[TriQe]

I felt it was worthwhile sharing my experiences with circuit days on a planned trip to the nurburgring nordschleife 7/9 october 2012.

I booked it on 29th August at a cost of £1000 and paid in full on the spot.

On the 28th September I notified Chris at circuitdays that it looked like I wouldn't be able to attend owing to unexpected work commitments and asked that he please re-advertise my place.

At this precise point in time, I could see that their site showed as having no places free.

(circuitdays had shown up top of the list when I had searched for nurburgring track days - and was therefore my reason for booking with them - so I know this is a prime marketing channel for them)

Chris indicated he would try his best.

I checked the site every day until the day of the trip and NOT ONCE did it show as there being any free places.

Therefore he clearly HAS NOT re-advertised as he said he would.

Now on some level, this annoyed me, but it was my own fault for not being able to go, so I accepted it.

I have however since found out that other people could also not attend -BUT- had their payments rolled into the next trip for 2013 - which I was not offered.

This bothers me.

(To me this says he had a waiting list, resold it and pocketed my money and then lied to me - I know I cant prove it, but not advertising it would seem to be a real indicator of this)

In summary, I get the real sense that I got gouged by this company and would strongly recommend to anyone that they think twice and use another company if considering a trip to the nordschleife.

I know I wont touch them with a barge-pole - and have already booked my next trip via another company that will hopefully not turn out to be thieves.

I also know that some of you may have had positive experiences with circuit days - but that isn't the point. By them taking my money in this way it shows they have most likely done it before (and we aren't aware of it) and will do it again.

So be wary - and if you have a choice, use another.

(Apologies if this would be better posted elsewhere, I just wanted to be sure people got to see it)

 

[H.7]

Have you tried to speak to Chris since your original notification to him? Speaking to someone is generally much better than emails or letters, infinitely better than not speaking to them at all, and usually removes any misunderstanding on either side.

 

[SklyaFett]

Why not just go with a few mates? Would be much more fun!

 

[Mookistar]

Why not just go with a few mates? Would be much more fun!

He's talking about a closed circuit trackday. Very few of which get arranged and Circuitdays along with DN are the two main providers.

Personally I'd be phoning Chris as I know there was a lot of people wanting to go who couldn't. I even sold our place at Spa to someone in the UK from our Hotel in Nurburg with less than 36 hours notice, for full price. i think you'd have sold it easily IMHO.

Mook

 

[TriQe]

thanks for confirming

He's talking about a closed circuit trackday. Very few of which get arranged and Circuitdays along with DN are the two main providers.

Personally I'd be phoning Chris as I know there was a lot of people wanting to go who couldn't. I even sold our place at Spa to someone in the UK from our Hotel in Nurburg with less than 36 hours notice, for full price. i think you'd have sold it easily IMHO.

Mook

Thanks for this mook.

just to clarify, I did try calling - from the 27th onwards, to no response even after several voicemail messages.

the dates I quoted are from an email thread - so i did actually communicate with him in writing (if you count email) on the 28th, well in advance and even longer notice than you gave. AND I have his responses, outlining his commitment to resell.

To me this is a third point of evidence proving that the guy ripped me off.

Avoid.

 

[Mookistar]

I dont think he's ripped you off as such, but didn't prioritise you as he was busy organising the day.

Thats no excuse tho imho.

 

[David.Yu]

Surely if you manage to get hold of him, he will credit your payment toward a 2013 event as he did for the other customers?

 

[TriQe]

Mook - if he made a commitment to resell and clearly didn't on his site, - and you saying you know of people (more than one..) that wanted to go but couldn't get a place - isn't that all that needs to be said ?

I just double checked - I didn't even get notification of non-sale or an apology...

 

[andrew186]

were there any T&C's when you paid for the booking?

 

[TriQe]

Andrew - yes there are and I was prepared to take a hit on the money.

It has just bothered me since then, that it wasn't re-advertised as was committed to as best endeavours.

A friend of a friend telling me that his and his friends payments had been carried over made me decide I needed to share my experiences.

(to be clear - this is not about money)

And I personally think Mook's comment validates my suspicions that he has been dishonest.

