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Travel Agent Vent
So, back before Christmas, I emailed a travel agent about a possible trip. I gave her several detailed bullet points of what I was looking for and indicated that I don't like to talk on the phone at work and that I am home on Fridays or we can email.
I then indicated this word for word: " I don't need a response from you right away so don't rush to get it to me. "
So weeks go by without hearing anything. I guess I was thinking she'd get back to me after the holiday. So, I forwarded the email today and in a nice way said that I didn't want to forget about this or change my mind so if she didn't have time to answer, could she forward me to someone else.
So, she calls me back at work when I clearly indicated I don't like to talk at work. She then says "you said it wasn't a rush so I guess I just never called back". OK, where did I say I didn't need a response at all and I was just sending an email for fun? She then said that we needed to talk to narrow things down. Umm. I think that I gave her several detailed starting points in my original email. I understand more questions need to be asked but couldn't she at least have a few suggestions to think about?
OK, my bad on not making this a huge rush and screwing up her holiday because she thought I'd need an answer NOW. Don't these people work on commission and even if I said it wasn't a rush, maybe call me back in a week or so and READ my email and respect my wish not to talk at work and be thankful that I didn't ask a completely open-ended question? I don't get it.
Re: Travel Agent Vent
That sounds really frustrating. Sorry. When we went to Hawaii in 2008, I contacted a travel agent when we first started planning the trip. However I found her to be less than helpful, so I ended up doing everything myself.
Hope you're able to get some planning help soon!
I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with Travel Agents :-(
We've booked 2 vacations through Railside Travel in Byron Center, and they were very helpful. Our agent even price matched when I told her we found a deal online.
And I ditto Kasa. Travel agents have been completely useless to me in the past. It's just easier and cheaper for me to research and book online.
Let us know if you want us to help you.
This is what frustrated me when I tried to use a travel agent one time. A quick Expedia search showed that I could find a lot of better deals than what she sent me. I guess I would think that a travel agent would automatically find me the best deal, and I wouldn't have to do any of the legwork myself. Maybe I just don't *get* the travel agent's thing though.
I must not *get* them either. They seem useless to me at this point in time with all of the information on the internet, b/c they certainly aren't the cheapest option for traveling. I called, is it Rainbow Travel, or whatever the place is on East Paris and 28th, talked to someone about what I was looking for, she took down my info, said she'd research it and never called me back. Okaaay.
If you've got some solid ideas, honestly, I'd post them on the travel board. I've gotten some really useful info and feedback on there in the past. Or you could try us, there are a lot of seasoned travelers here too. I'm guessing you prob wanted someone to do all the research, give you some good suggestions, and kind of put together a plan for you, to take the legwork off you, right? But you might get some good starting points on TN.
We don't travel much at all, and we were leaving the country, so we felt more comfortable using an agency to ensure everything would go smoothly. Maybe if we vacationed more we would feel differently, but for the 2 real vacations we've ever been on (seriously, I've only been on 2 REAL vacations ever and they were both as adults- H and I grew up poor
) it was worth it for us to leave it to a travel agent to do most of the work for us.
That's interesting. I believe it though.
We used a travel agent for our honeymoon. Like Wop, it was easiest for us at that time because we had too many other things going on and it was worth it to have our agent do all the work. We were really pleased with our trip and we really owe it all to her, because she came up with a destination and resort we never would have thought of.
However, these days I prefer to do the research myself - I'm not an expert by any means, but I generally know what I'm looking for and I of course know the limits of my budget.
I'm sorry you've had a bad experience, Tigers. If there's anything this board can help you with, I'm sure we'd all love a challenge or work diversion. Otherwise, I second the advice to use the Travel board as a resource. I've gotten so much help from there! Of course, if you really want someone to just do all the work for you, there are other travel agents/businesses you could approach. It sounds like this particular agent isn't going to be a good fit for you.