Selwyn Snow Resort — Attraction in Kiandra

Disappointment was all we had at Selwyn. So many issue there. Particuarly the 4 hour wait for our rentals was a complete joke! Management must be held accountable for this disgusting level of service and professionalism.

Do yourself a favour. Choose another ski resort and you will have a lot better time!

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NON-EXISTENT. THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT RAISING REVENUE.

We arrived at the resort just after 9am. Instead of skiing, we spent 4 hours standing in a queue to get our pre-purchased rentals. Only 2 staff were serving us with very low speed as if they couldn't see the people waiting. There was no supervisor to assist them. There is clearly a lack of staff training and support from management.

At one stage a woman with a ponytail wearing a black jacket who appeared to be from management came out to address a complaint. I was hoping she could say something to the crowd to at least acknowledge the long wait, but she just left as if she didn't know we were all waiting there for a long time.

A big shout to the young staff member with a curly mullet. He seemed to be the only one who was aware of the people waiting, working at an incredible pace. You could visibly tell he cared and was trying his best to address this situation.

While we were standing there for hours in the queue, we saw those paying on the spot for rentals got their equipment quickly. Of course we could just wait, as they already have our money in their pocket! All they care is their reveue! Not their guests!

I also read some reviews about their no refund policy and that there is no refund even when chairlifts were closed and they kept selling tickets and lessons when there was not enough snow. Selwyn had their excuse in their responses which seemed to be they can’t control the weather. All ski resorts face changing weather conditions. Good resorts monitor weather conditions actively and make responsible decisions accordingly. Unfortunately Selwyn does not, because they care about getting more money into their pocket too much!

THE RESORT IS DISORGANISED AND UNPROFESSIONAL

Even though it is a newly built resort, there is a lack of clear signs. When we arrived we saw a queue at the entrance. I had to ask a staff member to confirm this was for scanning the QR code to get our tickets. There was no sign telling us this. There were at least three of these machines. However, only one was working, hence the long queue. There are also no signs to tell you the name of ski trails or chairlifts, or their difficulty levels. I would think having clear signs to at least indicate the difficulty level is an important safety measure at a ski resort!

Chairlift staff were unprofessional. When the gate to the chairlift wouldn’t scan properly and open, the staff member looked in our direction for a few seconds she cleared heard the sound from the machine indicating something was wrong, but she just turned her head and ignored us as if she didn’t see there was a problem. We were left to solve the problem ourselves.

The getting off area of the beginner lift was so badly laid out that many people fell. There was not enough a slope to ski away quickly from the lift, so you could get caught by the turning chairlift and get knocked over. Although once I knew the issue I could try to ski faster and make a turn to avoid getting caught, it would be very difficult for a beginner skier for whom this trail is designed for. We saw so many people falling there.

Also despite being newly built, there is not even a dedicated area for rental returns. At the end of the day, we were told to just dump our equipment on the floor. It was a complete mess with half of the entire retal area taken by ski enquipment. There was nowhere even to sit to take my ski boots off.

There was no toilet paper in the women’s toilet in middle of the day. I checked at least 3 cells, there was no toilet paper! The toilets were dirty and they didn't seem to have enough cleaners available.

All the above is a huge contrast to our experience at Thredbo. We definitely will NOT visit...

I am incredibly disappointed with my experience at your resort over this past weekend (July 12th). My partner and I had arrived at your resort nice and early at 8:15am. We promptly started queuing in the online pick up rental line for our pre-booked Skis Boots and Poles rental. We then had to wait close to FOUR HOURS, arriving at the front of the line close to 12pm. This was shocking enough as is, but what followed was even more shocking.

I told the staff member my skis and boots sizes, and after a long search for my boot size, I was provided with a boot that was larger than the size I requested. I was told that this was ALL THEY HAD left in stock. I tried them on, and they clearly were too big but I was willing to try and make it work just so me and my partner could get out skiing with what was left of the day. However, the complete disorganization continued when I asked for my skis.

I’m 190cm tall, and usually use 170cm skis. The staff member then told me that he couldn’t find any in 170cm, so I swallowed my frustration and just asked to get whatever he could get me. He then said all he could offer me was a pair of 150CM SKIS?? The only offers were skis 20 cm too small and boots one size too large, which are unsafe, unprofessional, and negligent, increasing risk of injury! He then disappeared for over 30 minutes trying to find skis somewhere else in the resort, but came back with nothing. I applaud the staff members for their efforts and honestly feel really bad for them and the stress they were under; and all my qualms are with the horrendous management of this whole operation.

