Rocco ,experienced travellers: BIG problem agent!
 

Hi, could anyone help me with his opinion/suggestion in the following BIG travel agency problem: We booked a nammibia/africa trip in February of this year with an agent in Capetown. This is our third trip with them and the 2 others were excellent.
This time also the whole trip seemed OK: we finalize everything perfectly, were happy with our quote , paid the required deposit and were now just looking forward to the trip (in august)
We now receive -yesterday- an email from the woman who handled our file, saying that she is terribly sorry and embarrassed but that she made a mistake and that the charter air transfers between lodges in Namibia and Windhoek to lodges were not included.
She takes the entire responsibilioty because she mentioned everywhere that they WERE included.
NOW there is 3000 US dlr extra for 2 people!!!!!!!
She just asks for a contribution from our part as she says that she has to pay it personnally!

We really do not know what to do. I honestly think that the story is true (the mistake) but I dont know whether it is true that her manager makes her pay for it personnally.
If I was sure that she did not have to be for it I would not be inclined to pay at all: All the contents of our tip were based on a certain budget and if there would have been 3000 Dlr more we would of course have had a different programme, take less nights in a lodge etc
Our overseas tickets are booked of course and we do not want to cancel this trip because of their mistake.
We don't know yet what to do Please help!! Thanks so much Ivee

Personally, regardless of how sorry you might feel for her if her story of having to pay for it herself is true, it's simply not acceptable for her to ask you to contribute.

Not to mention that the story about her being held liable personally by her boss may not even be true, it may be a ploy to tug on your emotions and persuade you to stump up.

At the end of the day, you received a quote, you agreed the price and services and you paid. It's the company's business to decide how they handle the shortfall internally, not yours.

Thank you Kavey for your comment. I agrre but it is true that if I do not pay anything at all I would still feel guilty...
The best might be to directly contact her manager, but of course if it was a ploy to still get some money back, I will never find out the truth..
Thank you ivee

BTW, I don't think you owe your agent anything. That's what errors and omissions insurance is for. If she didn't pay for an E&O policy (or her company does not have one) it's not your fault.

Moira

Ivee

Agree with Kavey completely, it's not your problem.

ivee I totally understand your "anxiety" at such a request but....I totally agree with Kavey & Matt. As long as you have a quote saying all this is included then you should not have to pay.
J

You may want to take a look at this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35003628

One more vote that says Ivee does not pay. When this is all settled and you are back from the trip, I'd be interested in learning what agent this is. Or feel free to email me if you prefer.

I wouldn't pay a penny of it. Happy Travels!

And what if this lady has been employed as sub-contractor? If she's telling the truth? Can you imagine what 3000$ mean to such people?

I find some of the replies here really cruel.

At least I would try to get a statement about all this from the MD of this agency.

IF it is indeed legitimate, $3000 means she learns a lesson the hard way that she might remember. Let her company absorb it. They did not review her work thoroughly. Let her pay it off to her company over a year. Sometimes life is cruel.
This is an opportunity for training. The company should now provide her (and other employees) with some means of double checking her work. Like a check list of items to be completed.

regards - tom

My conclusion was not meant to be cruel or to ruthless, but just to be fair to the clients who put their trust in the agent. Three thousand is indeed a huge amount of money. If my upcoming trip suddenly increased in price by $3000, I might very well have to just cancel.

What are the options?

The client could agree to pay a portion and the agent could work to upgrade some of the accommodations as a thank you. I think upgrades are not always costly to agents.

The agent could explain the problem to the charter airline. If the agent and charter have a good relationship, maybe the charter could absorb some of the cost.

I see this in the same light as I would if I forgot to tip all my guides and camp staff and didn't realize it until I got home. It would be a pain and an expense to send the tips, but I should do it. I should not just say oh well.

agree with lynn! if my trip increased by $3000, I'd either have to cancel or downgrade to a different location or camps. that's a huge amount of money to make a mistake on and you might not have booked that particular trip if it was that much more expensive. when something like this happens, I wonder why agents don't give a detailed breakdown on costs...then you will know that everything is included and no mistakes would happen from the start.

I wonder why agents don't give a detailed breakdown on costs...then you will know that everything is included and no mistakes would happen from the start.

Get serious. If I had all of the answers, I'd do it myself. I go to an agent for their experience and ability in knowing what is needed/required and to take care of it. You expect me to check their work and "sign off on it"? Who is paying who for what here?

regards - tom

agree to a point tom, but what else do you buy that is not broken down? do you go out to eat and just take their word for it that the meal was $150.00? buy a car and take their word that the upgraded cd only added $1000 to the cost? grocery shopping and the cashier looks at your cart and says $85.99 without a detailed reciept? seriously doubt it, it's not doing their work, just know how much you are paying for something and making sure you are getting what you are paying for, not getting charged for something that is not right, or something getting left out.

You must be flying a long way or the price was Namibian Dollars?

