Big_Sparky
Well-Known Member
How’do All!
Well, I thought long & hard before posting this. They (you know - “them”) reckon that when you get good customer service you might tell one or two people - bad service apparently at least 15! To be fair, I’d decided not really to tell anyone on purpose - chatted to my best mate (a fellow stalker) and then ended up having a brief discussion with the guy who runs the syndicate I’m a member of (he can remain nameless)….. Anyway, I digress…. (Ps… this will be a long one, I mean, I know - they all are…)
So, it all began when I saw an advert on a FB deer group for guided red stag stalking up in the Scottish Borders. Advertised by a guy whose page I’d followed and who, it appeared, had decent feedback and a reasonable reputation. Price seemed fair - £400 for an AM & PM stalk - no trophy fees or other fees and no limit on numbers. Large private estate and evidence from the guy’s page of plenty, alleged, success in the past. Seemed like a good shout so I contacted the guy. Replied after a few days - discussed a few dates and we agreed on a date slap bang in the middle of the rut. Explained to me that it might possibly not be him - he had several clients booked in for the same day but he had a few guys who guided for him, all of whom he spoke very highly of. So - that was us - booked in, deposit paid, accommodation arranged and waiting with anticipation. My only real complaint, at this stage, would have been that he didn’t like to part with information - I don’t think I’ve actually received the postcode or grid ref that I asked for to this day. However!
So, the date finally arrived - still chasing the FUP location for the next morning and a definite time but headed up anyway - finally a response came to meet outside another hotel. Fair enough - no joining / admin instructions though and a sense of actually what have I let myself in for (maybe I expect a level of professionalism that isn’t required - but it’s certainly what I’ve had from comparable outings).
Early doors - busy sorting myself out, trying to get some caffeine on board and a pickup pulls up. Two second meeting in the dark - surrounded by heavy rain - “follow me” - and he’s off. Kept up as best I could, followed by another vehicle behind me. Down a dark road and onto the Estate - quite a clearly signed Estate in fairness and little clue to date why that information had never been forthcoming. Arrived at a car park area - told there’d be two guides - other than that the only info is we’ll all RV for breakfast later at my hotel. I’m with the other guy who wanders over and says hello. Seems like a nice old boy albeit he’s clearly struggling with something. I grab my kit together and into another pickup - again - no briefing, no explanation of their expectations of me now what I should expect from them. However, we’re driving now - the rain is still falling and the sun looks like it’s possibly booked a fortnight’s holiday. Quick chat on the way up the estate - the guide had fallen the day before and quite badly hurt himself - to be honest he was presented with a likely broken rib or two. We get out into an area of clear fell and into the poshest high seat I’ve ever seen - maybe starting to think they weren’t cowboys after all! Sat there for what seemed like a lifetime - wind howling - rain constant and, perhaps expectedly, not even the tweet of a bird - let alone signs of any deer. My guide eventually decided he’s had enough of the high seat and concludes we’re going to move to another part of the estate - back into the pickup and we’re off. My guide chucks some painkillers down his neck and we set off - we walk for quite a while - stopping regularly to glass the area - I check with my thermal too - nothing - at all…. Anywhere. We find a suitable bit of cover where we can see quite a long way - hills climb steeply in the distance - land sprawling away at either side as far as the eye can see - and, yes - you guessed - no signs of life at all. The rain has mainly cleared up now - the air is still. A little more time passes and, frustrated, my guide suggests we work our way back to the pickup. We spend the next 30 minutes or so driving around - stopping - glassing all around looking for any signs of life. That’s it - we’re driving again and quickly I realise we’re back at the car park. The main man and the other clients have already gone -
my guide asks me to just head back to my hotel. We arrive together and he’s just finishing a phone call - he explains that the plans have changed and the others have headed elsewhere for breakfast - he’s going back his home and without another word he’s driving away. I’m left there, rather confused, wondering what’s actually going on and what time we’re due to meet again. At least I actually get some sense from the hotelier and a lovely breakfast! The hotel owner has had many clients stay over the past few weeks and knows what time the afternoon RV is! So, the time comes - and I head back out (still never been actually given an address so just as well I have a rather good memory!). I’m first back - the other clients arrive next - followed by my guide and finally the “head man”. Good crack with the others - they’ve seen exactly the same number of beasts that I have - zero - but they seem a little more relaxed about it all. Positive that something will come off in the hours that will follow. At this point I have probably the first conversation with the Gaffa - asking if I’ve got the balance of my payment - I hand the notes over and get little more out of him. My guide is in fair spirits though, in spite of his obvious pain, and we have a giggle about a previous stalk where I’d made an absolute arse of a shot in the early light of day and managed to split my head just above my eye with my scope….. the other two clients actually knew that guide and the story had preceded me - hey ho - we all have bad days! Anyway - crack over - back to the serious business…..
