Do you know...

I hate it when you give a customer the information they requested and they act like you are lying to them. She acted all disgusted so I'm sure she will call back and try and get another agent who can tell her what a Junior Suite in Barcelona Spain is.

Or the ever popular: "Oh no, I'm looking at it right here on the hotel's website. It says it's X dollars cheaper". And as agent X says politely, "Well then, book it there!"

Baby Needs New Shoes

I have been having issues with my pay for months now. I have worked for this company for almost 5 years and I barely make minimum wage. This has been a recent development and since I couldn't get anyone to take it seriously or look into it with any vigor I got another job. I'll be working part time for this company from now on.
I was told it was my problem because I have digital phone service. Really? I've had digital phone service for 4 years yet the problems have only been in the last several months. Did the digital suddenly get more digital or something? I would think that making sure your contractors get paid and get paid fairly would be more of a priority. I can't afford to quit outright, even with a new job. I've been shorted on my pay for so long and I am so far behind financially I need to work two jobs for a while. I just won't have as many good stories as before since I won't be talking to as many people. Darn.

The Million Point Cheapskate

This was told to me by another agent.

Gail I just told a customer off in a nice way. He called said he knew it was $25 to book with me but he needed my help. I spent over 45 min finding first class business and economy. I Found the best flights with the best hours at the best prices.

He was following me the entire way and then said he was going to book it himself. I told him that he knew that there was a charge and that he took advantage of the company and the customers waiting in line to call. I told him that he should examine his ethics. Had over 1 mil points. I told him I didn't think he was a very nice person and perhaps he should examine his values. I got the tt, but that just wasn't nice.

Tee Hee, I couldn't agree more!

Too Stupid to Book Travel

If you ask some of our customers, the agents as a whole and me in particular are just too dimwitted to ever be able to effectively help anyone who wants to travel. Case in point. Ms Snob wanted a specific hotel in New York. My search brought up nothing even close to the name she gave me. She insisted it came up on every other travel website. I know how to spell "Palace" and I know how to use the search feature of our website. If she wanted to book it with us then why did she search every single website but ours? And why did she need to call us anyway if she was so sure it was available? Maybe to prove without a doubt how superior she was to us low end service workers?

The Stages of Travel

This woman just won't accept the price increase. She's complaining she won't be able to go now, As if that's going to break my heart and I'll change the price.

There are 6 stages of acceptance with travel reservations... We're in step 2 "but it was there just before I called you". That is a shame but it is the nature of a live website, you know how the story goes.

Stage 3: The personal story of why the trip is necessary, yeah...it is funny when they act like you are pocketing the difference, infidelity ... marriage in jeopardy ... the whole soap opera.

Stage 4: anger, "but it was cheaper yesterday... "

Stage 5: tears and resignation... now willing to consider other dates or destinations

Too Stupid...

OMG!!! what is the matter with some people?! I have a huge red stop sign on my door saying DON'T KNOCK. So what does this moron do? Knock. And when I don't answer... knock again! On top of that... IT WAS THE WRONG ADDRESS!

I Get Paid Next Week.

With the economy the way it is it is all too tempting to think your luck will change and you'll be the next big lottery winner. Or the next big winner in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. The glitz and posh surroundings make it easy to forget your cares and dream big. They treat you like royalty as they fill your drinks and make sure you are pampered an fussed over.

Did it ever occur to you how those casinos got to be so fabulous and ornate? Did you stop to think how the slot machines are always new? All of this is a direct result of the money you plunk down and lose...over and over.

It disturbs me when I have someone who obviously can't afford to go to Las Vegas, or Atlantic City, trying in vain to book the vacation on maxed out credit cards. Or the ones who ask if they can pay part of it now and part of it later. Or the ones that will ask me to "hold" the reservation until payday. Or the worst, asking if they can use multiple credit cards.

Don't do it. If you feel so lucky you MUST gamble then buy a one dollar lotto ticket. If you win, and win big, then by all means, book that trip!

Get out the Crystal Ball

We honestly and truly do not have a window into the future. We cannot possibly know if a price for a hotel, flight or car is going to change next week. If I had that kind of insight I would buy a lottery ticket and never work again. You can phrase the question differently, you can ask me over and over and I just will not be able to tell you what the prices for your dream vacation will be if you wait till next week to book it.

Too Cheap to Travel

I understand the need to watch your budget. I completely understand trying to save as much as you can. I do, really. I pay for my own travel as well, and I don't get a discount. But there comes a point when cheapness is just insane.

