Well Sanji - I guess that you have a point - but ------?! Jenny

Looking at Jennys post,I bet ALL the guests were British ????

Hi all,

FWH is correct, I do have a good sales rate by using the softly softly approach and letting the guests decide, but also just as important is Customer Service results which come in the form of a questionnaire which we give to our guests near the end of their holiday. A rep that has mega sales but rubbish customer service is not good for our company.

As has been said, we do get treated appallingly by a small minority of our guests. I have been spat at, broken up fights, been called names, poked in the chest more times than I can remember, sworn at, ganged up on by large groups of guests. A colleague of mine has been punched and another had a luggage trolley thrown at her at the airport. I could go on.
Quite often this is from guests from other TO's who just see a uniform.

The majority of folks are fantastic and they more than make up for the ones who are not so nice. I have met some of the loveliest people working as a rep and it is they that make the job worthwhile.

When a guest gives me a hug in the airport and thanks me for helping them to have a good holiday I am very proud. By the same rule, I am also very glad to see the back of the ones that have made mine and the hoteliers lives a misery for 7/14 days.

I would never go into to a shop, hotel etc etc and abuse the staff in this way so why do it to a rep?

Many of our accoms are shared with TO's for all over Europe and I have never witnessed a French, German or Italian rep being abused as we Brit reps are.

Its very sad but I went into the job with my eyes open and enjoy it very much, most of the time!

By the way, the basic monthly salary for a rep is around GBP420 depending which company they work for and this is supplemented by commission from excursion sales.

We are not paid nearly enough to put up with abuse and intimidation but I am lucky enough to work for a company which does not tolerate this from their guests and I have a fantasic manager who supports me fully in any such situation. Any guest that shouts or swears at me is told in no uncertain terms to come back and see me when they are calm and prepared to talk to me in a manner that they also would like to be treated.

Sorry for the rant. I had a bad week with a gang of nasties who thankfully went home this morning.

Louise

manners cost nothing and can go a long way.

We are not paid nearly enough to put up with abuse and intimidation

No one is paid enough to put with with abuse etc, and whilst I'm not making excuses for it, you must ask yourself what drives normal, decent, intelligent and articulate people to behave like this.?
There will always be the habitual whingers who make a mountain out of a molehill, but I've found in my experience of life that people don't like being deceived and fobbed off.
Unfortunately it is not the reps who do the deceiving, in fact the reps themselves are being deceived by the people who employ them and promising them XYZ if they do ABC.
If the reps have problems with the pay and conditions, then that is between them and their employer to resolve, it should not reflect back on the paying customer when genuine problems are not resolved through such things as lack of experience, age, and under performance.

Many of our accoms are shared with TO's for all over Europe and I have never witnessed a French, German or Italian rep being abused as we Brit reps are.

That has already been answered by a fellow rep who has stated that the pay and conditions are better than the British side of TUI, which in turn attracts more qualified personnel into the industry, who are probably more capable of dealing with situations and therefore the confrontation with tourists does not evolve.
I've been on the German Thomson website and the accommodation on offer is somewhat of a higher standard than those offered to the Brits, if you put people in a 3* hotel, which actually is officially a 2* and you put others in a 4* hotel, then it stands to reason where the majority of the complaints will come from, especially if they are paying the same.

Suggestions that the continental arm of the TOs seem to have better attention from reps could simply be down to what they are willing to pay. We often want to pay 1 star prices yet get 5 star services. Could just possibly that be the reason? I would be interested to see a price comparison between a holiday from say Germany against one from the UK.

It seems to me that the Germans are paying the same and in some cases less than the Brits, which once again, adds weight to the argument that they are getting better service than us Brits, so will have less to moan about and the reps will be happy people.
Happy people tend to do a better job than a disguntled, not interested employee being paid peanuts.

I did a simple comparison this morning on both sites for the Hotel Riu Belplaya which is a 4* hotel in Torremolinos for a package tour.
I put the dates in 10/06/07 and the following prices were the basic prices before any added extras.

