I'm planning on buying a season pass this year but am a little hesitant because a friend last year missed a lot of ski days due to unfortunate weather. Do you have any compensation for lost ski days or some type of pass refund policy?

For this edition of Mountain Spy, our 007 Liz Eren quierd areas in regions where the weather was less than cooperative last year to see what they had to say for the future.

Vermont, Medium Area

Answering Phone: Lovely woman

SAM:Stated question

Staff: I think what they did last year was that they extended something with the passes... let me just connect you through to over there. (Took a connection to "over there.")

SAM: I'm going to connect you to Joe Riviera who oversees that department and who can help you. Just one second. (Listened to the resort's "incredible, soothing spa" package. Sounded pretty soothing actually.)

First Contact:Young male, laid back and super friendly.

Staff: Hi this is Joe, how can I help you?

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Well, um have you ever purchased a pass with us before?

SAM: No I haven't.

Staff:OK, well the way they work, you take a gamble like anything else. Some years we have really good snow and some years we don't. Last year turned out pretty well because of all the late snow we got. We don't offer any guarantees and the way that it works is that the best pricing is during September so it's really a gamble again. It depends on if you want to take the chance, that's the cut and dry of it. I mean if a person gets injured we certainly compensate for that and roll the pass over to next season.

SAM: You mentioned before about injury compensation, but is there any type of pass insurance I can purchase?

Staff: No, well I mean all we offer, we offer a pass protection program only if you lose your pass.

SAM: So there's nothing you can do about weather for me?

Staff:Yeah I mean it's a gamble but it does pay off because we always get some form of good skiing at some point in the season. Even if we make it all season, there's always a time of decent conditions.

SAM: True, something to keep in mind I guess.

Staff: It's just that, ya know, most places can't make that promise either, so I mean yeah.

Rating: 8

Comment: Final verdict: it's all a gamble apparently. The customer service was great though-polite, patient and honest. Big points.

California, large area

First Contact: Female. Very friendly and patient

SAM: Stated Question

SAM: Um, actually I thought last season was a good cross-country season because we didn't have a lot of snow. But the answer is no, because we wouldn't survive if we always offered refunds. If you don't want a season pass you could pay for a 10-pack, which is much cheaper obviously, but still a good package. That way you don't have to fully commit to a season pass if you're unsure of the weather.

SAM: Well, yeah, that is another option. But what about maybe some sort of pass insurance, like trip insurance?

Staff: No, we just don't take the chance with that on weather conditions. I mean you take the good with the bad and we just can't take the chance. It can always go either way you know? The season pass cut off date it coming up and I can post the form to you if you'd like and you can send it back to get the discount. At the moment the X pass is $XXX and a midweek pass is $XXX and the 10-pack is $XXX. So you've got a few choices there and if you don't like any of them you can buy a pre-pack of tickets ahead of time, too.

SAM: Well thanks, those are good options to consider. No worries about posting it to me, can I check it out on your website?

Staff: Oh yeah, of course, it's xxx.com. It's really simple and easy.

SAM: Thanks.

Rating: 8

Comment: Very nice and sympathized with my concern. Even gave me the low down on other pass options if I didn't want to fork over the full season pass cost.

Massachusetts, Medium Area

Answering Phone: Automated girl, chose "season pass option" from perky girl.

First Contact: Not so perky girl

SAM:Stated question

Staff: Hmm, no. We do not. I mean if something were to happen as in like something medical, like surgery or something like that, we'd take that into consideration, but not the weather. That's something that's completely out of our control obviously, so we can't compensate for it.

SAM: But what about the lost ski days that were technically paid for, but were a wash out because of the weather? I know you can't control that, but if they start to add up I'd be worried I wasn't getting my money's worth. You don't provide anything for that?

Staff: No, and we were actually open by mid December this year, which is close to average so I mean, like... (silencelike...what's up?)

SAM: So you don't offer any kind of pass insurance?

Staff: Uh, no. No we do not.

SAM: OK then, guess I'll hope for a lot of snow then.

Staff: Guess so then.