There’s little point dragging the story of the evening stalk out - it was possibly less eventful than the morning - same number of beasts to be seen. The guide actually apologises several times at this point - explains he’s never seen so few deer on this ground - no signs at all of hinds and therefore why would there be many stags. He even goes so far as to use the word “embarrassed” to be guiding on the ground. And, well, that’s it…. The day ends - we haven’t seen a sausage (or a deer) we meet the other guys back at the carpark - they haven’t spotted a thing either. Oh well, it is what it is - awful weather - wild animals - you can’t win them all can you? The other guys say goodbye - I thank my guide and the head boy suggests he’ll likely come and meet me for a pint later. I have this glimmer of hope that an apology may appear - maybe even an offer of a discount for a return visit (you could argue that’s wishful thinking on my part - but I’ve actually had two blank days in the past and that’s exactly what they both offered - despite the fact we did actually see deer - we just didn’t have any opportunities) so I return to my hotel and order some tea. A couple of hours go by and I message the guy - ah - he’s actually not coming - just hadn’t thought on to tell me…..
So, really that should be the end of the story. Chalk it up to experience - one of those things. Now, if you’re still awake at the back, you might remember that I said I had a brief chat with a fellow stalker - the guy that runs the syndicate. I told him (in a message that I’d happily share publicly) that it had been one of those days - poor weather - poor circumstances but, you know, just one of those days. I did go on to say that I’d been disappointed by the whole affair and certainly the way I felt it had (or more importantly hadn’t) been handled. My man replied to say that he knew the man in question well - that they didn’t get on and he didn’t really rate him - found him greedy (his words) but I left it at that - concluded out messages with a big chat about my dodgy pickup truck, booked my next visit to our ground and said catch up later.
So…… and this really is where a poor experience turns into a terrible one. A message pops up from the guy - he says that he understands I’m not happy and that I’ve been contacting a “few names” in the stalking world trying to give a bad impression of his outfit. I quickly put him right - explain that, whilst did had a poor day - I’d had a private conversation with one person and I certainly hadn’t been trying to give him a bad reputation. He repeated his accusations - adamant that he’d heard from two separate sources whom I’d contacted directly. I asked him to tell these two folks to contact me (obviously they’d be able to as I’d been in touch with them) - he hasn’t - they haven’t - and, well, they really couldn’t - as I’ve never spoken to them not even know who they are! I had a good old rant, I never respond well to being repeatedly called a liar - I explained I’d spoken to one pal - privately and I even sent a copy of his reply. I said I found it highly unlikely that someone with such a poor opinion would then make contact to inform them of an unhappy customer. Again, accusations repeated - declined my offer to admit his mistake and apologise and simply doubled down instead explaining how he wouldn’t be using that guide again and blaming him for everything. Explained that there’d been some bad blood with that guide for years and he had a bad name in the stalking world (the whole time - I’m thinking - you employed him mate!! That, and “what an absolute pratt”). End of conversation - the big block button pressed - the nerve of the guy - his attitude stunk. So, a little investigation and a phone call to my syndicate man - after some brain racking it transpires that he’d shared my disappointment with another stalker - who in turn - had then contacted the guy in question (much to the disgust of my man). I’m still not really sure where the second “witness” had appeared from nor how this third hand complaint had been advertised as coming direct from my mouth.
Anyways - I really can’t believe anyone is still awake and has gotten this far - but if you have - he’s a summary - it’s not the things we get wrong that we should be judged for - it’s how we handle them.
In plain and simple terms a much briefer account would be this:
Colin Lockerbie of Solway Guided Scottish Walks doesn’t appear to have any customer service skills whatsoever. Equally he appears to have no remorse for inaccurate accusations and seems to think that attempts to bully unhappy customers will help his business moving forward. Certainly, on that last point, he’s wrong. I shall tell anyone and everyone who will listen - don’t waste a penny of your hard earned cash or a moment of your time on this so called “stalker”. Of course, Im sure alternate opinions are available - but, for what it’s worth, that’s mine! Evidence of every word available for anyone that really cares and, I have no doubt, that if you were to chat with my guide for the day - he’d happily reiterate his embarrassment!
