Crystal ski

Never had the need for a rep. :wink:

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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?

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?