- Report: #439711
Complaint Review: Mammoth Mountain - Mammoth Lakes California
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Mammoth Mountain
P.O. Box 24 Mammoth Lakes, 93546 California, U.S.A.
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760-934-2571
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Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort Deceptive business practice regarding MVP Season Pass Club, lied regarding opening to public Mammoth Lakes California
I've been a season pass holder for Mammoth's MVP Season Pass (Mammoth Value Pass) since 2001 and my boyfriend has been a season pass holder since 2005. Every year starting April 1 through April 30, Mammoth starts their season pass sale for the upcoming winter season. Prior to 2005, the MVP pass sale was based on first come, first serve until the maximum number of passes were sold, and it was completely open to the public. This method seemed to work just fine, and the passes would usually sell out within a week or two. i myself would usually buy it the first day the passes were available. If you didn't have the money or just didn't want to buy one for that season, it wasn't a big deal because you could just wait and buy it April for the following season.
Starting in 2005, Mammoth stated that their MVP pass would now be PERMANENTLY closed to the public, and that you would have to continue to buy your pass year after year if you wanted to remain eligible and stay in the MVP program. That means every year you had to buy it and "pay to stay", otherwise you'd be kicked out of the program. So, if you break your leg or become ill and basically can't head to the snow that season- too bad, you still have to buy your pass to stay in the program for the upcoming years!
My boyfriend who was a beginning s****..
Starting in 2005, Mammoth stated that their MVP pass would now be PERMANENTLY closed to the public, and that you would have to continue to buy your pass year after year if you wanted to remain eligible and stay in the MVP program. That means every year you had to buy it and "pay to stay", otherwise you'd be kicked out of the program. So, if you break your leg or become ill and basically can't head to the snow that season- too bad, you still have to buy your pass to stay in the program for the upcoming years!
My boyfriend who was a beginning s****..
1 Updates & Rebuttals
E.p.
Encino,California,
U.S.A.
Update as of 4/15/2009
#2Author of original report
Thu, April 16, 2009
On 4/5/2009, I had a 45-minute phone conversation with the CEO of Mammoth (Rusty Gregory) in which I addressed my concerns regarding the false advertising Mammoth used in 2005, and how many others were locked into this program and kept paying year after year to stay in the program assuming it would never open to the public again. All he could do was apologize and make excuses as to why the program had to open up to the public again. He said this would be the last year it is opening to the public again. But then when I questioned him further about future attrition, he could not 100% guarantee that it would open up again. Their marketing tactic didn't make sense because they cap the membership at 38,000, but are advertising this as being the last year. They keep raising the pass price by $50 ever year, and I mentioned attrition would naturally occur because people are only willing to pay so much before they consider the pass price to be too much or they are breaking even/taking a loss. It is safe to say that in 3 years it could possibly drop 3,000 MVP members, and at the current price of $576 that would be $1.7 million in lost revenue plus more each year after those 3 years. So if this is the last year it's open to the public, where would the new members to make up for this lost revenue come from? All he could do was say that Mammoth hopes and thinks there's enough interest in the program that there won't be that much attrition...typical CEO optimism! I told him it was not right to make false promises to customers, and there are many who may buy into this program this year under false pretenses just like I did. I also mentioned if there are tons of people who are pissed off and ripped off, this could classify as a class-action lawsuit since the language on their advertising is very clear- "THIS IS THE LAST YEAR IT WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC". He said he would have his people check on the language used. On 4/10/2009 I logged onto the website and noticed the language about this being the last year was completely removed and it now says "Open to the public for the first time in 4 years". It looks like they're covering their butts and preparing for the future, which leaves me to believe it is almost definite it will open again in a few years. After my conversation with the CEO, we will not be returning to Mammoth for a LONG time. Considering I spend thousands a season on s****.. Goodbye Mammoth, Goodbye Wooly....the days of Dave McCoy are truly gone.
