- Dave Howard, a skier, sought a refund for his unused Epic Pass.
- Howard had hip surgery, preventing him from skiing this season.
- After media involvement, Vail Resorts refunded Howard, resolving the dispute.
PARK CITY — Dave Howard has spent his life as a professional athlete and a competitive skier. There isn't anything that can keep him off a mountain once the snow falls.
Well, OK — there is one thing.
"I had hip surgery in September," Howard said.
Despite the surgery, he remained hopeful he could hit the slopes before the season ended this year. But by springtime, his doctor told him that it wasn't going to happen.
"So, I just said, 'Well, I'm going to forgo the season,'" Howard said.
He had paid Vail Resorts for an Epic Pass ski pass that was now going to go completely unused — not one day. He looked up the pass' terms and conditions and he said he found he may be entitled to a refund.
"You have insurance in case you don't ski," Howard said.
He said he sent Vail's claims administrator a note from his doctor, and he asked for his money back or just to allow him to just defer the pass until next season.
"Going through it with them, it was a very drawn-out process that at the end they denied me my pass money," Howard said. "And I think that's wrong."
Frustrated and out more than $800, he asked KSL Investigators to investigate.
Vail's website for its Epic Pass ski pass does spell out the terms of a refund. One of those terms states claims must be made "within 30 days of when the qualifying personal event arises."
It wasn't within 30 days of the surgery. But it was within 30 days of his doctor saying he could not ski this season. So, would that qualify him for a refund?
The KSL Investigators took that question to Vail Resort's public relations team. A spokesperson would only discuss the issue off record. He made an argument. He had some points — points that could be germane to this story. So, we asked him repeatedly to go on the record so we could include Vail's side. He refused.
"Vail Associates, in my mind, didn't hold up their end of the bargain," Howard said.
Here's what we can report: Howard said that after we reached out to Vail, the company seemed to have had a change of heart. After he sent another doctor's note, he said he received his refund. He's now looking forward to the next ski season.