I only want this information to be public, so if its a choice of circuitdays or any reputable gatekeeper to closed days on the nordschleife, that this be taken into account in the decision.

 

[Satan]

Andrew - yes there are and I was prepared to take a hit on the money.

It has just bothered me since then, that it wasn't re-advertised as was committed to as best endeavours.

A friend of a friend telling me that his and his friends payments had been carried over made me decide I needed to share my experiences.

(to be clear - this is not about money)

And I personally think Mook's comment validates my suspicions that he has been dishonest.

I only want this information to be public, so if its a choice of circuitdays or any reputable gatekeeper to closed days on the nordschleife, that this be taken into account in the decision.

Mate, I'd be f**king pissed off as well, so would Mook if it had happened to him and hit his pocket I would suggest.

Just shows there are some s**thouses out there and it's worth making people aware.

If you had told them the day before then I can understand it, but the fact others had been treated differently is the real angst. I would offer them 1 last chance to recover the situation and if no luck I'd bad mouth them wherever they advertise, Pistonheads etc etc.

Perhaps, and maybe only hindsight, I think I would have advertised it myself and sold the place on, but when someone says they'll try and move it on for you and they're fully booked you kinda think that will be that.

I assure you I wouldn't take that sh*t lying down (not called Satan for no reason:chuckle

Keep making it public. Nothing like a sh*t storm to alter companies attitudes.

I hope you get it sorted, and keep us posted.

Good luck,

 

[Satan]

I dont think he's ripped you off as such,

Really? I do. Its what some call "double bubble".

Bet if he had turned up on the day unannounced, there would have been some red faces and stammering going on.

"Oh we just filled the space at the eleventh hour and didn't have time to ......... blah blah blah".

Bu**sh*t.

 

[TriQe]

I dont think he's ripped you off as such,

Really? I do. Its what some call "double bubble".

Bet if he had turned up on the day unannounced, there would have been some red faces and stammering going on.

"Oh we just filled the space at the eleventh hour and didn't have time to ......... blah blah blah".

Bu**sh*t.

Nice. And its pretty clear you see this the same way as me, cheers satan :chuckle:

 

[Mookistar]

The key is to to fun out how many cars attended in the end.

 

[Satan]

Nice. And its pretty clear you see this the same way as me, cheers satan :chuckle:

I'm not sure what company f**ked you over.

Can you post the full name of the company please and address, just to protect other of course, perhaps a contact number and name?

 

[Mookistar]

I don't think you understand. He cannot prove he filled the space and circuit days had no obligation to sell the day on

The kicker here is he said he'd try to sell it on but didn't bother. No one got fuxked over but it should have been handled differently

Mike

 

[Satan]

I don't think you understand. He cannot prove he filled the space and circuit days had no obligation to sell the day on

The kicker here is he said he'd try to sell it on but didn't bother. No one got fuxked over but it should have been handled differently

Mike

Mike

A grand out of pocket and not offered the chance to re-attend at a later date when others have?

What else would you call it?

Royaly f**ked over.

 

[Mookistar]

Just because he doesn't attend doesn't mean the operator doesn't lose money

I'm disputing that a credit would be agreeable but to all intents and purposes the operator has supplied a product which the OP has been unable to attend

My car broke down on the warm up lap on the day. I didn't get a credit. The only difference being the time in between.


Prove he sold the slot to someone else and it's a different matter. Selling a day he's already sold wont be a priority I'm afraid

Mike

 

[TriQe]

To be precise :

Track Days - Home of Circuit Days Track Days and Tours

Mook - ill turn over some stones and see if I can prove it...

 

[thunderball]

No, this is very poor on all levels and terrible customer service, and even if they did lose money I am sure they didn't lose it all. Irrespective of T&C's I am sure that in law the company would be entitled to "ascertained damages" (their losses and expenses) due to breach of contract and arguably loss of profit, but anything more than this would be deemed a "penalty" which is not enforceable under law. The problem is it will cost you more than this to pursue it as the sum in question is too large for small claims court.

I will do a few trips next year and will avoid this company following this story. TriQe - good luck with getting some resolution.