[Closed] Bike Park Wales - Great place but beware of vouchers not being honoured

muddyground - Member

Cafe at BPW is probably one of the worst I have ever been to. Staff really could not care less, and the food was miserable at best. Worse even than Swinley. For that reason alone, I am out.

Really? I've only ever had good experiences - I guess being fairly local (Cardiff) I'm used to the sort of 'muted enthusiasm' you get in that part of the world. I found the food okay to good if not great – I had a curry once which was more like beef in gravy with slices of chilli but the rest was okay. As for being the worst - it's positively Jamie Oliver esq (not that I've ever been to Jamie's) compared to Cwmcarn and Afan (pre-closure and reopening) which were both Council Run and like School Dinners. The guys at the bike shop and 'ticket office' have always been pretty chipper and helpful to me.

I haven't had any bad experiences at BPW. Back in the summer I came off there and broke my ribs, they offered to take me to hospital but i declined. Instead they fed me free coffee whilst I waited for my mate to finish.
When I said I had an uplift booked for the following month they instantly offered to change it to another date for me. I even had a follow up phone call a few days later to make sure I was ok.

djflexure - Member

Any body else had coaching there? Booked a spot next week, taking my son as an early Christmas pressie. Presumed they would be decent. Paid now so no going back.

Not yet, but I'm having from Father Xmas.

The Coach (Griff) also runs the kids club at the weekend, I've spoken to him a couple of times, my Son loves him and he’s a nice Guy. I can't imagine him having a CBA attitude, he's always been very on the ball when I've spoken to him, perhaps I don't mind quiet people.

Last course I went one was supposedly taken by Neil Donoghue, it was called "Jumps and Drops with Neil Donoghue". Truth is it's actually taken by another guy and 'the Don' does a sort of performing monkey routine. He's not overly chatty, or wasn't that day, not unfriendly, not stand offish and certainly not elitist in front of us ham-fisted muggles, but he seemed a quietly spoken introvert with a staggering turn of speed and amazing smooth bike control. I wasn't upset he wasn't jumping up and down at the prospect of doing a bunny hop for us. He doesn’t seem the same Guy on GMBN.

He doesn’t seem the same Guy on GMBN

Oh I don't know. I've not met the guy, but what you say fits with what I see of him on GMBN. Doesn't come across as a natural presenter/performer. Sure he's got skills, and is probably a really nice guy, but get the impression he's not entirely comfortable presenting, similarly with Marc. Scotty and Martyn seem more natural and as if they actually enjoy it rather than suffer the camera to pay the bills. But we do digress from BPW.

I was upset there wasnt a man with a wide selection of coffee beans and grinders and alchemists apparatus to make coffees for me and my santa cruz riding friends.

Also it was raining

Also my audi got muddy driving up the track

Think I'll stay in Hertfordshire and bimble around on some bridlepaths.

Was the cheese and pineapple hedgehog not good enough then Jack ?

Not even the cocktail sausages ?

Having been there a few times, living quite locally, it could be so much better.

The trails are great, no problem, but the centre is about much more than that.

The cafe isn't great, it's ok, had some fishing through the dirty cutlery to find something clean to eat with.
Some of the staff seem disinterested in their roles, simple enough to be a bit more engaging.

Some leniency on cancellations and postponements due to other life activities , would go a long way without causing the place to become unprofitable.

They could , with a little more training of staff , and awareness , that paying customers want and expect more than just good trails.

This would turn a reasonably good place into somewhere first class.

I mean £7 for the ride up facility is a bit steep really.

I mean £7 for the ride up facility is a bit steep really.

Afan (pre-closure and reopening)

So the OP was bought a BPW gift voucher nearly 2 years ago which had an expiry date of 12 months from purchase.

He was told via email before he made the trip nearly 12 months after the voucher expired that it wouldn't be honoured.

He turned up on the day and was told again that it wouldn't be honoured as its nearly 12 months after it expired.

What was the question again?

Has anyone thought to let Rowan Sorrel about this thread?
My take, there's plenty enough freemans Sorrel/ back on track designed trails dotted around the countryside if the locals at BPW make spending your money there distasteful.
And as for coaching, ain't there some mind controlling riding god not a million miles away just over the border, who also built his own trail?
I know if I was nearer, Jedi would be the boy lightening my wallet

I mean £7 for the ride up facility is a bit steep really.

