It seemed to me our loyalty to this brand was worth nothing – despite spending more than £1,500 annually for many years – when we experienced a problem and threatened to leave. The company simply didn’t care, and, indeed, its staff were not enabled to care.

It took close to 24 hours of tweets, phone calls, private messages and more phone calls before someone finally came up with a satisfactory response to our issue.

I questioned why a loyal customer was faced with such poor service, yet potential customers seemed to receive great deals and plenty of attention.

I was told: “Every company, no matter the sector, offers an incentive to entice people to try their product, and we are no different. I know it’s a bitter pill to swallow…”.

Really? A bitter pill? Is this acceptable behaviour? We talk about the carrot and stick – well, I certainly felt beaten by a rather large stick.
I’ve since reflected on my own business, and the way we deal with our clients – and not just the loyal ones – at Haslemere Travel.

All I wanted was for someone to take ownership of my issue, to deal with it and to suggest a satisfactory outcome for me – yet I felt as though I’d spoken to every single employee at that company, reiterating my situation each time.

It was exhausting, and it would break my heart if I thought my business had caused one of our clients to feel like I did.

Can I ensure that my customers never feel the way I did? Absolutely!

As a small, independent Aito Specialist travel agent, I can guarantee that every interaction a client has, from the start of their booking to the completion of their holiday, is with the same person, or at the very least a fully briefed colleague.

I can ensure my team is empowered to make decisions, that they are trained to know how to investigate situations properly and to keep top-level management informed, so that we can support and engage whenever necessary.

In short, our clients will never feel they have been shoved from pillar to post – and that is a very significant claim to be able to make.
When considering our strengths versus some larger brand competitors, we should, I think, make the most of this key differentiator.

Our retail environments may be gorgeous, but not high-tech; our marketing may be glossy, but not as big-budget as that of some of our competitors.

But what we do have is a very high level of personal, caring service, which no large company can replicate – and you can’t put a price on that.

Gemma Antrobus is Aito Agents chair