Thomson (GB) ( from Gatwick on 10/06/07 for 2 weeks) HB x 2 people was £1,470, with on-line saving £1,320.00
Thomson ( German) ( from Munchen on 12/06/07 for 2 weeks) HB x 2 people was € 1,852.00 = £1,248.10 ( converted via on-line site)

I tried another hotel that I know, same dates, same deal"¦The Sol Don Pedro 3* in Torremolinos.
Thomson (German) ( from Berlin on 12/06/07) €1,608. 00 = £1,083.66
Thomson (GB) ( from Manchester on 12/06/07) = £1,088.00

With the merger of Thomson and First Choice, I feel that the British will lose out once again,
The statement that Thomson put out that they will concentrate on cutting costs and streamlining its retail shop operation, as well as building up internet sales, has got to be bad news for British tourists with less choice .
I've read recently that Thomson have already started to do this by deciding that they no longer want to pay high commission to the retailers that sell their holidays, infact they don't want to pay commission at all and TUI has infuriated independent agents with its plans to cut payments altogether and drive bookings through its own website and shops.
So, the lovely little independent TA in your home town who gave you impartial advice will be force out of the market, with Thomson having the general public by the short and curlys.

Do you ever get the feeling that you are being shafted? I guess the saying must be true
Charity begins at home, and in this case Germany.!

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Hi quaterman - Yes - I'm ashamed to say that all the guests were British.

Sanji,
The reason for the cheaper price from Germany is the flight is shorter, so they are not getting a better deal.

hiya gatarman.

The reason for the cheaper price from Germany is the flight is shorter, so they are not getting a better deal

.
They are actually getting a bl**dy good deal compared to the Brits.
Germanys inflation rate is 1.6% and the Euro Zone interest rate being 3.75%.
The UKs inflation rate is 2.8% and interest rates 5.25%, so this means more money or personal income available to the Germans.
Depending on where you fly from in Germany the flight is not shorter and there's actually very little in it.
Berlin - Malaga = 1393 miles
Munich- Malaga = 1132 miles
London - Malaga = 1045 miles
Manchester - Malaga = 1164 miles
So, I still maintain the Germans are getting a better deal and service for their money than the British.

Sorry hun, but it is a 2 tier system IMO and they wonder why we complain.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Hi, just reading comments on the Thomson reps. Two years ago we were on holiday in Ibiza at the Club Don Toni and I had a really swollen and very sore foot. Got so painful we had to ask at reception for a doctor and ended up having to go in their "ambulance" to a clinic to get it x-rayed. Also had a pain killing injection which was gratefully received even if it was in a sensitive area!

Problem was we had four kids who couldn't really come with us. The younger two had been to a few of the Thomson clubs during our stay and when we told the rep at the desk about our dilema she told us to take the kids to the club room and they looked after them there for about four hours, free of charge!!!!!! As we were on an all inclusive package, the reps took the kids with them to the dining room at lunchtime and made sure they didn't miss their meal.

Luckily my foot wasn't broken, still now sure what I did, but for the second week of my hol I couldn't walk on it. Without the reps help I could have ended up having to go to the clinic on my own which I would have hated and would more than likely have just not bothered going.

WELL DONE THOMSON REPS AND A HUGEEEEEEEEEE THANK YOU!

Sanji,
The inflation rate has nothing to do with the deal they get on a holiday,same hotel same food same everything,oh and you could book yourself into a hotel the Germans use.
Further you dont have to go with Thomsons if you feel others are getting a better deal.And just to remind you this is a Thread about Thomsons Reps.
Why is it Brits are such moaners.

Personally i am not bothered if the Germans get a better deal or not.
I don't see how you can compare the two as the two countries are completely different.
As long as i am happy with the price i pay thats all that matters.

The inflation rate has nothing to do with the deal they get on a holiday,same hotel same food same everything,

Inflation/Interest rates has everything to do with the deal they get, who do you think pays the hotel owners.? Thomson are a business and inflation/interest rates will determine the deals on the hotels, including the budget that the hotel has to work within, which could for example, determine a simple thing like the standard of food on offer, plus more personal income available will also determine if people can afford to go on holiday in the first place. Same hotel, same food? but we are paying more for the same hotel, same food.!

oh and you could book yourself into a hotel the Germans use.

I could book myself into an hotel that the Germans use, but then I would have my rights severely reduced in a British Court of law if things go wrong.

Why is it Brits are such moaners

If you want to put up with second best, then .....

And just to remind you this is a Thread about Thomsons Reps.

If you haven't been following the thread, I'll remind you that a rep posted explaining why there are 2 "types" of reps .
If there are 2 "types" of reps and we (Brits & Germans) are paying the same for the holiday, then some of us wanted to know why....but to answer that question a poster asked if it was possible to get a comparison on prices.

