Abbey Travel Charging for Consultations/Advice

Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

legend said:
have people gone mad on here....

i recently test drove a 04 bmw in my local garage and then went to england to buy the same model.. cleared the vrt and still saved 5k...

should i go back to my local garage and give them som of the money i saved... i think not...

some people have more money than sense !!!!!
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Did you tell them that this was your intention all along?

Or did you pretend you were actually interested in that car?

Of course you shouldn't go back and pay them money...however if it were me I would be a touch embarrassed about my duplicitous behaviour.
(unless buying that car from that garage was ever a runner)
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

OP did the right thing and voted with the feet but the telling statement is in the initial post "There are signs up all over the place which I hadnt noticed".......
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

26cb Seeing the signs would just have saved me the arguement it wouldnt stop the issue. If i had seen the signs I would have left straight away. It dosnt get away from the issue of charging for a quote
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Its like asking where the beans are in tesco and being charged for directions. Absolutely scandalous and i can't see this charge lasting much longer!
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

So.......are you also against paying a Financial Advisor ?
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

26cb said:
So.......are you also against paying a Financial Advisor ?
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I wouldnt pay a finalcial advisor for meeting with me and him telling me what he can do for me and for what price

I would pay him for meeting with him and getting advice
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Dont' get me wrong I would be as annoyed with Abbey Travel as you are...I would defend to the hilt their right to set a price for the consultancy and would also expect them to be aware of the impact on their business....It would not surprise me to find that Abbey are pushing in the direction of an online business model !
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

In terms of paying for service, it's long been practice here in Croatia that property agents charge clients to view property. Even some of the "big" agencies or internationals will do this. The defence is that: "We're not a tour agency". Others are more clever, they put together accommodation but lump in 50% profit to cover costs. I'd always found both a little wrong as the service provided by their agents is generally not up to snuff, imo.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I spoke to Abbey Travel. Their sign says

"A consultation fee of €35 is payable. This Consultation Fee is redeemable against final invoices on tailor made bookings"

They don't charge for quotations. If you want to price a flight to South Africa, they will give you a quote. If you want to sit down and plan a round the world tour, they will charge you.

Brendan
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I wanted to sit down and plan a trip to south africa not around the world tour and they point blank refused to quote without payment upfront - FACT

If i just wanted a flight i would of course booked it online like everyone else.

Are not 80-90% of long haul holidays "Tailor Made"
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Brendan said:
I spoke to Abbey Travel. Their sign says

"A consultation fee of €35 is payable. This Consultation Fee is redeemable against final invoices on tailor made bookings"

They don't charge for quotations. If you want to price a flight to South Africa, they will give you a quote. If you want to sit down and plan a round the world tour, they will charge you.

Brendan
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This sounds like a perfectly reasonable and well thought out policy to me.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I have to say it's the per person part that bugs me the most. If you're paying for a consultation then the number of people it's to affect should be irrelevant. They'll end up with everyone going in to disucss a tailor made holiday for 1, just in case they can't come up with something suitable. If they do find something then it'll be 'I want to book that for 4'.
I get what you're saying Kalel, some people do price and get someone else to do all the work and then book online. Personally, if it was my intention to book online I wouldn't 'waste someone's time'. Similarly if I wanted to buy a car in the uk I don't think I'd feel right about test driving one here, wasting a salesperson's time and a garage's fuel.
But I don't think these people are in the majority and it seems a bit much to assume that people are ready to screw you. I do feel that even if you get advice from someone and take up their time, there is no guarantee that you are getting the best advice possible. I know my dad once went into a travel agents looking for a hol for themselves and my brother (about 10 at the time). He asked for advice and was recommended a place that they moved from 2 days into the hol because it was totally unsuitable, full of drunken teenagers. Personally I wouldn't pay the €35 and would go somewhere else. If I liked what they described and recommended then great, but sometimes some people just don't 'get' what you're looking for and you need to find someone who does, be that in the same agency or in a different one. I'm not sure I'd be convinced of the advice from a 22 year old if I was looking for a family holiday. Would he/she fully grasp the requirements for something suitable for a toddler? Maybe, if they were very good at their job, but should you have to forfeit €140 (2 ad, 2 ch) if you're not convinced. Any guarantees that the advice is excellent??
I don't think it's that wise a move for them, especially if they're the only ones doing it, as I know it would put me off and I certainly wouldn't be a time waster, but I wouldn't like to feel obliged to buy my holiday there if someone else could provide me with a better (not necessarily cheaper) option.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

There is no doubt that Abbey Travel introduced this charge for a very good reason. If they just wanted to increase their charges, it would have been much easier to absorb these in their rates. My own guess that their motivation for introducing a specific consultation charge is two-fold.

