Tag: VailEpicFail

Senior Account Manager Interview at Vail Resorts

Typical process. Recruiter phone screen, multiple video interviews. Overall it was simple, but there was a lack of communication and interviewers were disorganized during the interview. My experience was poor because they interviewed me in the second round of interviews when they already decided they were going to hire someone internally.

Anonymous (via Glassdoor)

Human Resources Interview at Vail Resorts

I was directly sourced via LinkedIn and was quickly scheduled for interviews. I met with the recruiter, hiring manager, and an internal HRBP (“peer”). They were highly responsive and moved quickly to schedule me for my next round after next round all within the same week.

I was communicating directly with the hiring manager who was making herself available and checking in with me regularly – all good signs of interest to go out of her way. I was told I would have one more conversation, and after following up a few times, received no reply.

After several days of silence, I received an automated decline email from the recruiter/ATS. After following up directly both with the recruiter and hiring manager for additional context, I still received no reply.

Auto-declines are used often and acceptable through most of the process – but not with late-stage applicants you’re seriously considering. Overall, a very disappointing candidate experience – then again, candidate experience is incredibly reflective of a company’s values and culture..

Anonymous (via Glassdoor)

Vail Resorts company reviews – Part-II

Put your head down and get through it I guess.

Surrounded by idiots 24/7 40+ hrs/week.

Assistant Manager in Keystone, CO (via Glassdoor)

Beyond poor.

Covid precautions are terrible and posed a threat to the community. They refused to pay me for my time in quarantine, due to some bushel miscommunication.

Warehouse Worker (via Glassdoor)

Do not recommend.

Very political culture with overall lack of accountability and micro management.

Director Marketing in Denver, CO (via Glassdoor)

Manager puts drivers at risk.

Unsafe vehicles, drivers forced into overtime, management fails to protect drivers, angry guests wearing masks.

Advice to Management:

None, after 17 years, I realized bad management is Vail Resorts policy, profits over people.

Route Driver in Beaver Creek, CO (via Glassdoor)

Lack of diversity.

Especially in leadership and they don’t care to make a change. No upward mobility – just machines. You can make more money at Taco Bell in Denver.

Talent Acquisition Specialist in Broomfield, CO (via Glassdoor)

I applied online. I interviewed at Vail Resorts (Denver, CO) in Nov 2021.

I was really excited to interview with Vail but after this interview process, am very disappointed with the level of professionalism and mutual respect shown in the recruiting process.

Anonymous (via Glassdoor)

Wall Street taking notice of Vail Resorts’ issues

Since early November, Vail Resorts’ stock (MTN) has not been a great performer in the larger travel and leisure universe.

While the stock market is up nearly 10% since October, Vail Resorts’ stock is down 15%, meaning the stock is underperforming by close to 25 percentage points.

The problem looks to be unique to Vail Resorts in the travel and leisure sector as other big travel stocks appear to be doing fine. Carnival Cruise Lines was $23.01 on Nov. 1, and on Friday it was $21.90. Marriott Hotels is basically flat in that time, and Hilton, like the market overall, is up slightly during that time. Six Flags parks are up slightly in that time, as well.

Source: VailDaily

“Kirsten Lynch is a garbage CEO. Vail is a scam. MTN Stock is going down fast.”

Vail sold thousands of Epic Local passes good at Stevens Pass in Washington. They weren’t willing to pay market wages, so couldn’t hire enough staff to open the mountain. During peak ski season between Christmas and New Year’s, they opened less than 40% of the ski area because of staffing shortages. They are stealing from people who paid in advance for season passes.

John Bravenec via Facebook

Moving on to season pass results, Lynch said, “Pass product sales for the North American ski season increased approximately 47% in units and approximately 21% in sales dollars through December 5, 2021 as compared to the period in the prior year through December 6, 2020

Net loss attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. was $139.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to a net loss attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. of $153.8 million in the same period in the prior year. Both periods continued to be negatively impacted by COVID-19 and related limitations and restrictions.

Resort Reported EBITDA loss was $108.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, compared to a Resort Reported EBITDA loss of $94.8 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

Vail’s Fiscal Report 2022

Disgusted with the way I was treated. They owe me 2 season passes. Vail is a scum company. Can not believe they can operate in the US.

Dean Cloninger via Facebook

Vail’s treatment of its customers is the worst I have ever encountered. It is only that I love Whistler mountain that I continue to pay several thousand dollars for passes. It is unnerving that Vail cares so little.

