.. From what I've read TR does hold Value as important , but Quality , Service and Honesty seem to be a problem in some customers eyes and that is why I disagree with the comparison you are making .
Am I right in assuming then that you have never used TR yourself, Andy66? If that is the case I find it interesting that you seem to be basing your opinion of the company and the service they offer on the posts made by people who mainly seem to join HT to post a complaint about TR, often never even make a 2nd post and generally never become and active member of HT after letting off steam on the complaints forum. You seem to regard these posts as being accurate, reliable and grounds for deciding that TR are a dreadful company that should be avoided at all costs whilst deciding that the posts from long term members of HT who regularly contribute on a variety of forums within HT and who have used TR without problem, often for many years, and are satisfied with the service they have received because TR does what it says very clearly and explicitly on the tin, are not to be believed.
I think that John Lewis are a reputable company, I am a happy repeat customer of theirs (though I have friends who aren't), but I am also a happy repeat customer of TR too. I have had good service from both of them commensurate with the price I have paid for their services. But if I stopped using every TO/TA and airline that people complain about here on HT I'd never travel anywhere. And if I stopped shopping at every shop that has got unhappy customers I'd be walking around naked! The number of people who post here who are unhappy with the service they have received from any company are only a small minority of the total customer base and we have no way of knowing how representative they are of the majority of their customers. It's pretty clear that you would never think of using TR, just like I will now never use Ryanair. But Ryanair has many millions of very happy repeat customers - I would never give Ryanair another chance to treat my mother as disgracefully as they did because of the distress it caused her but I do understand and accept that all those millions of happy customers are going to continue to use them because the service they have received was acceptable to them. And will continue to use them no matter how many times others tell them 'Do not use this company'.
If TR let me down in the future I probably wouldn't use them again either, unless the problem was sorted quickly and efficiently, but until they do I would prefer to base my decisions primarily on my own experience, not that of anonymous posters here from whom we only ever hear their side of the story and who also have no track record on HT of providing what I would regard as trustworthy, reliable information. When thinking of using a company I have never used before I do read the reviews here and might ask for feedback as well but I will always attach more importance to the comments and replies from regular HT posters who are writing from their own experience and direct knowledge and have demonstrated in other threads etc that their information is reliable than I ever will to those from one thread ranters.
SM
