Maureen Hill

Jumper japes

Why do clients assume we agents have all the time in the world? Having found the holiday requested earlier by a client, I rang her at home to give her the good news. In mid sentence she stopped me and told me to hang on for a moment. I listened intently but could not hear the source of the emergency that had dragged her from the phone.

What seemed like an eternity passed before she picked up the receiver again.

“I’m sorry about that but he got his head stuck in his jumper,” she said.

She didn’t explain who he was – it could have been a toddler, her husband, an aged relative,or even an illicit plumber. But whoever it was could surely have survived just a minute longer!

I have had a most frustrating time trying to find a cruise that will get an old couple to Mauritius in time for their son’s wedding in January.

I managed to find them a cruise but unfortunately it arrived 10 days after the event, by which time the newly weds would be packing to go home. The problem stems from the fact that the clients, or more accurately the mother, will not fly, but their son desperately wants his parents to witness his marriage to his Mauritian fiancee.

However, with the help of Passenger Shipping Association Retail Agents’ scheme and Zeljka at The Cruise People, we’ve managed to get them to Durban – from where Mauritius is but a short hop – in good time for the big day. We have suggested to the prospective bridegroom that if he could bring his mother into the office to see us, we may have more success in persuading her that flying is safe.

We told the couple about Sal’s client who was also scared of flying. Sal, who used to worked as an air stewardess, had sat her down and explained the mechanics of flying in a bid to demystify the experience. Because of her expertise she was able to answer the client’s questions about thermals – I thought they only came out in winter – turbulence and where to store your handbag in an emergency landing. After this, the client took to the skies happily – and has flown again and again. Let’s hope Sal can work her magic again!

It’s always nice when clients recognise the efforts we put in for them and one client this week thanked me in a most unexpected way.

I had found a choice of holidays in three Greek islands for a single chap wanting to get away at the last minute.

With the help of reservations staff at Kosmar, I was able to give a thorough breakdown of each resort so he could make an informed decision. In the natural pauses that occur during a booking, like when you access the system or dial an operator, I embarked on the sort of general chat that encourages the client to feel you have a genuine interest in them- which invariably I do – and makes them want to hand over their cash to you rather than any other agent.

During our discussion, the young man told me he was a landscape gardener and we passed some conversation in matters floral.

At the end of the transaction, he stood up and thanked me for the time and trouble I’d taken with his booking, adding that he had been told at another agency he wouldn’t be able to find a late booking as a single traveller.

He shook my hand and said one good turn deserves another, so should I require some advice on the possibilities for my own garden, he would be pleased to come over and give some free advice.

Now it’s just a matter of finding someone to do the digging, planting, weeding and mowing.

I cannot understand why it is that not all brochures feature a wheelchair symbol beneath hotel descriptions to say whether or not a hotel has rooms for disabled guests.

There are systems available which allow us to access this kind of information, but for a disabled client choosing an hotel from a brochure in the comfort of their own home, this is not an option. So as a result the process, which should be a pleasurable one becomes frustrating.

One of my clients found himself getting increasingly frustrating when he tried to find out whether a particular hotel in Ireland offered rooms with a bathroom door wide enough to accommodate his wheelchair, and what the distance was between the bath and the loo.

Fortunately, the hotel he had in mind was featured in the Cresta brochure so it was just a matter of a quick call to Mandy in Cresta’s special-needs department. She informed us there were two specially adapted rooms that could cater for wheelchair users. They were larger than standard rooms and offered bath grips and other aids for disabled guests – but because they were larger, they were called deluxe and carried a supplement.

The client felt this amounted to discrimination and expressed this to Mandy. She then passed his feelings on to the hotel management who explained that when not in use by disabled clients, these rooms were occupied by discerning visitors wanting extra space. But the hotel recognised the validity of our client’s argument and very kindly offered to waiver the deluxe charge in his case.

And all would have been fine if it hadn’t been for the fact that this very popular hotel was fully booked for the dates the client wanted.

Thankfully Mandy secured another hotel with the same facilities at a similar cost, to the client’s delight. I must admit it is all too easy to overlook the needs of disabled travellers, and I have now vowed to remember that even the smallest of details can make the difference between a successful holiday and a logistical trial for this section of the holidaymaking public. Thank goodness for Mandy and others who do a similar job.

Maureen Hill works at Wessex World Travel, Gillingham, Dorset