A shambolic week with Sierra Cycling

Tea?

No idea about any of these companies but one things seems very obvious from the companies reply.
Things went wrong, guides and vans broke etc.
The company should be able to absorb that with no detriment to the service offered. Poor service if it can’t.
No client should ever be allowed to break the law. ( I decline to commment on that actually happening.) Refuse to drive them if that looks like happening. Never say its your responsibilty .
If the large group had an agreement to stick together( with the company) then it is the companies job to ensure it happens even if it costs. If they didn’t then I would assume that the small print covers this.
Of course now every issue that arose or possibly arose will be dealt with in the small print. If it isn’t, how stupid. Cover your arse. Live and learn.

Maybe he should have hired another van.

the responce makes them sound just as shoddy as the OP made out IHO!

I think it would be best to shut this thread now. There has been a review and a reply, and it would be best left at that.

I predict a riot 1000 post thread.

Ace reply. Like it or lump it. Personally would not apply that to my business but people do make money in strange ways.

bet you never offered them the choice of going first.

I thought your response was reasonable until I read that line. Making a snide comment isn’t the best way to protect your reputation.

You missed the ‘customer service’ course then?

Well we can cross Sierra Cycling off the list.

I don’t get why OP didn’t make his concerns known at the time, or at least contact SC directly before posting here. Why not? It’s like running to your Mum when you don’t get your way if you ask me.

I’ve been with one of the companies mentioned many times above when they lost a guide due to injury. They managed to get by but only just and you could tell it stretched them.

BUT It does sound like SC should have been better prepared.

Amen to that, toons.

I don’t get why OP didn’t make his concerns known at the time, or at least contact SC directly before posting here. Why not? It’s like running to your Mum when you don’t get your way if you ask me.

To warn everyone else? His holiday was crap, nothing is going to change that.

What, and spoil all the fun?

‘The customer is always right’, except at Sierra Cycling.

Think I’ll still give them a miss. Even if the review is all lies, and as Alan suggests it was all Mr MC’s group’s doing, there is enough doubt on this thread that it is nowhere near worth me risking any hard earned cash on them.

Dave

Just thought I’d put a good word in for Holy Grail based in Chatel.

Run by Mick Valentine and partner Lisa, the whole setup was faultless from start to finish. Cannot recommend them highly enough.

I suppose the OP and group should have been more open at the time.

I suppose SC should have been more open as to why things were a bit shabby.

But the response from SC raises loads more questions. Why is it the fault of the clients for the driver letting too many people get into the bus? Why was a guide borrowing pumps off people if he apparently carries full first aid and repair kit? What about the illegal guiding in the national park?

Not sure why the other smaller group always got two guides
and OP’s larger group (who rightly didn’t want to split up) only got the one?

Yeah, if you knew a group of 10 were coming (assuming you knew) then why wouldn’t you prepare for them? Pretty obvious they wouldn’t want to split.

Sorry to hear about your experience.

They sound very unprofessional, even their response seems poor and makes them sound even worse. Shocking to think that a business expects to get away with that level of service, then that level of a response.

Im glad when people do post up their experiences as honestly and as well balanced as you did, its exactly that sort of info you need from a forum.

I wont be using them. Hopefully they will learn and improve, but I doubt it. They could have so easily provided a service that left you with a great experience, but no, they failed.

Why is it the fault of the clients for the driver letting too many people get into the bus?

They wanted to stay together they let them and they the people who insisted there was 10 in th bus then complained there was 10 in the bus was my reading of that tbh

Reply seemed fine for me tbh – sounds like some of ths tuff happened but M_C insisting on the group stay together [ their choice as their holiday] made things a little worse and harder to cope with.
Stuff happens and in life we deal with it when it happens on your holiday it proper sucks though.

What Trimix said…

I don’t often go away on guided trips but when I do I won’t be using them. They sound like they don’t actually appreciate their customers anymore. Thanks for the heads up.

I suppose the OP and group should have been more open at the time.

I suppose SC should have been more open as to why things were a bit shabby.

This^^^^^^

I’ve never used SC but stuff happens; should imagine lessons will be learnt – seems slightly unfair all the kicking they’re getting on here especially going of the many people that seem to have had very good experiences.

Thought the OP clearly stated he did air his views, Sierra say he never said a word. Couple of other complete contradictions as well which makes this interesting. As it stands now the tone of the reply from Sierra has done them no favours whatsoever.

Reply seemed fine for me tbh – sounds like some of ths tuff happened but M_C insisting on the group stay together [ their choice as their holiday] made things a little worse and harder to cope with.

