Travel Agent Anecdotes
The following are actual stories told to travel agents (and you
wonder why US citizens generally score less than the rest of the
world on geography)...
A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going
over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it is cheaper to fly to
California and then take the train to Hawaii?"
I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to
explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she
interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but
Capetown is in Massachusetts." Without trying to make her look like
the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Capecod is in Massachusetts,
Capetown is in Africa." Her response....click.
A secretary called in looking for hotel in Los Angeles. She gave me
various names off a list, none of which I could find I finally had her fax
me the list. To my surprise, it was a list of hotels in New Orleans,
Louisiana. She thought the LA stood for Los Angeles, and that New
Orleans was a suburb of L.A. Worst of all, when I called her back,
she was not even embarrassed.
A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what
was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting
an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since
Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me. I
looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state."
I got a call from a man who asked, "is it possible to see England from
Canada?" I said, "No." He said, "But they look so close on the map."
Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When
I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay-over in Dallas.
When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard
Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates
to save time."
Squish Date 08/17/1998
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