A client who only books with me recommends us to a couple she knows.
She would never dream of booking online and she appreciates we could be a little more expensive, but feels it’s worth it for the service we provide.
Her friends have been back and forth regarding flights and hotels in Barbados either side of a cruise they have already booked. They’re travelling premium at Christmas, so we’re talking prime dates.
Six emails back and forth and we are there. “It’s perfect,” I’m told. “Except the price.”
The wife tells me she thinks I’ve made a mistake as she can get the flights on Skyscanner, one of the hotels on Trivago and the other hotel on Thomas Cook saving them around £130 each so can I explain why my price is higher?
I certainly can and I compose an email in the style of the lyrics for that country classic song No Charge. I explain, as I do 50 times a week, that Skyscanner is a comparison site so the prices are not live. Booking a holiday in this way removes the protection of booking with a real agent.
We can book this for her with a deposit, while it’s likely if she books online, she will have to pay up front for at least the flight element.
And, should anything happen, as we did in the pandemic, we would be doing all the work to refund or rebook her. We would be issuing all her tickets, checking her in and giving her access to our 24-hour emergency number that’s answered by a real person within three rings.
“So,” I explained: “I don’t think it’s a huge price to pay for this kind of service.”
A quick “Thank you for the reply,” and she will get back to me. But, knowing the flights she wanted to book only have two seats left I quickly hold them, meaning she’ll be in for a bit of a disappointment when she goes back on Skyscanner.
Sure enough, an hour later she’s back on the phone having talked to her husband and she has decided to book with me. However, she now has more demands.
“We want the two seats together on the side of the aircraft and you need to contact the hotel to tell them it’s our 30th anniversary and we would like an upgrade to one of their ocean views.”
I tell her these things are possible but would likely involve an extra cost to guarantee. This goes down like a lead balloon and she says: “In that case, I don’t see the point of using you if you can’t sort some simple requests.”
I decide she’s right and tell her sadly that the flights have all sold out and I can’t help her.
As she slams the phone down I ‘forget’ to cancel the flights I have on option and leave them to expire naturally in 48 hours.
The post Tales from the Secret Agent: The last two seats appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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She would never dream of booking online and she appreciates we could be a little more expensive, but feels it’s worth it for the service we provide.
Her friends have been back and forth regarding flights and hotels in Barbados either side of a cruise they have already booked. They’re travelling premium at Christmas, so we’re talking prime dates.
Six emails back and forth and we are there. “It’s perfect,” I’m told. “Except the price.”
The wife tells me she thinks I’ve made a mistake as she can get the flights on Skyscanner, one of the hotels on Trivago and the other hotel on Thomas Cook saving them around £130 each so can I explain why my price is higher?
I certainly can and I compose an email in the style of the lyrics for that country classic song No Charge. I explain, as I do 50 times a week, that Skyscanner is a comparison site so the prices are not live. Booking a holiday in this way removes the protection of booking with a real agent.
We can book this for her with a deposit, while it’s likely if she books online, she will have to pay up front for at least the flight element.
And, should anything happen, as we did in the pandemic, we would be doing all the work to refund or rebook her. We would be issuing all her tickets, checking her in and giving her access to our 24-hour emergency number that’s answered by a real person within three rings.
“So,” I explained: “I don’t think it’s a huge price to pay for this kind of service.”
A quick “Thank you for the reply,” and she will get back to me. But, knowing the flights she wanted to book only have two seats left I quickly hold them, meaning she’ll be in for a bit of a disappointment when she goes back on Skyscanner.
Sure enough, an hour later she’s back on the phone having talked to her husband and she has decided to book with me. However, she now has more demands.
“We want the two seats together on the side of the aircraft and you need to contact the hotel to tell them it’s our 30th anniversary and we would like an upgrade to one of their ocean views.”
I tell her these things are possible but would likely involve an extra cost to guarantee. This goes down like a lead balloon and she says: “In that case, I don’t see the point of using you if you can’t sort some simple requests.”
I decide she’s right and tell her sadly that the flights have all sold out and I can’t help her.
As she slams the phone down I ‘forget’ to cancel the flights I have on option and leave them to expire naturally in 48 hours.
The post Tales from the Secret Agent: The last two seats appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
