OK, so I was not necessarily planning to go and buy a holiday in a far off land, but the communication abilities of the older woman in the Travel House agency in Clydach did leave a lot to be desired. I needed to fax a copy of Anna’s birth certificate to somewhere in Kazakhstan, and rang up last week to ask if they offered this service. (We had only just thrown away an old fax machine ourselves). They said yes it was fine, obviously I would need to pay (as assumed, especially for an international call), and to pop in any time.
I popped in yesterday, and everything seemed fine, then the elder of the two ladies working there discovered it was an international call, and seemed struck down with fear that her boss would not allow this. I asked if this was company policy, or her own decision, she said hers. I asked for the boss’s number or head office, as I was sure a potential customer would receive a generally positive response from someone who actually knew how to talk to people.
She refused to allow me to see any of the numbers for people more senior than her, and basically wound me up. Did I expect the shop to stop working or inconvenience themselves in any way? No, I just hoped that in the 21st century, in a West European country, that customer handling/communications would have improved a little. Maybe the lady in question will attend training one day, or the politer young lady will be promoted above her, but I doubt it.
Tags: Anna, Clydach, customer handling/communications, House, Kazakhstan
