Am I being unreasonable? RS niggles....

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Onyxia

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I could rant away,but will keep it brief :p
1) Booked some fun days for my 6 year old son on his favorite RS ponmy.
On arival have been told he will have to have A N Other pony as his favorite is lame/thrown a shoe only to find out later said pony is on a "day loan" to one of the PC kids.

2) My lessons get bumped around all over the place if something else gets booked in.
I may be a stay at home mum but still have things ot be done and it's rarely OK to change the day/time at the last moment....

Now,the above would NOT have happened at the schools I have previously worked at and think it is disgusting way to treat clients!

Opinions please....am off for a cup of tea but offering vino to any advice given ;)
 
I should speak to the owner/manager about both these things, explaining that you would prefer honesty.
Depending on the response you get, I would then start looking for another RS. I'm surprised that they can afford to treat regular clients like that.
 
Dancing Queen said:
good god no! its very unprofessional and deceitful with the pony swap issue. I would also make my feelings clear to them.
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Thats has really pi55ed me off too-shame as it had seemed such a nice place :(
Stupid thing is,if they had called me I could have talked to son and he would not have been upset when he got there :(
 
Your lessons, if booked should not be moved to make way for someone else.You are a paying client and should be treated as such.There are times that changing a lesson may be unavoidable but not because something else is booked in:confused:
 
I'd talk to the owners of the riding school and tell them that (obviously put it better than this) if they dont get their act together you'll be moving elsewhere as what they've done is extremely unprofessional and you dont deserve to be lied to and messed about! Hope you get it sorted :)
 
Yunalesca said:
Thats has really pi55ed me off too-shame as it had seemed such a nice place :(
Stupid thing is,if they had called me I could have talked to son and he would not have been upset when he got there :(
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yes and thats whats most upsetting is your son getting his hopes up and so excited and then it comes crashing down. Its not fair on your son and i would make them understand that.
 
It's very unprofessional and deceitful as mentioned above with regards to the pony. Different if they had said something along the lines of "e're sorry, but you'll have to have a different pony because x is being used for y".

With regards to changing your lesson times etc, then again this is not of professional standards and what do they say when you say, sorry, I can't manage any other time? Different if its a one off but sounds like a regular thing? You are paying for a service.

It doesn't matter if your a stay at home mum or not, you could have anything booked in and this should have nothing to do with it, IMHO.

I would look elsewhere if I were you.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I should speak to the owner/manager about both these things, explaining that you would prefer honesty.
Depending on the response you get, I would then start looking for another RS. I'm surprised that they can afford to treat regular clients like that.
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Did that last week, YM was very sympatetic and said she will make it clear son is to get favorite today- he did not (she was away though).
Had a chat with YO who was very dismissive and TBH I felt liek she was being very patronising.
I agree it is exxestial to rinde as many different horses as possbale,and son knows full well not to moan about his pony in lesons but these are fun days,and his favorite was avalable at time and is clearly not lame- it has even been used in hisactivity toady for another rider! :mad:

As for my lessons,again she was very offhand and said she could not garentee a regular slot.
Once again, I expect things not to go to plan now and then but most weeks is OTT.
 
So they can't guarantee a private lesson at the time of your choice? Clearly they don't need your money! I'd clear off pronto - I know it will be hard on your little boy that he won't be seeing his favourite pony again, but kids are actually little turncoats and he will soon have a new favourite.
 
I've spent years riding in riding schools and agree that this is very poor service.

If a specific pony is booked for a specific activity (ie not just a normal regular weekly lesson) then that pony should not be available for anything else. If the pony is lame or has been accidentally double booked then they should notify you asap and you should be offered an alternative pony, an alternative day or a refund. If a pony is requested in a lesson all efforts should be made to take this into account where possible.

In relation to your lesson it is unacceptable to change what you booked. Changes should only be made due to things like staff sickness or extreme weather. In all the years of riding at riding schools (over 20 years) I have only had a lesson moved a handful of times although I have had my instructor changed without notice due to sickness etc. I would be fuming if a riding school moved my lesson just to fit another client in. I would be ok if they called and said, would you mind coming an hour earlier or whatever but it would have to be my choice to change if it was convenient.

I would also be pretty peeved if my regular slot was given away.....

I would suggest speaking to the OWNER and explaining your concerns, what you expect and that you are seriously considering taking your custom elsewhere. If they don't bend over backwards to appease you take your business elsewhere.

The owner of the riding school I had lessons at most recently would always try to keep regular clients onside. So when it snowed and the outdoor school froze she waived cancellation charges and just said give me a call an hour before and let me know whether you can make it.
 
Thankyou- have called to cancel further lessons and politely given my reasons.
Have PM'ed you Ruth83,if you are able to offer any recomendations it would be apriciated :)

Fatpiggy (awesome name) I agree- he is allready drool.ing at the idea of a new hat silk and new ponies ot play with - boys :rolleyes: :D

KristmasKatt that is exactly the type of service I have been used to, was quite shocked at how hit and miss this place has been :o It was drilled into me as a WP that regular clients come first because it is they who pay the bills!
 
I think that the swopping of ponies is acceptable - riding schools have to arrange the usage of ponies depending on who is suitable for what, and how much the ponies have worked compared to others. I have worked in riding schools where the fave ponies would have worked like dogs while others did little if the clients had the choice. That said, they should have been honest about it.

The cancelling of lessons at no notice is not acceptable though.
 
Honey08 said:
I think that the swopping of ponies is acceptable - riding schools have to arrange the usage of ponies depending on who is suitable for what, and how much the ponies have worked compared to others. I have worked in riding schools where the fave ponies would have worked like dogs while others did little if the clients had the choice. That said, they should have been honest about it.
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I understand that sometimes you can't do what the client would like re choice of horses, and obviously fully suport a RS that does that right thing by it's horses.
As far as my son in concerned,as I have said I want him to ride lots of different horses while he learns.

However, when we booked the choice of activity, we also booked the choice of pony.
This was done 4 weeks ago when the lists first went up in the office.
I had a look at the last few days work sheets for the ponies and know that there are another three comprable ponies that had done nothing yesterday :mad:
 
Hi. I would vote with my feet and find somewhere else to ride. They are being unprofessional and actually down right rude. Also, what kind of people are they to lie to your son re his fav pony that he was looking forward to riding. They should have just been honest with you both in the first place. Also, if anybody asks you about your experience of this establishment, tell them exactly what happened. Riding is an expensive sport and you do not deserve to be treated like this.
Good luck and don't let them intimidate you.
 
I agree - totally unprofessional. If you've booked a lesson for a date/time then there should be a darn good reason for it to be moved! I've never come across treatment like that, and most of my riding has been done in riding schools.

I'm sure you'll find somewhere with a better idea of customer service!
 
sodslaw said:
Hi. I would vote with my feet and find somewhere else to ride. They are being unprofessional and actually down right rude. Also, what kind of people are they to lie to your son re his fav pony that he was looking forward to riding. They should have just been honest with you both in the first place.
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I agree :(
It's been really sad to see him so upset,and then today to have to go on a pony he hates while someone else was on his favorite pony that he had booked :(


sodslaw said:
Also, if anybody asks you about your experience of this establishment, tell them exactly what happened. Riding is an expensive sport and you do not deserve to be treated like this.
Good luck and don't let them intimidate you.
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Eak :o I would never slate them (or any other RS) directly- yes,we have had a bad experiance but it is still a busy school with many satisfied clients and they have done nothing dangerous and just because I am not happy does not mean they are not the perfect RS for someone else.


I am sure we will find somewhere that suits us better so it's not the end of the world- just frustrating!
 
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