Being a travel agent can be a rollercoaster of ups, downs, twists, and turns. It’s mostly fantastic; with many wonderful opportunities…
But sometimes, it can feel like you want to BANG YOUR HEAD AGAINST YOUR DESK.
(But please don’t, because that would really hurt.)
Travel Agents are basically superheroes, with neck scarves instead of capes, but mistakes happen.
However, sometimes clients like to play the blame game and shame agents with things that weren’t really their fault at all.
Here are a few that my offices had to deal with during my time in retail…
The Weather
“I’d like to write a complaint because you told me that the weather in Greece should be warm and sunny in July, but it was actually quite cloudy and that ruined our entire trip”
No word of a lie, we then resorted to saying ‘as per the brochure the average rainfall is…’ and ‘obviously we can’t guarantee the weather though’.
The Breakdown of a Marriage
“My wife found out that I was taking another woman on holiday when I said I was going on a business trip. She went through my emails and found our flights. How could you do that to me?”
I’m really sorry this had to happen because it really sucks. But we honestly had no idea of a) your agenda and b) that we weren’t allowed to send you flights via email – when you told us to send flight via email!
The Food
“I only ate a banana during the entire 22-hour flight because when I told you I was gluten-free, I actually meant I’m dairy-free, Vegan, and Coeliac, with allergies to nuts and beta carotene. You should have known.”
Okay, the poor man must have been absolutely starving, but this is why we ask about dietary requests! We’re not mind readers (unfortunately), so we really had no idea.
Sickness
“The plane journey made me catch a cold and I felt sick the whole holiday. Why did you book me on that flight? It was really germy.”
Anti-bac gel. That’s all we’re saying.
The Wrong Airport
“I’m here to book a trip to China. I’d like to fly into Guangzhou.”
* 3 months later *
“Oh, why did you book me to China? I need to go to South Korea, I think the airport is Cheongju”.
This was a debacle but we managed to get it fixed. Not really sure why the country suddenly changed, but hey ho, they got there in the end! – oh, and “don’t worry, travel agents can get it wrong sometimes!”
Time for a coffee? We think so.
Have you been blamed unfairly for anything? Let us know on Facebook!