Its not.

I thought my day at BPW at the back end of last year was the most fun I'd had on a bike since Verbier 8 years ago. Can't believe I've let this year slide by without at least 3 more trips down there...

Horses for courses though...

£7 is good value and about what I used to pay per visit to Aston Hill IIRC.

Shame BPW don't take the initiative to pop on here and discuss things, as it's clear there are quite a few grumbles.

Cafe. All I wanted was a coffee and a burger. You know; the big item on the menu. At 4pm they had nothing. No food. Girl on the till just shrugged her shoulders. Surely you must have something? Came up with a soggy, microwaved pie. She and her mate thought this funny, and got the giggles. The pie was horrid, coffee ok. Instead of waiting six months and being passive aggressive and moan on a forum, I had a moan on site. Guy I found just said "that's fighting talk" and walked off.

I don't drive an Audi or own a coffee machine.

Dunno. May have over reacted in expecting a cafe to have actual food, or somebody there to give a fig. 4pm is a good hour before they close.

Never tried the cafe at Afan. My only experience of that one being at 3pm on a Saturday they were clearly open, yet the bored staff just said "we're closed" so perhaps BPW is not the worst ever. And, well, on reflection Swinley is very bad. To get worse than Swinley you'd cater for pigs or dogs.

I mean £7 for the ride up facility is a bit steep really.
Is it?! What other leisure facility can you use all day for £7?

Yep, £7 park entry fee is too high.

You can compare all sorts of other activities you want.

The trip to BPW and just ride up is no more than turning up and parking, no real cost there.
A little bit of trail erosion cost by riding a lot less than the number of runs you would get by the uplift.

Can't see me going back in any rush. Plenty of other riding alternatives in the area.

As I said, it's not simply a cost thing, it's more of the overall experience of the centre.

The Coach (Griff) also runs the kids club at the weekend, I've spoken to him a couple of times, my Son loves him and he’s a nice Guy. I can't imagine him having a CBA attitude, he's always been very on the ball when I've spoken to him, perhaps I don't mind quiet people.

And perhaps you need to work on your imagination skills. It had nothing to do with him being 'quiet'.

To be honest, I don't think BPW is the ideal place to run coaching sessions - far too much faffing about - but in my experience at least, Griff made no effort to get over the hurdles BPW presents.
I can't be bothered to cite examples of his failings but suffice to say he delivered a shockingly bad session and should be embarrassed of his £145 price tag.

Denis99 - Member
Yep, £7 park entry fee is too high.

You can compare all sorts of other activities you want.

You can compare it to other biking venues though, Dalby is £8 in the summer, Grizedale is £7 odd quid, most of the car parks in the Peak or Lake District are £5 for the day.

I like BPW and never had any issues. I didn't even think paying £5 to cancel a booking was taking the piss. They've also changed names on booking no hassle!

Wife and I had an excellent half day of coaching with Griff last year. Was called Rhythm & Flow' iirc. Started at the pump track for a bit, then up and gradually worked down Sixtapod to the fire track spending time in the berms, rollers etc. Had a bit of a rest on the fire track playing around with how to manual/bunny hop, bit of jump practice on the lower bit of A470 then down Bluebelle & the other blue to the cafe.
No iPad involved just a good few hours of coaching that saw both my wife and I learn a lot & increase confidence, the afternoon pass included in the price gave us chance to consolidate & when we saw Griff again a month later he stopped & chatted about how we were getting on.
The cafe has been terrible pretty much every time I've tried it so I'll only have coffee and cake from there now, had a couple of almost inedible burgers and some pretty rubbery bacon. Service is pretty miserable too but on a par with Cwm Carn etc in my experience. Packed lunch ftw.
Uplift has always been good for me, with the drivers cheerful enough. Seemed better last time with 8 busses & no stop for lunch too, although we still only got 8 runs in that was more to do with us faffing.
I wouldn't go every week, but for a few times a year I'm happy enough with the standard of service (cafe aside) for the price I pay. FWIW I don't think £7 is too bad for a ride only ticket, how much to park at Swinley, or QECP? At least £3 so given the extra trails and work they get the price isn't too much to pay.

