A trio of law firms have filed a class action lawsuit against Vail Resorts claiming “deceptive and fraudulent business practices” because company leaders didn’t fully disclose that the ski patrol union had gone on strike during the peak holiday period. Meyers & Flowers, Tarpey Wix LLC and The Spence Law Firm alleged in the suit filed in U.S. District Court for Utah, Central Division, that Vail Resorts “intentionally and willfully deceived hundreds of thousands of its customers.”According to the lawsuit, Vail Resorts knowingly sold lift tickets and other services without informing customers that nearly 80% of the resort’s operations were impacted by the strike. “Guests were left unable to fully enjoy the experience they had paid for, including incidents in which guests were stuck waiting several hours to get on a ski lift to ski for only a few minutes before being forced to get back into line to wait with thousands of other skiers,” according to the complaint. “Families traveled to Park City Mountain Resort expecting a premium experience, only to arrive and find that what they paid for was far from what was delivered,” said Peter Flowers, a founding partner at Meyers & Flowers. “The resort had an obligation to inform customers about the strike, and its failure to do so resulted in significant financial losses and ruined vacations for countless guests, which was incredibly despicable.”The plaintiff, Christopher Bisaillon, and his family were among those visitors, which he said resulted in a “colossal nightmare.” Bisaillon, an attorney with Spence, said he had planned a family holiday ski trip to Park City, where he spent over $20,000 on what he believed would be a “ski experience of a lifetime” as promoted by Vail Resorts.Shortly after they had arrived, he said, he learned that this promise was far from reality. The family, who had planned on skiing each day over the week, was only able to ski less than 10 runs over the duration of their vacation. Their story represents one of many customers who suffered financial and emotional harm due to the resort’s failure to disclose the strike, he said. “This isn’t just about a bad vacation — it’s about a corporation deliberately misleading its customers to maximize profits,” said Daniel W. Tarpey, a litigator at Tarpey Wix LLC. “Vail Resorts took advantage of its customers’ trust, and we’re here to hold them accountable for their actions.”The lawsuit claimed Vail Resorts knew as early as Dec. 16 that a strike was coming for the upcoming holiday ski season if it did not reach an agreement with the ski patrol union but did nothing to alert the public. “Even when the ski patrol union officially went on strike on Dec. 27, Vail Resorts still did not take any action to warn consumers and continued to allow skiers to purchase lift tickets under the impression that their ski experience would be what the consumers expected,” according to the complaint. “It was not until Jan. 4, eight days after the start of the strike, that Vail Resorts finally included an operations update on the PCMR website,” according to the suit.“All three of us remember very well what it was like when our family would save up for a holiday vacation,” said Mel C. Orchard, a partner at The Spence Law Firm. “Lots of hopes, dreams and squirreled away money thrown down the drain because one company decided not to tell people the truth. Was Scrooge advising Vail?”The post Law firms file class action lawsuit vs. Vail Resorts, asserting visitors were not informed of strike appeared first on Park Record.