.jpg;w=960)
On Dec. 23 I had just read Clare Ogilvie’s [Opening Remarks in Pique] on the hardships to the local businesses that ended with, “As we head into another pandemic Christmas season in Whistler let’s do our best to stay positive, help the guests to stay positive, help the guests we have find the break they need here in our wonderland ...”
I then went skiing, having found a parking spot in Lot 7 (uphill side perimeter). It was then a Whistler Blackcomb (WB) truck honked at me.
“Can’t park there,” I was told. “Have just radioed to have the car in front of you and the one behind you towed,” said the WB employee, acknowledg[ing] that the distance between my car and the first line of cars to the left of my passenger door was wide enough for two fire trucks to pass side by side, or approximately 20 metres.
Very politely, I suggested that the families from the two cars to be towed had probably spent in excess of $1,000 each for the day to ski, and that Vail Resorts would certainly be ruining their day and the start of their Christmas holiday.
“Rules,” said the WB employee.
Where is the break these two families could and should expect? And why has Vail Resorts dictated that this is a “no parking” zone when it should be available? Aside from an illogical parking policy, (aside from Vail Resorts reserving about 30 per cent of the spots in Lot 5 for itself), the towing about to happen was just plain mean.
Just when we think we have heard it all, we read Pique letters about disappointed angry customers with stories that “top” the previous stories describing Vail Resorts’ illogical policies, lack of caring attitude, and in my latest experience, meanness at Christmas.
Mr. Geoff Buchheister [WB COO], where is your voice in all this? I ask you politely to stop being silent and report these issues to Vail Resorts’ Colorado executive.
I now constantly think of those two families, likely with kids in tow, returning from a day of skiing to find their cars missing.
Merry Christmas to you and your family [Mr. Buchheister], and please improve those things that you are reading about in the Pique, week after week after week. Vail Resorts should do better.
