Outstanding Customer Service

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AstroDan

Outstanding Customer Service

I love creating topics like this. Not least because it's following a truly "above and beyond" experience at Alton this weekend. Quite simply, credit where credit is due. Over the course of the past two days, I have experienced consistently top quality customer service across both the theme park and resort hotels. Let me explain...

I had followed the weather forecasts for Saturday closely last week and, following Alton's announcement via facebook, twitter and the website that conditions were so poor, expected the rollercoasters to be closed which, they were (aside from Air which opened after  lunch). It was clear when driving to the theme park that it was incredibly cold (my car showed -5C on arrival) with a lot of solid ice and hard snow covering access routes and car parks.

Express Parking was complimentary, so guests did not need to wait in the cold for the transfer bus to the main entrance. Upon entering the theme park, several of the parks management were immediately on hand with letters on headed paper which were being distributed to all guests together with a verbal apology. Rather than wait for people to be disappointed as they walked around, Alton Towers were entirely proactive and immediately making people feel better by offering them a free ticket to the theme park valid any day until July. There was an apology and thank you to the guests on the letter for their decision to visit. Annual Pass holders were directed straight to the resort box office, where staff were on hand issuing letters of apology and thanking holders for their continued commitment to the resort. Ride fast tracks were issued for the main season and again, were valid until July. Several managers were also on hand in the box office to deal with any other specific queries. I was extremely impressed with the approach Alton Towers had taken, which meant absolutely no queues of complaint at Guest Services. Brilliant.

Walking around the park, it was clear that conditions were far from suitable for the safe operation of rollercoasters. Indeed, many parks will not operate headline attractions below 5C or in the slightest hint of rain - but Alton Towers endeavoured to open as many attractions as possible through the day even with temperatures hovering between -1 and 1C. Technical Services engineers were working flat out on Air for example, trying to make it safe for use. Huge icicles hung from the track on many of the coasters and inside the tunnels on Oblivion and Nemesis. Air did eventually open and, although it was on low capacity, this did at least give guests one major rollercoaster to ride. Although Nemesis, Runaway Mine Train, Sonic Spinball and Oblivion failed to open, it was obvious that the ride staff were as disappointed as the guests - after all, they had been building to this day for several months.

I left the theme park mid afternoon to go to the resort hotels. Now, I was not too well - with a cold, and decided to ask whether it would be possible to move to the Alton Towers Hotel, where rooms and beds were slightly larger. This would give more space for me to suffer without everyone else being so exposed to my germs! :P The check in staff were more than helpful and moved our reservation next door. We were even asked if we had friends staying, so that they could put our room next to them - which was the case. Whilst checking in, we were also offered a complimentary orange and grenadine cocktail by two Ma Garritas bar staff. What a lovely touch!

We also had £80.00 credit on our room following a refund after the room price had been cut by over 40%. We were advised that this could be spent on food and drink in bars or restaurants. Additionally, following our disappointment that our booking at Emperor had (yet again) been moved to Secret Garden due to a lack of bookings, we were also offered a complimentary drink with our meals - again, excellent service from the hotel management team.

Three others wished to use the Water Park and asked whether it would be possible to exchange the fastrack tickets for Water Park entrance (or discounted entrance). This was not a problem, and they were gladly offered a free ticket - and allowed to keep the fastrack too.

Inside the Alton Towers hotel, the fire was roaring, and a warm atmosphere was keeping everyone in great spirits - whilst many people anxiously checked the forecast for Sunday.

Sunday came and not long after 10:00am, all rides except Runaway Mine Train were open. I was not expecting this, and was delighted to ride all the major attractions. Lunch at Woodcutters was excellent, and service was very quick - and punctual.

The weekend has been a real challenge for Alton Towers. However, the way in which they have pro-actively reacted to it and responded to all guests has been entirely outstanding. Across the board, staff were working tirelessly to ensure guests were happy and having as good a time as possible within the circumstances. I would like to thank, on behalf of many members of TTF who were in attendance for the weekend, the park for working hard - and trying to keep the lift hills going - even when conditions were Arctic! Long may such excellence continue!

It's not what happens, it's how you deal with it.

Magic.

:)
Last edited by AstroDan on Sun Feb 12, 2012 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jackgcse
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It’s lovely to here that customer service is so high at Alton Towers still, I too have had very good customer service, as well as staff happy to talk about their job in such a positive light.
There is still a sense of community within staff that Thorpe park sadly seem to have missed in recent times, however Alton just seem to care about their guests from the moment you enter the resort.
Jem8472

Its good to hear that you had such a good time with all the closures. It is always good when a company works well and ensures that its customers are happy.

