Category: Info

“EPIC waste of $400”

I ordered a Stevens Select Pass and just learned that every weekend in January and February are blackout date. When I ordered the pass I knew it did not include Holidays but I specifically recall looking on the website to ensure the pass included weekends. Nowhere did it say the weekends were blacked out (or it was buried in the small print) I work during the week so this is an EPIC waste of $400. Vail thanks for screwing me over, again.

Will Bronaugh via Facebook

Do not honour season pass refunds. A consistent issue, well known by the ACCC and fair trading. They’ll take your money in a heart beat, but you’ll never hear from them when lodging a refund request (supported by the correct paperwork as dictated by their own T&Cs). No way to contact them aside from email; and as mentioned, good luck getting a response.

Nicholas C Kaye via Facebook

Another unhappy RIPPED OFF customer. Sold ski passes under the guise that because of the pandemic they could be refunded. Only to be denied over a year later because “we didn’t have refundable passes” someone needs to take accountability for the THEFT that vail resorts is getting away with.

Tyler Burkhart via Facebook.com

“Vail’s “Auto-Renew” policy is completely designed to entrap you and take your money”. DON’T “Auto-Renew”!

This company needs to be sued for being predatory, DONT click “Auto Renew” thinking your can just cancel it if you don’t want it. Their policies are completely designed to entrap you and take your money. You can’t be forced to buy something and I can’t believe this company wont work with you if you didn’t use your pass and don’t intend to.

I get that companies need to protect themselves from fraud, but if you make the process so specific and restrictive on purpose, then you are obviously trying to steal peoples money with their “terms and conditions” that you “agreed to”.

they need to be sued.

Catherine Cellini via Facebook

I was able to cancel my auto renew but only after it renewed. And of course they won’t issue a refund because I don’t have a “qualifying event”

Vinny Maronna via Facebook

EPIC pass misleading! Checked epic profile and no indication of auto renewal. Then got text today eluding to auto renew (after website indicated not) called to cancel/fix before it got renewed – customer service said they could not help & we had to email, emailed address they provided & immediately got a response saying Must Call. Representative still on phone said no & provided a corporate number “to try” which is CLOSED until after auto renewal date

Notify CC company to not process further charges as they are not authorized

doclocke33 via Instagram
laketahoetoday via Instagram

That happened to us too. Vail makes it purposely hard to cancel auto renew. They suck.

tahowaiian via Instagram

5 of the 6 ski areas Vail Resorts owns are now run by women. Is it Woke enough?

And we assume that these “women” are lesbian/non-binary handicapped persons of color.

In fact, five of the six ski areas Vail Resorts owns in the Mountain West region are now run by women, with Howard and Park City’s Deirdra Walsh being joined by Nadia Guerriero at Beaver Creek, Jody Churich at Breckenridge and Tara Schoedinger at Crested Butte.

travelweekly.com

With the beginning of Amy Ohran’s tenure as general manager of Northstar mountain in North Lake Tahoe this past July, Vail Resorts now has 10 ski areas run by women, including Park City and Vail, which are two of its largest.

“Vail Resorts is an equal opportunity employer“

Vail Resorts is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by applicable law.

https://jobs.vailresortscareers.com/

“Equal opportunity employer“? So the employment of the above candidates has nothing to do with their sex? Yeah, right.

Vail is just another failing WOKE corporation. With typical corporate BS, overspending, dumb investments, multi-million bonuses and “golden parachutes” for the top management. Their performance is not gonna change even if they replace every single male with a female or a non-binary “he/her”.

Hashtag #VailEpicFail

Vail CEO Kirsten A. Lynch makes $6,6M+ / year

“As Chief Executive Officer at VAIL RESORTS INC, Kirsten A. Lynch made $6,609,628 in total compensation. Of this total $885,999 was received as a salary, $1,188,300 was received as a bonus, $2,249,981 was received in stock options, $2,249,991 was awarded as stock and $35,357 came from other types of compensation. This information is according to proxy statements filed for the 2022 fiscal year.”

