treating your customers with courtesy, respect and rewarding their loyalty?

Sometimes it seems like season pass holders in Fernie are seen as the lowest on the food chain by RCR. I don’t care how you cut it, a customer is a customer; it’s basic. They should appreciate and value the business, period.

[username]

I know exactly what you guys are saying, and agree with everything that your saying. But there is two sides to every story so let me just say this….
The last Monday of every month, season passs holders get early chair (first tracks) on the Elk and Bear. You will be able to load at 8:30am I think. Thats a bonus for pass holders. And this “Service With No Boundries” is a program designed to give the lifties, ticket checkers, snow shovelers the power to give away things to angry customers. Like luches, new poles, day passes, what ever that person thinks you deserve.Any plane old lifty or ticket checker has the power to do that. So I feel they’re making steps in the right direction towards guest services.

[zack]

My point is that they are charging full price for a fraction of the services. And as for them losing money right now, they set Dec 10th as opening day regardless of snow conditions because last year when they opened in November, they lost money and they weren’t going to let that happen again. So even if there had been 6 feet of snow 3 weeks ago, they still wouldn’t have opened. They didn’t open for “you seasons pass holders”… It was the date that they chose themselves weeks/months ago so that they wouldn’t lose money like their first 2 weeks last year.

Also, the reason that there were only 125 people is because there’s no snow. I don’t think there’s lack of interest.

14 of 17 major ski hills in BC are currently open.

There are many resorts that offer discounted prices during early and late season because they have found that it attracts more people to come during those not so great seasonal times. Maybe if they tried that there would have been more than 125 people.

[fuzzball]

This reminds me all to well of the golf course.. They open because thats when they chose to open.. its the same in the summer as the winter.. The golf course had a shitty season due to weather..
The hill has opened and has shitty conditions.. it’s open, you have a pass, you choose whether to use it or not. At least the golfers dont bitch about it raining or about the winterkill. Thats life with seasonal business that relys on weather.

[Author]

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