The practices of skiing and other activities that can be carried out in the resorts, such as hiking with snowshoes or snowboarding, involve sports rights contracting services and purchasing or renting products.
With the arrival of the cold and snow, many citizens dedicate time to winter sports. The practices of skiing and other activities that can be carried out in the resorts, such as hiking with snowshoes or snowboarding, involve contracting services and purchasing or renting products.
Acquiring a ski pass, hiring an excursion with snowshoes, renting the material to be able to ski, or employ a learning course, are some of the steps that, as a consumer, you can carry out in these snow stations, and that entails a series of conditions and sports rights that must be known to practice these sports with the maximum guarantees.
Contents
General recommendations
The ski resort must provide clear and concise information on prices, schedules, the slopes’ condition, or the weather conditions.
One of the elements most used by skiers is forfeit. This is the name of the pass that allows you to use a ski resort’s facilities, especially ski lifts and chair lifts, to access the slopes.
As a consumer, it is convenient that you inform yourself exactly of the conditions of hiring the ski pass, such as, for example, if there is any possibility of reimbursement if some tracks are closed due to weather conditions, special prices if you hire it for several days…
Always require proof of payment when purchasing a ski pass, renting equipment or clothing for skiing, or hiring a course; it will be beneficial to claim if you have a problem.
If you have contracted a service based on the advertising offer, this must be respected since all advertising is binding. The brochure’s information takes precedence over any other, except that it is more beneficial to the consumer.
About insurance, skiing and snowboarding are considered risky, so it is convenient to have insurance covering any possible accident. There are a lot of types:
Civil liability insurance: The Company in charge of the station’s operation usually has one, which covers any accident with injuries or deaths due to the lack of security or information on the slopes.
Mandatory Travel Insurance: This insurance is included in the ski pass and obliges the resort to compensate for damages caused by death or injury if the accident occurs due to a malfunction of the chair lifts, cable lifts, or gondolas.
Accident insurance: You can contract it separately through an insurance company. Covers expenses in the event of an accident on the slopes for which the station was not responsible.
Ski courses
The schools’ courses in the ski resorts themselves are regulated by the non-regulated teaching regulations and must meet specific requirements. It is convenient to follow a few simple tips when hiring a course with one of them:
It is essential always to request detailed information on the duration of the course, its content, the necessary material, the itemized price, the forms of payment, the number of students per course, and keeping all the documentation provided.
Remember that the school must sign a contract with the course you take and deliver an invoice with the payments you make.
If the course is booked online, remember that you have the right to cancel it without having to justify this decision during the fourteen calendar days following the contract’s conclusion. It is the so-called right of withdrawal, and it will also entail the resolution of the linked credit without any penalty if the consumer has financed the course.
Try not to choose to pay in advance for the courses. If any problems and the time we’re interrupted, it would be challenging to get the money back.
If the payment of the service’s total price is agreed in advance, this circumstance must be expressly indicated in the contract.
The center is obliged to deliver a certificate of attendance to the course if the client requests it. It is not an official diploma, and so the public should be informed.
Travel to the snow with combo packages
Another of the alternatives widely used by consumers who practice these winter sports is to hire
a complete trip, which includes
a ski pass and transport, accommodation, and, where appropriate, a course.
In this case, the trip is covered by the current legislation on combined travel, which offers you the possibility of renouncing the trip if there is any post-contract modification or receiving compensation if there is a breach by the agency.
If the consumer encounters any setback, either about the contracted means of transport or the destination’s accommodation, he must claim it from the agency. It is this company that must solve the problem.
In insurance, the agencies include travel insurance included if the package, accommodation, or ski pass is contracted. It is convenient to find out exactly what it covers in the agency itself.
If you hire it online, remember that there are no sports rights to withdraw in the case of package tours, as it is an exception. In any case, you can always request the cancellation of the trip,
Claims
Suppose you are not satisfied with any of the contracted sports rights services. In that case, you can file a claim by requesting the claim form at the establishment and submitting it in any format at the Municipal Consumer Information Office closest to your home, at the General Directorate of Commerce and Consumption, or through the internet, with a digital certificate.
