THE chances of operators being able to live up to the expectations of holidaymakers is zero, according to Airtours deputy managing director Richard Carrick.
“Total customer satisfaction is a myth,” said Carrick. “Customers are content when their positive expectations are met, but surprise is uncomfortable.
“We have surprised customers because we changed too much of their holidays; often the brochures are, without intention, inaccurate; and we are getting far too many complaints as an industry.”
Carrick said letters of complaint were down, but payouts in compensation were at an all-time high.
He said some complaints were genuine but many were bogus and unreasonable and showed a video clip of a woman who was given £1,600 in an out-of-court settlement by Airtours when a coconut fell from a palm tree and landed on her. It did not cause injury but Airtours decided to settle, although it did not accept liability.
“To increase customer satisfaction we have to build a relationship with clients, as we have done with our Freedom customer loyalty card.”
P&OCruises managing director Gwyn Hughes, who was also talking about customer satisfaction, agreed it was virtually impossible to achieve.
“As soon as people get satisfied, they want more. We lay ourselves open to disaster when we fall short, ” he said.
Hughes added that research showed that 75% of people who filled in customer-service questionnaires saying they were satisfied or very satisfied would still travel with another company next year.
“It is very difficult to keep people, even when they are satisfied,” he said.
Hughes added that the P&Obrand was an advantage because it stood for quality, but also gave the company problems because people expected so much from the brand.
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