Re: Poor marks for Aramark...

From the SF Chronicle: Yosemite’s review of park concessionaire Aramark slams it for poor service

Maybe Delaware North was better...?

The line in the Article that caught my eye was "problems making reservations at High Sierra camps". Are any of them open? I did a recent backing swing and all I saw were shuttered outhouses, fancy solar arrays and pipe structures for the lodges.

Due to the heavy snowfall, none of the HSCs opened this year. But that has nothing to do with the functioning of the reservation system, as reservations are allotted the previous November.

I totally agree with the article on the shuttle service. We were there in April and tried to take the shuttle around and it took forever getting places. After waiting more than 30 minutes the second time, and this was during regular day time hours, we decided to drive or walk (within the valley). This is one that's not complicated to get it right. Aramark is just choosing to maximize profits, given their position as the sole service provider. Hope NPS keeps on them to fix the problem.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2019 07:53AM by recycling1991.

Quote

Performance reviews of Philadelphia-based Aramark corroborate complaints that visitors have increasingly had about food, campground reservations and, most extensively, shuttle service at one of the nation’s busiest and most venerated national parks.

I'm not saying Aramark's performance has been spectacular, but you can't pin campground reservations on them... That would be the current recreation.gov vendor, which... well, it's not obvious who runs that site now (sehlkeconsulting.com?), but it's not Aramark (or Ticketron or the previous vendor that I can't remember...)

And I'd pin much of the shuttle service stuff on the NPS contract itself, which didn't mandate free shuttles for Glacier Point, Tuolumne Meadows, or the valley-to-Tuolumne hiker's bus. Sequoia seems to have a much better shuttle service, with regular runs hitting Dorst, Wuksachi, Lodgepole, Wolverton, Sherman Tree Parking, and the Giant Forest/Museum. If only they'd run them in winter instead of pretending that 10 parking spots is sufficient for everyone who wants to see the Sherman Tree during a winter holiday...

Maybe I am having more issues than others but I can say, I wish that Aramark would lose their contract. Many of their employees have no idea how they do their job. Some former DNC employees that were retained have been forced to take on more responsibilities with the same pay and are really feeling the stress. I have been verbally accosted by an employee at the ice rink after I asked a simple question. Have had to numerous times answer other visitor's questions when an Aramark employee did not know the answer because they are not fully trained. I waited 1 1/2 hours for a pizza at Curry and when I went to get it, it was not the correct pizza and the employee insisted it was even after I showed them the receipt with the toppings listed. Badger Pass was a mess last year because so many of the usual employees either were not rehired by Aramark or decided to quit after working for Aramark for a while. Some of the remaining former DNC employees were asked to take on more responsibilities which meant that they were stretched too thin. Many of the new Badger Pass employees had no idea what they were doing and my son and I ended up helping them. I hate the new Degnan's and miss being able to get pizza at the loft at night. We liked to go to the Mountain Room to get NY strips and now they are 16 OZ and cost $52 which we can't afford. The shuttle system is a joke now and you have to wait forever to get one even during the slower season. I could go on and on. The only positive is that Aramark did partially pay to get the names back.

Mike Reynolds would like pubic input so if you are not happy with Aramark, then write him a letter.