I have read some of the FB updates from people when they were they saying that all the rides were closed and I did not fancy being there myself but it seems to have been handled very well.

I hope that you are planning on forwarding this message to the towers to tell them how good and how much appreciated all their hard work was.
I e-mailed the Marriott back in November about a very good stay we had with them and I got a nice response to my e-mail and it made me feel good to know that they knew they had done a good job.
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Voke
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I must admit, the Customer Service over this past weekend has been amazing, as you can tell they wanted the rides open as much as we did!

The complimentary four free Fastracks was a great bonus and I'm sure I'll be using them during the Opening Weekend. Sub-Terra anyone? ;)
Well done Alton! Let's just hope they keep up this great service throughout the main season!
Poison Tom 96

Air lift hill had soooo many problems as did dispatch, but the techies were there working non stop. when i was on my way to AT, Derby station was reading -10oc and it was very,very cold. but they had one of the most temperamental rides working. this shows the AT spirit and the staff are amazing. i have never ever met nicer people then at Merlin.

From the litter pickers who will have a conversation with you every time you try to talk to them, to the Big cheese who will send a fan site a letter, it shows how brilliant they are.

yesterday had extreme conditions and lets face it, Air really struggled,but the staff were always pleasant.

on a slightly unrelated note, Every merlin attraction i have been to, the staff are all amazing.
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Vik
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Will also concur that customer service this weekend was excellent.  There was the potential, with all the main coasters out of action for the best part of the day, and with only Air eventually opening on the minimum capacity possible, for everything to of been a shambles.  However, with pre-warnings posted on their website, and staff explaining to guests arriving what was happening, and offering a free return visit in compensation, they avoided any such possibility.

Good to see something being offered to Annual Pass holders too, in the form of 4 free fastrack tickets for a ride of your choice, as well as, in some cases, also free entry to the Waterpark. 

Sadly, due to the weather conditions at this time of year, with February being one of the coldest months of the year, opening during this time is fraught with the risk of being caught out by bad weather.  The park took the decision to close on the last day of Feb 1/2 term 2 years ago, due to heavy snow fall the night before.  Many roads, including at one point, parts of the A50, were impassable.  Though conditions did improve greatly by the lunch time of that day. 

Thankfully though, the rest of this week and next weekend are looking to be much better than Saturday weatherwise.  :D
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AWTSW90
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I definitely agree this, or similar should be forwarded to the park. Obviously the park recieves far more complaints than compliments with people being the way they are, so when a very positive letter or email is sent, the park make sure all of the staff are made aware of this (Usually mentioned in briefings and displayed in the green rooms) in order to lift spirits and show that their hard work is appreciated. It's things like this that help to motivate the staff to continue to deliver the top notch customer service we all know and love!
Dormiens-Dave

I completely agree with Astro's assessment of the weekend, the staff worked tirelessly in freezing temperatures to make sure the day was as good as it possibly could be. Plenty of management where out and about and everything was done with customer service fully in mind.

10/10
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Magrathea
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Could not agree more.

This is coming from the group of people who are Towers's biggest critic at the best of times; the fact that an exceedingly reduced ride line-up (of course, out of the park's control) still resulted in a great day and positive experience for all guests lies purely with the efficiency, professionalism, and courteousness of all staff without exception.

The fact that the day BEGAN with Di and the fantastic Welcome team giving a warning and free tickets meant that whatever happened, a return visit when temperatures were bareable was guaranteed, and the park's politeness appreciated.

I cannot praise Alton Towers enough for the way they have responded this weekend in light of circumstances entirely beyond their control :)
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mezza
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This is great to read.

It also adds further weight to the view that they haven't taken the decision to close Submission and Enterprise for 2012 lightly:  The Alton Towers of 2012 really want to keep rides open as much as possible.  Good to see.

So far, things are looking very promising for 2012!
EXIT THROUGH THE SHIPPING CONTAINER
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BSwiss
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I'm really happy to read about the great service and how it is appreciated. I work in a busy hotel that is expected to adhere to high, high standards and it is irksome when people don't appreciate the hard work that you are putting in.

