Author: voodoo

Heavenly: “Idiots running the show”

Ok I’ve been here before and it’s exceptional. Today we found that the iconic gondola was shut down. For how long? Nobody knows. It’s there infinite wisdom the Heavenly Valley intellectual juggernaut’s decided to cram everyone onto the California lodge lift. At the same time the two other lodges are closed and leaving the innate idiots that run this place to keep everyone jammed into the California lodge. This created a logjam and over 4 hour wait to get off the mountain by unfortunate patrons. Got a heart attack, broken leg or massive bled well we will get you down after we let our own employees down first. This is a perfect example of people in positions they should not be in. Having an alternative plan, alerting the public or Just using common. Sense. Perhaps these are the same fools discharged from the state department that led our glorious evacuation from Afghanistan? Either way I’m sure the trail lawyers awaited at the bottom with their salivary glands in full effect

Jim M via TripAdvisor

Visited Tahoe for the holidays and unfortunately there wasn’t much snow. You would expect reduced rates under such poor skiing conditions but instead the prices at Heavenly were outrageous. $200 for 1/2 day lift ticket, $800 for a private lesson… Fortunately I found other mountains with similar conditions and great views at much lower prices.

David B via TripAdvisor

Absolutely poor customer service. Ski resort announced opening on 17 Nov, only to delay it opening to after our trip. No refunds, poor communication. We also only found out upon arrival to Tahoe with no email notification.

Stay01608001420 via TripAdvisor

I wanted to like the experience of Heavenly, but the skiing was way too crowded especially during the weekends. It’s never fun to be at risk of bumping to a skier and have to wait until going down an entire run. On the plus side, the snow wasn’t bad and the scenery of seeing Lake Tahoe was beautiful.

Noah W via TripAdvisor

Heavenly is a corporate resort that regards skiers as profit centers while their real customers are Wall Street analysts. For spring skiing they have reduced lifts and grooming to a bare minimum. Sky lift is the one that reaches the highest altitude so it has mid year weekend lines. The trouble is this means 2 non heavy slush runs max vs 6-10 runs in winter. Grooming has been cut to almost nothing. I observed far more corduroy at Diamond Peak and Mt Rose. This made my decision on renewal for me as Northstar parking and crowds make that resort a no go. I would have renewed if spring skiing was even an average experience. By the way thanks for eliminating the ski carts at NS which has one of The most onerous walks in NA. We figure the green eye shades saved 20-25 cents per Skier visit on that one.

Willy K via TripAdvisor

I am a season pass holder with the Tahoe Local Pass. The experience here is truly disappointing. I went on a low traffic day (Monday) and the the experience really sucked. The only thing decent was the grooming. Vail resorts is run strictly by Wall Street guys and pointy pencil bean counters interested only in the bottom line. To this end they sent all of their low paid J1 visa employees packing on 3/31/23 and now they are running with a skeleton crew of locals. At least two key lifts are closed and the lines (Sky and Dipper) on a Monday were crazy at 10-15 minutes per ride. Vail resorts are the kings of no-customer service. As a long time pass holder, Vail resorts may have crossed the line for me NOT to renew my pass for the 23-24 season.

Michael A via TripAdvisor

“Expect to be treated as a wallet and not as a customer”

Overall you won’t get what you paid for and it will often be disappointing. Generally this is my least favorite Tahoe destination. This resort is nice in appearance but is overall poorly run. Expect to be treated as a wallet and not as a customer. New and temporary staff generally are not helpful, veterans are generally ambivalent. Staff can also be hostile and aggressive as well which is generally a sign of problems within management. I understand visitors can also be difficult and the staff will certainly make you’re aware as they voice their complaints.

Blaine Schanfeldt via reviews at Google

“Outrageously scandalous”

The winter lift ticket on Sat Dec 23 was sold $256 for having not even half of the slopes open. Outrageously scandalous.

