Latest posts for the topic "Crystal ski"

Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:10:03 GMT

I just want to share with everyone my recent experience with crystal ski!!! This might not be knew to some but to me it is!!tonight got a call from crystal rep in resort (la plagne) to ask me if i had any pre departure questions or queries, I asked if they had a tv in chalet so we could take the wii for us kids to play she said she will sort it for us and she also got creche manager to ring me with regards to me being unable to get a space for my son and she said there's loads of space and let me make a reservation there and then balance to pay in resort which is the opposite to what call centre told me,they told me it was totally full.also they has been 2ft of snow fallen in last couple of days. Only 4 days to go can't wait

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:12:37 GMT

There is much more snow to come.. I am in Sainte Foy from the 25th!

I have had nothing but good experiences with Crystal.

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:14:01 GMT

Good for you, Its nice to know that some reps will go that extra mile for clients.Hope you all have a great time.

AJ Adele

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:25:14 GMT

Blimey! I've NEVER heard of that happening before. I've travelled with Crystal once, we saw the rep on our first day and that was it, she faxed our departure details to the hotel the night before departure and that was as much communication as we got.

Things are looking up - have a good holiday!

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:28:24 GMT

Had similar experience with Thomsons Ski rep in Alpe d'Huez last year. Great guys and very willing to go that extra mile.

It's just a shame their office staff had already mucked us about over the flights (for the third year in a row).

Dave

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:57:56 GMT

RossF wrote:

I have had nothing but good experiences with Crystal.

likewise

Re:Crystal ski

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:01:23 GMT

RossF wrote:

I have had nothing but good experiences with Crystal.

Agreed :D

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:30:32 GMT

I have been with Crystal 3-4 times, luckily the reps tend to leave us alone as have our own stuff and never bother with the excursiones - well most of the time.

To get that sort of service you are very lucky - my last hols, where my parents in law and niece anbd nephew came along, I found them a nightmare - lots of hidden charges and stuff that was promised in the brochure (free snowboard school lunch) was suddenly not included for the kids etc etc and arranging extra lessons - well what a pain - his basic response was DIY! Like I said - Normally I never need the services of the rep (thank god) but for first timers and in experienced they can be a real help and on this occasion I found he was dead unhelpful. Prob the worst one I have encountered!

You will have a great time tho I am sure!

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:31:42 GMT

Yep - generally good experiences - I agree - must of been a one of from a complacent rep who had spent far too ling in the resort (5 years) to care anymore! )

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:39:38 GMT

I have always found that its the individuality of the rep that makes the difference, although the overall service from a tour op is what you tend to remember.
Never been with Crystal. Have found Inghams to be very good, Nielsen almost invisible in resort, and the First Choice rep in Sauze was absolutely useless and we ended writing a complaint about him.
Nice to hear of such levels of service though.

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:47:58 GMT

I had a first choice rep in Sauze -he was diabolical - was a few years ago now (5) prob the same one - he was useless!
think you are right - it really varies and is down to the individual!

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:51:33 GMT

Fair play to you Russco for highlighting good service - we do not see enough positive feedback when people have pleasant experiences while the media are more than happy to accommodate every whinger going :evil:

Tour operators probably attract more complaints than most but how much of this is reasonable when so many people expect 5* holidays for 2* prices?

I have travelled with Crystal most years and I generally find them pretty good - accommodation can be a bit tired but usually does the business, food is usually pretty good and one year was truly excellent (Clubhotel Totem in Flaine - they had a young Aussie chef that year and he knew how to cook). They are also, in my experience, the most generous in terms of child discounts which makes a big difference for families - the cost for my kids next week in a clubhotel on a half board basis was Euro569 for the two of them :wink:. Reps vary but, to be honest, we rarely need them for anything so it doesn't really matter to us.

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:14:09 GMT

I'm very surprised that anyone has a good word to say about Crystal.
I've arranged several big group trips through them and have found the UK side of the operation hassle from start to finish. Out in resort the reps (if you can find one) don't seem too interested in customers.
Perhaps they have changed since we gave up on them about 5 years ago?
In recent years we've used Skiworld who are in a different class compared to the crap service we used to get from Crystal.

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:22:00 GMT

I worked for a ski company for several years in various resorts and the most ridiculous complaint I heard to a rep was that there was too much snow and what were they going to do about it.

Other treasures include 'If I don't eat breakfast will I be hungry by lunchtime' and 'why do my chips go cold when I sit outside?'

:roll:

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:48:42 GMT

NellyPS wrote:I worked for a ski company for several years in various resorts and the most ridiculous complaint I heard to a rep was that there was too much snow and what were they going to do about it.

Other treasures include 'If I don't eat breakfast will I be hungry by lunchtime' and 'why do my chips go cold when I sit outside?'

:roll:

Unbelievable

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:50:12 GMT

VickyButterfield wrote:I had a first choice rep in Sauze -he was diabolical - was a few years ago now (5) prob the same one - he was useless!
think you are right - it really varies and is down to the individual!

Certianly down to the individual - my First Choice rep in Saalbach a couple of years ago was superb.

