Taking charge of fees? It may cost you dearly

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Comment

Taking charge of fees? It may cost you dearly

T he ON-GOING ruck between ABTA and ARTAC over service fees has been great fun to watch as it escalated.

I agree with ABTA that a national advertisingcampaign promoting service fees would go down like a lead balloon with consumers.

Campaign for Real Travel Agents chairman Edwin Doran is charging £25 an hour to clients if they do not go on to make a booking. Edwin has got some very loyal clients who appreciate his service and he may just get away with it.

But try charging customers on Sutton high street and you’ll be laughed out of town.

On many high streets, consumers regard travel agents as any other retailer and think how you would feel if Dixons starting telling you one of its suppliers wascutting commission and therefore it was going to charge a fee for advice on electrical equipment in your home.

So what can be done?Charging fees has to be agradual process at the discretion of individual agents. As people get more used to paying for a passport service and fees on low-ticket items, then they may increasingly be prepared to pay for a good service.

But a £25-an-hour fee across the board from agents will just lead to more people going direct andaccusations of ripping the public off. And in any case, the multiples would just advertise:”Book here – no fees.”

Jeremy Skidmore – editor