1. to discourage timewasters who are effectively picking their brains and going elsewhere to book.
2. to reduce or eliminate queues in their office.

Of course this new charge will cost Abbey business. My own suspicion is that they will have factored this into their strategy. Almost every business finds from time to time that they can make more profits by getting rid of unprofitable (or least profitable) customers or potential customers. Aer Lingus' withdrawal from Shannon is one very current example.

That said, if Abbey can get rid of their queues, they will have one up on their competitors where customers have no option but to queue. They may well lose on the swings but gain on the roundabouts.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Trish2006 said:
I have to say it's the per person part that bugs me the most. If you're paying for a consultation then the number of people it's to affect should be irrelevant. They'll end up with everyone going in to disucss a tailor made holiday for 1, just in case they can't come up with something suitable. If they do find something then it'll be 'I want to book that for 4'.
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Unless they are a very unreasonable company, a la Ryanair for example, I doubt if they would impose the "per person" €35 charge rigidly. Travel agents in general do very well from group bookings. It would be madness to discourage these.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Trish

A per person charge sounds unreasonable at first sight, but when you think about it, it's not that unreasonable.

They have presumably worked out that the average booking is for three people, so their average fee is €105 which is fair enough for up to an hour of advice.

If they charged a fixed rate per hour, then it would be very expensive for people who are travelling on their own.

Brendan
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Mystery Shopping Report

What else have I to do with my lunchtime except check out this interesting story.

Abbey Travel

Every station had a prominent sign headed "Service Fees Menu"

"Long Haul Destinations
A consultation fee of €35 is payable. This Consultation Fee is redeemable against final invoices on tailor made bookings"

The girl explained that this does not apply to normal holiday and flight bookings, but it applies when people come in and want to spend 2 days in one place and three days on the wine route etc.

"Air Tickets: €20 per booking"
The girl explained that all travel agents charge this because neither Aer Lingus or Ryanair pay commission anymore.

"Hotel/Car Hire Booking" : €25

"Credit Card payments: 1.5%"

Club Travel

There was a notice on the back wall with the heading "Fees" on it. It was not readable from my side of the counter. The girl said that this was just what the airlines charge. I asked if they charged for giving advice and they said no. They only charge when you buy something.

Budget Travel

There were two girls in the shop and maybe 7 spaces. There was one sign up on the wall about 1.5% for credit cards and €20 for booking flights. They don't really do tailor made flights I was told.

Cassidys Travel
No sign up. They don't charge for advice.


In case anyone is worried about the commercial future of Abbey Travel, it was by far the busiest of them.

Abbey Travel had a sign on every desk and it was the most clearly written.

Brendan
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I'm still struggling to believe that people can not only accept but defend Abbey's stance.

It's a departure from accepted practice to charge potential customers to look at your products. The fact that it's not illegal doesn't mean it should be defended.
A favourite retort on this forum is that "you can always go elsewhere."
I expect, and indeed hope, that people will.
Personally, I'd find a walk round to the next travel agent worth €70 or more. And a sight more on principle.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Good survey Brendan. Hope had time for a sandwich:)

I guess its a case of each to your own. I wouldn't pay it myself but as the survey shows, there is plenty of choice.
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

Jock04 said:
It's a departure from accepted practice to charge potential customers to look at your products. ...


Personally, I'd find a walk round to the next travel agent worth €70 or more. And a sight more on principle.
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Jock - I presume that your post crossed with mine. The maximum charge from Abbey Travel is €35. What does that work out as a percentage of €7,000?

So what if it's a departure from accepted practice? The most frequent criticism of Rip-off Ireland is that all businesses are the same. Now, one charges a fee for professional advice and they are castigated for it.

Brendan
 
Re: Abbey Travel charging for quotes

I don't see the big deal with this really......okay maybe €35 per person is a bit steep, but to be perfectly honest I think that agents should be charging on enquiries like this......if it's a straight forward booking then obviously they don't need to charge a consultation fee but if somebody wants to tailor make a long haul trip there will be a lot of work to go into that booking......and the commission back on these bookings isn't necessarily ample.......travel agents commissions have been cut in a big way over the last few years and people don't seem to realise that fact.......i think if the person is qualified to give a consultation (ie. they have travelled to the said areas or can give all relevant information) then a consultation fee would be worth paying
 
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