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

Welcome to Wales.

Land of terrible customer service (I live in Swansea).

Typical BPW, just take take take and give nothing at all back.

Yeah, the swine!

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It is poor customer service as they had already received the payment.
A bit of goodwill would have cost them nothing and gained a lot.
Rules is rules though and an out of date voucher is out of date.

I doubt somewhere that sells out 200 places 3 months in advance on weekends really needs to be pandering to people bleating on about bad PR.

And yet Martin Astley has said they are extremely keen to get the repeat visits up, and to increase the spend per visit. I'd say that good PR, goodwill and going the extra mile should be at the very top of every employee's list when thinking about service.

As it is you get grumpy service and food thrown at you, that's fine, they are entirely in their rights as a business to go down that route, but that doesn't fit at all with their aims to get people to open their wallets. The McDonalds down on Cyfarthfa has a warmer welcome, and that's saying something.

I have to say though, the uplift van guys I've encountered are brilliant, but I have friends who have had other experiences, so make of that what you will.

I doubt somewhere that sells out 200 places 3 months in advance on weekends really needs to be pandering to people bleating on about bad PR.

You could say the same about any presently successful company. Good PR/customer service, building customer loyalty, is just insurance against a future with increased competition, the possibly fading novelty of your attraction, and tougher financial conditions, which may make more people question whether to travel that far (and pay that much) for a ride.

As someone else points out it sounds like it had expired by a good margin, it's not like it was the day after when they might have been a bit more inclined to help you out? Personally in situations where a bit of discretionary goodwill comes into play I'm pleasantly surprised and appreciative if it happens and try to be philosophical if it doesn't. So this wouldn't put me of BPW at all.

Service in cafe, shop, registration and vans has always been superb when i've been there

This thread has made me want to book for BPW in the new year.

are we supposed to know who they are captflasher?

Had a similar experience...
Phoned up 2 days before my £100 voucher had expired because I had actually lost them but wanted to use them. Took several days to get the voucher again. In which time the voucher expired. They wouldn't then honour the voucher. Pretty arsey thing to do IMO

Hoping to get a BPW voucher for christmas 🙂

I have to say though, the uplift van guys I've encountered are brilliant, but I have friends who have had other experiences, so make of that what you will.

The van guys have all be great, as long as last one off closes the door 🙂

Service in cafe, shop, registration and vans has always been superb when i've been there

Not great about the voucher obviously - wouldn't put me off going again but probably won't bother buying anyone a voucher now 🙂 (not that I would anyway really). I guess the moral is sort it out [i]before[/i] it expires... a year is a decent length of time IMO

Pure business at BPW

Exactly that. And it's an incredibly badly run business too as far as customer service goes anyway.
I booked some coaching for my mum. She broke her arm a week or so before the lesson so obviously couldn't make it. They refused to rearrange of course so I went in her place.
Now, I am a long way from an expert rider and I was really looking forward to having some coaching but I learned precisely nothing that day.
Partly because the 'coach' was utterly useless at his job, ie coaching, and partly because, as he made abundantly clear, he couldn't be arsed.
I did in the end get my uplift day rearranged (I'd booked a usual uplift for me for the day while my mum had the coaching) but this was after a monumental battle. And having to deal with the computer-says-no woman on reception who clearly sees BPW's rules as a way to make other people (who are out for a fun day out) as miserable as she must be.
In the end I didn't even use my rearranged uplift as I was so disgusted with the place.
I've since moved away to Edinburgh and have used the uplift service at Innerleithen. I booked a Saturday rather than a Sunday and after my BPW experience was ready to kiss the money goodbye. One quick phone call and it was all sorted. No penalty charges, no arsey conversation, no checking with managers... just good customer service. To be honest, Inners DH runs were a bit full on for me and I would have much preferred to be riding the blues at BPW. If only that coaching had worked out better, eh? 🙄

I guess the moral is sort it out before it expires... a year is a decent length of time IMO

why though ???? how would you feel if you put a £20 in a draw and it "expired". Bpw have had the money and given nothing back in exchange. How is it anything less than an indefensible ripoff.

I'm guessing it's something to do with accountants not wanting a growing number of unused vouchers out in the world - in theory it could lead to a large liability on the books.

I doubt the BPW owners have gone out of their way to be dicks about it. I've never met them though so I've nothing to base that on...

OThing really to add re the voucher situation. But to pick up in some earlier posts. I spend a fair bit of time at BPW now, the uplift guys have always been great as have the reception staff. But the cafe has been woeful of late, overpriced and over or under cooked food. Not sure what has changed there but it used to be great but over the last 3 months it's been shocking!

It's defensible because it says "expires in 1 year from purchase" on it.
In squigly writing stuff.

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.

I know B1KE are involved with some of the coaching there, but maybe not all.

If I bought some mince pies and didn't eat them before the expiry date printed on them I wouldn't expect the shop to give me some more to eat that were in date. Same principle applies here, doesn't it?