My customer today was wanting to book a room in Las Vegas and they wanted a room with 2 beds. There were 3 adults staying there. With this particular hotel however the rooms are assigned when you get there. You may get 2 queen beds or you may get 1 king. It depends on what's available on the day you check in.

She was adamant about not wanting to take the chance of getting one king so I suggested she get 2 rooms. She acted like I had suggested selling her firstborn and removing her right arm! This was a 3 star hotel, on the strip, and close to the center of the strip on top of that! The room was $25.00 per night!!! She would not do it.

Cheap? Crazy? Both? Yeah.

No Alternative Meaning Here...

As far as I know, there is only one meaning for the phrase "No availability". It means the hotel is not available for the days you want it. You can ask me in a dozen different ways but the answer is still the same... if the hotel is full, unless we build a wing specifically for you, the hotel is full. If you have called the hotel and they told you they have rooms, then by all means, book with them.

If we do not have them we cannot book them no matter how many times you ask. And no, I will not call the hotel and book it for you. The company I work for wants me to work for them, not the hotel. So, get over it. It's full.

I can't understand why you would wait until the day of arrival on a holiday weekend with 4 kids in tow and expect there to be a room for you at a popular beach side resort in a popular vacation city.

Bottom Line

It amazes me how often someone will take forever to book a reservation and then whine and complain when the price changes. A customer had spoken to an agent yesterday, waited to book and then was flabbergasted that price went up $600. No problem, he still wants the vacation. I'm going along booking the trip and he tells me that he has a promotion code for $300. Great!
I review the information, going over the flight times and numbers and verifying the hotel and room style. I verify the price. (again)
I get to the passenger information and I'm filling in his name etc when he says to me "Wait, are you booking the reservation? I have a promotion code."
I tell him I can add the promotion code after I fill in the information and try to proceed. He tells me "but I need you to tell me what the bottom line price is first, after the promotion code".
Can you NOT just deduct 300 from the "bottom line" price I gave you 3 times before???

Guaranteed Bookings

We have a guarantee with our bookings that basically says if you book with us and you encounter a problem with the hotel, we will make it right or move you to another hotel.
A customer today was all kinds of nasty because the hotel she booked was horrible and no one at the hotel could fix it. Apparently there was no maintenance on call or the hotel just did not want to bother with it. Either way, we moved her to another hotel.
She was still traveling and instead of being grateful that she was not forced to stay in a fleabag hotel she was complaining about how it was our fault the hotel was a mess.
Lady, we don't build the hotels. We have hundreds of thousands of hotels all over the world you can book from our website. Do you think we inspect every single room (and yours twice) before you check in? We honored our guarantee by making it right for you. For you to whine and threaten never to use our services again is just too funny.
Let me tell you a story...
Before I came to work for this company I found it necessary to get a hotel for a few days in the area I moved to. I wasn't familiar with the area so I looked in the phonebook, called a few hotels and got the cheapest one I could find. I got there fairly late so I asked the clerk if he would give me a price break. He was visibly annoyed. My punishment? I got a room you only see in nightmares.
The bedspread was rumpled, (although the sheets were at least still made up) there was mold in the corners of the bathroom. and a pubic hair in the sink. The floor had not been vacuumed in quite a while as you could see the white layer of dust all around the edge of the room. It had a strange odor. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was clean.
Furious, I decided to call the front desk... no phone... and I didn't have a cell phone. I stomped over to the door ready to storm the office. That's when I realized the lock didn't work and the door was slightly open. Opening the door I saw gang members dealing drugs in the parking lot with their "girls" standing around bored.
The door got shut, a chair shoved under the knob and I spent a fitful night trying not to get murdered. What a relief it would have been to have the power of that guarantee to get me out of a dangerous situation. Of course, without a phone I still would have had to get through the parking lot but I would have had recourse.
So lady, don't bother to whine to me about how we are so terrible and your vacation was ruined. Boo hoo bi**h.

Quality, with a "Q"

I suspect our Quality Assurance department is up to something. It is simply not possible to have so many bizaar, irritating and down right rude customers so frequently. We have customers calling repeatedly asking for information on dozens of hotels, the same thing for multiple flights as well as having us jump through the same ridiculous hoops over and over.
On woman called at least 8 times and asked about no less than 10 hotels in Las Vegas before finally booking a reservation. Thing is she was asking about the same hotels! Someone else asked about a dozen different flight scenarios, over and over. Someone else was going through itinerarys so fast there was no way possible to keep up with the multiple mind changes.
Apparently the customers we have are not bad enough, so they need to import some to us.

