Abbey Travel Charging for Consultations/Advice

[KalEl]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Do you see the travel agents point of view at all? That they would have the details of each person who comes into "book" a holiday and the percentage who return?
All I am saying is that if I went into Abbey Travel to book a holiday I would pay the €35...why wouldn't I? I'm a serious customer. If all I was looking for was information then I would go online, look in brochures or ask a member of staff for a price and be upfront about it.
I am not questioning your motives in this...you were a real customer. But unfortunately, as is often the case the dishonest and devious few have ruined things for everyone else.

 

[Recam]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

No offence, but is 'nt our right to be able to price or get the best deal for our holiday ,

Yes but paying the €35 for the service of an expert for an unlimited period doesn't effect your right to get the best deal.
The €70 saved by the OP was only 1% of his budget.
Would be interested to know if this policy applies to short haul as well e.g if I want to book a last minute to Spain for €300, suddenly the risk of loosing €35 seems crazy.

 

[KalEl]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I have to disagree with that. I've never gone into a travel agents to make an enquiry and said hey yes I will buy off you but I dont care what it costs me. I dont care what conditions will be like oir which hotel I stay in etc. I dont even care if you dont have a room in the place I want to go. That would be stupid and it would also be stupid of the travel agent to assume this to be the case.
I have always said somehting along the lines of :' I want to go to Africa next October and want to know what kind of deal you can offer me'. Thats the proper way to do things.
People are going in for a quote. They are not dishonestly pretending to be millionaires who dont care about money and neither have they entered into any contract to buy.
What I think is wrong is to put so much pressure and guilt on any passing customer who pops in for a brochure. Making an enquiry is not a contract of sale and the enquiring customer owes the shop nothing.
Any potential customer who makes an enquiry should not be made to feel guilty. I doubt any business is so busy that they cannot deal with an enquiry from a potential customer as if they lose the deal this time theres always the opportunity of the next holiday to sell and so on.

Did you read any of my posts?
What I am referring to is people whose intention all along is to book their holiday on the internet themselves going into Abbey Travel and pretending they are a potential customer. They are being dishonest and underhand and it is this type of person who have led to the €35 charge.

 

[z108]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Do you see the travel agents point of view at all?

This story seems to be restricted to only one travel agent aka Abbey. Does any other travel agent behave like this ?
I have a problem with any business which views me as a dishonest pretender or a liar.

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

People are missing the point that the "quote" for each holiday is online or in the brochure. This is provided for free. If someone wants a service over and above this, for example if they don't feel comfortable using the web, then they have a choice of paying for this service or going elsewhere. Nobody, not even Abbey Travel, can please all of the people all of the time.

 

[z108]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

What I am referring to is people whose intention all along is to book their holiday on the internet themselves going into Abbey Travel and pretending they are a potential customer. They are being dishonest and underhand and it is this type of person who have led to the €35 charge.

But why do they have to pretend ? Can't they just walk in and see what kind of deal Abbey can offer them ? Noone would walk blindly into a deal without first examining it and comparing it to other deals.

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I have a problem with any business which views me as a dishonest pretender or a liar.

Are you in business yourself? I guess not. If you ever are (no matter what type of business) then you will invariably find plenty of people in both of the above categories. Sad, yes, but that's life.

 

[KalEl]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

This story seems to be restricted to only one travel agent aka Abbey. Does any other travel agent behave like this ?
I have a problem with any business which views me as a dishonest pretender or a liar.

How would you describe someone who intends to purchase a holiday online, but goes into a travel agent pretending they wish to purchase the holiday purely to get information to use themselves?

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Can't they just walk in and see what kind of deal Abbey can offer them ? Noone would walk blindly into a deal without first examining it and comparing it to other deals.

Er..that's what brochures & websites are for

 

[z108]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Are you in business yourself? I guess not. If you ever are (no matter what type of business) then you will invariably find plenty of people in both of the above categories. That's life.

I have experience in many businesses outside of engineering. I come from an entrepreneurial family. And one thing I'd never do is automatically treat and assume the customer is a dishonest pretender or a liar.
And of course fair play to Abbey Travel if they can squeeze another 35 euro out of even those potential customers who Abbey was judged not suitable for but its important to emphasise my point of view is as a consumer of Travel not as a purveyor. I would also like to give my considered opinion that this wont be a popular move with someone randomly walking past the premises who pops in for a brochure and a 'word' with someone.

