Agents should consider charging booking fees and insist on stronger supplier guarantees for customers in the future, according to panellists on a Travel Weekly Webcast.
Alistair McLean, owner of Dorking Travel said: “If there was a fee that we could charge, that would be good. I could say to a customer, if anything goes wrong with this holiday, in terms of the fact you can’t go anymore, I’m going to keep my commission or a portion of that commission. So I’ll refund you this, but not for the work that I’ve done.”
McLean added: “We don’t value ourselves. We don’t put a value on what we do. I’ve spoken to a number of friends of mine who are in different professions and said: ‘For those house purchases that are no longer happening…are you refunding the conveyancing fees and all the work that you did for that customer?’ And they look at me as if I’ve grown two heads.
“’Of course we’re not, we’ve done all the work!’, they say. And I’m saying, ‘well I’ve done all the work for the holiday that has now been cancelled, and I’m having to refund the lot’.”
McLean added: “They don’t understand it. And they are saying to me that our industry needs to put a fee on what we do and value ourselves. Whether or not we will, I don’t know, but I hope we will.”
But he also warned: “Every travel agent and tour operator has to do it, otherwise it won’t work.”
David Walker, of Not Just Travel member The Travel Snob, suggested getting confirmation in writing from operators which could be passed to customers to offer clarity and reassurance.
He said he had managed to do over £200,000 of new bookings since the lockdown began but said every sale was taking much longer and required much more explanation and reassurance of what would happen if something were to go wrong.
“The difference now is that we’re explaining to the customer the ‘what ifs’ in case it happens. I’m adding that onto my spiel now when I do a new booking, which I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing before.”
He added: “It’s all about them knowing that, if something does go wrong, then this is likely to happen. We will just move the dates or whatever. And I’m getting stuff in writing.
“I just did a massive ski booking at Christmas, but I’ve got it in writing from the supplier that the customers would get a refund if it doesn’t happen.”