Beer Budget

An agent tells me:
Love it when they say they want the least expensive hotel you can get them and then when you offer it to them they sound insulted you'd even offer them that property. Then they ask the prices for 4 or 5 star hotels. And then when you give it to them they say "oh no!! I need something much cheaper!!: huh??

English, Please

A caller with a very heavy foreign accent was wanting to use reward points to pay for his hotel stay. In order to look up the point information it is necessary to have the credit card number and a few other identifying information from the card.

Me: "May I have the credit card number that has the reward points on it." (We say this because some customers have multiple cards but not multiple point programs).

Caller: "You don't need that. Do you not understand? I want to use points."

Me: "Yes sir. I understand you want to use points but I need the credit card information to access the point information. May I have the expiration date on the card please?"

Caller: "No. I'm using POINTS!"

Me: "I understand. The way the point program works is we charge the card first and the points will be used as a credit against the total of the hotel stay, so I will need the credit card information."

By now he is really exasperated and yells at me,

"Am I not speaking English? What language am I speaking? Do you not understand plain English???"

I was so tempted to say, "yes, but I don't understand you!"

What does "Not Available" mean?

She wants to go to Mexico or maybe Jamaica or maybe the Bahamas.

So I suggested she try the web site and ya wanna know what she said??

She said she couldnt figure out how to pick out a hotel, cause some of them said "not available" and how was she supposed to find out which ones were available out of those. It was too confusing for her.

May I Have Your Email Address Please.

I was trying my best to get the email address out of this woman. It was her initials followed by the @ sign and the letters NTRS. She said N like nice T like treat R like raisin and S like sugar. Reading it back to her I said her initials @ N like Nancy, T as in Tom, R like Robert and S as in Sam.

She comes back with no no no! N like nice, T like treat, R like raisin and S like sugar. So again I go through the email with N like Nancy, T as in Tom blah blah blah. For the third time she says NO! NO! NO! Can you not hear me!?! and repeats the nice, treat, raisin, sugar thing.

OK, so I say.... that would be (her initials)@N like nice, T like treat, R like raisin, and S like sugar. Big heavy sigh, yes, that's right!

An agent tells this story:

Soooooo... this idiot told me the story 3 times about a top "secret" hotel price change and I explained to him 3 times that if the hotel had a price increase that would be the current cost to book that hotel.. so he starts screaming at me what a fraud I was etc... then he said the magic words "I WANT A MANAGER" off to India he went...

Wonder if he liked that.

I have a Question...

An agent told me she had the strangest call today. The caller talked through the entire call. What was strange was she asked a bunch of questions, then answered them her self and then she hung up!

CRASH!!

It scares the livin' daylights out of me to give people info when they are calling from their cell phones from their car. Especially when they want to use their "reward points" which means they have to give the card number, expiration, verification number. You know full well their eyes are not on the road.

I actually had someone tell me he was calling from his car but added, "of course I'm hands free." Well he read off the card number to me, so he must have been eyes free as well. Then he added that he needed to be "productive" while he's driving.

I fully expect to hear the horrible sound of crunching metal and shattering glass as the occupant of the car screams in terror and agony as the car crashes. C'mon. No one is that busy that they need to risk life and limb. HANG UP AND DRIVE

I Want to go to Oslo

Soooo, I have this doctor call and want to book a flight. He says he wants to go to Oslo. Great! I ask him where he is coming from. He tells me some po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere.
So I ask him, "is that where you want to fly out of?"
He tells me, of course not... it's an international flight.
So I ask him, "what airport do you want to fly out of?"
He tells me, "whatever is cheapest."
So I ask him again, "what city do you want to fly out of?"
He tells me, "Well, you tell me. What city is cheapest."
At this point I've about had it with trying to pry information out of this idiot. So I say "OK, I'll book you out of Ft Lauderdale...."
I swear to GOD!!! He thinks it over and says, "well, no. That won't work for me... how about Newark."
So I ask him what dates he wants to travel. He...tells...me...whatever...day...is...cheapest.
I am beyond irritated and say, "sir I need a DATE!!!"
He asks for my supervisor. Well, guess what... that is NOT going to happen. Click

Blog, Blog, Blog...

