Comments on: Travel industry shies away from gathering customer feedback http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:52:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Christian Rieger http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/#comment-147454 Christian Rieger Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:27:26 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=1607#comment-147454 I believe Tricia is correct in her skepticism. I used to work for a major (very major) resort in the USVI in a quasi-managerial job. All the managers could read the customer comment forms but me. The first time I read them, I discovered a lot of good comments about me, about which the resort manager never said anything. And yet, that was one of the things he and personnel said they would do. Bonuses and raises were based upon these. I later found out that, besides me, no one read them, irrespective of the card stating the resort would. It would seem that upper management had no interest in the opinion of a mere guest. This is obviously not true of all resorts, certainly not ones that are shining stars of customer and financial success. Such a one would be Sandals. If a guest has a complaint, or if they need something, then the employee who they talk to about it will help them and stay with them until the situation is corrected to the guest's satisfaction. This is true even if a kitchen worker is asked about a problem in the front of the house. I believe Tricia is correct in her skepticism.

I used to work for a major (very major) resort in the USVI in a quasi-managerial job. All the managers could read the customer comment forms but me. The first time I read them, I discovered a lot of good comments about me, about which the resort manager never said anything. And yet, that was one of the things he and personnel said they would do. Bonuses and raises were based upon these. I later found out that, besides me, no one read them, irrespective of the card stating the resort would.

It would seem that upper management had no interest in the opinion of a mere guest.
This is obviously not true of all resorts, certainly not ones that are shining stars of customer and financial success. Such a one would be Sandals.

If a guest has a complaint, or if they need something, then the employee who they talk to about it will help them and stay with them until the situation is corrected to the guest’s satisfaction. This is true even if a kitchen worker is asked about a problem in the front of the house.

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]]> By: Chris http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/#comment-120061 Chris Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:20:42 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=1607#comment-120061 Our company (a holiday villa company) asks (via email) all of our customers to complete an online feedback survey after their trip. About 70% of our customers complete the online form quite happily. We ask for specific feedback on the villa, the company, the service overall and ask for general comments (what should be improved? etc.). Our Customer Services team reads and personally replies by email to EVERY customer who completes a survey as they come in - usually within a day. The products and sales team review all the responses every month, and I (the MD) read them all and reply to quite a few. We take all that feedback and publish it to the villa owners and other suppliers - and follow up with them to ensure that issues are resolved. Frankly, I don't understand how most of the travel industry just goes through the motions with customer feedback. It is invaluable to us. Aside from obviously helping us to improve our service and quality, it leaves our customers with the right impression: that we care about service and quality. And we love it when the respond to our emails with "Wow - I didn't think anyone would actually read it, far less respond to it!". Our company (a holiday villa company) asks (via email) all of our customers to complete an online feedback survey after their trip. About 70% of our customers complete the online form quite happily. We ask for specific feedback on the villa, the company, the service overall and ask for general comments (what should be improved? etc.). Our Customer Services team reads and personally replies by email to EVERY customer who completes a survey as they come in – usually within a day. The products and sales team review all the responses every month, and I (the MD) read them all and reply to quite a few. We take all that feedback and publish it to the villa owners and other suppliers – and follow up with them to ensure that issues are resolved.
Frankly, I don’t understand how most of the travel industry just goes through the motions with customer feedback. It is invaluable to us. Aside from obviously helping us to improve our service and quality, it leaves our customers with the right impression: that we care about service and quality. And we love it when the respond to our emails with “Wow – I didn’t think anyone would actually read it, far less respond to it!”.

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]]> By: Alastair http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/#comment-119922 Alastair Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:59:58 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=1607#comment-119922 Agree with Tamara. The important thing is that it is targeted and performs a useful role. I spent some time at Kirker Travel earlier this summer, talking individually to their sales team. They give their clients a holiday feedback form to use on their return. What surprised me is how every single one of their 30+ sales people enthused about the importance of the feedback they get, good or bad. I think some of that focus would be lost if it were an online free for all. ps. If you get overwhelmed with rants, Darren, you can point them to menogo.com which I stumbled on yesterday. Agree with Tamara. The important thing is that it is targeted and performs a useful role. I spent some time at Kirker Travel earlier this summer, talking individually to their sales team. They give their clients a holiday feedback form to use on their return. What surprised me is how every single one of their 30+ sales people enthused about the importance of the feedback they get, good or bad. I think some of that focus would be lost if it were an online free for all.

ps. If you get overwhelmed with rants, Darren, you can point them to menogo.com which I stumbled on yesterday.

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]]> By: Tamara http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/#comment-119442 Tamara Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:24:18 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=1607#comment-119442 Hi Darren We decided to implement customer feedback a while ago but we wanted to make sure that it was genuinely only open to customers - there have been too many bogus posts on tripadvisor by the hoteliers giving themselves rave reviews or by people with a vendetta. The way we do it is we only send out a request for feedback once a customer who has booked the hotel through us, has come back from their trip so we can guarantee it's a genuine comment. We also send feedback forms to anyone who uses our travel team to book a hotel so we get an idea of the service we are giving. Customer generated content is great when it's genuine and controlled properly. We have some fantastic tips on our site from users but I also think it's important to show the complaints as well so they don't get edited out. Hi Darren
We decided to implement customer feedback a while ago but we wanted to make sure that it was genuinely only open to customers – there have been too many bogus posts on tripadvisor by the hoteliers giving themselves rave reviews or by people with a vendetta. The way we do it is we only send out a request for feedback once a customer who has booked the hotel through us, has come back from their trip so we can guarantee it’s a genuine comment.
We also send feedback forms to anyone who uses our travel team to book a hotel so we get an idea of the service we are giving.
Customer generated content is great when it’s genuine and controlled properly. We have some fantastic tips on our site from users but I also think it’s important to show the complaints as well so they don’t get edited out.

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]]> By: Nick http://www.travel-rants.com/2008/09/01/travel-industry-shies-away-from-gathering-customer-feedback/#comment-119349 Nick Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:59:20 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=1607#comment-119349 Darren Travel companies do use feed back forms and there not just used for collecting address. A lot of companies use this when it comes to choosing which property they want to keep or not. A few companies (TUI as example) publish these, others just monitor them. The best companies are members of AITO who we know because they responded in some cases and all read these forms. As to online surveys back I wonder how many people are like me and do not bother with these, just gets in the way. I have even stopped using a couple of sites where there online survey kept bugging me. A feed back form on the website is a good idea, as long as it does not get filed in trash. The main problem as I see it the people at the top of the tree just do not understand the internet and what customers want. Forms are example of this...maybe they will start to use focus groups and improve. Darren

Travel companies do use feed back forms and there not just used for collecting address. A lot of companies use this when it comes to choosing which property they want to keep or not. A few companies (TUI as example) publish these, others just monitor them. The best companies are members of AITO who we know because they responded in some cases and all read these forms.

As to online surveys back I wonder how many people are like me and do not bother with these, just gets in the way. I have even stopped using a couple of sites where there online survey kept bugging me. A feed back form on the website is a good idea, as long as it does not get filed in trash.

The main problem as I see it the people at the top of the tree just do not understand the internet and what customers want. Forms are example of this…maybe they will start to use focus groups and improve.

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