But wait, that’s not all. After being told that there was absolutely nothing for me…no boots that fit me, no skis above 150cm to use with my boots, we left completely frustrated at 1PM and in disbelief without our pre-booked rentals. We were kindly told by other frustrated customers in the queue that we could head down to Adaminaby to rent some equipment there. So we drove the 50 minutes to adaminaby, picked up skis, boots, poles from the Ampol Ski Hire, which took a total of less than 10 MINUTES for me and my partner, and drove back to Selwyn thinking we could squeeze in at least an hour of skiing before the resort shut. I didn’t think it was possible for us to be even more disappointed than we were. But after our return, we were denied entry to Selwyn due to the resort being "overfilled," despite having valid lift passes. We were told to “come back early tomorrow.” We had no choice but to drive off to our accommodation and call it a night.

When we spoke with a group of skiers on Sunday who had been a few groups behind us in the queue on Saturday, they advised they had no issues getting fitted with the same ski and boot sizes that we were told were unavailable. It is baffling and deeply frustrating that we were denied these sizes and turned away, yet guests behind us received them without trouble. This points to inconsistent service standards and extremely poor customer service.

The next day (Sunday), we came straight in with our Ampol Ski Hire skis and had a day of skiing. However, the Sunday skiing was overshadowed by the frustration of the previous day’s ordeal. Our plan was to spend the whole weekend skiing, and we had driven in from Sydney on Friday night, and left Kozzi back to Sydney on Sunday night to celebrate a birthday weekend. If we had known it was going to only be one day of skiing, we would not have driven a collective FOURTEEN HOURS FOR ONE DAY OF SKIING. 14 hours including the drive to Adaminaby and back, and I haven’t even added in the FOUR hours of wasted time waiting in line for NOTHING.

I understand things can get busy during school holidays, but to OVER accept the amount of bookings for entries, as well as rentals in spite of knowing full well how much stock/availability you have, feels like a blatant robbery.

This was an unbelievably negative experience; I have never written a negative review or felt the need to ever do one, but this truly was...

DO NOT BOOK ANYTHING ONLINE… until you arrive and see what condition the snow is in. This will save you stress, frustration, loss of money and an argument with management that is incapable of using common sense and has zero empathy.

• My review wouldn't have been so blunt if management listened to their customers. Even the reply below from Selwyn is heartless and empty. Sorry, but not sorry enough to fix the wrong they have done. They are happy to take money from. people and keep it. If they were genuinely apologetic, a credit or refund would be offered to those who booked online in advance but didn't receive what was offered in the descriptions and images. They did not change the toboggan description. Even today it still says "150 metre snow carpet for effortless laps of fun" . That's a lie. You had to walk back up the new hill. Again, if free or discounted I wouldn't have complained and accepted the declining snow and effort made by Selwyn. But every person paid full price for a below par product. And most we complaining amungst ourselves. I could hear the poor staff copping the verbal abuse. Just wrong on all levels. I hope you are listening Blyton Group or else no one will be back next year. *

On the day you arrive check if the snow cover has deteriorated to either patches of dirt, mud, slush. Check how many Ski lifts are running. Check the Toboggan slope isn't full on dangerous holes. If you have pre-booked tickets online before you arrive, beware.The management team treat you with no respect. Simply stating their terms and conditions show “no refund”. Selwyn this is wrong. A manager is there to manage situations. Not to just read policy and walk away. Selwyn is great for beginners when it has snowed, but it is managed extremely bad when there is not enough snow. Selwyn, you should offer a refund or credit when the product you are offering doesn’t match what you have sold.

Everyone, hold off booking lift tickets & toboggan tickets until you arrive on the day and see if there is enough snow to actually ski or toboggan. And to see how many lifts are actually running. There is no rush to purchase lift passes or toboggan tickets. These do not sell out. So there is no benefit to pre-booking online before you arrive.

The toboggan slope was unsafe and not usable with large holes all the way down but management disagreed. When it was moved to another area which had snow cover, is was shorter and the slope was too flat to slide all the way to the end. Also, no magic carpet to take you up the hill. I have no complaints if that was free. But management still thought it was fair to charge full price of $25 to use this area. Honestly, it is was no different to taking candy from a baby. Shame on you Selwyn. Won’t be back. Next year off to Perisher for free tobogganing on a hill you can slide down without using your hands or becoming injured sliding into large holes.

If you would like Selwyn's management to change, please write a review. No one can control the weather. So i do feel for Selwyn, that it hasn't snowed. But this is not an excuse to take advantage of you and me. They only might consider to do better for next year if they hear from everyone who felt ripped off and taken...