If you have always wanted to earn money blogging about travel, you may want to check this out: http://www.flightster.com/2010/07/20/how-to-become-the-next-paid-writer-for-the-flightster-blog/

I found this on the website http://www.ratracerebellion.com/
I seriously doubt they want my type of blog, but there are some of you who are truly knowledgeable about travel.

Multi tasking

What is the matter with people who call from work. Do they really think they can book travel while waiting on customers??? Or the cop that another agent tried to help.

The agent says, "I had a cop once calling from his car and I was competing with his 2 way radio the whole time, and it was for his personal travel. He kept saying, I need to answer this..."

The worst I had was a guy at work at a pizza shop. Every couple of minutes he would set down the phone to take an order. It took me at least 3 times longer that normal to put together that itinerary. Then after that his credit card wouldn't go through.

Question....

Why do people spend 15 mins on the phone with you, then go into the hotel and book for the same price? And talk to you while they are driving there. I hope they dont make their living selling things to people on the phone.

Ummm, I don't understand...

There is a point program that can be used for travel. For the most part it is fairly straight forward and easy to use. The one exception however, is car rentals. It is insanely complicated. So much so that we cannot even do it for the customers, it must be done on the website, following explicit directions to the letter.

We invariably will get the customers who want the benefit without the work and will devise ways to try and get us to do it for them. Such was the case today...

The woman wanted to use her points to rent a car. I told her I could not do it for her and directed her to the website. She pretended not to understand what I was saying, so I gently told her again in simpler terms. I explained briefly that she would need to get the instructions on the website and basically that would entail, selecting a rental company that would accept a certificate in lew of payment, calling a special number for specific pricing, then booking the reservation on the website and then ordering a certificate for the price of the rental. Then she would need to mail or fax the certificate to the company before the day she needed to rent the car. It all must be done within a specific timeframe or you lose the points.

She acted confused. By this point I was starting to realize she didn't want to fuss with it, she wanted me to do it for her. Again I steered her to the website for instructions. She wanted me to verbally give her the instructions step by step so she could write them down as I gave them to her. Again, I told her they were on the website and she needed to get the instructions there.

She started to get frustrated when she realized I wasn't buying her helplessness and was not going to do it for her. Her parting shot was I "wasn't nice" and wanted me to transfer her to someone who could help her (do it for her).

I'll Show YOU! I'm gonna save 25 Big ones!

An agent had a caller she spoke to on three different occasions today, putting together an itinerary. Each time refusing to book because she wanted to save the booking fee. She also spent 45 minutes on hold with customer service trying to save the $25 booking fee. She finally got tired of waiting and hung up. And on the 3rd quote the price went up $1k . So she says to me I should have booked with you this morning.... I spent the whole day on this now I can't afford to go at all. I said... remember I told you twice before that we did not know when or if the prices would increase?????

gotta love it

All You B***ches Should be Fired!

I got a call from a customer who right off the bat was itching for a fight. He had tried to book a reservation and his card would not go through. Acording to him he had contacted the credit card companyt and there was no problem with the card. Before I could even offer to help he goes into a tirade and insults me. I thank him for calling and end the call. Done, right? Well not exactly...

He calls again and gets a different agent, probably one of many. Here's what she said:

"The first thing he said to me was he was transferred to customer service and was on hold for 39 minutes and he wants that agent fired and wanted a manager so he could make that happen. lol.... I had a chuckle over that one. Then he said all us B____ should be fired. I said to myself, "Off to India for you... enjoy."

Another agent got him and said: I told him, "let me transfer you to customer service since there are complications and I don't want to waste your time", so I transfered him.

Poor sad little man.

I see Money in your Future...

I had a call today from a woman wanting to book a vacation to Las Vegas. She went into great detail about how she didn't have the money but would put half of it in the bank tomorrow. She asked me if there was a way to hold the reservation until Thursday when she would have more money. I told her we didn't have a way to hold the reservations and the card would be charged as soon as the reservation was completed. She would need to book the reservation at that time. Then she asked me what the price would be on Thursday. She didn't get it when I told her I would get out my crystal ball.

The World

Today I was booking a flight for a man who had a middle eastern sounding name, as did his wife. When I was adding his child's name I commented it was an unusual name and asked about it. He told me when his child was born he was speaking to his mother about what to name is newborn. He was having difficulty coming up with a name and asked for her advise.
She said, "well, what does this child mean to you?"
He replied, "She means the world to me."
She said, "well, you have your name."
He named her Doonyah which means "world" in Farsi.
LOVE it!