Rating: 4

Comment: She at least answered the phone nicely, but she could've at least said "no" with some oomph.

New Hampshire, Medium Area

Answering Phone: Automated machine. Chose "mountain info."

First Contact: Young female. Extremely nice, made for customer service.

SAM:Stated question

Staff: No we don't because to say that they lost a lot of days skiing is hard because we make 100 percent of our snow cover.

SAM: Well, that's true, but what about if the weather doesn't cooperate and you can't make snow until a little later. What about those lost ski days? Is there any plan in place to make that up to the customer?

Staff: Right, I understand what you're saying, but unfortunately we don't offer anything like that.

SAM: Well I know places that offer trip insurance, what about any sort of insurance on your pass?

Staff: No, but that's a good thought. Something to think about maybe offering. How would you want it to work though?

SAM: Well, something that just protects me from throwing away money based on weather no one can control. If I could purchase a pass protection plan or insurance, then I'd have some guarantee of getting lost money back if the season didn't start until late December when it was supposed to start in late November or something. Then, even if I did get a full season's worth of skiing in, paying the insurance was my choice and now that's more profit in your pocket.

Staff: Yeah, I could see how that could work, or even roll over days, which would be hard to track and someone could lie about what they thought were lost days, so there has to be a way to organize it correctly.

SAM: Yeah, it could definitely be controlledand monitored in some way. Dates could be outlined and so on. I just figured you can buy insurance for almost anything now, why not a ski pass?

Staff: Well thanks for the input, let me run this by the big guy and I'll actually give you a call back and see what he thinks about the whole thing. What's your name?

SAM: Liz. (Whoops, forgot a fake name. Oh well.)

Staff: Great, well let me have your number and I'll give you a call back.

SAM: (Blurted out half my real number, half a fake number. Close one, though I did feel a little bad.)

Rating: 10

Comment: Amazing customer service-heard me out, complimented my ideas and said she'd even run it past the "big guy." Really makes the customer feel valued. Hiiiigh five!

Maine, Medium Area

First Contact: Female, a bit spacy

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Oh nooo, we don't have anything like that, ya know. We make a lot of snow and we were open really late this year until late March. That was the furthest ever that we've gone being open, ya know? Uhh, I mean usually we close much earlier. Sooo, ya know?

SAM: I think I know, maybe. So you don't have any sort of reimbursement policy for days lost due to things like bad weather?

Staff: As far as reimbursement goes, we don't, no we don't do that.

SAM: Well geeze, I'm not sure what to do then.

Staff: Well ya know September 30th is the festival day for a pass of $xxx. So you'd need to ski 10 times to make up for it, which you could do by March easily, ya know? Really latest ever we've been open and I've been here for 10 years, ya know?

SAM: (Ahh, touche.) Well, I've heard of trip insurance, do you offer anything like that?

Staff: No no, we don't do that either. (Long pause...)

SAM: Well, I guess I'll have to wing it then and hope for some solid weather.

Staff: He he, ya I guess you will, ya know, we'll make sure there's snow for you.

Rating: 6

Comment: Ya know?!

Vermont, large area

First Contact: Friendly woman

SAM:Stated question

Staff: Um, hold on one second...(Held for a bunch of seconds....)

Staff: OK, so you're looking for refund policy?

SAM: Well, something like that, maybe some sort of compensation for lost ski days?

Staff: I think we have that on our website, hold on. (Holding.... ) We did have an insurance policy for season passes if you lost one and we do have a refund policy on season's passes and they are, it's, well you would need to really read the terms and conditions on our site, I can't give you all the details on the phone. I'm looking on the site right now.

SAM: Off the top of your head though, do you know if there's anything for bad weather, or uncontrollable factors?

Staff: Nooo, that I'm not sure... we didn't last year. OK, if you go to xxx.com and into the winter site in the top right corner and go to tickets and passes. You'll see that it mentions the season pass insurance if you lose it, but that's only for last year. Basically it's all last year... let me grab a brochure. OK, for refunds before the season begins, you can receive it if you're moving out of the state. Once the season starts, you're only allowed a refund for medical purposes if you're unable to ski all of a sudden.

