Hey,

Does anyone out there know if Kroger will be running the promotion this year where you can get a free lift ticket to Snowshoe with the purchase of four 12 packs of coke? The Kroger here in Harrisonburg has done that promotion the last couple of years - but every time I ask someone at the store nobody knows anything about it!

Thanks,

Abe

Hello Abe!

Sorry to say, I don't know anything about the promotion, but we live in the Charleston WV area--and we've used this promotion for the last four years. (We have four children, all of whom ski--though our youngest has only been skiing for two years now--she's five) lol--this will be her last year for free passes!

It's been our experience thus far, that even after the promotion begins, most Kroger employees don't know anything about it. Last year was the first year that promotional posters were even used in our local Kroger's stores--and not all stores put them up. In previous years, only ONE store used any posters.

We used to regularly inquire of employees as to when the promotion would begin, but never got a definite answer...either we were asking the wrong people, or they're just not told in customer service! We also tried calling out to Snowshoe...but with similar results.

This year, we've just experimented by buying some Fanta for the kids and their friends...if/when we get a receipt saying we've earned a ski lift ticket---I'll post it here as soon as I get home!

I've also checked on e-bay (since we don't go to Kroger's every day, nor even once a week) I expect some of those coupons to be put up for sale as soon as the promotion starts...BUT it's been our experience thus far that it has begun by this time too...so who knows? They might not do it this year at all!

On the other hand, at least one year, they started that promotion in OCTOBER too--so perhaps they're just cutting the time down. It's always ended on New Year's Eve though...so perhaps they're just cutting it down to December, or at least after Thanksgiving. We'll keep an eye out!

A Snowshoe employee posting on SkiNC said the deal will start Nov. 17th.

Cool... that's good to know. Here's a link to that thread over at SkiNC:

http://skinc.com/messageboard/showthread.php?p=150202#post150202

Whoo hoo!! Thanks!

Well...it's not in effect here in the Charleston area yet. We're hoping for next week.

I went to the Kroger here in Harrisonburg on Tuesday and they said the promotion was going but that their machines weren't configured to print the voucher yet (they are supposed to be fixed today). I purchased four 12-packs of Coke and they took down my name and address and said they'd mail out the voucher today. We'll see what happens!

Can any one elaborate on the terms and conditions of the promotion? We're a family of four, skiing 5-6 days at Snowshoe in January. Can you redeem 4 vouchers per day? I think someone mentioned that they are only good for mid-week lifties which is fine because we're going to be there mid-week.

Also, what are you paying for 4 12-packs of diet coke? Still waiting to see if Costco will be doing their 2 lifties for $99. That might be a preatty good deal.

Also (I'm just full of questions), I'm contemplating applying for an American Express card in order to take advantage of their buy one get one free liftie promotion. No annual fee, 0% APR for the first 12 months. Am I crazy to do this? I'm very good about paying off my credit cards so I'm not that concerned.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks...

Chris

GDWindowpane,
When will you be at the Shoe? I'll be there with kids and grandkids from 16 Jan to 21 Jan.
The Colonel

Check out the link above to the thread over at SkiNC.com - they give the specifics of the promotion from last year. The tickets are generally good any weekday except for holiday periods. I would think you could have each member of your family redeem one ticket each day - not sure if they'd let one person redeem four at the same time.

I think the Kroger deal is the best one out there (for early season or midweek tickets) - 4 12-packs of Coke are under $20 so a pretty good deal if you ask me!

Chris,

I'll be at SS on the 14th - 16th! The way I read the AmEx coupon, its only good on weekdays, so Friday and the weekend is out. If you get an AmEx just for that, make sure you get the promo miles. If you spend $500 in the first 60 days (wheres the challenge in that) , you get 30,000 points which translates into $400 off plane tickets, hotels, etc.

I hope to get a free ticket to Colorado at some point.

Steve

We'll be there the 25th through the 30th (Sunday through Friday) so I'm hoping to take advantage of some mid-week deals and smaller crowds. My in-laws live in Wintergreen and I think they have some Krogers in the area so I'll get them to keep an eye out for me. Also surprised that Costco hasn't started selling their tickets.

Good idea on the promo miles. Even with the buy one get one free deal the lift tickets will be over $500. Sounds like I'd get a good jump on a trip out west next year. Hopefully this trip to Snowshoe will pacify the kids until we get a chance to go out west. Once we go out there I'm sure they'll want to go every year. I'm thinking about alternating West and Snowshoe.

Would love to hook up with fellow dcskiers if anyone is going to be out there that week. This will be our first trip to Snowshoe and we are pysched!!! Hopefully we'll get dumped on like they're getting dumped on now!!!

It's a WONDERFUL deal....and one of the major enablers of our annual ski vacation!

If I'm remembering correctly, for three years (2005-2007) they were Monday through Thursday only but then last year they included Fridays, and late season were even good on the weekend...which we LOVED. The first year we found out about the promotion (2005) we called and were told that even though the voucher stated that there was a one per household rule--that we should disregard that.

We had EVERY intention of obeying that one per household stipulation--but when we arrived, and paid for the weeks tickets--we just dumped out all our coupons and told the nice lady at the Top of the World that we wanted to use one a day for our nuclear family, and one for my brother, and one for my Dad--three households--but she wouldn't hear of it! She insisted on redeeming each and every voucher--and gave our kids and us all tickets.

