nama bike camp

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Sam

Race Dog
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Mar 1, 2007
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AJS (all models)
I'm usually the "silent customer" who simply moves on when encountering bad service. This incident brought the "red mist" down though......I've waited a couple of days to post, so as not to do so in anger. I can be quite hot-headed, so bounced this off of a couple of close friends......who had the same reaction.

This is a copy of what I have just sent to them. Use it / don't use it. They will never get a second chance at my business. A really kak incident that spoiled a fantastic day of riding.

Dear Wayne,
We have not met but would have done so if you had deigned to take two minutes to chat to me on Monday 2/11 when I arrived at your camp.

I was the rider that arrived at your camp at 15h15 on Monday, hoping to find accommodation and have a relaxing afternoon after quite a hot day’s riding in the Cederberg. I came to your camp from Oasis, via Wuppertal and Brand Se Berg.

The reason for my intended visit was to recon your camp as a possible future destination for some long weekend trips for me and a couple of riders that I travel with. I thought that it might be a convenient stop after Oasis, before heading back over to the Tankwa for a three-day weekend.

Your camp looked pretty closed when I arrived, but there was a Ranger parked outside, so somebody was there.

Admittedly I had not booked anything but had checked your website to see if you were open before riding up from Oasis. The website did confirm that you were closed for the weekend of 31st October. My trip was a little spontaneous, hence no booking. However, to the best of my recollection, I cannot remember many instances in which I have booked over about 15 years of riding in the area. Preferring a little bit of a “quieter scene” I usually use Sunday’s and Monday’s to travel, so the camps or stopovers are usually pretty quiet on those days – never had a problem finding a place to sleep for the night.

After looking around for about 5 minutes, one of your workers walked by, and went in to call you. You must have been quite close by, as I could hear him talking to you. After about 5 minutes he came back out and said, “the boss said that he is not opening today, as there was a party here last night, and he is busy cleaning up”. I asked him who the boss was, and he responded that his name was Wayne, so I assume that it was you.

I have not been quite that angry for quite a few years. The level of disdain that you displayed by your actions toward a prospective client really blew my mind. It would have taken 2 minutes to pop out of your door to explain that you were closed, and perhaps why you did not mention this on your website as you did for 31 October. A recommendation of alternative accommodation would have been a great gesture too. After all, there are not too many alternatives in the area. You are also not really situated in an area where too many people would be “just riding by and decide to stop over”. You could be pretty sure that anyone that arrived there did so because it was an intended destination  - in other words a CLIENT.

It appears that your camp is pretty much solely focused toward dual-sport / adventure riding. I sincerely hope for your sake that it is merely a sideline business for you. It is quite a niche market, and you already have lost between 1 and 10 prospective clients. You will not ever have a second chance at my business, and I will definitely not be referring to your establishment in any positive manner. Think of it as the opposite of “word of mouth advertising”. You are riding on the coat tails of the reputation of businesses that have taken years of hard work to establish, such as Oasis.

So, what was to be done when one finds oneself without accommodation at that time of the afternoon? Fortunately, I can keep a pace, so I slabbed it back to Oasis, a place that one can rely on for excellent service and a great owner. I was so angry that I forgot about a nearby place that I would quite happy have stayed over at - Highlanders in Trawal. Mike started that business from scratch quite a few years ago and became the Overland stopover of choice on the Namibia trips. Maybe make a stop there sometime to see what a successful business looks like. I will be recommending his place to anyone that asks for suggestions for the area.

I am usually the “silent customer” – if it had merely been bad service, you would simply have never heard from me again. Disdain, on the other hand, deserves a response. Here you have mine.
I will be posting a copy of this on the Wilddog site. As they always say, there are two sides to the story – this is mine. There will be no further comment from me.

Sam









 
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