Anti – operator websites can play a vital role

TravelMole Comment by Jeremy Skidmore

For as long as I’ve been a journalist, people have moaned about the freedom of the press and how we abuse it.

Largely, it’s rubbish. When you work on a newspaper, lawyers check out anything slightly contentious. Publications can, and do, get sued for getting things wrong.

But the growth of the internet has put a different spin on things. Anyone can start a blog and communicate the most outrageous things to the rest of the world.

If you ever read about an ‘unnamed celebrity’ having an affair or taking drugs, the newspaper in question will only have spared that person’s blushes because it doesn’t have enough evidence to make it stand up in a court of law. But go on to the web, tap in a few relevant keywords in a search engine, and you’ll soon find out who they’re talking about.

These ‘bloggers’ are not above the law, but tracking them down and trying to prosecute them can be more trouble than it’s worth.

Tour operators have recently been on the receiving end of some pretty vicious blogs from dissatisfied customers.

The late Brenda Wall first started championing holidaymakers’ rights after a disastrous trip 10 years ago and, in recent years, tales of woe have appeared on the HolidayTravelWatch site. Since then, the web has been an open house for disgruntled tour operator clients.

But what is the best way to deal with the problem?

The plan by some of the big companies to try to nullify the bloggers by getting all trendy with their own positive blogs by staff is laughable. It’s a bit like your Dad getting a trendy haircut and trying his luck at a student disco.

There’s huge mileage to be gained by encouraging dialogue with customers on your website. It builds loyalty by giving people a reason to go back to your site.

Dialogue between customers is also a great idea. It’s no surprise that Club 18-30 bookings have gone up when prospective bookers get the chance to see pictures of each other and chat. After all, it always helps the pulling process if you can do some groundwork on the people you fancy before you go away.

But these things are not going to deter the bloggers or convince the cynics.

After all, what do we expect paid employees of the company to say about that firm? Nothing negative, that’s for sure, if they want to stay on the payroll.

Also, customer comments, or testimonials by another name, have their uses, but a tour operator is hardly going to upload a letter from an irate client who has just spent a fortnight in a hotel next to a building site.

The best way for operators to nullify the effect of the bloggers is to up their game and, in particular, the way they handle complaints. Although most mainstream operators have massively improved standards over the past five years, the way they handle clients is often appalling.

Costs have been cut at many companies and so-called ‘customer service’ departments are understaffed.

I often hear from disgruntled holidaymakers who have been kept waiting on the telephone for ages or have not received a reply to several letters of complaint. Operators are often their own worst enemies because they can turn a small problem into a big one. If the anecdotal evidence I see is anything to go by, it’s still a big issue for holidaymakers.

So, if the blog sites can force tour operators to improve their customer care, that’s no bad thing.

In fact, we’ll all be thanking the freedom of the press.