Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 55 total)
  • Time to sack my new guide? How many chances do you give someone?
  • Potdog
    Free Member

    Recently one of my guides went back to Germany for an indefinate period. At about the same time, I got a CV from a guy who had been working for another biking company in the north but had been laid off as things were quiet. So after a week of riding with me I agreed to give him a trial period.

    1st “solo” ride with clients he forgets to pack a pump and has a flat which delays the ride by 1.5 hours.

    2nd ride with clients, he tried to extend the ride resulting in a 1 hour hike a bike for the clients. They were obviously not happy.

    Then a couple of rides without problems.

    Now today I get a call from a client asking how long it will be before he gets back to pick them up again?
    I eventually get hold of him and he tells me that he made a wrong turn and ended up miles away from the intended finish point. He then had to call his girlfriend to come and meet him so that he could get a lift back to the minibus to go back and collect the clients. All this after I spent time riding the trails with him and even getting him a GPS with the routes on so that he was sure of his position whilst the routes are still new to him!

    I don’t think I can handle any more f***ups 👿

    One bit of good news is that my original guide is back at the end of the month! Hurrah!! I think the problem may be solved.

    Now as to the reference the other guiding company gave the current guy, I ought to sue them for industrial sabotage!!

    And Relax….

    coffeeking
    Free Member

    lol that is a bit poor! ow do you go wrong with a GPS?!

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    How do you go wrong with a gps – blindly following it! I have seen this a few times

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    Potdog
    Free Member

    I’m back at base awaiting the piss poor excuses right now!
    Generally speaking, it’s not too difficult keeping the little position pointer on the nice big red line that is the route. I think his problem today was that he didn’t check the GPS often enough.

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    Personally, I wouldn’t have used him again after the first incident. I dread to think what else might have been missing from his pack.

    But then we do have high standards at Bike Dartmoor 😉

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    See waht the excuses are but sounds like its time for his cards

    Jamie
    Free Member

    coffeeking:

    lol that is a bit poor! ow do you go wrong with a GPS?!

    NotoriousP.I.D
    Free Member

    A guide that continually gets lost doesn’t sound like much of a guide to me.

    Potdog
    Free Member

    The first one was a rather large blunder which was pretty much the end for him, but after a little sit down with him afterwards, going through his bag to confirm what he had in there and listening to his explanation I agreed to give him a 2nd chance.

    His little hike a bike excursion I put down to over exuberance and trying to please too much, but thinking about it again, he broke another cardinal rule in deviating from the route plan that we have in the office. That should have been him out on his arse right then.

    So today I think I will have to go with the 3 strikes and you’re out rule. Business is hard enough without one person creating in 2 weeks more complaints than I’ve had in the last 3 years!

    Maybe the other company sent him on purpose to infiltrate and destroy from the inside 💡

    mt
    Free Member

    your the boss so do whats right for the customers.

    snowslave
    Full Member

    Does he read this forum?

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I’d say 1 more chance, if he messes up again then he’s out. The first mistake was a bit silly, the 2nd and 3rd are just things you end up doig while new to an area (although admidteldy he should probably check out routes on his own rather than when leading punters)

    Drac
    Full Member

    lol that is a bit poor! ow do you go wrong with a GPS?!

    Easily it can’t always keep a signal.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Company I had a holiday with was trying out a few blokes who wanted to be guides. One of them was supposed to bring up the rear, on an admittedly cracking descent, he came past a couple of the guests, didn’t exactly barge past, but didn’t stay where he was supposed to either.

    He was on the next flight back to Blightly.

    I’d say as a guiding company you trade on your reputation. get shot, you’ve given him enough chances.

    mt
    Free Member

    More like how do send out a guide that does not know the routes really well, should not need a gps when you have customers to care for.

    Potdog
    Free Member

    Drac I know the GPS works just fine on the route he’s done today, unless there has been some GPS outage that I’m not aware of. Weather is good and clear so no poor signal problems there.

    He has apparently worked for this other company for a year and knows the areas well if not the specific routes that I use so I’m struggling to see that there are any excuses left. He’s used his initiative to sort things out each time, but I don’t want the mistakes in the first place.

    My mind is made up it’s time to part ways. I want happy customers and good feedback. Not customers lost on the mountainside!

    Potdog
    Free Member

    MT. That would be a fair point had I not ridden the routes with him a couple of times to show him the escape roads etc. He reckons to have ridden them on his own as well and be fully comfortable with them. The GPS is something I carry as standard so as I can give a proper grid reference in case of an emergency. I bought the extra GPS for that, but also to give him a bit of a comfort factor whilst he was new.

    I even restricted it to 3 routes so that he wasn’t trying to remember 6 or 7 routes all at the same time.

    mt
    Free Member

    You know it then, he must go for your companies sake. Have had a look at your website and this thread is not making you look good. If you have a customer accident on the trail do you want this guy to deal with it? This guy could have out of business in no time and sued for your trouble.
    Best of luck, oh don’t talk to publishers that can’t supply you with proof of readership and some sort of references, theres alot of them about. We get it all the time.

    Potdog
    Free Member

    I just feel a bit crap about it as even though he’s cocked up, the customers have always said how good he’s been with them. But I can’t afford the bad press so he’s out tonight. I doubt he reads this forum. Although you never know on here do you!

    With regards to advertising MT. I’ve never had to do much before. I put my 1st magazine advert in a month or so ago and this seems to have triggered the vultures.

    jedi
    Full Member

    all the best guides i have had have **** up at some point.
    it makes the trip memorable.
    i like flexiblity and spontenaiety

    jedi
    Full Member

    btw, he forgot a pump? no-one else carry spares???