Without wishing to play devils advocate, mixed ability groups are a nightmare to deal with on guided rides and that does sound like a VERY mixed ability group

We were a group of 9 of mixed abilities from nervous to former Commonwealth competitor

I’m surprised the company didn’t explain that working with a large group of such mixed ability was going to be impossible for 1 or 2 days given the exceptional circumstances and split the groups out into “fast” and “slow” (for want of a better term).

Surely we’re on time for a threat of legal action or some such 🙂

So, mixed group of 10 riders = difficult to cater for – agree with that. The key question really then is whether the group had warned the company that that was the case to allow them to prepare accordingly.

The key question really then is whether the group had warned the company that that was the case to allow them to prepare accordingly

Or the company making amendments to the plan as and when they discover that fact. Or the group being willing to accommodate/be flexible and split up for a day or two.

Indeed. Though with a small company, it’s not always possible to cater for every situation though if it’s likely to be a problem and they’ve been ‘est since 1992’ then I’d expect them to check with the customers beforehand.

or at least explain once there why things aren’t running so smoothly

The reply from SC seemed fine to me too

They seem to have an awful lot of people that go back to them year after year so they must be doing things most of the time in a fashion that makes people return
Maybe it was never going to work for the OP and it was a personality thing – it can often be very difficult to keep problems in context if you start off on a bad footing.

I wouldn’t be put off going there again

Indeed. Though with a small company, it’s not always possible to cater for every situation though if it’s likely to be a problem and they’ve been ‘est since 1992’ then I’d expect them to check with the customers beforehand.

Having spent a season guiding in Whistler, you pretty well have to ignore the customers opinions of themselves! Plenty of people turned up saying they were freeride gods, only to spend all week walking down hill….

I have to join the poor response from Sierra group I’m afraid. And sadly “we” will never know what really hsa happened, other than a group of 10 people paid a company to provide them with a weeks guided MTB holiday and they felt they were let down.

My opinion of Sierra from the review and response is that they seem to have either had enough of the business and don’t know what to do next to get out of it OR they get plenty of business with the service they offer and are happy to continue in that way.

Being a worrier I’m in the “won’t be using them” party should I ever be in a position to go on a holiday in that region.

Having spent a season guiding in Whistler, you pretty well have to ignore the customers opinions of themselves! Plenty of people turned up saying they were freeride gods, only to spend all week walking down hill….

I didn’t know Hora had been to Whistler! 😉

Don’t see anything from Sierra that explains this, and surprised mor ehasn’t been made of it:

We completed what was planned to fill the whole morning in an hour, so our guide Dave invited us to go ride the loop again, whilst he sat in a cafe. So no medical support, no guiding, no “here’s an emergency number” etc etc.

If I was paying someone for a day’s guiding, got an hour’s riding, and was then told to fend for myself, I’d be fuming.

As for the 10 in a van thing, the OP clearly stated they were a group of 9. They had some stranger lumped in with them making 10.

By the way the other 2 groups of 3 and 4 bikers not in your party praised our setup and have re-booked for next year.

That goes some way to explaining why the OP had such a crap time – obviously the other groups got the proper guiding and attention.

Plenty reasons obviously, with staff and vehicle problems but surely it could have been handled better and those problems are not the paying guests fault, so every effort should have been made to lessen the impact. Poor show IMO and no proper apology (I would have expected an offer of a return discount at the very least) for a holiday which really wasn’t as it should have been.

If I was paying someone for a day’s guiding, got an hour’s riding, and was then told to fend for myself, I’d be fuming

+1.

And the “like it or lump it – I couldn’t care less” reply has only made it worse for them imo.

Morning Will.

Absolutely excellent reply from SC

right up until these points 🙁

Nice to know “Cycleactive (and Rich Barnard)” are so good , friend of yours is he?

I´m sure your posting will do some damage to our reputation…

You just can’t attack someone in an apology, even if they really want to and it’s correct. It was SC that damaged their own reputation by allowing it to happen in the first place as clearly something did go wrong. The apology was brilliant right up until that point 🙁

it’s a good thing that no-one included the word review in their post otherwise this might show up on Google

We will never know what really happened but that said I think the SC response is pretty p*ss poor, and that in itself would stop me from booking with them. As they say, sh*t happens but it is how you deal with it that makes the difference, in this case it wasn’t exactly great.

On reading the original post I was kind of on the fence over how much was really that bad, and how much was one man’s perspective.

The reply from SC has put me firmly on the side of the fence that would never dream of having anything to do with them.

i would have held an open mind on this one until alan posted a reply, the nature of his reply is a dead give away that he couldn’t care less.
plus he didn’t actually address all the points raised.

The reply from SC has put me firmly on the side of the fence that would never dream of having anything to do with them.

And just for their info., which part of their post made you think that?

I’d suggest France next year. A bit of a peace offering could have really sorted this out. I read the response as “bollocks you weren’t our favorites anyway”.