Mystery Shopper: Evesham travel agents sell a ferry break

This week Mystery Shopper was looking for a ferry holiday. They hate flying and usually do a ferry holiday to northern France. Can they do the south of France or Spain without flying?

They would like a gite, cottage or similar for self catering, want to take the car and are comfortable driving abroad. Thomas Cook won for the fastest service and the agent had slightly better product knowledge, but all agents need to gen up on the areas.

Wanted: A family summer holiday by ferry
The target: Evesham, Worcestershire

The Travel Centre of Evesham

57-59 Port Street
Score: 59%

On first impressions this branch could do with a bit of maintenance on its general décor. Of the agencies visited in Evesham, the consultant here took the least details.

She selected three brochures, but advised me availability would be limited. She suggested I take the brochures away and return when I had selected some locations. I asked for help with doing this, but she said the choice was too wide.

I stayed in the agency looking for the brochures for about ten minutes, during which time the agent didn’t check if I was alright. When I had chosen somewhere the agent was on the phone so I had to wait a further five minutes to speak to her. She phoned French Life to check availability and I was give a quote for £2,519.

There was only one consultant in the agency and she seemed to want to deal with my enquiry as quickly as possible with little effort.

Thomson

45 Bridge Street
Score: 67%

Both agents in Thomson were serving customers when I walked in, so it was about three minutes until I was acknowledged with a hello.

Some 13 minutes later another agent came out of the back of the shop and apologised for the wait, saying she was dealing with a phone call from a customer but would be with me in a couple of minutes.

Three minutes later one of the agents finished with the customer and again apologised for the length of the wait. She started to complete a travel planner, but missed the vital question about budget.

She admitted she had limited knowledge of the areas I was interested in. She suggested phoning French Life and checking which cottages were available. She quoted a full cost including ferries at £1,782.

Overall the service was satisfactory, but I was left waiting too long to be served, even though the staff were apologetic throughout.

The Co-operative Travel

6 Bridge Street
Score: 72%

The consultant at The Co-operative Travel was fairly thorough in her questioning, but again missed one vital question – she didn’t ask about budget.

She called Cottages 4 You, who advised her that all the properties in the area were booked, but they then found two cottages via a sister company on the website Interhome.co.uk.

The prices were £1,810 or £1,842 per week, including ferries. The consultant was also able to advise on ferry ports and times of departure that were available.

Although she came up with two suitable properties, she was unable to tell me a lot about what I could do in the local area. Because she lacked a bit of product knowledge, she wasn’t that enthusiastic.

I was given printouts of property details and she said the only way to secure the holiday was to pay a deposit. Overall the service here was good and they appeared keen to get my business.

Thomas Cook

15 Bridge Street
Score: 79%

A bright ‘Hello’ from an agent immediately greeted me at Thomas Cook. The consultant started off by asking standard questions about numbers in my group, agents of children, regions, which ports I wanted to travel via and dates. She also asked about budget.

Disappointingly she admitted she didn’t know much about the areas I wanted to visit, but suggested Brittany Ferries, saying it had a good selection of cottages in Spain and the south of France. Although she suggested the Cote d’Azur, she didn’t actually give me any details about the area.

She checked availability by phoning Brittany Ferries and then recommended a cottage at a price of £2,143 and confirmed availability of reclining seats on the ferry. She advised placing a holding deposit on the trip.

Overall I thought I got good service here, despite a bit of a lack of product knowledge. However, she did find me a holiday that met my needs and obviously wanted my custom.

  Discuss it: France is the most popular holiday destination for Brits, so why did the agents admit to a lack of product knowledge?

Tips

1. Ferry holidays are a great sell to families, usually you’ll only need to arrive 30 minutes in advance and there are generous luggage limits – as much as you can pack in your car.
   
2. Brittany and Normandy holidays are popular with Brits only wanting to travel a short distance over the channel. However, operators sell holiday homes all over France for clients wanting to go further afield. Make sure you offer to book hotels en route for longer journeys.
   
3. Warn clients if they are travelling to Santander in Spain capacity is more limited and in bad weather the bay of Biscay is notoriously choppy. 
   
4. Research what’s available on the ferry. Whether it’s dining in the buffet car, going to the cinema or relaxing in the cabin, facilities and services on modern ferries are extensive. 
   
5. To get more product knowledge about ferry holidays visit Gazette ers.com. The site also contains photos of resorts and hotel reviews from fellow travel agents.