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Agents hang-up on slow operators

AGENTS are beginning to switch-sell away from tour operators
who keep them hanging on the telephone for hours at a time.

Delays of up to three hours in answering calls and
frustration over the widespread use of 0870 numbers – from which tour operators
can net up to 3p a minute – has sickened agents so much that many are now
offering clients alternative holidays with operators that have a better
telephone track record.

Sovereign, Crystal, Citalia, Magic and Airtours came out as
the worst five offenders following a Travel Weekly survey of independent
agents.

Citalia kept Mayflower Travel manager Keith Herlock hanging
on the phone for 90 minutes last week, while Edwin Doran Travel retail manager
Debbie Duncan-Studart waited for two hours 55 minutes to get through to the
operator.

Derby-based Stevens Travel Solutions owner Kay Stevens said:
“It’s now got to the stage where I try to steer clear of operators I know don’t
answer promptly or keep me hanging on an 0870 number. I try to switch-sell or
avoid them altogether.”

Airtours defended its telephone system, saying call-centre
staff fielded up to 10,000 calls a day while Citalia and Crystal said an
explosion in bookings this year had taken them by surprise and extra measures were
being put in place to cope with the influx of calls.

Sovereign marketing and communications manager Katy said it
was in the process of recruiting extra staff to cope with the flood of calls
since it set up a dedicated reservations team in Crawley in January.

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