Cosmos tells agents not to whine on social media
Cosmos has urged agents still struggling to use its new website to contact its Stockport calls centre or speak to their account manager.
But scores of frustrated agents claim no one is listening to them, taking to social media as a last resort.
They began complaining about the new website following its launch last June, but grumbles on social media have increased since the operator turned off Viewdata, towards the end of March this year.
For summer 2015, all Cosmos bookings must be made online or over the phone, but agents say that glitches mean the Cosmos site is so slow and hard to navigate – with many giving up making bookings with the operator.
They also say the lack of a general search facility makes booking last minute holidays too cumbersome.
One independent agent wrote: "For myself, nothing works on the website. The drop down dates don’t drop down, they won’t even open, and as for trying to do any kind of search.
"Why they ever removed themselves from viewdata is beyond me, why break a system that works. Personally I would now rather give my business to other tour operators."
Another agent said: "I had this conversation with agency sales on a few occasions, and given the same response – the website is fine we are so busy it’s like they are living in a bubble they are just NOT LISTENING!!! Have given up with them such a shame."
A company spokesman said Cosmos was aware of a few complaints, but she said those with issues should contact them directly, rather than complaining on Facebook and Twitter.
"If they don’t tell us they’re having problems, how can we sort them out?" she said. "Facebook is good for a rant but it’s not the place to deal with problems. We don’t monitor social media for problems like this, we use social media for consumers, if travel agents are having problems they need to call us because we have a team of account managers to help them."
She admitted the Cosmos site was slow during busy periods, but she said she was unaware of any specific problem. She said current problems were unrelated to issues reported in January with the Travelbox booking platform which had been resolved.
A couple of agents agreed that the calls centre had sorted out their problems, but homeworkers who take bookings out of regular working hours said they were unable to get any assistance.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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