Mystery Shopper: Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire – 4 Jan 2007

RULES
Each week, Mystery Shopper calls on agents across the UK. Shops are judged on five criteria:

Agency appearance (15%)
Brochure racking (10%)
Product knowledge (25%)
Sales technique (25%)
Staff attitude (25%)

The top-scoring agency receives a Travel Weekly certificate of commendation. Agencies must score a minimum of 60% to qualify. Any agency that scores under 30% will be named and shamed as this week’s Shop of Horrors. Please note, no additional information will be given about Mystery Shopper’s visits.

Thomas Cook

I entered the agency and was greeted by a consultant. I explained I would like to stay in a country house hotel such as Chewton Glen in Hampshire. She said she didn’t even know where Hampshire was, but very quickly found out by looking at a map.She looked briefly for the hotel but couldn’t find it. She advised me to take the Superbreak brochure and choose a few hotels. She said if I called her she could check prices and availability. The consultant said she couldn’t make an enquiry on the system until she knew which hotel I wanted to stay in. No recommendations were made, giving me little option but to leave.

Score:38%

Thomson

I was greeted by a pleasant consultant who asked how she could help. When I told her what I was looking for she explained she was training and began to try and find the Chewton Glen hotel. A few moments later a colleague came down the stairs on her way to lunch but held back to help out.They both looked on the Gazetteers website to find the hotel but to no avail. They did find the property on the Thomson website but said they were unable to book it as they didn’t have a telephone number! Presumably neither had heard of directory enquiries? The trainee called Superbreak, which recommended a couple of lovely hotels in Scotland. Her effort saved the lack of common sense.

Score:56%

Going Places

The agency was bright and tidy.I was greeted by three consultants. One of them asked if she could help me and enthusiastically talked me through my options.She was unable to find Chewton Glen, but pointed me towards breaks in Scotland. She painted a picture in my mind as she described the countryside and the rivers. She certainly had me sold on the idea.The consultant also gave me details of transport to Scotland and offered to book me the rail tickets. The main brochure she used was Superbreak and she made countless recommendations from it. The consultant next to her also helped in the sale by pointing out a previous customer’s holiday to me that was in the same location, Perth.Overall I received a very good service in this agency and I was given everything I needed to book the break, though I would have preferred a broader selection of operators to choose from.

Score:65%

Travelcare

The agency had a smart appearance and a welcoming feel. I was greeted by a consultant and was asked to take a seat. The consultant made me feel I was in safe hands from the outset. She had a professional manner and took control of the enquiry. I felt she knew what she was talking about and had lots of experience.She made several suggestions and although she could not find a match for Chewton Glen, she came up with several alternatives which seemed far more appealing. We went through several brochures including Superbreak, Highlife and Warners. She showed me a beautiful castle hotel in Scotland and called Superbreak to check availability and price. The consultant gave me her card and said call her when I wanted to book, and it could be done over the telephone.

Score:78%

Tip 1:The Chewton Glen Hotel is a luxury country house hotel and spa in the village of New Milford, on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.

Tip 2:Other country house hotels in the New Forest area include Forest Park, Lyndhurst Park, Elmers Court and Moorhill House.

Tip 3:In addition to the above, UK tour operators Highlife Breaks, Superbreak and Hotel Breaks feature many country house hotels throughout the UK.

Tip 4:Highlife Breaks offer two-night romantic stays in a number of country hotels, including Ponsbourne Park in Hertfordshire, Hatton Court in Gloucestershire and Rossett Hall on the Welsh borders near Chester.

Tip 5: Details of Valentine’s breaks can be found on Gazetteers.com under the special interest category of Valentine breaks/romance. There is also a vast selection of hotel breaks in every part of the UK

This week Mystery Shopper wanted a Valentine’s break in a country house hotel such as Chewton Glen in Hampshire.

Mystery Shopper had a budget of £500 and wanted to travel as close to February 14 as possible.

Although some of the agents could not find the Chewton Glen, they did make recommendations for other hotels.

One agent simply handed a brochure over and told Mystery Shopper to call back.

Overall, though, the agents visited this week did really well.

About Gazetteers.com

Gazetteers.com, from DG&G Travel Information gives you a single website that means you need never fear being mystery shopped again! Gazetteers.com combines all our unique and unbiased data – destination/resort guides, hotel reviews, tour operator details, passport and visa – and sorts it the way you want it. With superb search functionality and additional hi-tech features such as online brochures, photos and interactive maps, you’ll find it hard to believe that travel agents ever managed without it. Gazetteers.com provides agents with all the product knowledge you need to meet and exceed customer expectations. Log on at www.gazetteers.com.

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