“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” a quote by Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways.
How can a
company or a service-providing organization jeopardize its reputation for a small
amount of money, and treat at least one customer in a way that he will be lost
forever?! This is really strange, and can’t be absorbed by anyone, from simple one
in streets up to an executive in an elite organization.
Surprisingly,
I happen to come cross a strange story about the well-known “Holiday Travel
& Tourism” company here in Amman. One of my close friends decided to go
with them, since they have strongly advertised about their EID offers for
various destinations. Istanbul – Turkey was his choice.
Despite
the fact that the booking process went smooth and quick, it lacked the real
sense of professionalism that such Agency should have. All what mattered for
them is he pays the amount and charges ASAP to confirm his reservation. The
rest of the procedure was neglected by the agent and the management. There was
no checking for the needed documents of travel, although my friend questioned
if they need to have copies of the passports or at least have a look at them to
ensure that the spelling of the reserved names are correct and he won’t face
any troubles while he is in Istanbul. The reply was that “THERE IS NO NEED!”
You might
be asking about the consequences of such little mistake, and yes I call it a “mistake”
and both, my friend and the Agency, have done. Unfortunately, the passport expired
one day before the travelling day, and to have the story quite complicated,
this was during the EID holiday. The Department of Civil Status and Passports
was closed.
My friend
visited the Agency on Saturday night to inform them about this incident and
asked for the flight and the booking to be rescheduled till the very next
Monday, where he could have the time to renew the expired passport. He also
submitted a letter for the Management of “Holiday Travel & Tourism”
appealing for the reschedule. We had good presumption that they will surely
cooperate and deal with this rare case with extreme care. We kept into this
spirit until we came to the fact that they do not really CARE about their
customers. Oops!
They
insisted that he shall be held accountable for this mistake, and the fees will
be forfeited because he did not pay attention to the expiry date, and he did
pay the full amounts. A question then popped up: “what if a misfortunate event
occurred in one’s life, a sudden death among a family member, a car accident
while going to the airport, or any other matter that will definitely prevent
anyone from travelling even to Dead Sea. How would you – Holiday Travel &
Tourism Office – deal with this specific, and yet unusual, circumstances?”
The reply
was – and to our surprise in confident – from the Agency: we will forfeit the
fees. We are not responsible for this!!!!
We know
that there are a clause in the contract, where customers should advice prior
the cancellation or rescheduling of any booking 3 days prior the travel date;
but come on, there are times when you really have nothing to do, and he needs a
good sanctuary to people who can support him. Who is better that the Agency he
trusted to ask for their help?!
What
would have happened if they approved to reschedule the flight one day, one
week, or even one month, and he should pay the 50-JD-fine as per the contract. It
will be a win-win situation: they will prove they care about their customers,
and my friend will have his vacation and has not lost his money.
All they
had done and proved that they need to learn a lot about the meaning of a “customer”,
and that customer is the one who pays their salaries and bills at the end.
For me, I
am sure I will not deal with them for any future bookings, and hope that you
find your selves another more trustworthy Agency. One that will treat well
while you are in Jordan, to feel safe and secured while you are outside using
their name in case anything happens.
You have illustrated that you walk the talk of your slogan "Lifetime Memories". Yes, this customer will never forget that he lost his money and you treated him badly.
