| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 07/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 45 |
| Copyright: Other |
Combing the Net for a good stylist? It just won’t cut it
One of our customers gets some ‘hair today’ advice that she wouldn’t get if she went ahead and just booked on the Web
Service you wouldn’t NetThe problem with nets is that they’re full of holes -Êand the Internet is no different. Just think about those clients who choose to book their holidays in cyberspace but who lose out on the details – the little snippets of information that could be provided by an agent.
A client of ours, who was treating herself to a Superbreak in London, rang from the railway station before setting off on her journey. She wanted to know where she could get a special hair do for her evening out at the theatre.
“I know it will be dark in the auditorium,” she said, “but I’d really like to make an occasion of it.”
I remembered that Terry Truby of Communications International public relations had told me of a Japanese hairdresser who included a Shiatsu massage in the cost of a cut and blow dry, so I rang her for the number.
Within minutes, I had rung the client back with the details of Igreque Ono in Marylebone and she was very grateful. Now, had she booked over the Net she could still be surfing for a stylist!
An ungrateful group
Whereas some clients appreciate the efforts to which agents go to provide a first-class service, others seem offensively oblivious. Take the party I had in this week. Thirteen passengers looking for a holiday for the first two weeks of the school holidays.
Never one to turn down a challenge, I set about the task with relish. The group comprised of assorted adults and children wanting a self-catering product. Some however, wanted two weeks while others were only looking for one.
After some considerable time working on it, I began to doubt that I’d ever find anything for this baker’s dozen. I told the party leader it would take a little more time for me to find enough seats only to hear him retaliate with the agent’s favourite line: “I’ve got a friend who works in travel and he says JMC have got them.”
Having just spoken to JMC reservations, I assured him his friend was mistaken, though there were plenty of seats for the following week but that wasn’t the week he’d requested, was it?
Eventually I found the seats with Tanya at Manos holidays. I asked her to hold them while I checked the accommodation.
Tanya said she was unable to do that but responding to the desperation in my voice, said she would use her initiative and live on the edge a little, agreeing to hold the seats! I’m eternally grateful.
Gloria at Cachet Travel came up trumps with villas in Turkey complete with complimentary car hire. The leader of the party seemed pleased with the arrangements and I smiled in a job done sort of way.
But the job wasn’t done at all. The fun had only just started. One of the party soon rang to ask why they were all paying the same when one person had two children under 12 years old, another had a teenager and so on.
Having explained that Gloria had waived the underoccupancy charges as they were a group, I added that I could happily get her to reinstate them and add them to everybody’s costs. Needless to say I was told the present costs were fine after all.
More calls to Gloria and her boss, Ghislain, ensued. Could one of the party swap her car for a Cabriolet? Does such a beast exist in Turkey? I fear not!
All I can say is a big thank you to Gloria for staying so cool at the end of a hot line.
Blame Brittany Ferries
While I was getting hot and bothered with this booking, Kate was turning puce with rage over a Brittany Ferries booking.
Kate had booked two weeks’ accommodation in France with Brittany Ferries some time earlier. The client had sat in front of her while she did it and had been shown the accommodation in the brochure before booking there and then.
When the invoice arrived however, Kate noticed the accommodation was different from what she and the client thought they’d booked. The call was made to Brittany Ferries who immediately blamed Kate, claiming she’d booked the wrong accommodation.
Kate disagreed and told of how she had shown the client exactly what the clerk at Brittany Ferries had told her was available.
She pointed out that she doesn’t dream up accommodation but relies on the company to advise her as to what is and isn’t available.
This cut no ice and Kate quickly realised that rather than waste time apportioning blame, they had better retrieve a poor situation.
She asked for an alternative but everything offered didn’t approach what the client had chosen. Anticipating the client’s negative reaction, Kate was reluctant to offer any of these alternatives. The Brittany Ferries clerk who had already accused Kate of making the mistake in the first place interpreted this as defeatist of her, saying: “It sounds as though you’ve given up.”
What she failed to realise was that Kate did not wish to appear to have let the client down.
However, in the end, she phoned the client to explain exactly what had happened. The client rang Brittany Ferries herself to hear the operator lay the blame at Kate’s feet.
Buck passing is the name of the game and don’t we agents know it! The client is going to alternative accommodation provided by Brittany Ferries which, incidentally, is paying the additional costs. And it’s blameless?
I’ve got your number
Penny knows more than anyone how this job can take over your life. This week she found herself giving her private phone number to Club Med in place of our office number!
All the clients in the shop laughed when she suddenly screamed, “No! Wait, that’s my home number!”
A red-faced Penny now wonders how many operators and clients are in possession of her residential number, so if any of you find yourself speaking to daughter Alice, who’s four, you will know why!