We weren't shocked, because we'd also been told to pretend we were divorced, and therefore two households, to go to different windows with one ticket at a time, and to give one voucher per kid and send them to the windows alone...which we never did. Every single employee we talked to told us that they were NOT enforcing that one per household stipulation...instead, for the next three years, my hubby has gone to a window with bunches of receipts--and traded them in for lift tickets--with smiles all around. The Shoe has been exceedingly generous with us--and we are extremely grateful! We are only too happy to bring as much word of mouth advertisement as we can, and spend what money we have available there.

Let'shear it for the Shoe!!!
Are there any Krogers in the Northern Virginia area, or in points south - Fredricksburg, Richmond, Durham?
The Colonel

We have Kroger in Richmond area. I will go on a recon mission and let you know if they are offering the deal in these parts.

Just got back from a trip to my local Kroger store in Harrisonburg. Got myself two lift tickets to Snowshoe and 8 12-packs of Coke products for $24 bucks! (12-packs of Coke are on sale 3 for $9 so a good time stock up).

For the first time that I've seen they actually have signs up explaining the promotion. The selection of Coke products was definitely pretty slim, it seems like a lot of people were loading up on it.

I live in sunny Atlanta, but I look forward to that once a year trip when I get to Snowshoe. Anyone know of this promotion anywhere in the Carolina's or on the way to Snowshoe? If not, I'll buy you some Coke products if you can send me a couple vouchers. Let me know!

Any limit on the amount you can get per visit? We need 32 cases!!! We came up with an idea last night, buy the coke products and donate them to a homeless shelter/food bank. Going to look into this. Need to find out if Kroger's in Richmond has the deal going or not. And we'll be hopefully picking some up in the Wintergreen area this week.

I'm late getting onto this bandwagon. Never skied SS but would like to this season.

Any ideas how long Kroger will run this promotion?

I think the nearest Kroger's is an hour's drive, but I can plan to stop when running an errand down Harrisonburg way.

Thanks,
Woody

A few questions on the SS / Coke lift tickets.

1 - Are they limited to certain times? i.e. not weekends and holidays

2 - Are the tix transferable?

Well I haven't purchased any yet but I've done quite a bit of research and might be able to answer your questions. If I'm incorrect I'm sure someone will stear you in the right direction.

1. From what I read, they are limited to Monday through Friday. In years past they were only Monday through Thursday but they have opened it up to Friday's and possibly "late season" weekends.

2. When you purchase the Coke products, a voucher is printed out on the receipt which is redeemable at the lift ticket window. So I would say, yes they are transferrable.

Other tidbits, the small print says one voucher per family per day but from what I hear this isn't really enforced. I have family looking for Krogers that have the promotion going. I need to get 16 lift tickets so I'll be drinking diet cokes for quite sometime...

Good Luck!!!

Found this on ebay...

I was going to post a picture of the voucher but I'm not sure how and can type faster. This is what the voucher says...

COngratulations. This receipt entitles you to one (1) Free Lift Ticket at Snowshoe Mountain. (Limit one ticket per household). To redeem this coupon, just present this receipt at any ticket sales outlet when you arrive. Copies will not be redeemed. The following rules and restrictions apply to all redemtpions:

Valid any day from opening through 12/19/2008.
Valid Monday - Friday only from January 5-February 27, 2009
Valid any day from March 2 through closing day 2009.
NOT VALID Dec 20, 2008- Jan 4, 2009, Jan 16-19 or Feb 13-16, 2009.

This guy is selling vouchers for $20.

Hope this helps...

Wow, I can't believe these things are already on eBay! I guess there's always somebody looking for a way to make a few bucks. I can't imagine Snowshoe would be too pleased about these vouchers being sold on there.

Yeah, that's a shame. I hate to see people like that spoil the few deals that are out there for everyone. It should be interesting to see how much people are willing to pay for them.

I just sent the seller from the auction below a not so nice message about why I feel he/she is wrong. I encourage everyone on here with an Ebay account to do the same.

Ebay Loser

Just so ya know this guy from Harrisonburg that's selling these coupons on eBay isn't me!

David, I'm interested in why you think the ebay seller is wrong and how he/she will spoil the deals for us? I can only assume that Snowshoe is quite aware of the fact that they will be sold on ebay; whatever gets people on the mountain mid week...

Snowshoe and Coke team up with a deal to reward skiers who make a "Coke purchase" at Kroger. Not for people to purchase off of the internet at much higher rates than the original deal at Kroger was. I do not know much about business, but I do feel that if someone is selling something that I am giving away then it can't be good business for me. Yeah, it gets people onto the mountain (which if they were willing to pay $30 on the internet they probably would have paid $50 at Snowshoe), but I feel that some dude selling vouchers for double what he paid for them just isn't cool. Now maybe he should just sell the voucher and the 3 packs of Coke for what he has in it......


BTW, I contacted several Kroger stores here in North Central WV (also the one in Elkins) and they have no clue about running the deal this year. That sucks!!

