cape pioneer platinum upgrade package

[Colin (bigC)]

I have never been so disgusted and ripped off, in my life. The organisers sell you a five night accomodation package for R18100 and then give you only R600 worth of value per night. i will post the facts in a while.

[tunariaan]

Hope you have all your facts right, i find them to be the best race organizer in SA

Surely you saw all the extras you were gonna have before you actually bought it

[Witkop]

At this stage anything platinum comes with a free wildcat strike.

[Tjokkits]

So now where is the details/facts?

[Jaco-fiets]

At this stage anything platinum comes with a free wildcat strike.

 

Classic

[Bike Mob]

I was also disappointed at the organizers for just the standard race package.

 

hardly any food, food that tasted like canned dog food, dismal waterpoints with no clue how to fill a bottle. zero tech zones or assistance. Seeding, but one mass start everyday that everyone jumps behind the neutral car...the list goes on

[Shebeen]

I have never been so disgusted and ripped off, in my life. The organisers sell you a five night accomodation package for R18100 and then give you only R600 worth of value per night. i will post the facts in a while.

what sort of checks did you do before dropping this cash...is it for one or two people?

[Bike Mob]

... and for 20K per person i recon they could've bought something better than Ricoffy for a group of discerning coffee drinkers.

 

In my opinion having to pay for anything after forking out 20K is not on.

 

Bought lunch, bought water, bought coffee, bought dinner....

 

The race "Bike Shop" was a ripoff that organizers should keep a handle on JP's gang of thieves was disgusting.

[kandui]

Spoke to a guy at the race who had the same gripe.

In all honesty though, we are staying in small towns (Calitzdorp, Prince Albert, De Rust) and then Oudtshoorn and George as well as on a farm (Louvain).

If I took a look at the average prices for a room in those places before the event and did some maths, I could have quickly worked out that I could book a bed under my own steam for a whole lot less.

In fact ,a friend booked a room for us at De Rust while we were riding and we got great value for money.

The farmer at Louvain offered me the empty dining room of the main guesthouse and I took it. Felt a bit *** with the Platinum guys sleeping in the same house, but those are the Lucks you have to grab.

 

Platinum Upgrades are dangerous. What sort of service can you honestly expect to make up the price?

Edited October 22, 2012 by kandui

[Colin (bigC)]

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.

[Goodbadugly]

I was also disappointed at the organizers for just the standard race package.

 

hardly any food, food that tasted like canned dog food, dismal waterpoints with no clue how to fill a bottle. zero tech zones or assistance. Seeding, but one mass start everyday that everyone jumps behind the neutral car...the list goes on

Your opinion.

I also did it and had the exact opposite experience.

What bothers me is the fact that you know what dog food tastes like.

[Colin (bigC)]

Spoke to a guy at the race who had the same gripe.

In all honesty though, we are staying in small towns (Calitzdorp, Prince Albert, De Rust) and then Oudtshoorn and George as well as on a farm (Louvain).

If I took a look at the average prices for a room in those places before the event and did some maths, I could have quickly worked out that I could book a bed under my own steam for a whole lot less.

In fact ,a friend booked a room for us at De Rust while we were riding and we got great value for money.

The farmer at Louvain offered me the empty dining room of the main guesthouse and I took it. Felt a bit *** with the Platinum guys sleeping in the same house, but those are the Lucks you have to grab.

 

Platinum Upgrades are dangerous. What sort of service can you honestly expect to make up the price?

Hey buddy..... good to hear from you. Will bring back your shifter asap. still need to take my bike in

[Tjokkits]

If what you are telling is indeed the story then I say you must ,ake a case for a refund

[Colin (bigC)]

If what you are telling is indeed the story then I say you must ,ake a case for a refund

i actually did take it up with Karel Herholdt (one of the organisers) from Dryland. All he did was ensure that I actually get breakfast at 4 of the 5 B+B's. Other than that he did not even seem to care to try and better the situation. In fact he did not even organise for the rest of the 23 teams to get breakfast. Seems that only the ones complaining we being kept quiet. And we are talking about an extra expense of R30 per person in most cases. If I make my calculation they must have pocketed R200K profit just on the accommodation packages they sold.

[Bike Mob]

Your opinion.

I also did it and had the exact opposite experience.

What bothers me is the fact that you know what dog food tastes like.

 

I feed my dogs - smell is actually a form of taste, if you can smell it you are actually tasting it. Go look up how it works.

 

I didn't complain there, I left and ate at a restaurant. Later I spoke with several other riders who agreed that the food was awful (Cottage pie in Prince Albert) One guy cooked his own meal on a small gas stove!

 

The next morning several riders pulled out with stomach issues - namely Hannes Hanekom and Craig Boyes. Two top riders. Coincidence, I think not..

 

Admittedly the food got way better after that, De Rust and onwards was great food, they stopped policing our dinner tags and we could get more than one helping of food which was advertised as "More than enough" and "Famous for our food" at the first rider briefing. I felt like I was on rations.

 

Scooters was a balls up from Start to Finish.

 

I have done the Epic x 3 and Sani2C x 2 and the food is by far superior, you cannot tell me that the pioneer was value for money.

 

I witnessed first hand the attitude of the Bridge crew, who booked a table for 10 in a small restaurant (easily 25% of their seating area) in Prince Albert (must have Known about the dodgy food) But then they didn't even pitch and the owners were turning people away, we waited 15 minutes while the hurriedly set a table for us and made space while the banquet table stood empty. Later we saw the lasy that booked the table on their behalf and told her the kitchen was closing - she said they should have taken a phone number to call about the arrangement.... it isn't a pizza delivery prank call FFS, its a small town, you made the booking..., have some decency to cancel personally.

[rouxtjie]

demmit....at 1800 per person I would expect better. Thanks for the heads-up.