I can't be bothered to cite examples of his failings but suffice to say he delivered a shockingly bad session and should be embarrassed of his £145 price tag.

You could always park elsewhere and cycle in? The Taff trail runs almost past the entrance to BPW. Dalby almost encourages cycling in, thanks to the Moors to Coast trail. And Llandegla has several cycle routes in and out. Moaning about parking charges just shows a lack of initiative really.

You pay to ride the trails, not to park.

muddyground - Member
You could always park elsewhere and cycle in? The Taff trail runs almost past the entrance to BPW. Dalby almost encourages cycling in, thanks to the Moors to Coast trail. And Llandegla has several cycle routes in and out. Moaning about parking charges just shows a lack of initiative really.

Not aimed at me I hope, I wasn't moaning, I've got no issue paying for parking 😀

I can't be bothered to cite examples of his failings but suffice to say he delivered a shockingly bad session and should be embarrassed of his £145 price tag.

No, please do be arsed, I doubt I would ever book a coaching session so far south of me, but I do like to know who's out there and if they are worth the travel or not

Yeah, give us a few examples, it doesn't need to be war and peace - I haven't booked mine yet. I purposely didn't quote you do avoid an internet war.

This doesn't have to be a pro BPW v anti BPW argument, but you've taken the time to slam the course and the coach, without much substance, other posters have taken the time to give reports which tend to be positive, I've got personal experience of the Guy and found him positive and welcoming.

Do you think their refusal to change the dates made you join in the course with a negative frame of mind which you expected the couch to turn around, or a determination to make it a negative experience however it went?

I’m genuinely interested in your feedback and will take any specifics on board before I decide to go – I’m looking for some specific things from the course – I have all the skills I need to ride drops, what I lack is confidence post-accident. If the course entails “this is how you do a drop, now here’s an easy 3 footer to get started” it’ll be completely wasted on me.

chakaping - Member

You pay to ride the trails, not to park.

This, you can ride in if you like, I've met people who ride in from over the back of the hill, but you still have to pay. Otherwise I'd car share more.

You pay to ride the trails, not to park.

This

Their uplift has never been great, the whole management of it is poor.

That's my biggest gripe about it too - compared to Stiniog and Revo, the uplift has been piss poor when I've been. The drivers are nice enough, but it is really slow.

The cafe is a bit meh, but no worse than some of the others I've been too.

I have to just say, the cafe and staff at Gisburn are always top notch

I've always been quite pleased with the service at BPW, and the entrance fee does not seem astronomical compared to other places. I live near Bedgebury, and that is now £12 at weekends!

The cafe however, is a little underwhelming, but does the job and does not break the bank either. Staff have always been helpful, and when my mate smashed his helmet and gashed his leg going OTB, they were excellent.

All of those complaining about the speed of the uplift: are you on about the actual long drive up (which is long but dictated by where the forest road goes) or the long wait at the uplift queue that can happen? Genuinely interested as I've only found it frustrating once or twice in many visits and then only at weekends. Lots of times when riding alone I've spent the whole day getting off one bus at the top, blasting down then getting on the same bus exactly as I reach the pick-up point. I'm not even that fast!!

I've only used the uplifts at BPW, FOD and Antur so I don't have vast experience of them. Antur is just brutal for turnaround, FOD seems the same as BPW in my experience when you take in the length of each run vs time on the bus.

@Milky

I don't complain, but when I hear people moaning it tends to be about the length of the drive, not the wait for the Bus.

There's not much they can easily do about it, the route is the route and even with the number of Vans they run now - 8 at weekend, it's a veritable ballet to get them up and down without blocking each other.

I feel like the most wide-eyed over optomistic nutter in the world on this thread, I don't tend to gush about BPW and I have my own issues with it, but I've ridden the bus at FOD, Stiniog and Cwmcarn and I don't see this glarring massive difference - Bus arrives, you load up, you take a ride, you get off and there's a little pedal before you get going. AS always gets lauded as being brillaint - why? It's a Yellow Transit Mini-Bus with a trailer, BPW has a Silver / Black Transit Mini Bus with a trailer, the drivers are nice and friendly at each, the system is pretty much the same (although, on the QT BPW drivers do tend to allow a few ad hoc passes to get on even when theres a queue) I haven't used a stop watch, but I suspect the ride is a bit quicker at BPW, AS is smoother because it's on tarmac - Cwmdown is the best, but I know Darrell well enough to chat and I enjoy his company.