Unfortunately there is a percentage of the population who cannot empathise with trouble faced by staff in any industry and they can often ruin it for everyone. A simple 'thank you' from a guest can improve the working environment as much as a smile from a staff member can. In this case, I imagine there was still (a minority of) guests who would complain directly and unfairly to staff but it is nice that it did not affect their demeanor and treatment of the guests who approached the situation with realism and grace.
Poison Tom 96

apparently doing what i do with the staff improves their day.

i treat them Human and have conversations with them
AstroDan

I am really pleased to see so many people have thanked my initial post. Not because it makes me feel good, but because clearly dozens of TTF members who were on park at the weekend agree with what Alton did about the situation.

Was so good not to have a Thorpe Park of old style queue snaking for 50 metres across Towers Street!

:D
.Will

AstwoDan wrote: I am really pleased to see so many people have thanked my initial post. Not because it makes me feel good ...
Whatever.

'Thanks' whore. ;)


Anyway, it was a good day Saturday all the staff were chatty and helpful especially the lady in the Chicken outlet who I had a nice chat with the bus service made my day I couldn't believe the lengths they went to.

Quite amazing really.
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The Crab of Nemesis
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Completely agree with what everyone has said, the weather was dreadful,  but the Towers shone through it.

I only went Sunday (due to the advice put on the AT website) but I was amazed to see that the park got Air running on Sat, didn't expect to see that until we got to at least 3 degrees.

After a long journey and very icy journey on Sunday, I was thrilled to see Nemmy running from before I entered the park. I presumed that it would remain just Nemmy, Oblivion and Air all day, but was really impressed to see Sonic come online and even an attempt at opening the RMT.

The staff were fantastic all day long, really helpful in explaining the changes for the day and regularly asking if we were having a good day. The service made it one of the best days I've ever had at Towers. (as a side to the customer service, I was also pleased to see both Duel and Hex looking the best I've seen them in a while).

And as an afterthought, I don't think anyone tried to 'upsell' me anything all day. This was the Towers I like to remember - great work by all involved.
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Poison Tom 96

The Crab of Nemesis wrote: Completely agree with what everyone has said, the weather was dreadful,  but the Towers shone through it.

I only went Sunday (due to the advice put on the AT website) but I was amazed to see that the park got Air running on Sat, didn't expect to see that until we got to at least 3 degrees.

After a long journey and very icy journey on Sunday, I was thrilled to see Nemmy running from before I entered the park. I presumed that it would remain just Nemmy, Oblivion and Air all day, but was really impressed to see Sonic come online and even an attempt at opening the RMT.

The staff were fantastic all day long, really helpful in explaining the changes for the day and regularly asking if we were having a good day. The service made it one of the best days I've ever had at Towers. (as a side to the customer service, I was also pleased to see both Duel and Hex looking the best I've seen them in a while).

And as an afterthought, I don't think anyone tried to 'upsell' me anything all day. This was the Towers I like to remember - great work by all involved.
Hex is the worst it has ever been in the vault - it creaks and the effects are not that good!
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The Crab of Nemesis
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Poison Tom 96 wrote:
The Crab of Nemesis wrote: Completely agree with what everyone has said, the weather was dreadful,  but the Towers shone through it.

I only went Sunday (due to the advice put on the AT website) but I was amazed to see that the park got Air running on Sat, didn't expect to see that until we got to at least 3 degrees.

After a long journey and very icy journey on Sunday, I was thrilled to see Nemmy running from before I entered the park. I presumed that it would remain just Nemmy, Oblivion and Air all day, but was really impressed to see Sonic come online and even an attempt at opening the RMT.

The staff were fantastic all day long, really helpful in explaining the changes for the day and regularly asking if we were having a good day. The service made it one of the best days I've ever had at Towers. (as a side to the customer service, I was also pleased to see both Duel and Hex looking the best I've seen them in a while).

And as an afterthought, I don't think anyone tried to 'upsell' me anything all day. This was the Towers I like to remember - great work by all involved.
Hex is the worst it has ever been in the vault - it creaks and the effects are not that good!
I thought it was better than the whole of 2011, I could actually hear the music for once (last year I couldn't hear it over the creaking of the mechanism!).

I do agree there's a way to go though, there was little mist from the branch and it did also fail to park rather massively!
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djtruefitt

The parking on Hex has certainly got worse compared to earlier last year. I think the music is slightly louder, but its certainly not loud enough. and the vault still creeks! Someone needs to get some oil on it :P
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