Thomas Cook faces more criticism over call waiting times
Thomas Cook has again come under fire from agents for long waiting times on its trade support numbers.
The operator promised a raft of improvements earlier this month after a barrage of criticism from independents, with one complaining he had been kept waiting for more than 11 hours.
In response, Thomas Cook extended its opening times, hired extra staff, and launched a new Live Chat and a dedicated trade line – 0844 879 8222 – urging agents to only call if necessary.
The company said all 0871 numbers have been moved to the new 0844 number.
But this week, agents were again voicing their frustrations on Travel Gossip, a travel industry page on Facebook.
Andy Nelson, the owner of Admiral Travel in Altrincham, Cheshire, said he had waited 5 hrs 34 mins to get through to Cook’s admin number 0871 230 2400 to make a change to a booking on behalf of a customer.
"From 9am until 2.34pm one of my phone lines was tied up and I reckon it cost me about £30. I was trying to deal with face to face customers and every time I got a call, or needed to make a call, I had to lean across my colleague’s desk," said Nelson.
"I don’t know whether it actually lost us business but I absolutely felt under pressure. I had to listen to the same piece of music, over and over again. I’m sure it was in my dreams that night!"
When TravelMole requested a response from Thomas Cook it insisted there were no 5.34 hour wait times recorded on its new 0844 number.
However, when Nelson posted his experience on Facebook and asked if it was a record, another agent said she’d been kept waiting for 6 hours 15 minutes the week before.
"When they answered they promptly hung up," she wrote.
Nelson said when he finally got through, the change was processed quickly and efficiently, but he admitted that if the agency has a choice, it avoids booking with Thomas Cook.
"As a company they’re good, in terms of the quality of the flights and hotel, it’s just the admin. If it’s a choice between Cook’s or Thomson, it’s always Thomson because we only have to wait about 10 minutes."
In response, Thomas Cook issued the following statement: "Our new dedicated 0844 telephone number was communicated to all of our third party partners on 7th May and launched as planned.
"There has already been a significant reduction in call-waiting times and we are working hard to train our new staff to improve call-waiting times even further."
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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