Welcome pingalator to DCSki.
Tell us about yourself! For instance, "pingalator"???
The Colonel

So why not buy four coke products multiple times in a single day - each with their own receipt, or all at one time, still multiple receipts, when the cashiers are not busy? David, I understand your point about ebay sales of the "free" ticket (remember the seller paid between $11 and $16 for the Coke products). I do not see any real difference from this fellow selling the tickets on ebay, and the family that cashes in multiple tickets in a single day by either having multiple family members stand in line and individually trade the vouchers for a ticket, or go to multiple ticket windows to still stay withing the limit of one ticket per family per day. That's why Snowshoe has allowed multiple tickets to be presented by a single purchaser at the same time on the same day...just makes sense. Bottom line, there is nothing on the receipt that prohibits a family with multiple tickets to exchange them for a lift ticket if each ticket is presented separately. They still will have to have purchased multiple Coke products, and each purchase is redeemable for a lift ticket. The tickets that are purchased off of ebay do not harm Snowshoe, whether directly from Kroegers or off of ebay they are still worth a lift ticket that was in the planning for Snowshoe. And Coke does not lose out because each receipt resulted in the purchasing of Coke products. So, Snowshoe gets what they bargainied for, a customer that might become a repeat customer, might stay overnight, will spend $ for food, etc.
The Colonel

Checked out the Kroger near me here in Richmond and they are running the deal. Only thing I can add to what is already here is that:

1) You have to purchase the products by 12/31/2008.
2) You supposedly have to use your Kroger Plus Card...this might be how they enforce the single purchase of 4 rule.

"Checked out the Kroger near me here in Richmond and they are running the deal. Only thing I can add to what is already here is that:

1) You have to purchase the products by 12/31/2008.
2) You supposedly have to use your Kroger Plus Card...this might be how they enforce the single purchase of 4 rule. "

GRK,
Looking at the ticket posted earlier on this thread, I see nothing that limits the number of Coke product purchases, whether by day or by an individual person. The only limitation I see is a family using more than one receipt per day at Snowshoe. Interesting way to check, go into Kroger's and purchase the coke product and tell the cashier you left your Kroger card home...what usually happens is that the cashier pulls out a card (maybe even their card) and swipes it allowing the sale price.
The Colonel

I can understand the comments about folks taking advantage on ebay by selling the coupons. However, I live in GA - go to Snowshoe for a week in February. The Promo is not in our area - so the only way that I have to take advantage of it is to buy the coupons on ebay. Unless someone wants to volunteer to buy cokes on my behalf and send me the coupons....
We go with a group of 8-10 people for a week - at $75 per person per day - that adds up. We've used the American Express buy one get one free last year and that helped alot - but the Kroger deal is still better - even with buying them on ebay at 20-25 each

This scenario comes up every year: some folks try re-selling the vouchers at a profit. When this first started happening a number of years ago, I heard from Snowshoe in no uncertain terms that they are ardently against this practice (not surprisingly; in many ways it's theft), and that the practice nearly pushed them to discontinue the promotion outright. This is why I won't allow anyone to re-sell the vouchers on the DCSki Forums. I do not believe the vouchers are transferable (and am surprised the scan of the receipt above doesn't say that -- although I wonder if it does at the bottom and they just cropped it out). There's obviously a difference between giving one to a friend if you can't use it (at no cost), or trying to make a profit off of it.

Thanks Scott - I definately will avoid buying any on ebay. I do not want to contribute to the end of the promotion in anyway - I wouldn't want to do anything that would hurt those that are in the promo area. But - someone will buy them. I even saw where someone on ebay was selling the coupon for the American Express buy one get one free offer - and anyone can print their own coupon out. As long as there is ebay and there is a way to make a buck - there will be sellers and buyers..

On the other hand... if Snowshoe doesn't like to see these tickets being sold on eBay they should at least state on the voucher that they are non-transferable (I just checked a ticket I have in my wallet and it doesn't say that anywhere). It seems like eBay would be able to remove these items if that was included in the terms.

I think you're kidding yourself if you think Snowshoe (Intrawest)is losing money on the promotion. I'm quite confident that someone has figured out the ROI for the promotion and unless that number is black they would stop it immediately...

Much like Sheetz and WaWa selling gas at or below cost knowing that you're going to come in and buy something else at an astonishing margin...

Just my 2 cents...

BJB0304, thought I had it bad, figuring I need to buy 40 cases of coke to cover my family of 4, looks like you'll need 100+ cases!!! Hope you have a big truck.

Which kroger did you go to? I went to the one near me in Chester, and they said that the promotion has not started yet.

West Broad Street...just east of Pump Road in the shopping center between Home Depot and Kroger.

Thanks!!!! It will be on my list for Friday!

Thanks for the warm welcome, Colonel! My name pingalator is what my friends called me because they thought it was funny. Who knew it would stick. I'm glad I found this thread because I was tempted to buy that voucher on eBay. Like bjb0304, I live in GA so the deal is not available here...which I find ironic because Atlanta is the home of Coca Cola. Instead, I'm going to try to convert my AmEx skymile points for lift tickets. For 17,000 points I can get a 3 day lift ticket. In case anyone needs this link, it is http://www.snowshoemtn.com/deals/american_express/index.htm. Keep up the great communication, guys!