Further you dont have to go with Thomsons if you feel others are getting a better deal.

Again with the merger of Thomson and First Choice, this choice will be reduced and especially if Thomson have a monopoly on a specific hotel.

Finally, I think a moderator will tell me, when I have either "gone off topic" or overstepped the mark.

Samsung.
The countries might be different, but we are supposed to be in the EU and Thomson GB, is the same company as Thomson DEU, trading under the name of TUI.

Edited...I can't spell this morning

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The German economy and the prices which German holidaymakers pay is not really relevant to this discussion, especially when comparing holiday prices to a specific Spanish hotel from both Berlin and Manchester. Such comparisons are perhaps misleading, if you attribute the price differential to national interest rates. If you compare the same hotel from both Manchester and Glasgow, there could also be price differential of hundreds of pounds. That is less to do with interest rates and more to do with local factors which contribute towards the cost of the holiday, such as airport landing fees, handling costs, aircraft base, flight duration, etc. Passengers from Manchester and Glasgow would still receive the same level of service in resort from their Thomson rep, so please not let this thread be dominated by what happens in Germany. This topic is for some constructive but friendly discussion about 'Thomson Reps'.

David

Hiya David.
Yes you are correct that prices can differentiate within the UK, I wasn't particularly suggesting that people took the price comparisons on "face value" but as a poster asked for some idea of the prices, that was the only point of my post.
We have been informed by another rep that Thomson pay different rates and conditions to other reps employed outside the UK and this attracts a more "qualified" person into the industry, who may be more capable of dealing with situations...if you can deal with a situation efficiently, then you are less likely to have confrontation.

If this thread is about reps then we should ask why there is a difference in "reps" who deal with the general public and are employed on behalf of TUI. ?
Or maybe I should go and get the Sunday lunch on ...yep, I think that is what I will do.

SanJiiiiiiiiiiii

Have just seen this thread and all though my comment won't help people who are going on holiday this year and who feel that what the germans pay for a holiday is lower than the UK, I have lived in Germany for 36years and for probably 30 of those years it was cheaper for me to fly to England and take a UK holiday to Spain or wherever using a Uk travel operator than book a holiday from Germany. I worked for some time in the travel/leisure industry and we could never offer such low cost holidays because the UK travel firms had cornered the market and we in Germany just couldn't match the prices . Whether somewhat higher prices in the UK now are a result of inflation, fluctuating exchange rates or greedy tour operators I don't know but for many years cheap holidays abroad from the Uk were the envy of foreign travel operators who just couldn't compete. At this time the UK economy was nowhere near as strong as the German one, now it's changed and unfortunately as the saying goes the boots on the other foot.
One other point though, as in the UK holiday rep jobs are highly sought after here, but different to the UK most applicants have to be highly qualified or talented. Though I realise that there are always exceptions.

Frohe Ostern everyone

I don't know whether the Germans pay more for their holidays or not but they do always seem to pick quality accommodation and get the decent rooms
Reps - we go DIY now but in the past we've always been happy with our reps - no complaints.

sanji.. your poste about reps not moaning cos they get paid poorly and should take it up with the employers does not connect with what you said next about germans being paid more so give better service??

It was I musing about what price the Germans paid for a holiday compared to the Brits that took this topic off track.

We may postulate if the payment to reps is the problem. I do however wonder if we actually get what we pay for. It would seem that everyone wants to pay little and yet get so much. Yes it is hard earned cash that we part with, but that is not the reason I am sure. Could it be that the Germans etc are more realistic about their expectations?

Going slightly off topic we expect that shops and services should be available 24 hrs a day, yet we expect others to work them. Reps on the whole do a good job, there will always be one who has an attitude but we also get some people who are the same way.

We discuss what we think it said in the brochure and jump up and down when we do not get it. All too often we are guilty of not reading it correctly. We do not in many cases want to admit we are wrong. Take it out on the rep for our failings is often the answer. Yet if we are truthful we would not be spoken to in the way we speak to them.

Blaming the rep will not solve the problem. They only have so much authority, they will try to help but if they do not have the authority to give what we demand then there is nothing they can do. We get so many complaints here on HT that we never hear the solution. Could it be that having had a rant people actually stop and think and are embarrassed to come on here and admit that they were wrong?

Bit late in the day to say sorry for giving the rep a hard time.

fwh

Spot on fwh