Imagine you receive a phone call 10 days before your holiday to inform you your chalet has had a fire and is unusable. The Operator boasts 28 chalets, but can’t offer your group of 18 any alternative places, BUT, you are told, you can still use the flights and transfers you have booked, ‘free’, AND you are given the number of a 3rd party agent for YOU to contact, who may have somewhere for you. She does have an equivalent, or better chalet, with spillover rooms nearbye, but at a cost of £150 -£200 more than you paid. Imagine you then have to spend much of your working day contacting the other 17 people,  to let them know and see if they can afford it.  Imagine also that you booked as a group back in October, in the same chalets as last year, and have used this company before.  You speak to a director asking if they would consider giving your party ski passes to cover the difference? NO. ‘Force Majeure’, just the refund. 14 of us are going, 4 aren’t. With the refund cheque was a letter apologising for the inconvenience, and ‘hoping this will not deter you from booking with ‘LE SKI’ again.’ What do you think?

Bill,
 
First of all thanks for the tip about not using LeSki. Their customer service and care appears appalling. Does the ‘free’ bit means that they are going to refund the full price of the holiday but still fly you there and transfer you to the resort.
 
Secondly where are you planning to go? We found a good chalet in the Chalet Planton in Tignes, which basically rents out good quality self catering apartments, but also allows you to purchase an evening meal and breakfast package that execceds most UK chalet operators for 25 euro per day. I am certain other similar packages can be found at other resorts.
 
Also cost out booking self catering apartments (there are still lots around) and add about 25-30 euros per day for using the menu in a local restraurant.
 
Good luck.
 
John

Hi guys
 
Since we’re getting on to potentially damaging territory here, I’d like to make a couple of things clear.
 
John is a very welcome contributor to our forum. He is probably the most active member of the forum - so thanks for that, John - but his frequent appearance may give the impression that he is part of the WTSS team, and I should make it clear that he is not.
 
We are planning to have a little "status" field added to the forum to make these things clear, but it’s not ready yet.
 
My knowledge of this matter is limited to what BillT has posted. As John’s question suggests,  the details aren’t crystal-clear, so it seems a bit premature to conclude that Le Ski’s customer service is "appalling". I’ll be interested to hear the company’s side of the matter, and will get in touch with them.
 
Chris Gill
Editor, Where to Ski and Snowboard

I am definitely not one of the team, just an ordinary punter who likes to go skiing. I contribute to the forum because that is what I think it is, a forum.
 
It is not a place for scurrilous attacks or libels or anything like that and I would not like to give that impression and certainly not encourage it.
 
My reply to Bill?s posting was carefully worded. From his description of the events it ?appears? that the customer care and service left a lot to be desired. Please note the use of the word ?appears? it means what it says.
 
The main point of my posting was, however, to try and offer advice on solving his predicament. This was to use what LeSki had offered and then contact the resorts to find good quality self catering accommodation combined with a restaurant package and hence recover his holiday plans.
 

Perhaps I’d better come back here; I know John isn’t a member of the wtss staff. Le Ski’s resort staff were excellent last year,  one of the reasons we booked again. The staff in the booking office were very helpful too, but my point in this posting is that you don’t really know , until it happens, how you will be treated when a crisis occurs. Le Ski will rightly point out that their priorities were with the guests in the chalets at the time of the fire, and making sure they were safe. Those guests may well wish to post a completely different view on the forum.

Thanks John, Bill.
 
All understood. I am in touch with Le Ski.
 
Chris

Bill, John and onlookers
 
I have discussed this matter with Nick Morgan of Le Ski, who you will understand is busy right now organising a major insurance claim and the rebuilding of two chalets.
 
What seems to have gone slightly adrift here is the company’s presentation of the arrangements it made. Le Ski took the view that the best way to sort out new accommodation for the clients booked in to the affected chalets in March and April was to arrange for a locally based agent to establish what was available and to discuss the options with the clients. Not an unreasonable decision, but it was apparently not conveyed to BillT in a very positive way. Perhaps getting the agent to make the calls would have helped.
 
I understand the answer to the question posed by John in his initial posting, and not answered by BillT, is Yes - the flights and transfers offered are in addition to Le Ski’s full refund. So it is a bit unfair to describe them as ‘free’, Bill; they are actually free.
 
I hope this clarifies things a bit, particularly for spectators.
 
This forum topic has raised a question we at WTSS have not had to confront before, which is whether we want the forum to be used for the airing of grievances about commercial matters of this kind. I suspect that when we review the costs and risks involved, we will conclude that we don’t.
 
At which point, this correspondence is closed.
 
Chris Gill
Editor, Where to Ski and Snowboard