Sneak a peek inside a Travel Agent’s suitcase and we’re pretty sure you’ll find a full lycra suit, a cape, and a pair of hot pink underwear – because, after all, Travel Agents are also superheroes.
We recently interviewed Shaun Caratozzolo from Flight Centre Miami Plaza in WA on Agent Insights last Thursday, and honestly, we just couldn’t get enough of him.
That’s why he’s here again on KarryOn, this time strutting his superhero stuff on Travel Agent to the Rescue.
In this episode Shaun tells us of the time he stuck it out for his clients, fighting in their corner until they got what they rightfully deserved, demonstrating his superhero-like-tenacity.
Take it away Shaun, you good ol’ superhero you.
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I must admit I have a view that when a client walks in to my store and sits with me, or they pick up the phone and dial my number – or even just send me an email with what they are after – I always hold the view that my clients are in a time of need and it’s my role to rescue the situation and make the experience happen.
Holidays are experiences that meet a need, whether it’s for business or pleasure. I’m in the business of making the picture that’s in our client’s head come true.
And 99 percent of the time, things run like clock work: the client gets to book what they’re after, and because I know why they’re going, their needs are always met.
But every now and then, as luck would have it, stuff happens…
I had a client recently all booked and paid in full for their dream holiday: A week touring China then a luxury cruise to Singapore followed by some amazing accommodation in Singapore and a business class flight home.
They had been saving for this trip for years as it was something they promised each other they would do after a family tragedy a few years earlier.
Five months before they are due to depart, the cruise line privately charter the cruise ship out, and although the cruise line are giving us a refund, the tour company and the airlines were not as it was not their fault that the cruise ship was chartered.
My beloved clients now do not have the holiday they dreamed of and even have the threat of not getting all their money back!
That’s where it is important to come to the rescue and make sure that my clients have someone in their corner fighting for them.
I liaised with the airline and tour company plus the cruise line and submitted multiple claims to make sure that my clients would be looked after, even though legally we did not have many options.
After over a month of going into the trenches for my two wonderful clients, I’m pleased to say that the cruise company saw it my way and refunded them for all monies that were owed due to penalties from the airline and tour company.
Fighting to make that picture in my client’s mind come true was all I had to worry about, and I didn’t want my clients to lose the $18k they had put towards their trip.
My clients have now booked a new dream trip with a China experience and are currently putting some finishing touches to make sure that that special picture they had in their minds to celebrate the memory of their loved one is still going to happen.
I like to think that I played a part in this experience and I hate to think what would have happened if they had booked online themselves and didn’t have another person in their corner fighting for them.
As Travel Agents, we fight to make sure our clients get the perfect experience and walk away raving about it because we knew just how important this experience was going to be for them.
Holidays are more than just seeing a destination. If you dig deeper, they are always about meeting a special need and my role is to find that need and make it happen for a price my clients are happy to pay.
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Thanks heaps Shaun.
Again, Shaun’s story is just another example of how having a Travel Agent in your corner can make all the difference.
Travel Agents have more power and influence than the average consumer, and paired with PTMs and Reps, matters that would otherwise take ages to resolve – if at all – can be dealt with quite swiftly indeed.
Go travel agents, go!
Check out some of our other Travel Agent to the Rescue stories: Kathie from helloworld, Sean from STA Travel, Ez from Student Flights, and Lorie from Travel Counsellors.