Hey everyone. I've been watching this discussion for a while, and this Kroger deal looks great. I've paid over $350 each year I've been at snowshoe for 3 days of boarding, and this year I think I can get away with half that. Only problem is, I live in South Carolina. Is there a way to purchase cokes at Kroger and get the passes long distance? I'll be coming up that way Jan. 5th, and it looks like the promotion ends 12/31.

Blackicep8ntball - if you figure out a way - please share. I've sent emails to Coke and Kroger. No response of course but it was worth a shot. I did meet a lady in WV on another message board and she offered to pick up a couple of them for me and I just reimbursed her for the additional cost of buying the cans versus the 2 liters. I can always do the American Express Buy one get one free deal - which beats &75 per lift ticket - but the coupons are such a better deal.

I'm going to be picking up quite a few cases of coke to cover my family's week of skiing. I'm going to donate the excess coke products to my local food bank.

Maybe you can contact a food bank in WV that will purchase the cokes and send you the vouchers in exchange for you paying for the sodas? Seems like a win/win situation.

Just my 2 cents.

I am having problems finding a Kroger here in WV that is participating in the deal. I guess Snowshoe is just trying to get all of you Virginia boys to come ski....

I spoke with a food bank in Richmond, and he's willing to work with me. BUT, when I spoke to the store manager at the West Broad Kroger, he told me only one lift ticket would print up per Kroger plus card used. Does anyone know the details on that restriction?

Anyway, it sounds like that option is not going to work... is there anyone up that way willing to do a trade out with me? I'll need 60 lift tickets, meaning a whole bunch of coke. I can give someone $100 for gas and effort if they can find a way to get those lift tickets, and you can keep all the coke products!!!

Also if someone wanted to straight trade out, I can trade nike, titliest, calloway, whatever golf balls.

Roanoke.
Oh heck, I was even at Kroger yesterday and forgot to check.

PS. I'd be paying for all the coke of course :-)

I'm in Columbus, OH and Kroger is here and I'm trying to figure out if this deal is good here?
I read the thread, but cannot find out what geographic region this extends to? I'm heading to Snowshoe 12/8 and this would be great. Is this offer valid at Kroger's in WV as well, I have to pass through Clarksburg/Bridgeport/Elkins on the way.

Thanks in advance.
Nate

None here in Clarksburg/Bridgeport are running the deal. Neither is the Kroger in Elkins.

I just wanted to chime in to say that at least at the Carytown Kroger here in Richmond, VA I was able to get 3 Snowshoe lift tix with my single Kroger card. They rang it up as 3 separate transactions of 4 12-packs each (for a total of 12 12-packs).

You need 60 lift tickets? That's literally over a ton of Coke product.=)

Lance

I sent an email to Kroger Corporate to find out what area (I'm in Georgia). This is the response I received back from them:

Thank you for contacting Kroger. I do apologize this offer is only in the
Virginia and West Virginia area. The
coupon prints off on the receipt and it can only be printed in the Mid-Atlantic
area.

If you have any more questions or concerns please contact me back.

Have a great day!


Sincerely,



Marquita Willis
Consumer Affairs

Another thought - before anyone gets too carried away with getting these coupons. There is the deal with American Express - buy one get one free. So that comes out to 37.50 per lift ticket - if you buy the cokes, pay for gas, etc. - you may end up spending more than that. I know I got an American Express last year just so I could take advantage of the buy one get one free deal. It is also limited to during the week.

I just got 4 lift tickets from the Kroger in Newport News, Virginia last night. You only get one lift ticket per transaction, so all I did was go back into the store and check out with a different clerk. They did have a tiny sign about the promotion next to the coke products. The receipt does say "only one lift ticket per family."

OK, I keep reading about the AmEX "buy one, get one free" lift tickets for Snowshoe offer. How does this work, what is the web site?
The Colonel

Colonel, here's the link to the AmEx - Snowshoe website. Scroll down past the "points" deal and there's a 2-for-1 coupon for you to print out. Restrictions are explained there.

Hope this helps,
Woody

Another question, how are the coke supplies running? Are any of the stores where you have received the vouchers running out of product? I'm going to be in a training class for a week in Richmond in a couple of weeks and was planning on stocking up. As long as the supplies hold up...

I wonder if Snowshoe is seeing a drastic increase in vouchers this year? I'm sure they will be re-evaluating the promotion.

I'll tell you my experience with these coupons in 2007. We saved $600 on 12 tickets by spending $130 on Coke products, green beans, and tax.

Having no Kroger nearby, I called the closest one, 50 miles away, and a nice lady there verified that yes, buy four 12 packs of Coke products, and get one coupon. A Kroger card was needed, but could be obtained at the store, no charge.

We waited for Coke to go on sale 4 for $10 (with any other purchase), and drove the van the 50 miles. I brought a handful of 20 dollar bills with me to make the transactions go faster (no credit card problems). It took us two trips to the cashier to get it all done, four at a time plus a can of green beans each, but each time a single cashier took care of us. She did not blink an eye. No putting on disguises for each four cases, she just rang up four at a time separately, gave us the change AND THE MAGIC LIFT TICKET COUPON.

