More: Agents call for review of furlough scheme for travel sector
Retailers will ‘pick and choose’ operators to work with longer term as they face losing customers because they cannot get through to suppliers during the current crisis.
Speaking to Travel Weekly Group editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley, three agents admitted one of the biggest challenges of recent weeks had been contacting certain suppliers over booking amendments or refunds.
Spear Travels group operations director Trevor Davis warned this could play out after the crisis has ended and impact future supplier relationships.
He said: “After all the dust settles, each retailer will have its own winners and losers as far as operators are concerned because some are clearly making a real effort …but some appear to be working harder than others.
“When you have spent years building up relationships with customers, it could be very easily lost in some cases. We may struggle to retain them. We are doing everything we can but it’s proving awfully difficult.”
Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson agreed: “I think we will lose some customers; it’s very difficult to try to retain these customers.”
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The agency chain is holding daily calls with many of its suppliers which is easing issues and most have been “pretty good”, but she added: “Some suppliers are not making it easy for us, and they could make it easier.
“With the rebookings process some operators have got it 100% right but some have not and we have to go through the phone [rather than online] when we have furloughed staff and it’s extremely difficult to get through to suppliers.”
Similarly, Jeanne Lally, joint managing director, of the Travel Bureau, said suppliers could be split into three camps: those which are busy but are organised and able to speak to agents; those which are doing what they need to do but are overwhelmed with operational demands, leading to misunderstandings over policy; and those which agents cannot get through to at all and are only offering refund credit notes.
She said: “We don’t have many in the third camp but the ones we have have caused us the most angst. Trying to get through to them to get any sort of help when you are trying to rebook someone has been frustrating; when you know a customer wants to travel but cannot get through to people.”
Davis said the problem had even led to some customers accusing his company’s staff of “being compliant with operators in withholding monies”.
He added: “In some cases I have had to write to customers and say I am very sorry we cannot take this any further. I have made the operator aware and asked the operator if they want to intervene and they have completely ignored that.”