Absolutely Snow - www.absolutelysnow.com

It has taken over 3 months to get a refund from this company. He is busy skiing and the girls that work for him are lovely but have no control. Our holiday had to be cancelled as covid rules to France changed and easyJet cancelled the flights. He uses a cheap third party hotel provider which then proved very difficult to get a refund from. After initially being helpful he became rude, we finally got our refund but it was a very painful process. You would be better to book direct yourself. Avoid at all costs.

Up until booking the proprietor couldn’t have been more helpful and attentive, but after this it became increasingly difficult to get a response out of him, and even when we could the responses became increasingly unhelpful.

The online brochure had indicated HB against the list of prices, and said “the holiday price includes half board”, but the booking confirmation indicated BB after the deposits had been paid. After being verbally told that he’d “checked with the hotel and it was sorted” we received no response to several requests for written confirmation, leading us to check with the hotel direct. But, it turned out they hadn’t offered HB for a few years. It seems the brochure was based on old info, had not been updated, and this company were trying to avoid taking responsibility. After issuing a complaint the brochure was changed to BB against the pricelist, in a virtual admission of fault, yet the proprietor still refused any liability.

Also the name of one of our group’s rail transfer tickets was wrongly spelled on a “no exchange” ticket, and the ages printed on the prepaid lift pass tickets were all wrong. Fortunately we were able to get round these problems at the rail station and lift pass office, but obviously not without considerable worry beforehand.

Myself and my fellow skiers have been going on ski breaks for many years, with lots of different operators, and have never experienced anything quite like this before!

Absolutely Snow is one of Ski Club GB's partner operators offering member discounts. I booked a 3-generation family ski holiday with them. The holiday was fine in the end but I needed to contact them on several occasions to correct their paperwork. Each time I made contact the proprietor usually responded quickly, even out of hours. However, more effort on accuracy could save time and anxiety on everyone's part. Here's a few examples:

- Many documents had mis-spelled names, even after 'corrections', e.g ATOL Certificate, hotel check-in document, flight API data they prepared.

- Misleading transfer time: 3.5 hours when traffic and weather clear, not 2.5 hours when busy as advised

- incorrect transfer coach pick up arrangements

- non-preferred flight times substituted without consultation

- superseded travel documentation issued

Worst of all appears to be a reduced discount given from that stated clouded by no direct reference on the invoice.

Consequently I can't recommend this company for fear that some sloppy errors could go wrong and damage a holiday.

I have never reviewed anything before but I feel that I must warn other travellers about Absolutely Snow. Please save yourself time and stress and book with another company. After a multitude of admin errors during the booking process - incorrectly spelt names, unanswered phone calls and emails, changed flight times (without telling us), private transfer was actually on a large coach which was an hour late collecting us. The final straw came when our hotel was changed at the last minute. 9 days before departure Absolutely Snow told us that due to an admin error our hotel had been changed and we had been booked into an alternative hotel without any consultation or warning. We had to accept the change as it was half term and everywhere else was full. This change of hotel nearly ruined our holiday but we made the best of it. Absolutely Snow made no attempt to offer compensation or meaningful apology - overall this is the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Please avoid this company at all costs.