I had a lesson with Griff and really enjoyed. I went to learn 'bigger' drops. He sorted out my technique and though I didn't do any massive drops I felt far more confident afterwards and I'm glad I had the lesson. £145 is a bit on the high side though.

I have no complaints about the service but was embarrassed when they couldn't be bothered to change the brakes over on the hire bike for my Finnish mate, particularly after he emailed them to warn them beforehand and they agreed. On the day they were just 'too busy'. I think that is terrible service and dangerous.

if you have been to bpw in the last 6 months and noticed how slow the uplifts are compared to previous trips .
its not the vans they are looking out for or the rd.
some guy went to great lengths for compensation when his bike got damaged.
another persons brake lever gouged his forks .ever since then they drive like mrs daisy lol.

Ahhh, change the front rear levers, I thought you meant swap out actual full brakes at first, I thought that's a bit extreme!

Haven't been for a long time, but the uplift hardly seems worth it - was a real challenge to get more than 8-9 runs in (managed double figures only once there).

I can go there and ride up 6/7 times & actually feel like it's been a proper workout.

Probably should go back now there are a few more trails 🙂

I tend to struggle with uplifts in general these days however - a huge amount of doing stuff that isn't actually riding a bike.

F***ng hell, Big bud, it's a mountain bike, not a fashion parade, if I'd got precious over every scratch chip and rub on mine, I'd have a nervous breakdown 😆

the cafe and staff at Gisburn are always top notch

I have never known the place to be open. Ever. Early, late, weekends, midweek...

P-Jay, I've no interest in starting an internet war either and I'm glad you and your son have had a good experience but that doesn't give you the right to dismiss mine as you did.
To be honest, I think I was looking for the same as you: confidence. I understand that it's hard to give people that but there are ways of helping people and, for whatever reason, Griff failed to do this for me.

I understand teaching is a two-way thing but all I can say is that at the time, I was as keen as mustard. Far from being annoyed at having to take my mother's place, I was in fact glad (not that she was injured of course) but because £145 is a lot of money for me and I wouldn't have spent that on myself so I was kind of glad when it fell to me to take my mum's place.

I also consider myself to be a good student and have been told words to that effect before. I am still likely to break out into a beam when I remember some of the encouraging things the guides told me when I was on holiday with The White Room.

Perhaps Griff is better at coaching some people more than others. Perhaps I am able to take direction better from some people than others. But in my experience, teaching/coaching is one of the most undervalued skills in the world and there are far too many people in teaching jobs who do not have the skills to do those jobs effectively.

A brief list of BPW moans:
Griff seemed to want to interact with his mates more than coach me. Whether that be the mechanics in the workshop, people in the queue for the bus, the trail builders, or looking at his mobile phone. This not only showed a lack of interest but wasted valuable teaching time.

I was annoyed that he hadn't seemed to bother to read my pre-assessment form meaning we had to go through all that again thereby wasting more time. Anybody who has any experience of teaching will tell you that you don't go into a lesson 'blind'. Sure, you might have a standard lesson but you've got an idea as to how you are going to adapt that in order to suit the person you are teaching/coaching.

Spending 20mins at the top looking at other people riding trail sections on an ipad seemed like a waste of time for me, especially when we could have done that on the bus if he hadn't have been so busy with his phone.

Other than that, my session was similar to Mattbees. We started at the pump track, then spent time on fire track practising manuals, then a bit of jump practice.

I'm sure his coaching style will suit some people but I'm sorry to say it didn't suit me. All of the above is just my opinion of course but if you decide to book, I hope it works out for you.

Yes, change over the levers! Quite important!!! Anyway, he was stuffed, didn't know his left from his right, was all over the place, did 2 runs and bailed out back to the snow...

@The Pilot

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind, I'd find a lot of that annoying myself.

