Received with thanks
It’s always nice when clients show their appreciation for your efforts but it is especially rewarding when they express this by way of a small gift. Top of the list come chocolates, while flowers and wine remain popular choices.
This week however, I received a token of thanks from a client I had sent to a campsite in Spain. Neatly wrapped, he handed it to me and looked at me expectantly. I am often at a loss to know whether the client wants me to unwrap the gift in front of them, or whether they would prefer me to put it under the counter to open in their absence. On this occasion it was clear the client expected a display of gratitude. I duly obliged, pulling the paper off to reveal a box of Spanish biscuits.
“Ooh, they look lovely,” I gurgled.
“And they’re 100% natural,” said the client proudly as he pointed to a statement on the side of the box. I thanked him again and he left.
Jules made a cup of tea and, as it was around the time when sugar levels need an extra boost, we opened the box and shared the biscuits around. Not since my Aunt Ida broke a tooth on a flapjack have I experienced such hard biscuits. Stale? They were rock hard. The wisest among us had tried to nibble the ends but soon gave up on this. One less prudent member however, had put the biscuit in whole and was rendered silent for half-an-hour trying to crush it.
We agreed it was a generous gesture on the clients behalf but when he warned us that these Spanish delicacies were 100% natural, perhaps he meant naturally hard. Anyway, it made me think back to times past when unusual gifts had been bestowed upon me and my colleagues.
The incident I think I will never forget came when a couple I had booked on their first package holiday abroad came into the shop with a large shopping bag full of food which they placed onto the counter in front of me.
“For you,” said the wife as if handing me the crown jewels. I opened the bag to find myself staring at an opened packet of frozen fish fingers, half an onion, portions of frozen apples and a loaf of bread.
“We’ve run the freezer down so we can switch it off while were away. I thought you could make yourself a meal with that lot.”
Rarely am I lost for words but at the time I remember even thank you seemed hard to say.
One other day I received a bottle of Jack Daniels from a client whose straightforward flight to Tennessee I had booked. At precisely the same time my dear friend and colleague Vi, was given a cauliflower by a fruit ‘n’ veg stall holder whose very intricate tailor-made holiday she had spent hours on. We did laugh as we put our prizes together and saw what a very peculiar system of justice was at work in our industry!
Tower of strength
We’ve had to be ready to quite literally pounce on our clients as they approach our front door recently.
Not because we are desperate for bookings, but because the heavy aluminium and glass door keeps sticking. This clearly presents a problem for those of our clients who do not have the strength of Hercules, or who have arthritic hands, or who are fearful of inducing a heart attack by the effort of getting into the agency.
For some however, the door has provided an opportunity to show off their muscularity. One of the chaps who makes regular deliveries to our shop and who sports Samson length hair, has no difficulty at all in sweeping the door aside with one hand while carrying huge piles of parcels in the other. As he comes from Greece we have christened him Atlas.
Alas, Atlas’s feats of strength will not be witnessed by wide-eyed females for much longer as the work men are due to fix the door on Monday.
Striking it lucky
Bookings don’t come much easier than one I’ve had this week. How refreshing it was to meet a client who knows where he is going, when, and how to get there! A former travel agent from overseas, he made a complex trip look like a week in Bognor!
Using an OAG airline guide he had worked out all his round-the-world flights including those through Polynesia and New Zealand.
I struck lucky a second time when I happened upon Anita in Travel 2 reservations. Anita, who is from New Zealand, was knowledgeable about all destinations and connections and quoted frequencies of flights seemingly off the top of her head.
I hope I’ve covered everything he asked for; he wrote the instructions down in French. Oh well, you can’t have it all, can you?
Best of a bad situation
There’s nowt so queer as folk as they say. What constitutes a lovely holiday for some sounds positively nightmarish to others.
A client recently returned from her holiday popped in to thank Sal for a really great time. Sal’s smile of satisfaction soon dropped however, when the woman went on to describe how she had developed gastroenteritis while in resort. Unfortunately, Sal wasn’t spared any of the details of the client’s illness from the suspected source of the disease – a tomato washed in tap water – to its grip on her which had resulted in constant trips to the loo and feverish shivering as the woman lay around the pool wrapped in a blanket whilst everybody else sweltered in 30C heat.
Sal asked if the client would be lodging an insurance claim to recover the medical expenses incurred? The client looked surprised and reiterated that she had had a wonderful holiday and hadn’t felt so good in ages!