We had no problems whatsoever at Kroger. By the way, at least in 2007, you could buy any Coke product (Sprite, Root Beer, etc.).

Okay, we had our coupons in hand, and went to Snowshoe... I was nervous about getting lift tickets out of them. I gave one to each family members with instructions on getting the lift ticket. "Don't talk to any other family member" etc. Turns out I was paranoid for no reason. My son actually got his two lift tickets at the same time from the same person. So much for the one per family thing.

Last year, for us, it was one of those deals that sounded too good to be true and it really was.

We will be driving the 50 miles again... transporting Coke products across state lines. It worked, and boy I am glad they are doing it again.

By the way, the 48 cases of soda lasted only until May, now THAT I am ashamed of!

PLEASE BE CAREFUL!! There are roadblocks setup on the borders with the purpose of catching those smuggling Coke and lift tickets. It seems the cops have been spending lots of time on DCSki and have picked up on this "Rum-Running". Be advised that the penalty for getting caught is too terrible to even mention on a family forum such as this. Again, please be careful. Godspeed!!

Great to hear that there are no problems with using the coupons. I'm in Ga (a little too far to make a coke run) - but I met a wonderful lady in WV on another message board and she has offered to buy the coke for me and donate it to the athletic department of her grandson's school. Win-Win for everyone....

If authorities catch you smuggling Coke and Snowshoe lift tickets across state lines...they will scan all your lift tickets and they will only be good on Skidder Lift and the Magic Carpet ;-)

Well.. it looks like the promotion at Kroger is over with. Check out this post over at SkiSouthEast.com:

Kroger, Coke and Snowshoe Mountain have a longtime relationship which remains very strong.

Together, we found instances of ticket fraud across several different avenues.

All three organizations are working to stop the fraud and discipline the people involved.

Unfortunately, due to the widespread fraud, the ticket program has been removed from all Kroger locations.

No new Kroger receipts, with the free ticket coupon, will be issued after 5pm on Friday.

Although the program will be ended, any receipts, with the free ticket coupon, will still be honored this season

I just stopped by my local Kroger in Harrisonburg and the promotion had already stopped there. The guy at the customer service counter said they stopped at midnight last night. He said there were several people that were coming in and buying TRUCKLOADS of Coke. I guess all those tickets on eBay did ruin this for the rest of us.

Thanks for the info Abe. That is really unfortunate. Goes to show that we are all in this ethics thing together.

Glad I went o Kroger today.
(Roanoke)
When I went in, I asked the Manager about the promotion, he said today would be the last day.
I must say I had plans to buy more, glad I was able to take part to a small extent.

Only one promotion can be applied to each Kroger Plus Card.

Drats, my first chance to hit up a Kroger is this Sat. when I go to Richmond. I planned to get several "tickets" along with enough coke products to stock up my Rivah place for the next 6 months.
Oh well,
The Colonel

Okay - I know I am going to get slammed. I agree that the folks getting the tickets and selling them on ebay may have hurt the promotion. But there is another ethical issue here - the receipt clearly states "one per household". Those of you slamming the ebayers - did you just get one for yourself. If not - then you too need to put a little blame on yourself for not following the rules.
I'm guilty also - I had someone in WV buy more than 4 12 packs for me and I plan on using more than one ticket per my household.
But I have to wonder about how much Snowshoe hates this promotion if they keep having it every year. And if there were the same complaints last year - why did they bring it back this year with the same processes and procedures in place? Maybe they ended it early this year because they had a magic number of coupons that they were willing to issue set at the beginning of the promotion and becuase so many people jumped on it buying truckloads of drinks - they hit that magic number early?

Okay - everyone attack and explain why getting multiple tickets for you own use (even though the ticket says one per household) is ethical....

bjb, I was wondering the same thing. It appears that this promotion is rather restricted geographically, i.e., to certain VA and WV locations from which, perhaps, Snowshoe wanted to drum up some new business. That approach would make sense to me. It would also be sensible for SS to pull the promotion when they learned about the hordes stocking up on coupons so early during the promotion.

As others have said, 08-09 is likely to be a good year for ski bargains, and a season when those bargains will be sought out.

Woody

It is restricated to just Virginia and WV - I contacted both Coke and Kroger corporate to see if there was any way to take advantage of the promotion in Ga. No luck.
I just can't believe that Snowshoe/Coke and Kroger would run the promotion again this year if they had all of these same issues last year. They must be getting some gain (profit) out of it - these are businesses that are in business to make money. If they lost on it last year becuase of the same issues - they would not have had it again this year.
Not necessarily on this message board - but on some of the other message boards - the folks in the promo area are just blasting those of us outside the area for trying to obtain some of these coupons and saying that we are the ones that caused them to pull the plug. I just don't see the difference in someone stocking up on the coupons and selling them on ebay or doing a deal with someone outside the area and someone in the promo area loading up on coupons for themselves. And I mean - a difference to Snowshoe. The ethics of the situation of selling on ebay or getting more than one per household is another whole issue.