SAM: So then nothing about bad weather in there? What if I can't start skiing until late January and lose all those expected ski days?

Staff: Well, no, not last year you couldn't. I'm not sure about this year. We'll have all 07/08 season pass information up on our site around mid-August if you want to check back then.

Rating: 7.5

Comment: Stayed on the phone for a while and patiently tried to find me an answer. Even was extremely polite about not actually knowing the answer, which still goes a long way.

New Hampshire, small area

First contact: Automated machine. Chose "mountain info"

Answering phone: Young female. Cranky sounding.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: We don't, no. The only refund policy we have is if you get injured.

(silence... ) Yeaah, umm...

SAM: OK, right. So then I'm guessing you don't offer any type of insurance then?

Staff: Right, no we don't. Only for if you get injured we'll refund your pass.

SAM: What if you plan to open in early December, but the weather doesn't permit, sort of like last year, and you end up opening weeks later. Is there anything for all those pass holders that bought early and planned on skiing when you said you planned on opening?

Staff: Not to my knowledge, no. Only injury, that's about it really.

SAM:Right then, thanks.

Staff: Yup, bye.

Rating: 2

Comment: Guess injury is the only way out. Two points for not hanging up after her first response. Minus eight for everything else.

New Hampshire, medium area

First Contact: Automated machine. Chose "mountain info."

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Um, I do not have that information for season passes, you'd have to talk to someone in our ticket office. Hold on.

Answering Phone: Young male, very friendly.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: No we don't actually. For season passes there are no refunds. The only thing I can say about our resort is that we're putting X million dollars into snowmaking improvements so that part of our operations will compensate for lack of snowfall at least.

SAM: Awesome to hear, but what if it's 50 degrees in the middle of December like it was last year and regardless of your X million dollars in improvements, the weather doesn't permit you to make snow?

Staff:Yeah, ahh, I see what you're saying, we just don't guarantee anything... Our season is as long as we can make it, which is sometimes the best we can do. I'm not really sure what to say, sorry.

SAM: I'm just curious heading into this season that if you say you're opening a couple weeks after Thanksgiving, let's say, and then aren't able to start until late December, do you have anything in place for those customers with all those lost ski days, and lost money?

Staff: No I don't believe we do, and I don't think there's any resort that does. We just hope for the best and do what we can do. I mean the idea of buying a season pass is that you're able to ski the whole season, whenever you want, which is still a huge perk. Sorry I don't have a better answer, we just don't have anything like that set up. We'll just have to hope for a cold winter.

SAM: Oh I'm already praying.

Rating: 8

Comment: Good pointing out the snowmaking upgrade. He was patient and very nice, trying to give me some sort of satisfying answer. It's the effort that always counts.

Oregon, large area

First Contact: Young female, very sweet.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Well, no, because we are a ski resort, ha ha. On average most won't refund because of weather, just because it's a ski resort and weather is something we rely on almost entirely and something that we have to accept. But I mean with the weather last season there was still some really good days. It's like that every year though, where sometimes we'll get a storm that will dump tons of snow and others not so much. So if you're going to buy a pass just be sure to be aware of that. If there's some great exception and there is some sort of refund, then my boss was being really nice that day, ha ha.

SAM: Well maybe we'll catch him on a good day. I know you can buy insurance for other types of vacations and trips, what about insurance for season passes, isn't that something that could work?

Staff: Um, not really. Season passes aren't that much though here. I'm from Utah and I'm used to outrageous prices. Here the passes are $xxx, which is pretty cheap. We also have a combo pass between us and X mountain. We're a little higher in elevation so we always get snow, even if it's raining there. But then they have awesome, really diverse terrain and then you still have our huge park. So it's definitely a deal for the two mountains, you're guaranteed a full season for sure.

SAM: Thanks though for the info on your combo pass.

Staff: No problem, hope you make out here this season.

Rating: 8.8

Comment: Really friendly and easy to talk to. Props to her for turning around the situation into a positive alternative with her pass combo option.