Source: Salary.com

So your $235 for 1 day lift ticket, $20 per hamburger and $700 for a crappy shithole cabin “Ski Trail condos” are going into the pocket of the right person. Here is that person:

Kirsten A. Lynch should be fired for her extremely crappy performance, but not rewarded with $6.6M+ in compensation.

Vail MTN is a falling knife now as it breaks down through two top trough support and the 200 day EMA. Selling will accelerate after Dec 23rd ex dividend date. They have a hugely inflated assets on their balance sheet and too much debt. Been cooking the books the past several years.

Yahoo Finance discussion board for MTN stock ticker

“Vail is not doing a good job of maximizing revenue”

Vail is not doing a good job of maximizing revenue. At my local resort the restaurant / bar is not open during the holiday week, typically a very busy week.

“This stock MTN will be a two digit stock price by March”

Oh boy, wait til Christmas crash for MTN. when it goes ex dividend on the 23rd the tax loss selling will accelerate. The selling in January and February will be stunning as Vail’s super inflated balance sheet is revealed. Too much debt vs inflated assets probably leads to a secondary stock offering in early 2023. This stock MTN will be a two digit stock price by March. They went on an acquisition spree the past 5 years right into the teeth of the biggest asset bubble in history. Combined with huge labor cost inflation and higher interest rates….dead company walking.

Yep, MTN stock goes down the tube pretty fast:

Source: Yahoo Finance discussion board for MTN stock ticker

“4055 Coyote Fork: Terrible Condo unit”

I stayed at 4055 Coyote Fork condo unit and the unit is terrible. carpet and couch is very dirty. coffee maker is broken, bathroom ceiling is pealing, bedroom tv is so little like the size of the laptop. I stayed at Northstar resort in the past but, didn’t experience this horrible experience before. this is the worst unit I stayed at Northstar resort.

Sally via booking.com

The Village At Northstar – Avoid

No early check in and service at front desk sucks. Did nothing to help us get into our room 20 minutes early even though it was obviously already cleaned. Front desk did absolutely nothing, just made my family waste their time sitting in our vehicle until precisely 4pm. After paying a considerable premium, I’m less likely to come back here after such poor service. Thanks for making my 6 month old wait in the car when they could have just been in the condo.

Nicholas Young

“overall the place did not live up to how much it charged”

When we checked in at our room, the smoke detector was beeping loudly due to low battery. You could hear it from outside the door. So we asked the front desk if they could change it. They said the maintenance guy just left and we needed to wait till next morning. We were a bit shocked that 1) there was already no emergency maintenance at 8pm; 2) they would suggest us to just wait a whole night in a room where it was impossible to sleep or even rest. So I told the front desk staff that we couldn’t stay there with this constant sharp beeping. Then she offered us ear plugs… hmm thank you but no. We politely demanded a better solution. Finally they switched us to another room, which was great and appreciated (and that’s why this is not a 1 star review). But why this was not the initial solution?

A few other notes. The balcony door in the new room couldn’t lock. The AC was quite ineffective. The room was 65F when we went in. We set the temperature to 72F. Three hours later it was 67F.

The environment was nice. Room was spacious. Location was convenient. But overall the place did not live up to how much it charged (400+$ per night for us). There are many Airbnb options nearby and quite a few hotels in Truckee less than 10miles away from the ski area. So I don’t recommend this place.

Siyu H

“This is NOT a 4 star property .. What a rip off”

THIS IS NOT A 4 star PROPERTY. You have been warned, do not get scammed. A 4 star property should have bell available (not bell service), room service, laundry service, housekeeping without a fee, decent attitude, responsive reservation staff, etc — this property has NONE of the above. You will receive better service if you stayed at Best Western or better attitude at even a 2-star property! To top that off they scam you into not reading the fine lines and you cannot, for the first time in my life, even upgrade your reservation by paying the difference! They also have very dated appliance and their room DID NOT look like the picture advertised and I suspect the room size is much smaller than the advertised 400sqft, and nor is the bed a real King. Their kitchen in the studio is so small they kept the utensil and the KNIVES in an unlocked, GROUND LEVEL cabinet so BEWARE if you have kids. I will NEVER come back here again and nor will any of my family and friends if I can help it. What a rip off.