I have to agree with bjb as well - I wonder if they just didn't hit that "magic number" of vouchers sold. The exact same thing happened last year with a bunch of these things ending up on eBay shortly after the promotion had started - so Snowshoe had to expect it to happen this year. It seems like Snowshoe should have at least put some kind of disclaimer on the ticket stating that they can not be resold / non-transferable - to give them some ground for keeping them off eBay.

who knows...

my sister heard a radio advertisement for the kroger/snowshoe deal in the Raleigh-Durham area. So I would think NC is included.

I just have a quick question. How is selling the receipts on Ebay fraud? It doesn't say on the ticket that you can't resell it, so what makes it fraud?

I agree with you about the idea of being fraud is questionable since the vouchers do not state "not for resell or non-transferable". But the point that has been made here is that the idea of getting something for free and then selling it on ebay is an issue of ethics and some have stated that Snowshoe (whether it is the local management or corporate or who I don't know) has stated that they are upset with that practice. But my point was strictly about the ethics of loading up on the vouchers and selling them on ebay versus the ethics of loading up on the vouchers for personal use since the vouchers do state "one per household". Breaking the rules is breaking the rules and those that put all of the blame on the folks selling them or buying them on ebay is shortsighted in my opinion. Not here but on a couple of other message boards - people are ready to hunt down the ebayers and skin them alive - they want them charged with fraud.

Click on the link above and check out that message board - these folks are ready to tar and feather the ebayers

yeah, I've noticed that people are pretty mad over it, but other than a few forum posts, I haven't heard that Coke, Kroger or Snowshoe are getting upset over it. The way I see it, everybody makes money off of this, the people selling the lift tickets on Ebay, Coke, Snowshoe (because it brings more people there), and Kroger. Also, are they really discontinuing the promotion today at 5?

Ethics?? What about the $75 ticket rate? Maybe if the tickets were reasonably priced to begin with; perhaps people would not scheme ways to save money on the lift tickets. Does anyone feel sorry for Intrawest??? I suspect some people would not ski at snowshoe if they had to pay full price.

This is another reason why I don't think it's bad for snowshoe for people to sell the receipts on Ebay. Because some people would not go if they had to pay full price, so when they see that they can get cheaper lift tickets, they get those and go which is good for Snowshoe since they're spending money on lodging and food while they're there. I actually just called Snowshoe, and they said that they accept any voucher, whether it is bought on Ebay or not, and that I should just be careful buying it on Ebay just so I don't get ripped off. They never said anything about them not wanting people buying the tickets off Ebay. Also, I'm pretty sure Kroger and Coke aren't upset because they're getting the sales.

And about the ethics, when I went there last year for two days and used the vouchers, I tried to get both days lift tickets at the same time, but they said that I couldn't get both on the same day and to come back the next day to get the other ticket. So it doesn't really matter that much, it's like going 5 over the speed limit, technically you're not supposed to, but it doesn't matter.

I think that getting more than 1 voucher per household and selling the voucher on Ebay are different types of things.

The deal/voucher restrictions clearly state 1 per household. They say nothing (based on my understanding from reading stuff here... I haven't actually seen one), about re-selling/transfering or anything like that. If anything, the restriction would be that you could only buy one per household, regardless of how you get it.

At the end of it all, nobody loses anything by Ebaying the vouchers. Someone still bought Coke (Coke and Kroger get their cuts), and someone will still ski (Snowshoe gets their customer). The only difference is that someone else, in between, got a buck or two off of it. On the other hand, if one family gets 5 vouchers, in addition to the fact that it's expressly prohibited by the program, Coke and Kroger still get their cut, but Snowshoe's "benefit" of new/additional customers is decreased.

The only ethical issue I see is in the multi-voucher people, but if it's true that Snowshoe wasn't enforcing it, then it falls into the "technically against the rules, but no harm done" category.


aaron

There is nothing that says one voucher per household, just one lift ticket per household. I assume that everytime a customer bought the prerequisit number of Coke 12 packs, the store issued a voucher. Since the purchaser had to show their Kroger savings card, perhaps the problem is that this was supposed to prevent the purchase of multiple vouchers via a single Kroger card, and somehow this failed. Yes, even with the restriction of 1 purchase per Kroger there would be work arounds for those determined to get more vouchers (such as multiple Kroger cards, using others' Kroger cards, etc.) but this would entail a lot more effort than simply purchasing multiple cases of Coke at a single time.
I suspect the whole thing got out of hand.
The Colonel

Does anybody know if Kroger has discontinued the promotion yet?

Check out this post...

Well, I just went to the one near me and they're still having the promotion and it's past 5pm on Friday, so who knows what's supposed to be happening.

Hey DCSki! I'm new to the forum, but got wind of the Kroger/Coke/Showshoe promotion, and it's potential ending, through the forum, so I thought I would join.

I had my wife hit up Kroger in Midlothian yesterday afternoon to get a free pass in case the promotion was ending at 5PM. She scored. I went by the Swift Creek Kroger (near Hull St. and 288) after work and got another one. It was a little after 5:30 and I got another one. Has anyone tried today (Saturday)?

If the Kroger Promo is dead, check out Costco. They have lifties on sale for $112 for 2 tix valid any date.