Illinois, medium area

First Contact: Female. Sounded like she just chugged a pot of coffee. Good morning!

SAM: Stated Question

Staff: Umm, not for lost ski days because of the weather, no, ha ha ha! I mean if for some reason if you don't use it, like we have people who get into car accidents or something, not to sound tragic but, you know, it's happened, we offer them a pass for the same price next year.

SAM: You offer them another pass next season for the same price? I don't get it?

Staff: Oh no, let's just say the season starts the weekend after Thanksgiving and you bought the pass early with the discount and then let's say you break your arm and then obviously can't ski. We'll hold on to your payment until next season and give you a new pass.

SAM: Oooh OK, got it. Well, I've heard about how you can purchase trip insurance, anything for passes for similar situations?

Staff: No, no we don't. Ha ha ha, sorry. (Now I'm starting to laugh, even though I don't know what the joke is?!)

SAM: Well I guess I'll have to take a chance.

Staff: Yeah, I mean I'm not sure what your friend said because we opened in mid December and never closed all season. Plus, let's say that, on average, the pass is around $xxx dollars and a day lift ticket is $xxx. That means you only have to ski eight times to get your money back. So that would have to be a really, really bad season for that not to happen, ya know, ha ha ha!

SAM: Well the math definitely speaks for itself. I was just curious about the whole thing.

Staff: Oh yeah, of course, ha ha, always good to be curious. Thanks for calling!

Rating: 9

Comment: Obviously I missed the joke, but she was beyond nice and friendly and even proved me wrong with the price figures, which can't be argued.

Pennsylvania, small area

First Contact: Friendly and enthusiastic female

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Um, well, yeah there is insurance you can purchase with the pass, but don't actually quote me on that because it's not my area of expertise. Let me pull out the brochure even though it's from last year, it should be pretty much the same.

SAM: OK, let's see what were working with.

Staff: OK, it says here that we do have a protection service policy for passes. It says "we will reimburse your pass if" oh wait, yeah there it is, "if your job requires you to transfer out of state or any personal injury." Hmm, nothing about weather though. But I think that if you don't use your pass for a long period of time, you can get a cheaper one next season. I'm pretty sure we offer something like that. Gosh I'm sorry, guest services just isn't in yet, who would totally be able to answer this question no problem and help you out.

SAM: No worries. You said you thought there's an offer that if your pass isn't used to its full potential, that you can get a cheaper one the following season?

Staff: Well, yeah, I know that even some people don't use their season pass a lot at all for some kind of legitimate reason and then they're offered a pass for next season at a much lower price for all the days they missed the previous year. We should be getting our new brochures out early next week, which will have all the new information regarding season passes and guest services will be in and they'll be able to your question waaaay better than I am right now, ha h aha, sorry about that. You can easily call back in a week to get filled in on all the details.

SAM: OK, awesome, thanks!

Rating: 8.5

Comment: She admitted right off that this was not her game, but tried her best and was super happy and apologetic about it. A+ for attitude and a lesson for everyone.

Michigan, small area

Firsts Contact: Almost friendly female

SAM: Stated Question

Staff: Oh, wow, you're a little early don't you think, hon? All that information doesn't come out until later on.

SAM: Well, I was just curious if there was any insurance, maybe like trip insurance because last season wasn't so hot. (Actually it was just that.)

Staff: Um, yeah, no, no we don't. Yeah because we don't control the weather.

SAM: That'd be nice though.

Staff: Yeeah, maybe, we'll work on that. OK then, hon?

SAM: Oookay then, thanks.

Rating: 2

Comment: I just needed to feel a little more customer lovin', hon.

Wisconsin, medium area

First Contact: Nice woman, though sounded like she wasn't exactly thrilled to be answering phones this morning.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Umm, actually we didn't have any lost days last year. We were closed only one day due to the weather. So we don't have anything like that. Because that's very subjective. I mean I'll go out and ski in anything, ha ha! Only one day last year we were closed because of lightning. We don't let people ski in lightning.

SAM: Well I guess my friend was wrong, but I know there is trip insurance, what about pass insurance?

