BUYER BEWARE: FAULTY EQUIPMENT AND DUBIOUS CHARGES
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THE GOOD:
Great location, great trails, friendly employees (excluding the manager). Lots of fun.
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THE BAD:
We reserved 850cc sleds online, but they didn't actually reserve what we had paid for, so we got 600cc sleds. They corrected the charge.
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THE REALLY BAD:
After the clutch went out on one sled (stranding the tail-end member of our party 6 miles from the lodge), we were charged an $80 late fee to "pay for the overtime" of the staff who needed to stay late to:
1) rescue the member of our party
2) retrieve and tow back the stranded sled
One employee had noted that this was the second occurrence of this same issue with that particular Ski-Doo model.
The manager's argument to us of "you should have stayed together" certainly bears wisdom--he's not wrong there. Yet: the clutch still would have gone out. Even if the tail-ender of our group had doubled up with one of us and arrived back at the lodge on time (which the rest of us had done), an employee still would have had to retrieve their very expensive sled, and the overtime would still have to be paid. Flat-out blaming us with fault and then slapping us with the charge stunned me.
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THE UNETHICAL:
They're running a business--I get it. And yes, we signed waivers that outlines risks, including equipment failure. But the following is what is truly disappointing.
While the employee was searching for the member of our party (who had hiked back ~2.5 mi before being located), the manager called his wife and in exasperated and passive-aggressive tones loudly complained to her about a missing customer. Was he actually trying to signal his frustrations to *me* rather than simply giving information to his wife? The volume of his voice while standing 8 feet from me has me concluding the former, and I was speechless.
It is disappointing when events at home need to be missed in emergency situations; I have had to miss a few of my children's events in my day. But when we don't know if a person could be injured or dead, the scoffing conversation was tone-deaf and wholly inappropriate. Notifying loved ones of a change in plans or times is responsible and caring, but after witnessing the disheartening phone call, I really shouldn't have been surprised at the $80 fee.
All of this communicates to me that:
1) it was an inconvenience to him that my friend was lost, status unknown (at time of phone call);
2) he values equipment over people;
3) he values $ (overtime) over people;
4) charging us for the overtime was more an emotional/personal response than a business decision.
In reviewing some of the other low-star online reviews, the manager seems to be the common thread.
As a chronic recipient of them, I am a firm believer in second chances (and third, and fourth...). I believe that organic change and improvement are of infinite more value than apologies. I really hope that it was just a "bad day" for this manager--we're all entitled to them. But this is how the events of one hour at the end of an otherwise really fun day were experienced by me.
I suppose that this review may cost the Beaver Creek Lodge more than $80 in revenue. Then again, it may not. read more