Members and non members can purchase them online at www.costco.com

Just search for snowshoe

Welcome, Top Jimmy,
Yep, they are at COSTCO.
You might want to think about changing your handle. Long time DCSkier and great poster is jimmy. Unless he is willing to sell you the rights, or unless you know him and are saying you are better than him, you might want to consider kindly changing your posting name. Well, maybe I am all wet here, maybe jimmy will think a new jimmy is apple pie and ice cream.
jimmy, and jimmy's buds, what you think?
Regardless, welcome aboard Top Jimmy.
like you said, lots of great info here. By the way, I was in a Kroeger in Richmond today on West Broad Street,and the manager and customer service person either were not aware of the Coke-Snowshoe-Kroeger deal (that supposedly ended Friday) or just made up an excuse to get rid of me. Said that Sunday was the first day for this week's offers, and this was last week's offer.
The Colonel

Yeah, it's stopped now, it stopped on Saturday night, any tickets gotten after that won't be accepted at Snowshoe... I talked to this one guy who was selling them on Ebay said he knew nothing about the promotion ending, and if he knew he was part of the reason why it ended then he would have stopped. Snowshoe should have given a warning about it before they stopped, given everybody a chance to stop selling them. One of my friends hadn't gotten theirs yet but they can't now because they just suddenly stopped. Hopefully next year they'll put "not for resale" or something on it so it will be plainly illegal to sell on Ebay, if they even do it again next year...

Colonel

Which Kroger on West Broad? Was it the one between Target and Home Depot? (there is another one closer to town). If so, I was in there about 8 days ago and saw the promo sitting on the shelf with my own eyes. I read the special cardboard flyer that was sticking out from the shelf that said purchase must be made before 12/31/08.

I think you are right...they wanted to get rid of you.

Glenn

I agree that the vouchers should clearly say "NOT FOR RESALE" on them. That seems to be an oversight.

Snowshoe has made it abundantly clear to me in the past -- in no uncertain terms (starting in 2004) -- that they would discontinue this promotion if people continued re-selling something they got for free. That has not been cool with Snowshoe. I've tried to pass that word on to DCSki readers, and have not allowed people to re-sell them using the DCSki Forums. But there's not much anyone can do about eBay. Clearly, Snowshoe and Kroger are going to have to revise the mechanics of this promotion to ensure people only use these vouchers in the way the resort intends. The Internet just makes it too easy for people to abuse promotions like this (and without clear terms of usage, I think many people didn't realize they were abusing the promotion in the eyes of Snowshoe.)

Yeah, I hadn't heard anything about all the selling problems up until a few days ago. If it's been going on for a few years, I'm very surprised that they haven't already stated on the promotion that it's not for resale, because that would cut down a LOT on the selling of them.

So the Kroger deal is dead? I go fishing for a few days and come back to this news?

Oh well, if it's really dead I guess I'll go with the Costco deal...

Fishing huh???? Care to further elaborate??

I think he mentioned something in an earlier post about going to Nags Head.
The Colonel

Check out the American Express - buy one get one free as well - I think someone provided a link to the coupon earlier in this post. If you have a couple of people, that works out better if you're going midweek - that coupon is not valid on weekends or Holidays either.

Hey Colonel Morgan, heh all teh coke wuts bin bot in this threads makes me thisty for a colonel morgan and coke but not to worry i'm not goin thisty, anywayz.......



i think wut this baord needs is afew moer jimmys, this TTTTTopJJJimmy guy spells much better than eyedo and this COSTCOdealio is a good legit way to get teh cheap tickies, TJ if you wanna B TOP Jimmy i don't mind being littlejayeyeemmemmwhy why???? because i bin littlejhay for fift##-@..... o for a veeeery long time thats wut i think, as for my buds eye dont know, JackFrost and unowut all my buds are gone .


Welcome aboard Top Jimmy, hope you find my missin stars u can have them dewd .

Well....the Krogers in our area (Charleston) didn't put Coke on sale until THIS week--so we waited...and we hadn't checked in here...so we have a total of three receipts.

This probably means we will NOT be going to Snowshoe for the first time in 6 years. As far as I'm concerned--the ONLY fraud is being perpetrated by Kroger, Coke, and Snowshoe for discontinuing this promotion with NO warning--when it CLEARLY states that it will be valid through December 31st.

We can't afford to pay exorbitantly to stay there, exorbitantly to eat there AND exorbitantly to ski there. SINCE they have to run the stupid lifts all day ANYway--whether or not I and my family are there using "free" (as in 20 dollars spent on coke we wouldn't otherwise have purchased) lift tickets...it sure seemed the most logical place for a promotion to me! Snowshoe wins no matter what!

If people are coming from outside the Virginia area---then that only makes it MORE likely they'll be staying overnight-and buying food and drink.

I can't communicate how upset I am. I HATE that we'll have to go somewhere else--unless they re-instate that promotion, or make it possible otherwise--and I somehow doubt they'll be docking their lodging fees enough to make up for that many lift tickets.

Heck yeah this is fraud! But it's people like our family --it's our kids who have been cheated. I had no problem with paying close to 4000 a week--or with buying food there, eating at their restaurants, shopping a little (very little after paying those lodging fees)since we were paying 10-20$ per lift ticket...this will mean we can't go. My Mom's disabled...that cuts out housing options WAY down (of COURSE we can't afford to pay for babysitting). We have four children--that cuts it down even further...we're using our income tax refund to pay for lodging--and that means we can't afford to SKI without that promotion. I am just sick.