London Hotel

A customer was asking about a specific hotel in London. First he wanted to know how far away from the Paddington Station this particular hotel was. It offered a complimentary breakfast and he want to know what kind of breakfast that was. Then he needed to know if they had computers he could use for free in the business center. It also had a fitness center on site and he wanted to know what kind of equipment they had.
So I call the hotel in London and spend 15 minutes asking questions of the hotel clerk plus asking any possible questions the customer could ask, and getting those answered while I was on the phone. Then he quizzed me from every possible angle what the hotel cancellation policy was, asking over and over again the same questions, just worded slightly differently.
Next he wanted point conversion with his reward points. He even asked me to look up what day his billing cycle ended. Then he asked when his reward points would be available to use, how could he purchase more points and could I change the ratio of points. All of this while talking to me like I'm a slow 5 year old.
An hour and a half later and he tells me he wants to discuss it with his wife and will get back to me. By the time he gets through discussing it with his wife they should be ready to book by 2015.

I'm a Pig and You can Listen

The crackling paper from burger wrappers, the slurp of soda, the chomping and spitting of food as you talk is stomach turning. Yes we can hear it on the phone. As tempting as it is to multi task, please don't. Ditto for the restroom. It's disgusting to hear the tinkle (or stream), or even worse the plop, and then the flush. Ewwww.

Round the clock Agents

One lady asked for my extension number, and I said don't have one, she asked for my home number in case she needed more information before she booked on line...

Kentucky with an "A"

Another agent told me this story:
Poor lady today. She was sweet but she was telling me her email address was like "Kentucky" and she kept saying the state, Kentucky. The spelling of the word Kentucky was spelled like Kantucky so I was misunderstanding her. I think she meant to say, "Kentucky" but with a "KAN" not "KEN". But she was nice so it made me feel bad that she could not explain herself, she was a hickory dickory sounding lady!

Answer, please?

OK, here's the deal. If you ask me a question and you don't get the answer you want it does not mean I don't know what I'm talking about. It means you can't have what you want. You can get upset and insult me and threaten to call back and "get someone who knows what they are talking about" but the answer will be the same.
If I tell you you cannot use a handful of different credit cards to pay for your trip then, you can't. There is no reason to tell you something that ain't so. Same thing with "holding" a reservation for a day. Nope. It isn't that I don't want to... I cannot do it. Asking for a supervisor will not change the outcome.... you are not going to get it just because you want it. And throwing a temper tantrum is well, not very adult.

Listen, young lady....

I had a "gentleman" get angry with me and he told me "listen, young lady, I'm old enough to be your father. Do what I tell you to do "girl". Then told me he was old enough to be my father and gave me his age. I told him he had no right speaking to me that way as I was in his same age group. (within 10 years or so). Then he insisted I get this problem corrected. He also informed me he had no idea what I looked like and tried to convince me it's a compliment to call me "young lady" or "girl". Well, I am a female and even if I were "young" it would still be an insult. So guess what?!? If you want to insult me, go ahead, but you won't get anywhere because I'm hanging up.

Unforgettable, not in a good way...

We get a lot of calls every day but few, thankfully, as disturbing as a call I got quite some time ago. It haunts me to this day.
A man called and said he was traveling alone with a child. He wanted a specific, higher end hotel in Chicago for one night. He wanted an upper floor, in a certain location. One King sized bed. The hotel had rooms with 2 beds but he didn't want it. He said she would sleep with him.
He said he would be flying out the following day to an overseas destination and he needed a car for just one day. I asked him what age the child was so I could request a car seat for her. He wouldn't say how old she was but said she was "small". Then he told me she wouldn't need one. I told him it's the law, that he has to put a child in a car seat or a booster seat. He cancelled the reservation for a car.
Here is the disturbing part as if it were not already very disturbing. He didn't want the hotel to know he was bringing in a child. He said she was disabled and would be "sleeping" and he would bring her in what I think was a stroller the way he described it. I asked him if she had a passport and he let slip she did not but quickly tried to cover that up by saying she wouldn't need one.
When I got to the point of booking the hotel he gave me a name that I was pretty sure was fake to use as the check in name. He got angry when I asked him for the billing information which includes the name on the credit card and the address of the cardholder. He said if the credit card is good he shouldn't have to give his name then hung up.
I hope this was a prank but I sent up a fervent prayer for that child just the same.

