Lift Op customer service debacle at WF

ScottyJack wrote

I was quite irked by the repeated sarcasm of the freeheelin dude...  I apologize to all but him.

You were irked because someone might have come to the conclusion (based on two posts by Whiteface Skiers) that WF conditions might not have been optimal? (GASP! IMPOSSIBLE!!!)

Dude I was away for the week but saw pictures.  If you were at whiteface and did not think conditions were great you need to find someone that you can ski with.   The hill is not that big but for some reason people just can't figure it out.  

DARKSIDED wrote

ScottyJack wrote

I was quite irked by the repeated sarcasm of the freeheelin dude...  I apologize to all but him.

You were irked because someone might have come to the conclusion (based on two posts by Whiteface Skiers) that WF conditions might not have been optimal? (GASP! IMPOSSIBLE!!!)

NOTHING in this thread is about conditions.....just so ya know, geez

Long time lurker, first time poster...hi all.  Seems if you want world class customer service at a world class resort the govt should not be involved.  What would Vail or Deer Valley be like if the state owned them.  Some of you may say it would better, but I would say far worse with fewer runs and fewer modern lifts.  If the winds are an issue that is totally fine, but tell people.  But seriously why is a govt involved in a ski resort as the owner.  Or hire a management firm...to run the place.

IMO, ski "conditions" includes wind and/or lift closures since both affect the overall ski experience. Regardless, lets not argue semantics & bore everyone to death.

AS could have brought up this very same issue time and time again with WF, it's classic. I've pretty much given up trying to get to WF on a storm day. Many times you get there early and nothing is spinning and you hear many different reasons(excuses) like wind(understandable), employees couldn't make it because of the storm(though a thousand skiers managed),mechanical lift problem(again), dog ate my homework, or the latest, you need a Beacon in case you get lost and we have to find you. I guess I have a love/hate relationship with the place. On a good day no other place can touch it but on days when it should be great many other places will outshine it by a long way. Lets hope we get some good spring skiing in and a few mid week storms without much wind for us locals. I can dream can't I?

Or you could skin.  Some of my best runs @ WF were when the lifts weren't running.  I'm excitted when nothing but racer chair is going!  More for me!!  

Yardsale wrote

Long time lurker, first time poster...hi all.  Seems if you want world class customer service at a world class resort the govt should not be involved.  What would Vail or Deer Valley be like if the state owned them.

they be ski mountains and not fancy pants resorts!  

vail and deer valley!  HAHAHAHAHAHA  

So you are saying you would rather have the mountain of WF instead of the mountain and terrain of those resorts?  If you say yes that is just silly to be polite.

DARKSIDED wrote

IMO, ski "conditions" includes wind and/or lift closures since both affect the overall ski experience. Regardless, lets not argue semantics & bore everyone to death.

Interesting, I'd never consider closed lifts to be part of conditions....that's just me. Who's arguing???

only saying that i hadnt heard about lift closures at other mountains that limited skiers access to terrain resulting in disgruntled customers.seems fairly common at wf

freeheeln wrote

only saying that i hadnt heard about lift closures at other mountains that limited skiers access to terrain resulting in disgruntled customers.seems fairly common at wf

Not that this nonsense deserves a reply, but ...

"Wind is also one of the biggest concerns for ski resorts making the decision to run them. It’s not uncommon for many upper elevation lifts to be put on “wind hold.”"

http://blog.ctnews.com/snowzone/2010/12/29/chair-lift-accident-raises-concerns/

Interestingly enough, if you scroll to the end of the above reference article, you will find the now famous picture of the poor gentlemen who received exemplary customer service at Vail Resort. The lift operator, while providing great customer service, failed to notice that the chair seat was in the upright position, similar to what happened to me and my son at Whiteface. I wonder how much he had to pay to be hung upside down, pantless at Vail?