Er..that's what brochures & websites are for

Then I guess youre saying theres a lot of insane people walking around who never want to go on a holiday ever but like to imagine they are going who are ruining it for everyone else?
As I said before; I dont think anyone disagrees with Abbey having the right to price themselves out of the market if they so wish. If it works for them then fair play to them. They are in the position to best understand their own business.

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Then I guess youre saying theres a lot of insane people walking around who never want to go on a holiday ever but like to imagine they are going who are ruining it for everyone else?

Sorry? Your point is a bit too abstract for me... I never mentioned anybody ruining anything.

 

[z108]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Sorry? Your point is a bit too abstract for me... I never mentioned anybody ruining anything.

Well If I have to pay Abbey Travel 35 euro simply to enquire how much they can sell me a flight to Marbella for , I'd consider that to be a backward move. Just my opinion.

 

[askalot]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

And to know what you want, you need advice, which it costs money to provide.

This is the one selling point that highstreet travel agents have over internet based operators but if they can't make the business work without charging for it then they probably will go the way of the dinosaurs. They are a service based industry and they need to convince the paying public of the value of that service over and above the DIY booking on the net.

If the logic is that you are paying for the agents time then why a per person charge? And is it per person in the office while making the booking or per person traveling?

As for ripping the notes up in front of the customer, they really should look for another job. Mind you they might have to in a couple of years!

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Well If I have to pay Abbey Travel 35 euro simply to enquire how much they can sell me a flight to Marbella for , I'd consider that to be a backward move. Just my opinion.

I can only repeat.....that's what brochures & websites are for

 

[MrKeane]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

This policy from Abbey seems a bit ridiculous, does it apply to everything or just tailormade highend holidays?

 

[foxylady]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Do you see the travel agents point of view at all? That they would have the details of each person who comes into "book" a holiday and the percentage who return?
All I am saying is that if I went into Abbey Travel to book a holiday I would pay the €35...why wouldn't I? I'm a serious customer. If all I was looking for was information then I would go online, look in brochures or ask a member of staff for a price and be upfront about it.
I am not questioning your motives in this...you were a real customer. But unfortunately, as is often the case the dishonest and devious few have ruined things for everyone else.

Whats dishonest about enquiring about the cost of a holiday

 

[z108]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I can only repeat.....that's what brochures & websites are for

As I said before; I dont think anyone disagrees with Abbey having the right to price themselves out of the market if they so wish. If it works for them then fair play to them. They are in the position to best understand their own business. And of course fair play to the Abbey Travel Celtic Tigers if they can squeeze another 35 euro out of even those potential customers for whom Abbey was judged not suitable but that idea in itself gives me a bad feeling.
I think I'll pop in for a brochure soonish and check out their new policy. If they tell me that I dont need them and can find out everything online then I have no problem with that. This model works for car insurance and buying flights among other things. What I wont do is pay any travel agent in advance of finding out if they have a suitable product (price + location + correct dates of holiday when I will be available to go) for me to buy.

 

[Sunny]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I can only repeat.....that's what brochures & websites are for

But as said before if abbey travel website allows you book long haul holidays, flight uprades, hotel room upgrades, transfers, tours etc etc then they might be in a position to charge people who want face to face contact. But I am willing to bet that their website does not allow you to tailormake the holiday as much as you might wish and you need an agents help hence the commission you pay when you book the holiday. Also I also willing to bet that their brochure says, please contact an agent for other options on holidays.

 

[bq67ie]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

It may be hard to believe but there are some people who do still like to use the old fashion methods of human communication when they are doing something. If we keep going down the path we are there will some be no actual branches for anything including banks, post offices, travel agents and anything remotely relating to service.

Use Trailfinders. Travelled with them several times and always found them knowledgable. usually the person I speak to has a practical "off the beaten track" suggestion for my trip. They are very pleasant and friendly to deal with, and helpful and flexible.

Yeah this probably sound like I'm trying to drum up business for them. I'm not. If I didn't like them I'd be at least as forthcoming with my comments!

 

[ubiquitous]

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

But I am willing to bet that their website does not allow you to tailormake the holiday as much as you might wish and you need an agents help hence the commission you pay when you book the holiday.

What has this to do with anything? The €35 "consultation fee" is credited against the cost of the holiday once booked. The overall cost of the holiday is unaffected, as is Abbey Travel's commission.