Post by dennisn on Mar 12, 2015 11:46:17 GMT
There are times when my grump comes to the fore.
Our first holiday in Skiathos this year is in June. Booked online last year, the final part of the payment is due by 27th March. So I go through the website, entering my booking details, two numbers, my name and dates of travel, then click on Make a payment, again I enter two numbers, my name and travel dates and click on Make payment. And it says Sorry, you cannot manage your booking online right now, please ring our phone number at 5p per minute, plus network charges.
So I ring up and eventually, after pressing the right numbers and listening to some absolutely awful music for TWENTY minutes, I get through to some guy who learned English in Delhi or Morocco and has an accent which I find myself unable to understand without several repetitions. "How may I help?" I tell him the website won't work, why? And he tells me the website is under maintenance and can't tell me when it won't be. But he can take my payment over the phone. I refuse, because I don't want to be giving those details over the phone - why else would I book online? So he says I can go into a Thomson shop and pay. So I refuse, because why would I book online if it was easy and convenient to go to a Thomson shop? He can't tell me how long it will be before the website stops being under maintenace.
That was yesterday and today the website still does the same. So I am having a grumpy day. Don't they want my £800? Actually, I suppose they don't greatly care - if I call it off now, they'll still have my £400 and can sell the holiday to somebody else, making extra profit.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable. After all, back in the good old days, we didn't even have the money to go abroad on holiday, there were no such things as Travel Agents and holiday companies, so my feeling annoyed now is maybe a bit over the top. Well, I don't care. I shall be as grumpy as I like, because we now have progress with a capital P and I demand the right to be able to do stuff on the internet. And whilst I'm at it, I want video phone via Skype or Facetime to these help desks, so that when I get there, they can put sub-titles on for me to be able to understand the first time they say something.
So GRRRRRRRRRRR !
Our first holiday in Skiathos this year is in June. Booked online last year, the final part of the payment is due by 27th March. So I go through the website, entering my booking details, two numbers, my name and dates of travel, then click on Make a payment, again I enter two numbers, my name and travel dates and click on Make payment. And it says Sorry, you cannot manage your booking online right now, please ring our phone number at 5p per minute, plus network charges.
So I ring up and eventually, after pressing the right numbers and listening to some absolutely awful music for TWENTY minutes, I get through to some guy who learned English in Delhi or Morocco and has an accent which I find myself unable to understand without several repetitions. "How may I help?" I tell him the website won't work, why? And he tells me the website is under maintenance and can't tell me when it won't be. But he can take my payment over the phone. I refuse, because I don't want to be giving those details over the phone - why else would I book online? So he says I can go into a Thomson shop and pay. So I refuse, because why would I book online if it was easy and convenient to go to a Thomson shop? He can't tell me how long it will be before the website stops being under maintenace.
That was yesterday and today the website still does the same. So I am having a grumpy day. Don't they want my £800? Actually, I suppose they don't greatly care - if I call it off now, they'll still have my £400 and can sell the holiday to somebody else, making extra profit.
Maybe I'm being unreasonable. After all, back in the good old days, we didn't even have the money to go abroad on holiday, there were no such things as Travel Agents and holiday companies, so my feeling annoyed now is maybe a bit over the top. Well, I don't care. I shall be as grumpy as I like, because we now have progress with a capital P and I demand the right to be able to do stuff on the internet. And whilst I'm at it, I want video phone via Skype or Facetime to these help desks, so that when I get there, they can put sub-titles on for me to be able to understand the first time they say something.
So GRRRRRRRRRRR !