Claire L

“So bad…ridiculous delays in getting the room”

We were told at 10am, that they were only promising 4pm. At 3:30, they had no idea. At 4:00pm, they said 20 minutes. At 4:30, we called and got no answer. So, $800 per night gets you nothing…terrible.

Daron E

“buyer beware-not worth the headache!”

Booked a trip for my 35th birthday. Front check-in girl was rude, acted like I was inconvienicing her by being their early. They gave us a key to the gym/pool/garage which didn’t work and had to go back and get reprogrammed, and she seemed more irritated like that was my fault. The room was nice and clean. We made breakfast in the kitchenette and put all the dishes In the dishwasher which immediately leaked all over the place saturating the kitchenette floor, so good thing there were lots of towels.
We had a decent time skiing, crowded as usual at northstar.
When we went to check out our folio change was $1,760 compared to the $1,160 reservation we had. When I questioned the front desk person ( a different yet still unhelpful person) told me I had to take it up with reservations, and she gave us their number. Called reservations and they tell me to take it up with the front desk. After 4 phone calls to people you can barley understand im still out $600, and this has pretty much ruined all the fun we had for the weekend. Hopefully my credit card company can sort it out.

The property is decently nice but buyer beware-not worth the headache!

bigislandracing

Avoid Ski Trail condos – overpriced junk rented from trailer trash owners

First warning is to look at the pictures very carefully. What you will see is a small dark condo that has not been updated since probably the 50’s including the furniture and beds which were very shoddy and uncomfortable. The second warning is some of the furniture you see is simply not there – the futon that is supposed to be in the loft is actually in the living room instead of the comfy couch you see. It does seem that an appliance and electrical upgrade took place in the 90’s, leaving a huge fire hazard where the all the electronics are plugged in and a cable remote that should be in a museum. The condo is very dark drab and stuffy; the only thing that saved us was a huge noisy fan that we had to carry from room to room. As previously mentioned, the bedding and most of the kitchen utensils looked like they were bought at a thrift store about the same time as the 90’s upgrades.

We did get a laugh when we saw a sign to remove our shoes before stepping on some really old and dirty carpet. We did comply but kept our socks on to avoid catching anything. While I’m at it there were multiple lights that didn’t work, trying to turn off the shower is a horrifying experience – we kept expecting the faucet to break each time we yanked it with all our might. Sleeping on the futon in the living room was a nightmare given there wasn’t complete bedding for it and all the light and noise ion that area.

There were a couple of good things I must say. Location was about a 15 minute walk of the village, check-in and check out was quick and efficient and there was lots of parking given it was in the summer. Sadly, that’s all the good I could come up with. In conclusion, we now realize we could have stayed in a much nicer place for a lot less then we ended up paying for this outdated, shoddy dump.

Terese E. via Vacasa

Ski Trails Condominium Association (which is a part of Northstar Property Owners Association) is run by Camco Truckee management company.

I’ve been at Northstar for 28 years ……my mom lives here 3 Months in the summer as well . She has more patience with these people . My realtor and I not so much . Seems like they could be eliminated all together the resort could save some $ and so could the home owners

Megan A. via Yelp

If i could give negative stars I would.  I have owned several properties nationwide that have been managed by HOAs.  In the pas,t I thought I experienced poor service from some of the HOAs I’ve done business with.  Compared to Camco, they were stellar!  I have had a simple home repair work order out since June ( it is now October).  My first request for repair was not responded to.  After several further requests, they finally responded and stated they needed to get Board approval.  We are talking about a small piece of broken siding, something any repairman could fix in less than an hour.  After a month Camco responded the Board denied the work order.  I then sent Camco the HOAs CC&R where it clearly states they are responsible for fixing the damage.  After several more emails and threats they finally agreed to fix the damage in August.  It is now October and to date, the damage has not been addressed.  I have never experienced such horrible service.  I caution any board member of a community save their community members the aggravation and  avoid this property management firm!

Magda T. via Yelp

No wonder Ski Trail condos look and feel like a trailer park in and out. IMO, the majority of Ski Trail condos owners look like trailer trash themselves. Rude, arrogant trailer trash. Avoid.

