The long and winding road
When the office doors slammed shut on Monday evening, our make-up bags sprang open as Sal, Jules and I did our best to disguise the ravages of a day’s hard labour in time for the TIPTO Roadshow.
The event, held at the De Vere Grand Hotel, Southampton, promised to be fun and informative. Unfortunately, the drive there took more than an hour and meant we were somewhat pushed for time to get round all the stands and chat to the TIPTO operators.
It seems we weren’t the only ones to encounter traffic problems; both Shearings and Holiday Autos experienced motorway mayhem and were still stuck on the M4 as dinner was served.
This was a real pity for us as we had wanted to speak to the Shearings representative about the difficulties we and many other West Country agents have been having in obtaining its brochures containing departures from this neck of the woods.
As one of the aims of TIPTO is to increase awareness of the products offered by their members, this proved to be a very large fly in the ointment. (I note with some irony there is no shortage when it comes to brochures sent directly to clients).
It was great to meet up again with Jane Scott from Cadogan (no shortage of brochures there), and with Carmel Sneyd, Jet Life sales manager. There were many familiar faces and it heartened me to think that, Essex or Wessex, there will always be a core group of reliable company representatives to whom one can pick up a phone when in need!
Penny Blake of Festival Cruises made sure we had a drink to relax us after our trying journey, and set us on our mission to get our card stamped by each operator. This was an inventive way to meet everyone face to face and to learn from them. The cards were then put into a prize draw.
The food and wine were welcome following our tour of the operators and at the dinner table I sat next to Mike, of KD Cruises who, in the good old days had worked for Clarksons (who? I hear you cry!).
We compared the differences between booking a holiday now and way back then when, if an agent rang, the operator disappeared to check the coloured flags on a wall to see if the flight was available!
We established that I had probably spoken to Mike when he was in reservations and I was a junior counter clerk.
The entertainment was provided by a troupe of professional actors who provided us with a live version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire with the winning family spending their winnings on various TIPTO operators’ holidays.
We were unable to stay for the finale due to the call of the road home but we all agreed we’d enjoyed a productive evening and would like to thank Network for organising it and the TIPTO members who were so generous with their hospitality.
I Sea France – well, nearly
When our boss Nigel booked a SeaFrance sailing recently, little did he know how difficult it would be – see France!
A trip to his mother-in-law’s 70th birthday celebrations in Belgium necessitated the crossing of the channel and, punctual as he is, Nigel found himself arriving sufficiently early to catch the ferry before the one on which he was booked. SeaFrance were happy to change histicket.
He joined the queue that had formed in the right-hand lane. A female port worker sporting a fluorescent jacket and toting a mobile phone directed him out of and around the queue.
Respectful of her authority, Nigel did as he was directed but was puzzled when he found himself on the other side of a 20ft fence en route to the exit.
Passing by the Customs and Excise sheds he was stopped and asked what he was bringing into the UK. Nigel explained he had yet to leave it and was told the only way back was to go out of the port and re-enter. His puzzlement was turning to frustration.
He joined the queue again only to be flagged down by yet another woman in a fluorescent jacket. He explained what had happened on the previous occasion and that he was reluctant to leave the queue again. He was told there should have been another steward on the other side to direct him following a check of his vehicle.
This did little to allay his annoyance as he had by now missed the ferry and had 90mins to wait for the next one. He noticed with irritation that no-one in the P&O Stena queue had been stoppedÉ
Some time later he was approached by two young people from SeaFrance who handed him a leaflet promoting early booking discounts for direct bookings.
“Can I book this through my agent?” he asked. Their reply was negative, inevitably.
“But I do all my bookings through my agent,” Nigel protested. “They stock your brochures!”
The young people assured him they would report his comments.
You can imagine that this was not the best experience of sailing SeaFrance that Nigel could have had and things were no better when he arrived at his mother-in-law’s home. He switched on the TV to watch the rugby only to discover that she didn’t have Eurosport. Ah, well, c’est la vie!
In a stew over meat war
With the meat wars being waged at present, it’s interesting to note how clients travelling to France are working out strategies to avoid participating in them.
Sal’s clients, enquiring about skiing in France, informed her they would be taking frozen stew in the boot of their car. They explained that the dish would have thawed by the time they arrived at their destination and could be heated up in no time to ensure a hot meal for the family. There was no mention of how the dumplings might fare under such conditions.