May 2009 Archives

If you're bored at work today, is it time to get a new job?

This week Mystery Shopper visited Worcester, looking for a value trip to Las Vegas with friends.

Writing about The Co-operative Travel, she said: "Most damning of all was none of the agents were friendly and in fact seemed disinterested."

Are you bored at work? If you're feeling less than motivated, how can you ensure this doesn't come across to customers? Does this mean it's time to leave your job or is it just a phase you have to get through?

Sorry for the delay in posting up this week's Mystery Shopper review. I was enjoying a week off in Cornwall!

This week Mystery Shopper visited four agencies in Lowestoft, Suffolk. She was after a holiday to Portugal, with the opportunity to play some golf. She had already visited the Algarve and wanted to go somewhere different. She had heard that the Silver Coast is nice.
 
What stood out this week was how safe the agents played the consultation. Rather than researching the Silver Coast, they stuck to the tried and tested Algarve. Although it would have taken more work to find a holiday on the Silver Coast, they would have really given Mystery Shopper what she wanted. Was this laziness on part of the consultants or do you think it is better to stick to selling what you know?
 
Meanwhile, wasn't the consultation at Can-Am Travel strange? Mystery Shopper ended up in the situation where the consultant shouted questions to her from the back of the shop. It was only after a bit of time that Mystery Shopper realised she should follow the consultant through to the back. Why didn't the consultant just ask her to come through?

If you have been following Travel Weekly columnist Maureen Hill's weekly diary, then you will know that she was recently targeted by a fraudster attempting to book a holiday with her using a dodgy credit card.

Following Travel Weekly's recent fraud awareness month, we featured Maureen's plight on our front page as an example of how the industry is being targeted. When we published her on the front page, Maureen told us that she was contacted by agents across the country telling her they had had a similar experience.

Now, using our new networking site called the travelhub, Maureen has set up a pressure group to urge the government to step up its action on fraud against travel agents. Click here to support her group.

This week Mystery Shopper was in Carlisle, Cumbria. She was looking for a Greek holiday to a less touristy island.

It seems that agencies in Cumbria all take pride in their presentation, as all shops featured scored the maximum points available for appearance.

Where the differences in scores between the shops appeared was in customer service and product knowledge. Both First Choice and Thomas Cook lost points for customer service because Mystery Shopper felt there was a lack of enthusiasm from the consultants.

Meanwhile, Dawson and Sanderson actually scored better than the winners, The Co-operative Travel, for customer service, but the Co-operative Travel was able to edge into the lead because Mystery Shopper scored the agency highly for its advice and product knowledge.

Mystery Shopper wrote about the consultant at The Co-operative Travel: "When the agent was happy that she had found a suitable holiday for me, she showed me the brochure and went through the details of the holiday. Even then the agent continued to look and was determined to find a holiday that was a better match."

This week Mystery Shopper was in Carlisle, Cumbria. She was looking for a Greek Holiday to a less touristy island.
It seems that agencies in Cumbria all take pride in their presentation, as all shops featured scored the maximum points available for appearance.
Where the differences in scores between the shops appeared was in customer service and product knowledge. Both First Choice and Thomas Cook lost points for customer service because Mystery Shopper felt there was a lack of enthusiasm from the consultants.
Meanwhile, Dawson and Sanderson actually scored better than the winners, The Co-operative Travel for customer service, but the Co-operative Travel was able to edge into the lead because Mystery Shopper scored the agency highly for its advice and product knowledge. Mystery Shopper wrote about the consultant at The Co-operative Travel: "When the agent was happy that she had found a suitable holiday for me, she showed me the brochure and went through the details of the holiday. Even then though the agent continued to look and was determind to find a holiday that was a better match."

This week Mystery Shopper visited four agencies in Crewe, Cheshire.

Two of the agencies - The Co-operative Travel and Thomas Cook - asked for Mystery Shopper's personal details at the beginning of the consultation without explaining why these were needed. In this age of people being bombarded with junk mail, people do like to know what a company is going to do with your personal details. Do you take customers' personal details even when they are just enquiring and not booking? Do you explain why?

 

On another note, this week 3D Travel (above) lost ten points on appearance. From the photo, the shop does look dated. It's a shame, because if the shop had scored full marks, it would have been second best.

Meanwhile, Mystery Shopper was very annoyed with the consultant at The Co-operative Travel for not finishing her personal phone call when she was waiting. If you always work in the public eye, such as in a retail environment, what do you do if you need to make a personal phone call? Do you wait until you have a break and then phone from the back office, or would you take a personal phone call in the shop?