So are you going to be selling the three receipts? I'll buy them.

Yes I was fishing in Nags Head. Hoping to catch some striper but only caught a coupld of dog sharks.

Think we may go with the AMEX deal.

Elrah,
I think you should communicate to Snowshoe what you've shared here. It's important they hear from there (potential) customers.

GDWindowpane, was that a joke? If it was, and I'm just not receiving it well, I'm sorry. Our youngest still skis for free, so if we keep the receipts, we could still make one "day trip" and only have to purchase two lift tickets...one Jr.

Clay, yeah...just as soon as I can trust myself to not burst into tears.

I told my husband last year--the fist time we step out onto Cub Run...and everyone's there--all lined up, getting gloves adjusted, and skis on--it's like coming home. (ski wise) We've taken every opportunity we're given to go skiing, which usually means parts of us get to go with different groups--youth group, one Sr. High, one Jr. (This year will be the first that we don't have a Jr. High student--both our eldest are in High School) Scouts...and we usually get to make at least one day trip to Winterplace.

We had planned to have extra tickets--since we usually vacation with at least three households. My parents-Dad sometimes skis...a cousin or two...and one of the kids friends...and we also wanted to go up on ANY and ALL snowdays. As I've said--with that deal--not only didn't we MIND paying exorbitant fees for burgers and fries and Gatorade--we kinda saw it as 'fair'.

I feel lied to.

Elrah, yeah it was kind of a joke, just trying to lighten the mood around here.

I too was going to take advantage of the Kroger deal as my family of four are heading up there for a week in January. We were able to get two receipts before the promotion was pulled.

I agree, seems kind of wrong that they pulled the promotion when it said it would run through December. Oh well, take a look at the American Express deal... Buy one get one free, $37.50 for a lift ticket isn't that bad.

Maybe they'll start the program back up if they hear enough negative press...

I contacted Snowshoe to get more information on this. As has been reported, the promotion was pulled due to a "high level of fraud across a variety of avenues." Snowshoe and Coke have run this promotion for 7 years, and they were very disappointed to have to pull it. My contact said the promotion may return in the future with different mechanics in place, and that they apologize for any inconvenience this causes their guests or potential guests.

As a way to save money on lift tickets, Snowshoe recommends taking a look at the Costco and American Express offers, which have also been referenced in this thread and continue to be available.

If you were catching Spiny Dogfish you were catching a tasty treat!....If you go to England & order fishnchips they will give you some fish options..if you pick "Rock Salmon"..you will be eating Spiny Dogfish....I'll be catching them this winter here in the southern banks of north Carolina..

PS The Kroger deal is DEAD..

No these were definately sharks... Looked like sand sharks but bigger. Guy I was fishing with called them dog sharks.

Since this Kroger deal is Dead lets have a full Hi-jack to winter fishing!..The Spiny Dogfish IS a shark..I've probably threw back a few before I figured out they were good to eat. There are a few good Sharks out there...Mako is King.
They put a hold on Cape fear river Stripers this year so The dogfish & other Tasty Bottom fish will fill the Void inbetween Ski trips this winter...Could get real Cold again & in that Case Feeding my Fireplace will fill the Void!

Yes, after a quick google search, I think you're right, we were catching dog fish... We threw ours back but cruising the beaches at Coquina seems that many of the fishermen thought they were a nuisance fish and left them on the beach for the gulls...

Coquina Beach was the Jackspot for the 15 to 20 pound Bluefish Blitzes back in the day & I remember seeing piles of Bluefish Carcases littering the beach where folks just left them there instead of throwing them back...then the same folks wundered why the fish quit blitzing.
Spiny's have a little Spine in front of the 2 dorsel fins. Most folks don't know the diff between trash sharks & the good ones. I used to throw away the the blowfish I caught on the piers untill I got schooled...they have great meat!...one mans trash is anothers treasure..

What's with all this talk about this marine fishing? Everyone knows the only fish that matters to catch swims in a small freshwater stream. They include the likes of brook, brown, and rainbow...

Elrah,
Check into Canaan Valley and Timberline.
Gotta be cheaper, right (?)

If we already have the vouchers though, we can still use them, correct?

I saved a link to the Costco Snowshoe Tix and here is what I got back today

We're sorry, this product is not available. Product number: 11247968

Yes, I believe so.

Blue Don 1982,
Last year they had the ticket packages in the stores. I think I remember an earlier post that indicated the tickets were in the stores this year also.
Others, chime in.
The Colonel

Yeah I got them in-store last year up here.

I stopped our Costco near Pittsburgh Airport last Sunday and they said to buy them online.

I'll check again this weekend.

I was up at Snowshoe last weeked and had an interesting conversation with the people at the Top of the World Check-in area... I was asking them about the deal with the Kroger promotion being pulled and they told me that it was because of fraud involving Kroger employees - they said nothing about the tickets being resold on eBay or other shenanigans like that. Their understanding was that some Kroger employees were fraudulently copying/printing the receipts. Who knows what really went on I guess...

Now that's an explanation that makes sense...

aaron