Roger Deballe via Google Reviews

Lift kept stopping every 2 minutes. $200+ for a day lift ticket is outrageous and having to pay for parking also is lame

neglsha n via Google Reviews

Slopes were not well groomed. Too much powder and difficult to ski. Many lifts were not open for the $269 price. Also, this is the first place that did not provide a veteran discount. They said they give military discount for season passes but not daily passes.

Richard L via TripAdvisor

Horrible conditions right now due to lack of snow. Very few runs and even fewer lifts open. Even if you bought an Epic pass, do not throw good money after bad by wasting $$S on lodging and parking. Better off flying to a resort with snow. Will update if conditions improve.

Kevin G. via Yelp

A Racket to put simply. Bought two days, our passes did not work both days. Waited in line several hours. Employees were extremely rude and none of them even tried to speak English. Insane for the price! This place has went downhill so fast

Nolan S. via Yelp

Really subpar experience today with low snow levels, tons of moguls even on blues (blacks are impossible), and shrubbery peeking out everywhere. Trails need to be groomed or at least they could try with some snow machines to make more snow. The resort was extremely crowded and the rentals took almost 2 hours. The rental system of having groups serviced by one personnel makes no sense and groups of 3 or more end up taking extremely long. The gondola experience for new visitors to the resort who have skis is extremely stressful and staff do not care to help. We barely made it into the gondola and it seems unnecessary to be stressed before you even hit the slopes. I had higher expectations for a Tahoe resort after living in LA for many years going to Big Bear. I will be going to other resorts in the future.

Jenny M. via Yelp

Way too crowded to be enjoyable. Too many people going way too fast on greens/blues with no one enforcing slow zones.

E M. via Yelp

Very disappointed in the group lessons. I booked 6 full day group lessons for ages 7-14. Cost about $400 each. Check in was at 8:45. After an hour and half later, and standing in two different lines (we were not even renting gear) the kids were checked in. The instructor was rude and short with the kids. There was a total of 11 in the group with one instructor. When they came back, all said they never wanted to do it again and it was miserable. My 8 year old was crying. They barely skied and mainly stood around. Flat out, was not an enjoyable experience. The instructor was just plain rude.

Shay O. via Yelp

Year after year they raise prices and provide less and less.

Am A. via Yelp

“I will no longer renew our EpicPass”

My entire family has the EpicPass and we’ve stayed at Catamount several times. I really really wanted to like Northstar but my experience this week has sourced on me even before the 2023/2024 ski season started, and therefore I will no longer renew our EpicPass this year. Instead, I’m going to get the entire family on Ikon Pass next time.

Here’s the story. Northstar had originally planned to open on Nov 17th so I booked lodging for the family starting on Nov 20th. But because of the warm weather this year, they cancelled the opening date. It would seem that they should be able to make plenty of snow by the end of the week (good 10 day forecast), so I asked them to move my reservation to Nov 23rd. But then the service lady told me 1) I can only move the date once and 2) there’s no way they will open up in the next coming few weeks, and I better book something much later in the year.

That caused a lot grief for me because all of my free vacation dates for 2023/2024 are completely packed. I spent a whole day trying to cancel my other vacation plans (with heavy financial penalties) just so I could re-use my Northstar lodging credits. Then guess what? A few days later, I got the news: Northstar is opening up on Nov 23. Great. Just great.

When you keep flip-flopping on your customers, giving them wrong information, and ripping them off with this ridiculous no refund policy– don’t expect them to come back ever again.

Kevin C. via Yelp

WSJ: The 100 Best Ski Resorts in the U.S. and Canada

Source: r/skiing

The rest of the list is at WSJ website

“Epic passes not received. Epic coverage is a scam”

Spent $1800 in April for Epic Passes. They supposedly shipped to an address that was not even in my account, tried to charge me for a reshipment of the passes the erroneously shipped to the wrong address, and have still not shipped out the passes after finally putting in the reshipment order. Customer service is quick to say “I’m sorry” and then wring their hands as they give you phone numbers that just hangup on you or general email inboxes for you to vent your frustration to the ether. Any lawyers out there because this is sounding like a great class action brewing.