Promise I wasn't being dismissive, even if it sounded like that, I have a 'unique' writing style I'm told.

There's not much they can easily do about it, the route is the route and even with the number of Vans they run now - 8 at weekend, it's a veritable ballet to get them up and down without blocking each other.

It does seem odd going downhill at points though. A circular route would avoid the passing problem, but that would mean either adding in a second lane or finding another way up/down.

some guy went to great lengths for compensation when his bike got damaged.
another persons brake lever gouged his forks .ever since then they drive like mrs daisy lol.

Strava times for the uplift route would seem to back that up, they really need to tarmac the road! Or a ski lift 😀

I was there a while back and the trailer snapped in half on the top bar on the way up, right next to my bike! Took me a second to realise why my bike wouldn't release. The same trailer is still in use, albeit with a very large pair of plates welded on to fix it. Those buses and trailers lead a very hard life.

I aint done Gisburn since October just before the clocks went back, but I always dialled in a full day midweek, a quick loop of the lower of the 8 up to either hope or bottoms, bringing me to the cafe at around 11am to lunch time, and it's always been open, another loop and drop in for a coffee before heading back to the van.
I couldn't say about weekends as I never ride, but I'm sure it's open as the dig team trail fairies speak of free brews from there

@ P-Jay
No worries and I promise not to take offence next time, unique writing style or not 😉

Sounds like you had a much worse experience than we did. Shane. I wonder if we were lucky or you were unlucky.

Might as well share my coaching story. Booked for me and my wife but it turned out my wife couldn't make it so I tried to move it. They said it was possible but kept either not replying or being very vague. Just had to give up in the end and I went on my own.

No idea who my coach was supposed to be but he never turned up. After an hour or so waiting around a young lad was introduced as our replacement coach. He was ok. Obviously not very experienced or used to working with people. We did a few different skills. The cornering stuff was ok, we then did a bit on pumping rollers which was fine. Next, wheel lift stuff as a prelude to drops was very uninspiring with little feedback then the course sort of petered out which was a bit disappointing especially as we started late. One plus was I then had an uplift ticket for the rest of the day. It was actually a good format with coaching in the morning then a chance to practice some skills without expending too much energy. Overall it was an ok day, just a bit disappointing to pay for two courses and get about 2/3rds of one.

Just for balance I've been a few times now and bloody love it , all of it in fact
I have it's worth mentioning on more than one occasion witnessed riders talking to the uplift drivers like they are morons and just generally treating them like shit
So it goes both ways I guess

Was going to go, but decided that the thought of booking in 6 weeks in advance and then waking up to lashing rain wouldn't be a good day for us - so waited until the week before saw the weather was nice and went to snowdonia instead.

Looking at the bad press on here - rather surprised they don't monitor it - I'm kind of glad i didn't give them my money

go BMCC instead, uplift doesnt stop for lunch they are friendly and actually appreciate the business and the tracks are very good, i think we got around 15 runs.
After my last visit to bpw rude staff and a poor total of 8 runs and a lot of waiting around I wont ever go back again.

The issue I have with BPW'a uplift is slow. There always seems to be a queue at the bottom. Never an issue at Stiniog or Revo.

Last time I went you'd, after a massive wait you'd pass two buses pulled up next to each other chatting and in no rush to head back down. It took the edge off the day for us.

muddyground - Member 
Cafe at BPW ... Worse even than Swinley.

Harsh! 😮 😀

All of those complaining about the speed of the uplift: are you on about the actual long drive up (which is long but dictated by where the forest road goes) or the long wait at the uplift queue that can happen?

Last time I went you'd, after a massive wait you'd pass two buses pulled up next to each other chatting and in no rush to head back down.

Last time I went you'd, after a massive wait you'd pass two buses pulled up next to each other chatting and in no rush to head back down.

That's very common. It has to be throttling.

It's not throttling, it's a single track road with long stretches where you can't pass so they run to a sort of timetable to keep it all flowing - they're about every 15 mins and on full capacity days they're running vans in twos so they’re taking up 144 bikes an hour. I spoke with one of the drivers a while back 8 vans is about the max they can run (which they do) without having too much over-lap and the whole thing grinding to a hault. To do any more they'd either have to build a circular uplift road which would be a massive undertaking or the thing that's the ulitmate goal - a lift.