Ps…. Sorry….. that was a little long wasn’t it
Well, I thought long & hard before posting this. They (you know - “them”) reckon that when you get good customer service you might tell one or two people - bad service apparently at least 15! To be fair, I’d decided not really to tell anyone on purpose - chatted to my best mate (a fellow stalker) and then ended up having a brief discussion with the guy who runs the syndicate I’m a member of (he can remain nameless)….. Anyway, I digress…. (Ps… this will be a long one, I mean, I know - they all are…)
So, it all began when I saw an advert on a FB deer group for guided red stag stalking up in the Scottish Borders. Advertised by a guy whose page I’d followed and who, it appeared, had decent feedback and a reasonable reputation. Price seemed fair - £400 for an AM & PM stalk - no trophy fees or other fees and no limit on numbers. Large private estate and evidence from the guy’s page of plenty, alleged, success in the past. Seemed like a good shout so I contacted the guy. Replied after a few days - discussed a few dates and we agreed on a date slap bang in the middle of the rut. Explained to me that it might possibly not be him - he had several clients booked in for the same day but he had a few guys who guided for him, all of whom he spoke very highly of. So - that was us - booked in, deposit paid, accommodation arranged and waiting with anticipation. My only real complaint, at this stage, would have been that he didn’t like to part with information - I don’t think I’ve actually received the postcode or grid ref that I asked for to this day. However!
So, the date finally arrived - still chasing the FUP location for the next morning and a definite time but headed up anyway - finally a response came to meet outside another hotel. Fair enough - no joining / admin instructions though and a sense of actually what have I let myself in for (maybe I expect a level of professionalism that isn’t required - but it’s certainly what I’ve had from comparable outings).
Early doors - busy sorting myself out, trying to get some caffeine on board and a pickup pulls up. Two second meeting in the dark - surrounded by heavy rain - “follow me” - and he’s off. Kept up as best I could, followed by another vehicle behind me. Down a dark road and onto the Estate - quite a clearly signed Estate in fairness and little clue to date why that information had never been forthcoming. Arrived at a car park area - told there’d be two guides - other than that the only info is we’ll all RV for breakfast later at my hotel. I’m with the other guy who wanders over and says hello. Seems like a nice old boy albeit he’s clearly struggling with something. I grab my kit together and into another pickup - again - no briefing, no explanation of their expectations of me now what I should expect from them. However, we’re driving now - the rain is still falling and the sun looks like it’s possibly booked a fortnight’s holiday. Quick chat on the way up the estate - the guide had fallen the day before and quite badly hurt himself - to be honest he was presented with a likely broken rib or two. We get out into an area of clear fell and into the poshest high seat I’ve ever seen - maybe starting to think they weren’t cowboys after all! Sat there for what seemed like a lifetime - wind howling - rain constant and, perhaps expectedly, not even the tweet of a bird - let alone signs of any deer. My guide eventually decided he’s had enough of the high seat and concludes we’re going to move to another part of the estate - back into the pickup and we’re off. My guide chucks some painkillers down his neck and we set off - we walk for quite a while - stopping regularly to glass the area - I check with my thermal too - nothing - at all…. Anywhere. We find a suitable bit of cover where we can see quite a long way - hills climb steeply in the distance - land sprawling away at either side as far as the eye can see - and, yes - you guessed - no signs of life at all. The rain has mainly cleared up now - the air is still. A little more time passes and, frustrated, my guide suggests we work our way back to the pickup. We spend the next 30 minutes or so driving around - stopping - glassing all around looking for any signs of life. That’s it - we’re driving again and quickly I realise we’re back at the car park. The main man and the other clients have already gone -
my guide asks me to just head back to my hotel. We arrive together and he’s just finishing a phone call - he explains that the plans have changed and the others have headed elsewhere for breakfast - he’s going back his home and without another word he’s driving away. I’m left there, rather confused, wondering what’s actually going on and what time we’re due to meet again. At least I actually get some sense from the hotelier and a lovely breakfast! The hotel owner has had many clients stay over the past few weeks and knows what time the afternoon RV is! So, the time comes - and I head back out (still never been actually given an address so just as well I have a rather good memory!). I’m first back - the other clients arrive next - followed by my guide and finally the “head man”. Good crack with the others - they’ve seen exactly the same number of beasts that I have - zero - but they seem a little more relaxed about it all. Positive that something will come off in the hours that will follow. At this point I have probably the first conversation with the Gaffa - asking if I’ve got the balance of my payment - I hand the notes over and get little more out of him. My guide is in fair spirits though, in spite of his obvious pain, and we have a giggle about a previous stalk where I’d made an absolute arse of a shot in the early light of day and managed to split my head just above my eye with my scope….. the other two clients actually knew that guide and the story had preceded me - hey ho - we all have bad days! Anyway - crack over - back to the serious business…..
