Travel agents work hard to provide their expert travel advice to their clients, but sometimes their clients just don't listen.
Greg Antonelle once had a client who wanted a reservation at a family-friendly restaurant at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where they could chat with relatives they hadn't seen in more than 10 years.
"We suggested several restaurants that would offer a setting which would be easy to converse with each other," said Antonelle of MickeyTravels LLC in Long Valley, New York. "Instead, they listened to some people in an online Disney group and decided they wanted to book the Sci-Fi Theater in Hollywood Studios."
Although the Sci-Fi Theater is a family-friendly fun environment, customers sit in "cars" that restrict conversation with multiple family members.
"For instance, there could be people in the front seat of the car and people in the back seat of the car," said Antonelle. "The people in the back seat of the car are looking at the backs of the heads of the front seat of the car."
Additionally, if you have more than six people in the party, which this client did, you need to have multiple cars.
"This was not an ideal dining situation for them, and they likely would have had a better experience if they listened to our advice and went to another restaurant," said Antonelle. "Bad clients don't listen to your advice and prefer to head to the masses on social media for advice. The reason most people use a travel agent is for their guidance. However, clients often ask uninformed friends, relatives and co-workers for advice, oftentimes receiving incorrect information."
To Tom Karnes of LaMacchia Travel of Kenosha, Wisconsin, bad clients are the ones that take up your time and expertise and then book it on their own thinking they pulled one over on you.
"They intentionally take advantage of you and enjoy it," said Karnes. "The really bad ones will contact you when they have a problem with what they booked on their own and get upset that you won't help them. It is just ignorance, and you usually can't fix ignorance."
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So what makes a good client?
"I love it when a client is willing to ask me questions because they truly want my help and my expertise," said Samarah Meil of Amarillo Travel Network in Amarillo, Texas.
On the other hand, there are also travel agents who do not listen to their clients.
"A bad travel agent has tunnel vision and sells what they are comfortable with or what benefits them the most," said Karnes.
Denise Lorentzen of Dreams Family Travel in Hughson, California heard about a travel agent who told the client that the only handicapped accessible resort available was the highest priced one and would cost the client $3000 more: "The agent was only after the money she would make."
Meil describes a bad travel agent as one who only takes orders and never strives to grow and learn more so they can enhance their clients' travel needs: "Having personal experiences and knowledge to pull from really helps when customizing experiences for travelers."
Antonelle said that bad travel agents don't foresee how treating a client well will benefit them with referrals in the future: "Bad travel agents also don't stay up-to-date on the destinations they are selling and, because of that, their clients are often not informed about a variety of things, such as construction at the resort and safety concerns."
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So what makes a good travel agent?
"A good travel agent will provide guidance and support and treat the vacation like it is their own," said Antonelle. "With that, they pay attention to every little detail to ensure the most successful trip."
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