    Potdog
    Free Member

    Customers tend to come expecting the guide to look after them. Especially if they’re just out for a couple of days rather than a weeks holiday with their own bike.

    Hence the weight of my backpack on the rides 🙁

    Spontaneity and flexibility are great, but safety is also very important. I like all my customers to come back in one piece. OK the odd scrape is allowed, but I try not to kill them 😉

    GNARGNAR
    Free Member

    How does one go about getting a cushy job like mtb guiding? And can you make a living from it?

    Potdog
    Free Member

    Be prepared to live somewhere warm and earn very little money 😆

    As for making a living from it…….well maybe just barely at times. Probably a bit like working in an LBS!

    HoratioHufnagel
    Free Member

    if everything else he’s done has been 100% maybe give him another chance. How is he with the guests? friendly? enthusiastic? energetic? makes a big difference to how enjoyable people find the ride. Its not just about the route.

    mt
    Free Member

    To many mistakes to short a time. It’s hard getting shut of nice people (had to do it) but nice people can have you out of business. It’s the customers that you need not a nice but dodgy guide. Cruel to be kind.

    I am trying to be helpful here, honest. Would you like your future customers reading this and thinking the guide that is with them is anything other than reliable, knows exactly where he is and what to do if there is a problem? Course you would.

    Let know what happens.

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    How does one go about getting a cushy job like mtb guiding

    By getting qualified, being very dedicated and realising that it’s far from being cushy. It’s ( like everything else ) a skill that some can master and some cannot, as Potdog’s thread demonstrates. Being a good rider is one thing, being a good guide is something else.

    antigee
    Full Member

    How does one go about getting a cushy job like mtb guiding?

    well looks like potdog is committed to the forum ethic so when above is sorted we’ll all be along with our questions, we could do terms and conditions as well – to start with think we need to know if you’ve got a facebook page and is their a pic of your pump on it?

    oh and please try not to get banned for an hour or so

    andrew
    Free Member

    Make clear to him he’s got one chance to get his shit together – it might be the kick up the arse he needs to realise the precariousness of his situation.

    jedi
    Full Member

    the best guides we had was spontaneous and flexible and we went back year after year 🙂

    shame both were on different continents

    Potdog
    Free Member

    This place is great for debating situations and coming up with answers both sane, serious and down right nonsensicle (is that a real word?) I think that’s why most of us appear here.

    Today, I was having a bit of a mind spinning moment, I knew from the outset what I wanted to do. Sometimes just typing it out helps clarify things and get it off your chest and make things clearer. Then the replies come along and generally spin things around in the dryer a bit. Sometimes I change my mind, today I stuck with my original feelings.

    If my answer to Mr Gnar was seen as frivolous then thats exactly what it was. If Mr G really wants to know more then there are plenty of us on here who can point him in the right direction.

    As others have said, it’s not just about being a good rider. There is so much more to it. And if there are just one or two bits not quite right it can make a huge difference (as in this case). He would probably make a great minibus driver and occasional round up rider for bigger groups as he has a great personality and comes across well with the clients. But that’s something I don’t need right now. I need someone I can depend on to do things 100% when needed.

    joe1983
    Free Member

    I’d give him one last make or brake chance

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    the best guides we had was spontaneous and flexible and we went back year after year

    Group/weather/trail dynamics often put you in positions that require you to be spontaneous and flexible. I think the difference is that you need a strong plan to work from in the first place and you need to be prepared to cope with any changes. That’s why we lug so much gear around with us ( including pumps 😉 )

    jedi
    Full Member

    every rider has to lug their own gear with my lot.just as a normal ride

    richc
    Free Member

    same here, every ride I’ve been on the guides insisted that you carried everything you needed, as you couldn’t expect them to carry enough tubes,brake pads, hangers and food for everyone. they are guides after all not sherpas

    I’ve even given guides spare tubes when they have been unlucky and killed 4 tubes in 1 ride

    jedi
    Full Member

    high 5 richc!!

    project
    Free Member

    Obviously as well as a lost guide, he cant navigate round a bike forum or cant read, because if he can hes going to be a bit upset, at whats written here.

    stonemonkey
    Free Member

    If this was about ski/mountianeering guides you’d have dead customers . Your fired ( in an Alan Sugar way). But yeah he doesntneed to carry enough equip for everyone just himself to be self sufficient

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    Tubes, multitool, pads and lunch and water is something that I’d expect a guest to carry for themselves.

    Medical kit, cable ties, emergency shelter, maps and route tracings, ss conversion kit, every group members emergency contact details and a whole host of other kit that experience and training teaches you to carry, I expect to haul myself.

    Potdog
    Free Member

    OK. We have just had a sit down and he was a embarassed as a Dane can be I suppose. He suggested that maybe it wasn’t working out for him and I unfortunately had to agree. He’s apparently going to go do some hiking tours instead. I hope he doesn’t loose any walkers in the forest!

    With regards to carrying stuff. A lot of my customers are here for a family holiday and are taking a couple days away from the beach or the pool so don’t have their own bikes or camel backs full of spares.

    Hence we carry as far as possible enough to cover any situation, spare hangers, 4 or 5 tubes, power links, first aid, all the usual stuff you would expect. Now customers who come out with their own bikes for a weeks riding are generally a bit more self sufficient.

    EDIT: We’re obviously too soft with our customers TrailMonkey. Although we do expect them to carry their own food and water!

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 55 total)

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