There’s little point dragging the story of the evening stalk out - it was possibly less eventful than the morning - same number of beasts to be seen. The guide actually apologises several times at this point - explains he’s never seen so few deer on this ground - no signs at all of hinds and therefore why would there be many stags. He even goes so far as to use the word “embarrassed” to be guiding on the ground. And, well, that’s it…. The day ends - we haven’t seen a sausage (or a deer) we meet the other guys back at the carpark - they haven’t spotted a thing either. Oh well, it is what it is - awful weather - wild animals - you can’t win them all can you? The other guys say goodbye - I thank my guide and the head boy suggests he’ll likely come and meet me for a pint later. I have this glimmer of hope that an apology may appear - maybe even an offer of a discount for a return visit (you could argue that’s wishful thinking on my part - but I’ve actually had two blank days in the past and that’s exactly what they both offered - despite the fact we did actually see deer - we just didn’t have any opportunities) so I return to my hotel and order some tea. A couple of hours go by and I message the guy - ah - he’s actually not coming - just hadn’t thought on to tell me…..
So, really that should be the end of the story. Chalk it up to experience - one of those things. Now, if you’re still awake at the back, you might remember that I said I had a brief chat with a fellow stalker - the guy that runs the syndicate. I told him (in a message that I’d happily share publicly) that it had been one of those days - poor weather - poor circumstances but, you know, just one of those days. I did go on to say that I’d been disappointed by the whole affair and certainly the way I felt it had (or more importantly hadn’t) been handled. My man replied to say that he knew the man in question well - that they didn’t get on and he didn’t really rate him - found him greedy (his words) but I left it at that - concluded out messages with a big chat about my dodgy pickup truck, booked my next visit to our ground and said catch up later.
So…… and this really is where a poor experience turns into a terrible one. A message pops up from the guy - he says that he understands I’m not happy and that I’ve been contacting a “few names” in the stalking world trying to give a bad impression of his outfit. I quickly put him right - explain that, whilst did had a poor day - I’d had a private conversation with one person and I certainly hadn’t been trying to give him a bad reputation. He repeated his accusations - adamant that he’d heard from two separate sources whom I’d contacted directly. I asked him to tell these two folks to contact me (obviously they’d be able to as I’d been in touch with them) - he hasn’t - they haven’t - and, well, they really couldn’t - as I’ve never spoken to them not even know who they are! I had a good old rant, I never respond well to being repeatedly called a liar - I explained I’d spoken to one pal - privately and I even sent a copy of his reply. I said I found it highly unlikely that someone with such a poor opinion would then make contact to inform them of an unhappy customer. Again, accusations repeated - declined my offer to admit his mistake and apologise and simply doubled down instead explaining how he wouldn’t be using that guide again and blaming him for everything. Explained that there’d been some bad blood with that guide for years and he had a bad name in the stalking world (the whole time - I’m thinking - you employed him mate!! That, and “what an absolute pratt”). End of conversation - the big block button pressed - the nerve of the guy - his attitude stunk. So, a little investigation and a phone call to my syndicate man - after some brain racking it transpires that he’d shared my disappointment with another stalker - who in turn - had then contacted the guy in question (much to the disgust of my man). I’m still not really sure where the second “witness” had appeared from nor how this third hand complaint had been advertised as coming direct from my mouth.
Anyways - I really can’t believe anyone is still awake and has gotten this far - but if you have - he’s a summary - it’s not the things we get wrong that we should be judged for - it’s how we handle them.
In plain and simple terms a much briefer account would be this:
Colin Lockerbie of Solway Guided Scottish Walks doesn’t appear to have any customer service skills whatsoever. Equally he appears to have no remorse for inaccurate accusations and seems to think that attempts to bully unhappy customers will help his business moving forward. Certainly, on that last point, he’s wrong. I shall tell anyone and everyone who will listen - don’t waste a penny of your hard earned cash or a moment of your time on this so called “stalker”. Of course, Im sure alternate opinions are available - but, for what it’s worth, that’s mine! Evidence of every word available for anyone that really cares and, I have no doubt, that if you were to chat with my guide for the day - he’d happily reiterate his embarrassment!
Ps…. Sorry….. that was a little long wasn’t it
)