No room at the Inn

A woman called wanting to book a reservation for a hotel stay in Rome Italy. She was taking her teen aged daughter on a end of school year vacation get away. She had purchased the flights already so she only needed the hotel.
I tried the center of Rome and couldn't find a hotel, so I expanded my search. Still no luck. I just couldn't find anything for the time frame she needed. She was leaving in 2 days!!
Unbelievably she decided to wait till she got there to try and get a room. A woman and her teen aged daughter traveling alone in a foreign country with no place to stay. Do they give awards for that?

Can you just "check" on this...

No. We do not want to "check" the travel information you have on your computer at home. It isn't because we are lazy, it's because it is futile. We will take the time and set up a user ID, add all the information such as where you are coming from and going to, the number of people going and the ages, the hotel you want, room preference and go over all flights that are available. We will verify the information we have and give you a price.

Then you will say something to the effect of " Yes, that's the same information I have...." "Well OK. Thanks, I will book it on line and save myself the booking fee.''

SO WHY DID YOU CALL US???

We will KNOW that's what you are doing. You can tell us your computer is down or that it crashed but we will know. You can tell us your friend is going and you want to go too and we will know. You can tell us any combination of stories and we will know that's what you are doing. You ... are.... checking....

how long can you wait...

I had a customer who called and wanted to book a trip for four to Hawaii. I got a great price on it. But she was driving, which in itself is a dangerous thing to do, much less while trying to book a vacation package. I get all the way to the end of the reservation and she tells me she doesn't have her credit card with her.
"No problem," she said, "I'm only about 10 minutes or so from home. Can you hold the line til I get home?"

I'm leaving out of New York....

A woman calls up and explains that her husband and she would like to book a flight from New York to Paris. The problem is her husband must book from his work travel department and she will need to match his flight so she can accompany him.
Soooo, what airport is he leaving from? Uhhhhhh, I don't know. What day is he leaving? Uhhhh. I'm not sure. Maybe in June? Has he booked his flight? Uhhhhhh, I don't think so.....

HUH?

Agent 1 (talking among ourselves) "Why can't these people understand what nonrefundable means?"

Agent 2 "I know what you mean.... it's like we are speaking a foreign language or something".

"HUH?" "What do you mean?" "Say that again..." "I don't understand", "Will you explain that to me?"

Uproarious laughter!!!

Hmmm, hotel or hardware...

caller: I'd like to book a hotel using membership points.

agent: I'd be happy to help you... the hotel will be $XX.xx per night. Would you like me to book that for you?

caller: Well, actually, let me think about it. Say, can I use my points at the "Big Box Home Improvement" store instead?

agent. Sorry sir. We only book travel.

Hotel Booking Game

It makes absolutely no sense to me to call every day for a month to "check" the availability of a certain hotel. At some point it will no longer be available. Countless times I have heard the anguish of someone declaring "It was available just yesterday and the day before! How can it not be available today???"
So why didn't you book it yesterday or the day before? Do you seriously think you are the only one who will ever make a reservation at that hotel?

Hotel websites

OK. Here's the deal.... I work for a company that books online travel. I can only book travel through the company I work for. I can't book a reservation through the hotel website or through another online travel company. For some reason the company I work for expects me to do the booking with them! Imagine that...

Carmel by the Sea

Carmel is a beautiful, picturesque sea side resort. It is filled with lovely small hotels and quaint bed and breakfasts. It has trendy little shops and cozy little restaurants. It's a perfect seaside setting. So why, why, why would you go to such an idyllic area and ask to stay in a big hotel chain??? You might as well go to Fresno!

Just an FYI

OK. We cannot "see" what you have on your computer screen, so don't yell at us that it's "right here on my screen". We also cannot see you standing in the lobby of the hotel you want to book a room in. Nor can we see the name or address of that hotel. We also have no idea what the reservation was you made a month ago with a different company so no, we cannot look it up. We may be amazing but c'mon!

Discriminator

Caller: I just heard there is a $25.00 fee to book with an agent.
Agent: Yes Ma'am there is.
Caller: Well, I don't want to have to pay it
Agent: You can book it online and save the booking fee.
Caller: Well, that's just unfair. You discriminate against people who don't have a computer.

note: this is a WEBSITE, for online booking!

Call Center Roulette

A customer called and asked for a specific agent. Because we work in a virtual call center we don't have direct extensions, the calls rollover to the next available agent. I explained that to the caller and offered to help him myself.

