Ok, I am back. Sorry had to get to my laptop, since typing on the phone is a mission. I booked the Platinum Upgrade package. This was advertised in a similar way than what the Cape Epic accommodation upgrade package was advertised. So, having done the Epic package and knowing what I received there, I decided to book this upgrade for myself and the customer for whom I was paying. Obliviously I wanted to impress the customer by making sure I treat him. Also since this package cost nearly double that of the Epic package I obviously expected more (shoot me for that assumption)! What was advertised: The Platinum upgrade is for the teams that are looking for a little more pampering and luxury. These riders stay in guest houses and hotels where available, and will also have the services of a driver/host as well as a sports massage therapist. 1 vehicle per 4 platinum package teams 1 driver/host per 4 platinum package teams 1 sports massage therapist per 4 platinum package teams, with a 45 minute session per rider per day. Breakfast at your hotel/guesthouse where possible Race bag delivered to and collected from your accommodation location Transport between accommodation and the stage location 4 platinum teams will be placed together and also share a vehicle, a host/driver and a sport massage therapist. Riders and their bags will be transported between their accommodation and the race village. As this was advertised in exactly the same way as to the Cape Epic package for which we paid about a R1000 per day per person, the expectation was as follows (since here we pay R1810 per day per person): We will be introduced to the host upon registration. The host will inform us of exactly where and when he will be picking us up etc. We will genuinely stay in top B+B’s and Hotels. We will have a dedicated therapist which does the treatment at the place where you stay. We will have a dedicated driver as per 4 teams. We will indeed get breakfast at each venue we stay. We will get a gift drop at our rooms and be treated as VIP’s. So as expected you pay for a platinum package and expect to be treated as a platinum customer. What was given: We arrived at the registration and no-one knew that we ordered and paid for the upgrade. We were given a number to call and were not introduced to our host. Our vehicle was used to transport 12 riders Our host also had to host all these extra riders. We had to go back to the main massage area and book with the therapists that were also massaging everyone else that booked and there was no dedicated therapist allocated for Platinum members. In fact the therapists did not even expect us, as she was not informed of us. We were not offered any breakfast at the guesthouse and were told that breakfast had to be eaten at the main tent with the rest of the crowd at the main tent (as per organisers) We were given really cheap accommodation even though there was indeed better accommodation around. At one venue we got a room where we had to share the bathroom with 6 other rooms and did not even get a towel at arrival in our room. We paid R1850 per person per night and literally received a room which cost R280 per night (excluding the one without the bathroom, which was probably not more than R100) So even though this is a great race!! And I will definitely do the race again. I will never ever order their upgrade package again and would also not recommend this to anyone. PS: IF YOU DO COMMENT ON THIS POST, PLEASE BE MAN ENOUGH TO PUT YOUR NAME! NO USE HIDING UNDER A PSEUDO NAME AS ONE OF THE ORGANISERS.