A receipt yes, a detailed listing of charges, yes. Yes, I can evaluate whether a car cd is worth another $1,000. But do not expect me to know if everything is included in a African journey. Example, flying from Madwike Hills Lodge to Kings Camp just 10 days ago. Four short flights, four different airplanes. You expect me to know this? That is why my TA gets a commission.
regards - tom

I don't expect you to know it, but if it was detailed on your itinerary or invoice, then you would know it.

And if it is not detailed, then am I still expected to know it is missing? You really can't say yes, can you?
This puts us right back to the original post. Flights were missing and they were expected to know it? How was I to know that my four flights was the correct number? Should I have asked - hey you, why don't I have five flights?
Over and out for tonight.
regards - tom

But, correct me if I'm wrong, the OP's itinerary did include the flights. If I buy a car for $30,000, do I really know how much each of the components cost? All I care about is the final price.

Thanks very much for all your answers so far.
Talking about breakdown of costs: in the quote the different sefofane flights in Namibia were all(3 in fact) mentioned one by one to be included, but not with a price for each flight , it was the stay + flights that was quoted in one (big enough)amount, so yes: that's what made us think all was included. To tell you more I have even at the time asked confirmation that the amount was the stay including all flights and this was indeed confirmed to us.

Moira S:
I did have a look at the thread.... I have been on the forum not very regularly lately and was not aware of the problem around Rocco. That's why I even mentioned him in the title of my thread...
thanks

Hi Ivee! I'm glad my post was useful.

I don't know how I feel about whether it's useful to have a breakdown...in some ways it would be nice (especially if you need to cut costs, it would help to know which parts of the trip cost more than others).

But as Tom (cary999) said, it's really hard for us to know what should or shouldn't be included in one of these trips...that's what we pay the agent for. And if she messed up, it's not your fault.

Moira

You helped me all think about this problem , it remains very unpleasant. As I said to Moira : the included flights were separately mentioned and I know it is not our fault , but I have not answered them as yet...Thanks everybody anyway!

How do you even know that the story is true? Maybe I've been asked to help too many widows in Nigeria with millions to transfer from the country, but I think you should consider whether this is a scam. The e-mails may be from someone else in the office trying to make a little extra...

If everything, including the flights n questions, was listed in the itinerary with a total price and you paid it - then you don;t owe anyone anything. And the agency should have insurance to cover this kind of problem. If they choose not to have it - well that's not your fault either.

(This is like you're in a car accident that's someone else's fault. They don;t have any insurance - so they ask that you pay for part of the damage they've done. Sorry - it's their fault and their cost. You owe them nothing.)

If the flights were ot listed on the itinerary - then the situation is a little different - and the agent can say the flights are a separate item to be paid separately. In that case - I think you would need to negotiate (even though they said the trip was complete.)

And this is a sizeable sum of money.

I would contact the agency's management to get all of the details - you may find it's not exactly as represented to you. Or - there may be other ways of resolving it.

But - I absolutely would not pay the agent any money.

I agree with Cary999. And as for the money being a lot of money to the person who made the mistake...as someone previously posted, well it's no small change to the person who booked the trip either. If suddenly an extra $3,000 were dumped into my lap, then I'd have to cancel the vacation. I don't see it raining an extra $3,000 anywhere. Happy Travels!

Ivee, I am glad you explained the title of your post. I wondered what Rocco's name was doing in it. I thought the part about him might have been deleted by the editors as were several other comments. Your lack of knowledge of his situation makes sense so you were seeking his advice.

Please let us know the results.

Hi Ivee,
Like Lynn, I'm curious as to which agency you're talking about. But, that aside, I agree with those who say you don't owe them anything. If the agent made a mistake, that's not your problem, and I'm sure her company can absorb the cost of the mistake.

Last year, the agent I used in Capetown made a mistake on my flight connections, which wound up costing me a day and a half at the Skeleton Coast -one of the places I was most looking forward to. She didn't even tell me about it until I realized the mistake a few weeks before departure.
At first they weren't even going to offer any price adjustment, but later relented when I protested. I really didn't want a price adjustment - I wanted them to do something so that I could enjoy my original itinerary, but they claimed it was not possible. They wound up giving me $250, chump change IMO, considering the cost of the trip and what I missed.

Anyway, my point is that mine was a case where the client paid the price for the agent's mistake, and the agency was none too apologetic about it. So don't feel bad if the agent, or agency, has to pay for their own mistake in your case. It's unfortunate, but better they than you.

I will post a new thread leaving Rocco out of the tile with the 'outcome'

I think the agent should not have told you that she had to pay for the $3000 personally. It was not professional and unfair to make you feel guilty. Her contract with the agency should really spell out beforehand what the penalty is for mistakes. You might have booked this trip if you knew the cost was 3000 more in the first place. I think the Fodorites are really debating whether this is a business issue or a personal/ethical issue.

There are reports that a Rocco Morelli signed up for the VF marathon.

www.vicfallsmarathon.com

too funny luangwa!

You can run, but you can't hide.

Would that be sexyrocco?