We looked up the flight/hotel he had looked at the day before. As it turned out the package he was wanting to book had changed prices since then. Of course, it had gone up.

He was upset and asked again for the agent he had spoken to the day before. He was certain she could give him the price he saw the day before if he could just speak with her. I explained again why that was not possible and that we had dozens of call centers and hundreds of agents. He hung up.

A few minutes later I get the same man again. Again he asked for the agent he had spoken to the day before and again I explained to him why he would not be able to speak her.

"Well," he said, "I'm just going to keep calling until I get her."

Visa Please.

An agent just got a call from a woman asking if we could issue her a VISA so she could go to Moscow.

Let me think about it...

There are a few areas that are notoriously expensive. One is New York City, San Francisco is one and Orlando another to name a few. An agent got a call from a woman who wants a suite in Orlando for 3 adults and 2 children with transportation, free continental breakfast, at Disney World for less than $67.00 a night. Well, guess what? She found one! And the woman didn't take it!?! Said she'd call back.

Price changes

It always baffles me when someone will go through a ridiculously long phone tree to get to an agent and then spend 10 minutes chewing us out because the price of a flight/hotel has changed. Seriously, do you think we have control over the prices? And even if we did, do you really think we care if you have to pay more? You are a stranger to us. We don't care. Besides, this is a free country. If you do not like the prices we have, well, by all means GO TO A DIFFERENT COMPANY!!! Go to another website... move on.

Caller: "There is something wrong with your website."
Agent: "Oh? What kind of problems are you having with it?"
Caller: "I've been trying for over an hour to book this flight."
Agent: "Does it give you an error message?"
Caller: "Yes. It keeps telling me the flight is sold out."

Sometimes I travel...

I don't travel much myself. I have pets that need care so it complicates any travel plans I have. Recently I had the opportunity to visit my son and his wife and their new baby. The ticket was purchased and I was ready to go! At the last minute I found myself frantically trying to find someone to fill in and care for my pets.
It just so happened I got a visit from my church members, so I explained to them the position I was in, and I asked if they knew of someone who would be willing to come in during the day. I explained my flight was confirmed and I was leaving within days.
She thought for a moment, and said "Well, the kids are all in school...". She looked pensive for a moment, her face brightened and she said, "I know! Just go in the summer! Yeah, go in the summer, the kids will be home."

Volcano

It was all over the news. A volcano erupted in Iceland and the resulting plume of smoke caused flights to be cancelled in and out of Heathrow. The results were worldwide and far reaching. As a result people were stranded like nothing we have seen since 9/11. It's a major international airport. Even here in Seattle, half a world away from the smoke and ash, flights were cancelled. The planes simply could not fly into Heathrow.

I had a businessman who was scheduled to take off from Philadelphia to Heathrow and while in route to the airport was notified his flight had been cancelled. And no flights would be going out for at least several days. He called me and wanted to see if I could book a flight to Heathrow! Really??

I really have the perfect job. I get to work at home, the pay is acceptable and absolutely no commute. Sometimes that has it's own problems. For instance when you are working from home, sometimes friends and neighbors don't think you have a real job. And sometimes it can be difficult to know when I am working.

Also, I have dogs who happen to live at my house, who consequently bark when someone comes to the door. To solve the issue of barking dogs while I'm on the phone with a customer I devised a way to notify people when I am working and when not to knock on the door.

Since I have a few neighbors who can't read I printed up a large red stop sign, and for those who can read added "Please don't knock, I'm working". Just to be sure it was well understood I explained exactly what it means when I hang the sign on the door. I couldn't have made it any clearer....and yet....I have a neighbor who, sign on the door or not, will knock, setting my two very big dogs to barking, so she can "just take a minute...."

SIGH

Puerto Rico, Mexico

Caller: I'd like to book a trip to Puerto Rico, Mexico.
Agent: Would you like to book a trip to Puerto Rico or Mexico?
Caller: to Puerto Rico, Mexico.
Agent: Those are seperate countries. Which one would you like?
Caller: Ummm, you mean I can't book a trip there?

why not?

A caller insisted I book a hotel stay for her. Problem is, she had already tried to book it online and it gave her the message "Sorry, the hotel you selected is no longer available". Is there an alternate meaning to "no longer available"??? Perhaps I should get my tools out and build an addition or better yet we could just kick one of the other guests out!