Looking at the bad press on here - rather surprised they don't monitor it - I'm kind of glad i didn't give them my money

I think they do, but possibly more on the mainstream social media rather than delving into forums. They've been particular hurt by comments about BPW being a faceless corporate entity, when to be fair, they really aren't at their core. The founding directors are all very sound, very passionate and very dedicated people. They took a big personal financial risk going all in for this, and they've created something that at its core (the trails, the site) is totally brilliant. I don't think anyone who knows wouldn't applaud them.

But...that's all well and good, but if you get grumpy service, or poor experience at coaching, or overly officious enforcement of rules, you must expect bad feedback. My feeling is that at its core the place is totally ace, but let down by perhaps poor training, some less than passionate people or even some total dead wood that shouldn't be let near a customer facing environment, and they need binning.

Actually going tomorrow for the Manon Carpenter thing, but I'll eat somewhere else because I'm sorry, I don't care how cheap it is, I don't want to run the risk of being served by someone with a face liked a slapped arse, who can't even be bothered to muster up a please or thank you, they just extend their lardy hand outwards for the cold hard cash. If that makes me an SC riding, Audi driving pansy (I own neither of those forms of transport) then so be it. If they don't like working in a café (I have, its hard but can be good fun if you have the right positive attitude) then they should cock off down the job centre.

so they’re taking up 144 bikes an hour

Which isn't great really if they are full, that's pretty much just one run an hour for everyone.

I love BPW. If you think of it as a DH venue like Antur then you may be disappointed. Treat it as a trail centre with techier bits (I'd say the reds would be graded black in most UK trail centres, etc) and even if you think the uplift takes a long time, where else will a rider of normal fitness be able to do 10,000' of descending in a day?

The cafe staff cocking off down the jobcentre comments bring up some intriguing thoughts.

The jobcentre isn't what it used to be, it's not where you go to find work anymore, but where you face punishment for being out of work. They are forcing folk under threat of destitution to take any job, suitable for the individuals or not.
Another thought, what is the payscale for these workers? If it's minimum wage combined with the jobcentre / benefits agency attitude, it could be a reason for the long faces. (I've a bit of experience with this, the mrs was a head cheese at Poundworld until dealing with what the jobcentre constantly sent over even when there were no vacancies on top of other corporate bulldust nearly sent her doolally.I encouraged her to quit and take a paycut, best move ever, we're skint but happy )

It's not throttling, it's a single track road with long stretches where you can't pass so they run to a sort of timetable to keep it all flowing

It doesn't seem to be an issue at other places though.

Some leniency on cancellations and postponements due to other life activities , would go a long way without causing the place to become unprofitable.They could , with a little more training of staff , and awareness , that paying customers want and expect more than just good trails.This would turn a reasonably good place into somewhere first class.

This and andywoodhall's comments sum it up for me, in basic form it's tremendous, the trails are great the uplift is fine, but there's a bunch of stuff that needs to be addressed, from a custom care perspective, that they could do to make it a "must tell everyone how great it is" destination.

edit: this has reminded me of a recent visit to a DR Martin store. My son has some boggo 8 hole DMs that had split at the heel, they were 18months old, we had the receipt but didn't have high hopes with regards to a repair or some money off a new pair. In short we arrived, and the shop assistant (not the manager) looked at my son's shoes, and said words to the effect of "that's a bit shit, what size are you, I'll get you some new ones". No ifs buts, just replaced. We were all pretty gobsmacked, and I've told loads of folk about it since (The whole idea of the policy I assume) This is the lesson that BPW need to learn

It's a shame they can't get their shit together when it comes to the uplift, as I said earlier I haven't been in over a year and I have a gift voucher which will run out mid-Jan. Can't do anything about it as it's booked solid......

I have always had great experiences with the uplift at BPW.

I accept that I won't get ten runs in as it is quite a long descent especially when running with a large group of mates (10 of us last time).

The drivers are friendly and conscientious, they ensure the bikes are secure and are paying attention in the van, they told off a young lad for sticking his head out the window which given how much the van bounces about is sound advice.

