| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 26/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 13 |
| Copyright: Other |
If it’s not building works causing problems then its Air Traffic Control. But at the cheap price the public pays for their holidays nowadays, what do they expect?
Noel Josephides
I cannot remember a more difficult operational year than this.There seem to be several areas in Greece where, if they are not building new roads, they are laying drainage pipes.
We are constantly having to monitor the situation, having to pressurise local councils to go softly, softly and often moving clients so they will not be inconvenienced.
In Cyprus, one of the large vertically integrated companies is throwing thousands at owners in the form of pre-payments so that they can build villas with pools.
These are now sprouting on postage stamp-sized pieces of land everywhere, as in Spain and Portugal, so necessitating the moving of our clients when the new villa is being built next to one of ours.
Cyprus tourism is booming and so is the building industry. The trouble is that one boom does not suit the other in the short term.
There is demand for villas with a pool but the way the volume players are going they will destroy the market and, as a result, have to sell these at £99 too – the way they sell everything else.
Then, of course, there is the whole issue of flights. We were lucky this last weekend and emerged virtually unscathed. However, every time the radio or television advised their audiences to consult their tour operator the 24hr emergency line would ring and Chris, who is responsible for out of hours calls at Sunvil, had a sleepless weekend.
It’s amazing what some clients think constitutes an emergency.
All these people feel it is their right to know what is going on.
The most common moan is that “Nobody from the airline could tell us what was happening.”
Well, none of us knew what was going on this weekend so why should the customer expect to know?
Airlines should have an announcement which says: “We don’t know what is going on because it’s not up to us. We don’t know when the flight will take off. We don’t know when our crews will get here because they are stuck in a traffic jam on the M25. We don’t know when the aircraft will be fixed and we have no idea when we will actually be given a slot to take off.”
Now that’s the truth for you – and then they should add: “And don’t ask your tour operators because they won’t know either.”
I’m joking, of course but that’s exactly how we all felt by Sunday evening.
The great British public pays absolute peanuts for its holidays so why should it expect to receive a Rolls Royce service?
And what about luggage? Every day something goes missing and we spend hours trying to find it and getting it to the client who is in some remote location in Greece.
We tell clients time and time again to keep all their valuables or medication in their hand luggage.
I heard on the radio the head of Air Traffic Controllers apologising for the difficulties that the computer crash caused.
Tony Blair apologises for the behaviour of English soccer fans.
Do you think we could get away with an apology when our clients’ precious holidays are messed up? Not on your life. It’s litigation we have to face. Now that’s not fair is it?
“None of us knew what was going on this weekend, so why should the customer expect to know?”