Staff: We do have season pass insurance, yes. But it's only for injuries and that sort of thing, not weather conditions.

SAM: So you don't offer any compensation then?

Staff: Yeah, exactly. No we don't. Alrighty then?

SAM: All right then, thanks.

Rating: 5

Comment: Stood her ground and gave me all the facts. I like honesty, but I would have loved a great attitude even more.

Connecticut, medium area

First Contact: Young female. Might have fallen off the wrong side of the bed this morning from the sounds of it.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: We don't have a compensation policy because we still had the same amount of skiable days as we did in the previous season. We were still open the same amount of time, so we never had that problem regardless of the weather.

SAM: So you've always been open for the same amount of time every season?

Staff: Every year we're within five days of skiability as the previous season. We've been open for over 50 years and not once have we fallen under that average.

SAM: Well that's good advertising. What if you say, though, you're opening on a certain weekend and it's too warm so it doesn't snow and you can't make snow either and you don't open the chairs until a month later? Then what?

Staff: It's never happened in over 50 years and we're not counting on it any time soon. So we don't offer any compensation. If for some outrageous reason it did happen I'm sure we'd address the situation to offer something.

SAM: So then no pass insurance, huh?

Staff: Nooope, no we don't.

Rating: 4

Comment: An "outrageous reason" like global warming might have to be addressed soon...? That is stellar, though-50 years of consistent ski days? Wow.

Oregon, large area

First Contact: Young male. sounded pumped to be at work. I like it!

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Well actually last year wasn't as bad as we've seen, but I get what you're asking, sure.

SAM: Yeah, I was just curious in case of the worst and the season doesn't get underway until later than planned.

Staff:Yeah, we normally do. So if you buy a season pass and we have a questionable year and miss a bunch days because, oh I don't know, the gnarly Gods above threw a fit of bad weather and you want to buy one for next year, our owner will cut those people a pretty sweet deal compared to everyone else. I mean one year we just got killed and he came in and really discounted next year's season passes. Last year was al lright so there was no super deal, but again, the owner told all the passholders that if they bought their season passes now, which was at the end of the season, he'd give them an even bigger break than they'd gepre-season. He's always wheeling and dealing and looking for ways to make it up.

SAM: No way, that is a pretty sweet. Guess I'm all set then with my question then. Thanks!

Rating: 9.9

Comment: How dare those "gnarly Gods above." The friendly, enthusiastically charming attitude got this guy the points, not the awesome pass deals.

Virgina, medium area

First Contact: Sort of friendly woman

SAM: Stated Question

Staff: Hold on one second.

Staff: No ma'am.

SAM: Well, I've heard of trip insurance, is there any sort of pass insurance that you offer?

Staff: No, and ahh, actually we had a really good ski season last year even though it started a little late. We can make our own snow as long as the conditions permit and we had 100 percent of our terrain open sooo(You can make your own snow? Wow.)

SAM: All right, well I mean that's good to hear I'm just curious what happens with all those lost days for passholders if you don't open until weeks after you initially planned, if there's any compensation?

Staff: No there's not. OK, then?

SAM: Okay then, thanks.

Rating: 3

Comment: Lacking the TLC, but at least we know they can make snow when it's cold enough.

Vermont, Large Area

Answering Phone: Automated machine. Chose "to purchase a season pass" option.

First Contact: young woman, seemingly nice.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: We do not noooo. (silence...)

SAM: Well, I've heard of trip insurance before, what about season pass insurance? Is there anything like that you offer?

Staff: There's not, no. (More silence. Crickets are starting to chirp, loudly)

SAM: Well, I know you can't control the weather, but what about all those potential ski days that could be lost, which happened to my friend a lot last year. In one way, that's money lost that couldn't be made up. It's paid directly to you who offer no form of reimbursement for the customer who then might think twice the following year. What about rolling over the lost days to a pass for next season?

Staff: Yeeaaa, nothing like that either... (crickets are out of control now)

SAM: Allrighty then. Thanks.

Rating: .1

Comment: She at least answered the phone nicely, but she could've at least said "no" with some oomph.

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