Doing all the hard work – and then getting nothing in return

Agents told us there was nothing more dispiriting than a client asking for them to look into a holiday and then, once all the hard work has been done, booking with someone else – often to save just a few pounds.

“I find it very annoying when customers put us up against each other, going back and forth between us to try to get the price down before booking everything online,” says Designer Travel consultant Susan Dearing. “It just means they don’t value us as travel agents.”

Karl Douglas, co-owner and director of Beverley Travel, agrees. “People don’t understand that every time they sit with us for half an hour, an hour… and then don’t commit, that represents a huge cost to our business,” he says.

"It’s especially annoying when you find out they have gone on a holiday and have either booked themselves or gone someplace else just to get a cheaper price."

Clients gaming the system and playing at being the travel agent

In these challenging economic times, customers are – understandably – looking for good deals. In fact, at the recent Advantage Travel Partnership conference, chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said she had never seen value be a driver of consumer intent in the way it has in recent months.

Agents are, of course, used to clients trying to get the best bang for their buck, but many agents are drawing a line when people try to work the system in their favour.

Emma Oldroyd, a member of Heckmondwike-based agency Total Travel, recalls how once she couldn’t book a hotel room for her customer because the customer was on her phone looking at the same option, trying to make the booking herself to assess direct pricing. “She had to let the room go for us to be able to pick it up for her booking, that was so annoying,” she explains.

Meanwhile, Magical Travel owner Kieran Miller reveals he has had clients tell him they know how much commission he earns in an attempt to get a discount. "We do control the prices [we sell at], but we shouldn’t have to discount to get a booking,” he tells TTG.

Miller believes agents racing to the bottom are partly to blame as they make their money selling at discounted rates rather than selling on the quality of their service, something he says cheapens others' work.

Customers who can't stick to a budget and keep moving the goalposts

Gazelle Travel director Nick Coulthard and ArrangeMy Escape general manager Jennifer Lynch both highlight clients not being upfront or realistic with their budgets and expectations as a bugbear.

"Probably the most inconvenient thing customers do is tell you they don’t have a budget, but then when you come back and give them your price, they suddenly do have a budget,” Coulthard says. “You spend a lot of time putting quotes together, and yet you can still be miles off.

For Lynch, customers' unrealistic budget expectations are a real nightmare, especially “when you give them a price and they tell you they’ve seen something cheaper”.

"Whenever that happens, it’s not like-for-like, so we have to explain that if they want a certain service, it’s going to cost them money,” she adds.

You versus their friend, mother-in-law, dentist, and so on

For Travel Counsellor Marie Rowe and Andrew Rowdon of Andrew Rowdon Travel, there are few more frustrating behaviours than customers not listening to or taking their expert advice, and instead relying on other people's suggestions.

"I get annoyed when a client gives you a description of everything they want from a holiday, and you find the perfect match, but then they decide to go somewhere else because their friend has recommended it – even though the other destination doesn’t match the criteria they gave you in the first place,” Rowe tells TTG.

Rowdon adds: “You give customers advice and you make recommendations and suggestions, but they go off on a tangent. That irritates me more than anything.”

To avoid unnecessary frustration, Rowdon recommends gathering as much information as possible about a client's wants, and stressing to them the need to be as precise as possible.

“If they can travel a day earlier than what they told me, or come back a day later, that can change things,” he adds.

You’re not the boss of me (even if you like to think so)

Being there for clients as often as possible is part and parcel of being a travel agent, but sometimes clients take this too far. Miller tells TTG a small number of his clients expect him to be at their every beck and call, and to drop everything to tend to their demands. 

“I don’t know if this happens because I’m a homeworker, but some customers – because they’re the ones making a purchase – have a certain expectation of owning you until that money is paid,” he says. “There’s no respect for our time off; we’re often expected to drop things and become available late in the evenings or at weekends.”

Miller says agents need to be firm when establishing what and how much clients can ask of them, and when, and draw a firm line if they overstep these boundaries. "I thankfully don’t have many clients like that, as I really don’t enable that behaviour,” he adds.

When clients cross the line, and what to do about it

Thankfully, none of the agents TTG spoke to have had to deal with any more serious issues on a regular basis, although several remarked on instances when clients have taken things too far.

Idle Travel director Tony Mann tells of how he has had to intervene once or twice to protect his staff from overly aggressive clients, risking his wellbeing to make sure his employees stay safe.

Meanwhile, ArrangeMy Escape’s Lynch – along with another member of her team – attended a self-defence training course to learn how to respond in any potentially dangerous situations. Recalling one challenging encounter, she reveals: “I had to tell the girls to be careful not to say too much and remain calm and nice."

Jill Waite, manager of Manchester-based Pole Travel, adds: “We’ve never had any threatening incidents, but I do have a baseball bat under my desk just in case something happens."