My fiance and our daughter got knocked down by a chair at West that was defective and the liftie didn't realize they shouldn't have been in the que until it was too late.  Other than a bruised swollen hand they are okay.  Accidents happen.  Inattention, lack of training or lack of information though are inexcusable.  

In another case I spent well over an hour last April at WF waiting for Face Lift to be opened (the gondola supposedly wasn't going to run due to scheduled repairs).  During this time we got one different story after another.  Honestly it was pretty sad the way it was handled.  There was a mix of season pass holders and people just looking to extend the season by a last minute trip to the mountain.  What was consistent though was the disappointment and the anger over the lack of information/communication from the staff at Whiteface.  Most people did not take it out on the lifties but there was a general concensous that the management/supervisors could have done a better job communicating with us as to what we could expect.  We were told to go get a hot chocolate and come back later...later was defined as about an hour (and that was not long enough as an hour later we were still wondering what was going on).  Suddenly, miraculously the gondola started running.  For what it's worth I think that it was in hopes of avoiding a mutiny!  

I worked in customer/technical service for years.  The fact is that information and the truth goes a very long way.  Jerking off people, lying and/or not knowing what is going on does nothing more than piss off the customer.  An angry customer will tell many more family and friends than a happy one will (many studies have proven this).  I like many love Gore and WF and I want to see them succeed.  Why is it so hard for them to grasp basic proven business practices when it comes to customer service?

When the Little Whiteface double opened on Saturday, our guests had a great time skiing Mac, Wilderness, etc.  On Sunday, we only skied until 1, we covered a lot more territory and they really enjoyed the rest of WF, Skyward, Wilmington...

so if you were bringing your family skiing last weekend spending $500 -$1000 wf was the best choice?every mt has its days when it is not the the place to be . im not doubting conditions im just doubting the fun factor.

I believe the heart of this conversation is communication and/or the lack of it.  We live in the information age and people are used to instant gratification.  Obviously this is not always possible but I am sure that WF and any other mountain guilty of this sort of thing can do better.  I volunteered at Hickory last winter.  We ALL had radios and knew instantly what was going on.  That doesn't mean that everything should be public knowledge but the info was there and it would have been easy enough to relay the important facts.  

This all becomes all the more important during these trying economic times.  Not everyone is well to do or has the means to just throw money around.  My family and I have to account for every dime and we want to get our money's worth.  We obviously understand wind holds, mechanical problems, etc.  BUT we also expect an explanation when these things occur and if under extreme circumstances we'd like to see some sort of give back from the mountain, but again that's not what this conversation is about, it's about communication and information, two things that WF and no other mountain has an excuse not to be able to provide.  In the end if they can't provide it we will seek out places that can.

It seems like everyone has now grasped the real issue that i was getting at with this thread - communication.  I tried to use what I thought was a funny analogy with the airlines and maybe that wasn't as funny as i thought it was based on my sarcastic sense of humor.

When i think back on it now what i didn't see was a swarm of ops folks trying to get lift G (or it it H i get easily confused by the letters sometimes but I'm talking about the lift on the left of Mt Run) going  like you would usually see when a lift was broke - not sure why but communication would have helped as I pointed out.

As many of you have mentioned I also love Whiteface and want it to be world class as it deserves to be based on its terrain, history and its great skiers.  When its not that way I'm upset and hope that someone reading this forum has the power to make it so.  Communication does not make the mountain better - its makes the customer experience better and for any business that is what it all should be about.

Snowhunter wrote

 Jerking off people, lying......

Do you mean like this......

ScottyJack wrote

 I was quite irked by the repeated sarcasm of the freeheelin dude...

When SJ wrote that, freeheelin had only posted once. So, the above statement was a deliberate lie to jerk off freeheelin.

Way to stroke it SJ! Demonstrates truth and reality mean nothing to you.

What did we learn?  Face and some of it's posters here have no consideration or respect for others.

Ya know, complete azzclowns.

Camp, your homies have returned.