Crystal ski

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! )

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.

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!

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 €569 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.

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.

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:

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

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.