The Cafe isn't great food but its acceptable, it would be good if there was more than one pay point for those not wanting to faff about ordering hot food.

The toilets/showers could do with being open later especially in the summer.

Overall I like the place and have always found it a pleasure to visit.

I have also been to:

Triscombe - landrover and a trailer with wheel holes cut in it!

FOD - great service, bit steep for parking on top of the uplift.

Cwm Carn - quick enough given the distance they have to travel.

UKBikepark - shut down now, lot more waiting and you got battered by the uplift.

BMCC - Good uplift, non existent services.

Swinley - terrible cafe, average facilities.

Is the grumpy tall guy still working in the shop area there?
Probably the most miserable, rudest employee i've ever met.

he was still there when i went in March....proper ray of sunshine he is

i get that they are within their rights to refuse but it is very poor customer relations to not honour the voucher as they already have the money for a service they havent provided.
i get the feeling from the times that ive been there that the staff in the bike shop and the main counter arent the best at dealing with customers. the ones in the restaurant are quite good and the drivers are a really good bunch

The thread title implies that a valid voucher wasn't honoured, so is misleading. Probably not legally actionable, but I would venture to suggest it is a [i]dishonourable[/i] way of describing the actual issue.

It's a shame they can't get their shit together when it comes to the uplift, as I said earlier I haven't been in over a year and I have a gift vouvher which will run out mid-jan. Can't do anything about it as it's booked solid......

Surely you just have to redeem the voucher before mid-Jan, not actually attend an uplift day before then? A quick look on the website shows plenty of spaces running into mid-March so not sure what you mean.

BPW seems to be one of those "love-to-hate" places when it comes to internet moaning. Surely the fact that the uplift is always booked and the cafe is busy etc means that they're doing something right to draw that many people in?

I've been going since not long after they opened and have had a few bad customer experiences mixed in with the good ones, but ever think that perhaps they're real humans who might be having a bad day? Especially when having to deal with the entitled attitudes that come along with the SC-riding Audi-driving stereotypical bikers?

BPW seems to be one of those "love-to-hate" places when it comes to internet moaning.

I want to love it, and I've enjoyed the riding there. They do however need to make sure that the staff understand that the ongoing viability has very much got to do with people wanting to go back (its a motorway drive for most folk) They are consistently failing to do that, and customer service is a pretty easy and straightforward thing to do right.

but ever think that perhaps they're real humans who might be having a bad day? Especially when having to deal with the entitled attitudes that come along with the SC-riding Audi-driving stereotypical bikers?

The world they live in is one of high customer expectation (for better or worse) that's the world that EVERY business is in that deals with customers. I don't care if the staff are having a bad day, they shouldn't be bringing that to the job, they should be as a minimum courteous and professional, and while they get that right, as this thread shows, they don't always.

Especially when having to deal with the entitled attitudes that come along with the SC-riding Audi-driving stereotypical bikers?

Only been once but all seemed fine to me. Pleasant enough staff, decent enough food and a good days riding was had.

The cafe staff cocking off down the jobcentre comments bring up some intriguing thoughts.

The jobcentre isn't what it used to be, it's not where you go to find work anymore, but where you face punishment for being out of work. They are forcing folk under threat of destitution to take any job, suitable for the individuals or not.

Perhaps I was being too glib, you are quite correct (I also have dealings with the Job Centre), I meant in a general sense of finding a new direction suited to their skill sets. 🙂

I'd be surprised if the staff / management aren't looking at this thread.

The feedback is a mixed bag really.

Any business that wants to succeed and maintain their customer base needs to listen to what the customers want.

Hopefully, they can address some of the easier issues quickly, I want to see them succeed being a local.
Status quo and not improving the satisfaction levels to us is a sure way to end up being unprofitable.

cba

I just think it's a real shame that somewhere with so much potential that is getting it right or almost right in so many ways is being let down by some pretty fundamental basics.

I remember the first time I went, I wrote a FB post that went along the lines of if I woke up with Freida Pinto in the Seychelles with a copy of my winning lottery ticket on the wall it still wouldn't top today as the best-day-ever day (to be honest, I was a bit hasty there 😉 )

But suffice to say, I loved the place and it could be fantastic but the way they treat their customers combined with the slow uplift (which admittedly is no easy fix) means I can't see myself ever returning.

