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

[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?

[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.

[rouxtjie]

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

[GLuvsMtb]

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

I had a very different experience at last year's pioneer:

Food - We received enough carbs and protein to feed an army. Some variety on the Veg front would have been nice though. KKI is one of the sponsors and fortunately I enjoy venison. There were other alternatives as well. I enjoyed the Scooters Pizzas over lunch opposed to a lucky packet from Woolworths.

Also remember that the race makes use of schools and their local kitchens to prepare the food. Small towns like Calitzdorp, Prins Albert and De Rust benefits hugely from this. KKI trains the staff at these venues and ensures that hygine etc is tested regularly. Ever wondered why so many riders gets the sh!ts at other big races?

Water points - These were stocked with energy drinks, fruit, potatoes and water last year. It goes much quicker when everyone fill their own bottles and the water points were set out to enable us to do this quickly and efficiently with single source water as is the standard at stage races these days. I never expected a buffet and an air conditioned tent to rest in, and this was not provided.

Tech zones are a luxury and I prefer that these stay out of water points. Even the Epic has more issues with tech zones than what their worth is to the race. It stretches logistics and therefor inflates prices, causing riders to complain about pricing.

Seeding - There were about 350 riders and I guess that most appreciate the warm-up behind the safety car. By the second day the fast guys would be in the front and the slower guys will be in the back and after the first climb everyone is usually where they should be. If the race does get any bigger I am sure that they will get a second or even a third neutral vehicle to keep the groups manageable I know that the organisers try to minimize the effect of traffic disruptions in the towns and one mass start is the best way to minimize this.

 

At least there seems to be very little criticism of the route. Its important because most races are judged by the route first and the the organisation. At under R10k per rider I think that this is still a good value proposition, but Joberg2C seems to be the premier race in this price range at present and given a choice I would probably opt for J2C

[rouxtjie]

I had a very different experience at last year's pioneer:

Food - We received enough carbs and protein to feed an army. Some variety on the Veg front would have been nice though. KKI is one of the sponsors and fortunately I enjoy venison. There were other alternatives as well. I enjoyed the Scooters Pizzas over lunch opposed to a lucky packet from Woolworths.

Also remember that the race makes use of schools and their local kitchens to prepare the food. Small towns like Calitzdorp, Prins Albert and De Rust benefits hugely from this. KKI trains the staff at these venues and ensures that hygine etc is tested regularly. Ever wondered why so many riders gets the sh!ts at other big races?

Water points - These were stocked with energy drinks, fruit, potatoes and water last year. It goes much quicker when everyone fill their own bottles and the water points were set out to enable us to do this quickly and efficiently with single source water as is the standard at stage races these days. I never expected a buffet and an air conditioned tent to rest in, and this was not provided.

Tech zones are a luxury and I prefer that these stay out of water points. Even the Epic has more issues with tech zones than what their worth is to the race. It stretches logistics and therefor inflates prices, causing riders to complain about pricing.

Seeding - There were about 350 riders and I guess that most appreciate the warm-up behind the safety car. By the second day the fast guys would be in the front and the slower guys will be in the back and after the first climb everyone is usually where they should be. If the race does get any bigger I am sure that they will get a second or even a third neutral vehicle to keep the groups manageable I know that the organisers try to minimize the effect of traffic disruptions in the towns and one mass start is the best way to minimize this.

 

At least there seems to be very little criticism of the route. Its important because most races are judged by the route first and the the organisation. At under R10k per rider I think that this is still a good value proposition, but Joberg2C seems to be the premier race in this price range at present and given a choice I would probably opt for J2C

True...

[Shebeen]

Wow, first time I've heard people taking clients on a 7 day business stage race, classic!This is not on, organisers need to be careful with these sort of races and 'hogging' the accomodation options as they know first when and where the race will be staying. It's super duper peak season for one night, but they really can't cook the golden goose if they've got a long term plan. I'm guessing that at this price, most of the guys will be bloody pissed off. If they don't sort it out, you'll find loads of guys privateering their own upgrade package...or skipping the race</p>