All present and correct
I was tickled to hear of the game staff at Carlson Worldchoice in Billericay and their bird pulling antics when Ispoke to the branch manager, Leila recently.
Extremely appreciative of the efforts to which Leila had gone to secure his holiday, a local gamekeeper popped in after Christmas to present her with a brace of pheasants by way of thanks. As Leila was on holiday at the time, the staff took them in and made space for them in the fridge.
Brace yourself…
It was not long before they realised the unpleasant consequences of housing dead fowl alongside the milk – each time a member of staff made a pot of tea and went to the fridge for the semi-skimmed, a pair of claws sprang out at them, or a head rolled off the shelf towards them.
No longer able to cope with the emotional trauma incurred in opening this icebox morgue only to be confronted by two pairs of doleful eyes, the girls opted to go without hot refreshment.
Of course, the pheasants were still fully clothed in the bright feathers which, staff were told, should have been plucked when the birds were warm. However, this pair were by now quite cold, having been lodged in the fridge waiting for Leila’s return.
To make up for lost time, I’m told staff pheasant plucking sessions have been arranged and feathers will fly! This will certainly liven up the quiet moments and make a change from brochure stamping; let’s face it, you’ve got to admire their pluck!
School’s out if you like
The media is full of talk of holidays – school holidays to be precise. I have listened to numerous interviews on radio with representatives from our industry on the topic of Mr Blunkett’s recent call to halt the trend for parents to take children out of school during term time for the family holiday and am acutely aware of the issues surrounding it.
Mr Blunkett, Secretary of State for Education and Employment, is pleading with tour operators not to offer huge discounts to families willing to travel ‘off- peak’ as this is proving disruptive not only to the education of those children missing a fortnight or more’s schooling, but also to the life of schools which are currently helpless in the face of the lollipop temptations of the larger players in the industry.
Disunited in one cause
I fear he is fighting a losing battle, not least because Tony Blair himself has taken his three children on holiday during term time, and Jack Straw’s daughter will be making a late start to her new term for the same reason.
So, while poor David Blunkett would like to think that members of the Government are all singing from the same hymn book, it would appear that some MPs have hidden holiday details in the pages of theirs!
Perhaps he should have called for the industry leaders not to load the pricings of holidays during the school holidays, cynically exploiting the families who choose schooltime as expendable.
In all of this, Ifeel sorry for the teachers. They can never take advantage of discounted holidays, their holiday time is always premium travel time. I wonder how far they’d get if they call this discrimination?
Service with a smile
We are constantly reminded of the lack of sympathy shown to clients when things beyond the control of the operator go wrong that it is particularly refreshing to hear of a client’s appreciation of the handling of a problem.
A client of mine felt duty-bound to tell me of the wonderful service she had received after the day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon on the Orient Express she had arranged for her friend’s birthday treat went wrong.
A technical fault occurred as the train left Victoria Station at 9.20am. Complimentary drinks were served whilst the situation was assessed and passengers were kept informed.
It was imperative that the train travelled to Stratford-Upon-Avon that day as there were 70 Japanese tourists exploring Shakespeare country who need to be picked up and brought to London, but it soon became clear that a significant delay was inevitable and that this would have impacted severely on the day trippers’ time in the town.
Clients were therefore offered a full refund and 50% reduction on another date, or if they wished to travel, a delayed trip now leaving at midday to include a brief tour of Shakespeare’s birthplace, ú100 compensation and 50% off another trip.
The majority of passengers decided in true British Bulldog spirit to continue with the journey and all agreed the situation had been handled in a wholly professional manner, having nothing but praise for the ‘master’ of the train who managed not to create a crisis. Perhaps operators could try use him for training purposes?!
Bugged by the Millennium
A day working in Blandford has reassured me that all areas have their eccentrics.
He looked rational enough when he came into the shop but gave himself away when he explained to my colleague Andy that his party of 11 wished to hire accommodation for the Millennium in the UKor France.
His party had started by looking at 350 properties and had whittled them down as the prices quoted ‘bore no relation to last year’ and he ‘wasn’t going to pay that sort of money’. It was difficult for him to accept that if he didn’t pay the price asked he wouldn’t be going.
With a smirk on his face, he added that he’d craftily booked himself on a ferry to Cherbourg on August 11, to ensure that he would witness the total solar eclipse.
When it was suggested that he had no need to go that far as it will be best viewed from Cornwall and Devon, he replied that he was sure all West Country accommodation was already booked, that tourists would be camping in fields where they’d be in danger of fires starting amidst dry crops and that ‘bedlam would break out’. We didn’t like to argue, so insistent was his prediction.
n Maureen Hill is temporarily working at John Perry Travel, Blandford Forum