I'd be kin miserable if I lived in Merthyr!

Djflexure, I have heard some people who coach there are better than others so fingers crossed.
As you say, nothing you can do now.
If you find yourself in the shelter at the top of the runs spending 20 minutes watching a video on his ipad of some people he coached the week/month/year before riding a section of trail, you've probably got the same guy I had.
This despite the fact we'd you've just spent that exact amount of time on the bus getting to the runs in the first place. Sadly, it was not possible to do it on the bus due to the fact that he didn't even sit next to me!

Seriously, hope it goes well but just be aware that you might have to push whoever you get to get the most out of it.

Same principle applies here, doesn't it?

cheers Pilot
happy to push - watching an iPad seems daft, if its not a recording of what you have done.

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.

Haven't been in over a year, despite it being relatively close(ish).
The trails are awesome. No other word for it.
But you need to book 6-odd weeks in advance, and buying singles is a miserable MTBing experience. BPW obviously make no allowance for or restrict the number of ad-hocs sold. Come mid-morning you're lucky to get on one bus out of four.
Comes across very negative, but it's borne from frustration. Their uplift has never been great, the whole management of it is poor.
I'd love to go every month (and that was my plan this year)
I'll be checking out 417 soon.

Interesting mix of responses, hitting a nerve with some who are defending BPW's rights and striking a chord with others.

I think the title is valid as it will help others not let their voucher expire. I also didn't want people to think it was a sob story and I certainly won't be concerned for long about it 🙂

I did agree that they were within their rights from a commercial perspective. It was very out of date and I should have sorted it with them before it expired.

My point was that it would have been an easy win for them, if not to refund entirely just to meet me half way and offer a half price replacement voucher or free lunch, my mates would have seen that and the final judgement would be great trails and experience and also nice guys.....we'll be back soon.

One of the posts stating that good PR/customer service delivers loyal repeat business and insures against slow down has it spot on. At any organisation (although I'd argue even more so at one whose whole reason for existing is deliver "good times" to the customers) it's for management to instil a culture that is positive, as that is then what will come across to the customers as an experience via the staff. It seems like some of the other posts suggest this needs some work....

Again I'm glad this place exists - it is amazing and I'm sure I'll be back. But we can all improve (cue spelling/grammar critique)!

There isnt even a landline contact number for BPW.. Theres a mobile number and you have no idea who you are talking to. Not helpful when you need to talk to someone in the office and then due to lack of communication (in my experience) they let my voucher expire and wouldn't honour it or offer any goodwill whatsoever.

As a business where do you draw the line and on which explanation given to you?

Feb2015 is getting on for 2years.

Plus you have to give staff clear guidance and a cut off point for consistent confidence in your staffs decisions.

Great you liked the place though, bit dour grapes on your part I feel though.

Not sure what has changed there but it used to be great but over the last 3 months it's been shocking!

Staff turnover basically. Seen a few new faces in the last few visits compared to the regular ones (I go once a month on average, uplift and pedal-up days).

There isn't even a landline contact number for BPW.. There's a mobile number and you have no idea who you are talking to.

Partly the fault of the location, no services went there before as it was just a forestry car park used by the local doggers, druggies and wasters. I think they said in an interview when they opened that putting in multiple phone lines was prohibitively expensive so they only have one for the card terminals, or they may even be mobile?

Either way I think the honeymoon period for the place has definitely finished so they are now being judged against the competition that has sprung up since they opened, 417 and the Black Mountains Centre being the two nearest, so their shortcomings are making themselves heard.

But why have any cut of point. A £30 voucher is just that in 20yrs maybe all it will buy is a packet of crisps in the cafe. But they'd have had £30 for 20yrs to help develop their business. Vouchers are hardly ever a direct exchange for particular goods or services, just monetary value that can be redeemed.

A lot of people misunderstand what a "gift voucher" is and they are almost a scam. There has been loads of press about them and on likes of watchdog a few times. Its a sold item that you then can exchange for another item. Pretend the word voucher is replaced by shoes. 18 months after you bought a pair of shoes you realise they dont fit. Would a shop take them back?

Have heard various tales of less than satisfactory customer service at BPW.

A friend hired a bike from there , had a minor crash, nothing actually broken on the bike, but a few new scratches added to the paintwork, and got charged for the scratches when he gave the bike back.

That seemed a bit off to me, but I'm sure their T&C's covered them for it.

It is a great place to ride, but they do appear a bit over officious at times.

I was a little disappointed in their customer service recently. I had a trip booked, couple of days at BPW and a couple at FoD. I broke my wrist about 3 weeks before, so I emailed both telling them this and asking for a rain check on the bookings.

FoD; yep, not a problem, just let us know when you're healthy
BPW: we can give you a refund, but its a 10 quid restocking fee for each day on the 32 quid uplift fee.

Certainly put a bad taste in my mouth and I'm questioning even going again.

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