Our Reply from Blue Marble, 2000
After we returned from our August 2000 tour, we wrote a generally favorable critique, in response to Blue Marble's questionnaire. We mentioned some problems with the equipment, as well as the dog bite episode, but overall we praised the trip. As you can see, there was no hint in this reply that the company intended to "blacklist" us.
Dear B***,
I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful letter concerning your recent trip with us.
We are, indeed, very grateful for your feedback. I'm glad that overall you had a good experience. I want you to know that we have already reconfigured the start
of the Swiss trip (it will not meet in Dijon at all, and the bikes will
be picked up in a town other than Pontarlier). Your comments
confirmed what we had already suspected had become an awkward trip start,
due to a shift in train schedules and bike trains. We're confident that
these changes will improve that. Concerning your bike: it is, as you surmised, every
coordinator's responsibility to ship bikes in good condition, or if that's not possible,
to make the new coordinator aware of any bike problem
so that it can be taken care of immediately. For whatever reason, it
seems as though yours slipped through the cracks. In general, people are
very satisfied by the bikes, so thank you for reporting the problems
you had. I've sent out a notice to remind coordinators to perform a
thorough bike check before putting a passenger on the bike. Thank you also for your carefully considered words regarding
S***. Each coordinator receives a thorough evaluation at the end of the
year, based in part on guest comments (ALWAYS given anonymously). I am
absolutely confident that S***, who is, as you describe "very
professional" will take all comments to heart and work hard on any areas that need improvement
if she decides to continue to lead trips for us. Thank you again for your letter -- feedback such as yours is
what helps us improve our trips and address problems. We truly appreciate
your complimentary and constructive comments and hope you'll consider
joining us in the future. Yours Sincerely, Laura Malone Blue Marble NJ