Jako Krushnisky via Facebook

“Vail Resorts creates an artificial problem.”

This is obviously part of a corporate growth plan. Brilliant actually….create an artificial problem….then implement a solution that increases revenue. Customers don’t even realize they got had.

Step 1 – Discount season pass prices to encourage more people to buy passes

Step 2 – Create an artificial staff shortage to make it extra miserable for everyone

Step 3 – Implement a reservation system that limits how many season pass holders can visit each resort on any particular day. Create a new class of pass that gets priority reservations for $250 premium.

Step 4 – Increase the limit on season pass sales the following year since 20% of pass holders won’t be able to use their passes on peak holiday dates.

Step 5 – Rake in the cash.

Forkboy2 (via Reddit)

“Beware – Vail Resorts is NOT a leadership company”

Senior leadership (Kirsten, Michael, Rob) are extreme micromanagers who do not tolerate dissent or welcome alternative points of view from those below them. They demand that they make all meaningful decisions for the company – and the only people allowed in the room with them are their VPs. As a Director in the corporate office, this was incredible disempowering because it meant that I had no real ownership. Vail describes itself as “the greatest leadership company on earth” – this is laughable. There is no empowerment to make decisions, no respect for work life balance (at one point the CMO literally asked if we could stop taking Thanksgiving as a company holiday, regularly demands people work on Christmas / New Years, etc.), and effectively zero career progression opportunities at the Director level and above unless your only focus is on pleasing those above you.

I really, really wanted to like this company. I loved my co-workers. It broke my heart to see it so thoroughly ruined by senior leadership. There is a reason there is SUPER high turnover (which has been the case for years, by the way). When I joined, the average tenure of my coworkers was less than a year. When I left several years later, the average tenure of my coworkers was less than a year. People come here thinking it will be great (who doesn’t want to work in the ski industry?), realize the reality of the situation, and then leave. I ignored the Glassdoor reviews when I took my job there and I regret doing so.

Advice to Management:

Honestly, with Kirsten about to become the new CEO, I would not recommend anyone work at Vail’s corporate office. She surrounds herself with people who reinforce her own viewpoints and systematically weeds out anyone who disagrees with her. She talks in public about the importance of sustainability and then literally hours later, in private meetings, creates crushing workloads for the teams under her – I have seen this happen on many, many occasions. These are hallmarks of terrible leadership and a toxic workplace culture.

Director in Broomfield, CO (via Glassdoor)

“Vail Resorts has contributed more to the destruction of our ski communities and our sport than they have created value”

As Stevens Pass skiers, snowboarders and customers who purchased Vail Resorts “Epic Pass,” we are disgusted with the mismanagement of the ski area, the failure to treat employees well, or pay them a livable wage, and the failure to deliver the product we all paid for and bought with hard-earned money during a pandemic.

Jeremy Rubingh (via TownLift)

Vail: “Unethical company making astronomical profits with slave labor”

You’re slave labor. They give you a free ski pass, but you can go work for Walmart or McDonald and make significantly more and pay for your own ski pass within a month earning the higher wages. They treat you like slave labor and you have zero room for growth, even if you save every penny you can’t afford to have a family or buy real estate. I worked for private clubs and saw Rob Katz a good amount and it was always hard to stomach after working there 5 years and earning 3 promotions that I was still only making $16/hour while him and his Wall Street buddy’s were making millions exploiting the land and their employees. I also had to get multiple surgeries after the ski season and racked up considerable medical debt. Left the company in 2020 and got a job immediately which paid me more in the first year than 7 at VR. I just went back for a wedding to find that my friends in upper management roles couldn’t even get a 5% raise when inflation is 6.3% and they’re paying new employees $16-$20/hr. That’s great for them, but the only reason VR is willing to do that is bc they won’t have workers otherwise with rising rent prices and a huge shortage of rentals due to landlords selling their properties to cash in. This company needs to have media attention like Walmart and Amazon for mistreatment of employees, but they pay millions a bear so that’s never heard of. I made a comment on a Forbes article bashing Walmart and Amazon and said they should take a look at VR and got called into my managers office the next day. They’re a shameful and greedy company that doesn’t care about you or the environment.

Advice to Management:

Hire executives from the ski resort, not Wall Street people like Rob Katz or the new CEO from Kraft Foods. Not like Kraft foods hasn’t been poisoning the country for decades lol. I’d also give this company and the CEO negative rating if I could. They’re ruining entire communities, ski towns and the environment.

Anonymous Employee (via Glassdoor)