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:55:09 GMT

Never had the need for a rep. :wink:

Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:10:51 GMT

russco wrote:I just want to share with everyone my recent experience with crystal ski!!! This might not be knew to some but to me it is!!tonight got a call from crystal rep in resort (la plagne) to ask me if i had any pre departure questions or queries

Must be the new thing with Crystal. Our 'customer service representative' rang us from Grindelwald to ask if we had any queries before we left. I've nothing but praise for Crystal. Have used them for all of our trips and when the poo hit the spinny thing they've always been spot on.
Whilst on the topic I have to complement First Choice Airways / Thomson / Crystal / TUI for their handling of our scary flight home last weekend. 90 mph winds and an aborted landing at 50ft above Exeter runway meant a diversion to Gatwick and a scary landing there. We were off the plane, baggage collected, meal vouchers issued and coach times confirmed within half an hour of landing. Yes, it was a huge inconvenience to be at the wrong side of the country but, we were safe, fed and in the UK. Spot on service and thanks to Swissport for the airport handling side of stuff.

Re:Crystal ski

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:41:53 GMT

I've been with Crystal on several occasions and have never intended or needed to take advantage of the rep services apart from when in Bulgaria last year. On this occasion the rep was extremely helpful when my mobile phone was stolen and my OH broke his collar bone. I have also always been very happy with Crystal in terms of value for money, quality of hotels and ease of travel.

One thing however, that has irritated us a bit on the last two trips is that they have not given out lift passes/vouchers on the transfer coach like they used to. Instead they have given them out at the end of the 'welcome meeting' which is all about persuading holiday makers to buy excursions etc and we are really are not interested in that part of the package.

Not wanting to sit through an hour's meeting on the last trip, we asked if we could just have our lift passes and was told that we had to go to the meeting. I then said that we definitely would not be going to the meeting and was told that they would be put under our door after the meeting. We then went out and 'unintentionally' got a bit drunk :shock:. By the time we got back to our hotel it was quite late and the lift passes had not appeared.

Luckily my OH spotted a rep at the hotel bar when and we asked him where we could get our passes. He was most put out that 1. We did not attend his meeting and 2. that he had to go and get passes for us in his leisure time. But he did, and on this occasion we did not miss out on any skiing time.

I do not see why people should be duped into sitting through a sales pitch in order to get essentials that they have paid for and I hope that Crystal revert back to (what I think was the best practice) distributing passes and vouchers on the transfer coach.

Anyone else had this problem?

Re:Crystal ski

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:33:39 GMT

We did last year in Italy, though things were much better this time around.

We didn't get our passes on the coach, though we did meet up with the rep in our hotel later in afternoon and he was happy to hand over the passes and ski school vouchers we'd pre booked.

The welcome meetings were split up with one in each hotel (rather than one big one for everyone somewhere in the village), though we didn't go along as we had everything we needed and weren't interested in spending a fortune on excursions.

Our rep was very pleasant, friendly and not at all concerned with selling us anything. We didn't actually need him for anything, though did have a chat occasionally in the hotel bar.

Overall, very good service and I'd definitely travel with Thompson/Crystal again.

Re:Crystal ski

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:23:40 GMT

snowb4ndit wrote:

One thing however, that has irritated us a bit on the last two trips is that they have not given out lift passes/vouchers on the transfer coach like they used to. Instead they have given them out at the end of the 'welcome meeting' which is all about persuading holiday makers to buy excursions etc and we are really are not interested in that part of the package.

I do not see why people should be duped into sitting through a sales pitch in order to get essentials that they have paid for and I hope that Crystal revert back to (what I think was the best practice) distributing passes and vouchers on the transfer coach.

Anyone else had this problem?

Every time with a tour op, yes. If I am going somewhere new, I dont mind finding out more about places to go, day trips, supermarkets etc but usually spend 5 minutes with the rep on the transfer bus for that.

I think they should offer more experienced skiers the chance to collect lift passes at the start of the meeting, and then they can choose to sit through the meeting or not. I tend to find the people who are really interested in these meetings are those who have lessons booked and are less experienced.
It is an opportunity for them to make some added sales, and you kind of come to expect it. Its not so bad in a chalet as the resort rep tends to come in, and if you dont want anything, you can just tell him to leave the passes and do one. After several drinks of course.

Re:Crystal ski

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:46:06 GMT

going to belle plange 7th feb just had an e mail from crystal rep to say he had notiiced we hadnt ordered lift passes and did he want us to get them , never known anything like it

Re:Crystal ski

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:24:49 GMT

Is it because only 1 in 4 of the people that would normally go skiing are actually going this season and the reps have nothing to do?

Re:Crystal ski

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:35:55 GMT

NellyPS wrote:Is it because only 1 in 4 of the people that would normally go skiing are actually going this season and the reps have nothing to do?

Are those figures correct?
If so, why arent we getting ridiculous cheap offers?

Re:Crystal ski

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:59:05 GMT

We took the family with Crystal and vowed never to use them again. As we were quueing to check in a Crystal Rep went down the lines demanding a supplement "or we wouldn't be able to board the plane", so we paid up. When we got to the checkin the airline rep said it was nothing to do with them and they would have let us checkin. I started going back down the line telling people and the Crystal rep threatened to call Airport Security if I didn't stop. Never travelled with them since and never will.

Re:Crystal ski

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:12:43 GMT

That sounds a bit naughty,did you follow it up?

Re:Crystal ski

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:51:55 GMT

Nothing came of it - Supplement charges are legitimate (look in the small print of most contracts) and they thought it better to collect at check-in, rather than ask the resort Reps to do it. What I objected to was that we were being lied to - obviously the woman doing the collecting was on a bonus to get as many payments as possible.

I think it's high time for the travel industry to accept that if they mess-up their cost management then that's their problem, not yours. They're just gambling with your money by not making provision for currency fluctuations: if they win, they pocket the difference, if they lose, you cover the loss.

And they wonder why more and more people book directly on the Web.