David R via Tripadvisor

Epic pass is a total scam.
I’ve been promised mine is arriving for several weeks.
I want to use a partner benefit in France and have been told via online chat (Impossible to find 99% of the time) that I just need proof of purchase.
I’ve found three different links to what you have to do.
1. proof of active pass and ID
2. Actual pass and ID
3. You must register your visit on the Three Valleys site 10 days before.

Well, I don’t have a pass to show and have no idea how you register your visit on the Trois Vallees site – No details given.

M1A via Tripadvisor

Epic coverage is a scam. They make it as difficult as possible. Claims are handled through sedgwick so they can avoid providing basic customer service. Once you are denied Epic and sedgwick will provide no support. They are just waiting you out until the pass’s epic coverage is expired. For reference my pass was never used.

Ty7188 via Tripadvisor

The customer experience is a horror show….took me 50 minutes to order 3 4 day passes for adults….horrific, and pathetic. I don’t care about the mountain, the snow, whatever, the customer service experience is the worst, and gets worse every year…..I choose to go elsewhere

Paul B via Tripadvisor

Victory for Vail Town over “Evil” Vail Resorts in Land Dispute

It’s a win for the environment and a slap in the face for Vail Resorts. Eagle County District Court Chief Judge Paul Dunkelman has ruled in favor of the town of Vail, granting them immediate possession of a disputed 23-acre site in East Vail. The tug-of-war between the town and Vail Resorts, a corporation often criticized for prioritizing profit over community needs, centered around the site’s value as critical winter habitat for the area’s bighorn sheep herd.

The town had condemned the site in May 2022, citing its ecological importance. Vail Resorts, however, had plans to build workforce housing on the land, a project now blocked by this ruling. In a legal battle that can only be described as David vs. Goliath, the court determined that the town had both the authority and necessity to acquire the property for the purpose of wildlife preservation.

Despite Vail Resorts claiming bad faith and ulterior motives on the town’s part, the court found that the town acted in “legitimate and primary public purpose” in condemning the property. The town will now deposit $12 million for immediate possession, with further hearings to ascertain final compensation to Vail Resorts.

In a world where corporate interests often bulldoze over environmental and community concerns, this ruling is a breath of fresh air. Finally, it seems, the bighorn sheep of East Vail are more important than another corporate development project. The court’s decision serves as a stark reminder that sometimes, just sometimes, the good guys win.

Source: Vaildaily.com

Epic Failure with Epic Flexpay: A Vail Experience

I’d like to take a moment to share my recent and utterly frustrating experience with Vail Resorts’ payment system, specifically the “epic flexpay” option. While the idea of purchasing Epic pass 6-day tickets sounded appealing, the execution left me more than disappointed. It’s one of those experiences that leaves you questioning whether the service you’re trying to utilize is really worth the hassle.

The Beginning of the Trouble

The system flatly denied my application, citing a freeze on my credit report. As someone with an excellent credit score, this was both baffling and annoying. However, I played by their rules and lifted the freeze with Equifax, only to be met with further disappointment.

Unspecified Failure

After complying with their request and trying to process the application again, I was met with an infuriatingly vague rejection: “Thank you for your application. Unfortunately, we can’t process your application because we need additional information from you.” What additional information? Why was this not specified? These questions were left unanswered.

A Pathetic Experience

I’m left to conclude that Vail’s credit payment system is as pathetic as the rest of the services they offer. The entire process was marred by a lack of transparency and a user experience that feels disconnected from modern practices. I consider myself a patient person, but this episode has worn thin on my nerves.

Conclusion

It is my suspicion that Vail’s “Epic Flexpay” is nothing more than a “click and bait” scheme, a facade to lure customers with the promise of “0% APR, 0 down payment.” What they don’t tell you is that these attractive terms are nearly impossible to access, and you may find yourself having to pay in full or with a far less appealing “15% APR.” This experience has left me feeling deceived and disappointed.

The mountain might be epic, but the payment experience is anything but. Vail, if you happen to come across this, please know that transparent and honest business practices go a long way in building trust with your customers. I hope you take this feedback seriously and make the necessary changes to ensure that future customers don’t fall into the same trap.