Former Northstar employee (Ski Coach): “Run Screaming Into The Night”

The majority of the management, both senior and mid level, had nothing but the companies bottom dollar in interest. From the CEO/COO down to ski team management. I was told by a ski team manager that coaches “should not let their athletes progress too fast because then the parents would realize they needed better coaches and a better mountain”, and that the goal was to keep them long enough to buy a house at northstar and lock them into the vail ecosystem. This same director drove away an alarming number of coaches, predominantly female. There’s no room for misogyny in the ski industry any more. Although apparently Vail/Northstar doesn’t feel the same. The bottom line 100% financially based decision making was an utter disappointment for someone who has put decades into the ski industry. The lack of livable pay or easily accessible and quality benefits for seasonal employees is pathetic. You can’t survive in a ski town with what they pay, and they expect you to dedicate more time than you’re paid for.

Advice to Management: Just give up. Quit. Stop trying.

Former Northstar employee (Ski Coach)

Source: Glassdoor.com

5 things to know before you go to Northstar ski resort

  • Low elevation results in warmer and icier conditions, so even though they groom a lot, there are often patches of ice that catch you.  It can be really bad, which is why we gave it a relatively low rating of 3 after this happened to us multiple times.
  • Limited vertical
  • Northstar is the most popular Tahoe resort for hordes of Bay Area weekend skiers, so crowds are always an issue when conditions are good.
  • The parking lot situation is bad because the close-in lots fill up fast and then you have to park in the lots out by highway 267 and take a fairly long bus ride into the village.
  • Even if you get the closer-in parking, it’s a long walk through the village until you get to the gondola, which you still have to take before getting to the real skiing terrain.  It’s a long process.

Source: skinorthamerica100.com

Don’t let the Northstar Resort name lure you

Don’t let the Northstar Resort name lure you. The late check-in was a hassle since there is no one onsite after hours. They did not send check-in instructions because they claim they do not receive email addresses when clients books through Expedia, so we were left trying to figure it out on our own. We had to track down a security for the entry code to the condo. The condo was not clean, the floor in the kitchen was sticky, like someone had spilled soda all over. We had to wear shoes in the condo because the floors were so dirty. The bed is a Murphy bed, which is not disclosed in the property description. It was surprisingly comfortable and the sheets were clean. The shower curtain was stained and the water pressure was barely enough to rinse shampoo from your hair. This condo is hugely overpriced for what you get, I won’t book here again.

Christina via Expedia.com

“was not exactly at the resort as pictured”

It was not clear that our reservation was not exactly at the resort as pictured. We were at Timber creek lodge which is at the back of the resort. It’s very dated and dirty carpet in the hall and the unit. The unit bathroom is tiny.

Sharon

“Very dirty”

Very dirty, no clean towels, most restaurants are closed and the one that we ate at was horrible and very expensive. Will never stay here again. Water in shower was brown, carpet in room was disgusting. Also if you are not an owner you have to pay for all amenities per person. To use the swimming pool area was $8 a person and $2 a towel. Rooms are very small and beds are very uncomfortable. For the price not worth it!

Maria

“not up to even low standards”

I thought the unit we originally stayed in was extremely sub par. Dirty, dated, not clean, not up to even low standards. We were then moved to another unit which was somewhat better, but still maybe 2 stars. I would’ve thought u had higher standards and would require owners to meet those standards.

Michael

“poor”

Check in was about 1 mile away from rooms. Limited underground parking because of ownership parking slots. Very few rental spots. The air conditioning was so loud we only used it when it was too hot not to. Could not use it at night and just opened windows. Had to use a fan in the other room, air conditioning not working well enough. Very small rooms.

Richard

“hotel from hell”

Hotel from hell. The northstar resort totally lied about the unit we booked. i told them steps were an issue and they told me only small number. when we got there , i counted there were 40 steps to the unit , my wife has bad knees and impossible to climb . i checked the unit and it had a murphy bed we were told a queen be. the mattress felt like it came from a homeless shelter . and the unit was no where near the town as the pictures indicated. it was so bad we could not stay and had to leave that night for other accomadations

Gary

Source: Expedia.com