Like I say, a real shame.

Incidentally UK Bike Park's venue reopened earlier this year as Okeford Hill Bike Park. They have a Landrover + trailer for uplift and run at quite a lot of weekends plus Wed evenings in the summer. And have had a couple of DH races there this year.

Maybe I have a rose-tinted view of BPW because I'm so bloody cheerful that I'm getting to spend a whole day just riding my bike downhill, so being grumpy at me would be like kicking a puppy? 😉

I was just looking back through Strava and I've been to BPW four times, the first time in autumn 2013, the last time ten days ago. I managed 9, 11, 10 and 10 uplifts. And none of those visits were when the days were long, so the uplift was curtailed early due to lack of light. I'm not slow but I'm not super fast (as my enduro racing confirmed!)

The Pilot - Member

I just think it's a real shame that somewhere with so much potential

Potential to do what though? Fill up all spaces 3 months in advance?

My opinion of it is that it's fine for an uplifted trail centre. The uplift being so far from the car park is a bit crap, the food was crap (hot stuff not being served hot and a massive queue were my over-whelming memories) but otherwise it's just fine.

Better facilities than Innerleithen mind, although Inners does have the best trailers

Are people that sensitive that a great days riding can be spoilt by someone being miserable in a cafe 😀

Potential to give people a good day out without pissing them off!
Sure, they are fully booked up now but carry on as they are and they will run out of customers eventually.

the food was crap (hot stuff not being served hot and a massive queue were my over-whelming memories)

Even doing that I still always get at least 10 runs in. I find going full chat down the trails is pretty knackering, wouldn't want to do any more runs really and run the risk of losing focus & doing something silly.

Often go on my own so chat to people in the queue or on the bus. Literally never spoken to anyone who had anything bad to say about the place, everyone just raves about how awesome it is (which it is!) Obviously just this place that attracts the moaners 🙂

I got 12 uplifts in the last time I went. I was solo so not waiting for people and had no mechanicals. I thought that was good, and there was a bit of waiting for van involved at times.

At Antur I've had 17 runs in a day, which is ridiculous efficiency. I also had a downlift as I'd punctured and not noticed until I took my bike off the trailer.

I've had good food at both, the welcome at Antur is very friendly.

The trick with any of these venues (FoD, Antur, BPW etc) is to go midweek...i know this is difficult for some people but it's so much nicer, quieter and efficient....shift worker here so I always book midweek when I'm off.

In my opinion BPW can get away with poor customer service as the trails are so much fun, I personally think FoD is more natural and challenging but the runs are short and not clearly marked....it's easy to go off piste and get lost coming down, no bad thing as the unridden stuff there is great too.....but BPW is longer and easier to navigate down and you can link up the trails, the riding is appealing enough that moody drivers, rude cafe staff and monosyllabic work shop staff are easy enough to forget and just enjoy the trails.

I understand the OPs frustration but it could have been sorted with much earlier communication...as I said early in this thread I've never had a problem with BPW (or the others) when moving bookings when I can't make a particular date.
Maybe it's because I ride midweek but they've always helped me out.

The uplift being so far from the car park is a bit crap,

eh ❓ seriously?

Not experienced workshop staff as never needed them, all other staff have been fine. We always jump in the front of the bus and have a natter/craic with the drivers, leave the cowabunga dudes to discuss strava in the back.

As above - break just before the last lunch uplift have lunch early then go sit in the lift queue ready for them starting again.

IIRC they cant tarmac the road as its a fire break (?)

Stiniog is awesome for uplift, always have a good day there

RustyNissanPrairie - Member

The uplift being so far from the car park is a bit crap,

eh seriously?

Yup. Inners, Antur, etc you go to the top, smash your way down, grab a quick drink/snack, jump on bus, repeat. BPWs setup is rubbish compared to that.

I actually like the swooping, fast, short trail to the uplift at BPW, the slight uphill ride or push at the actual uplift start is a bit of a ballache but it wouldn't put me of going there...in fact I think the trail with its humps, berms and drops is a nice warm up for the actual DH trails