By Les-Lee Roland

Welcome to the Flips and Flops column. We are able to do what we do here because of your input and information. If you want a supplier or a res agent or DSM to get special recognition, let us know. If there is something amiss with a company’s policies or actions, share them with us, as well. Let us know which booking engines and Web pages are hits and which are misses! E-Mail your suggestions to packagedeals@comcast.net.

A FLIP for enthusiastic execs who take you on ship inspections. Holland America’s David Stockert probably is a closet standup comedian. When talking about HAL’s new kid’s program, he says that the “tweens” love it so much that now parents are trying to sneak in. The crew has to “card” the adults in order to keep them out. And the young ones have their own bathrobes and are seen in the lounge chairs with shades ordering Shirley Temples.
And, another FLIP for Holland America. Tracey Kelly, vice president of sales, has expanded the sales force to help out all home based agents. Now its Business Development Managers, BDMs will be paired with BDRs, Business Development Representatives — who will be working with TAHAs, who I refer to as Toiling At Home Agents. (Some of these initials are getting out of control. Pretty soon, a CEO will meet my VIP on an HMO seminar on the QM2 and over a VO discuss…well, you get the picture!)
A FLOP to the New York Broadway package company (not their real name) that told an agent they needed a credit card before they could try to confirm space. You guessed it, they never sent out a confirmation or final quote, but they did charge over $3,700 to the client’s credit card. Now the client is fighting with American Express, the agent is fighting with the supplier, and — ding, ding, ding. Round 3 coming up.
If suppliers say they need a credit card in order to check if space is available, go through your database to the next supplier on the list. There has to be “trust” in these situations. Isn’t that the job of the supplier — to check out availability and quote us the rates? We have to spend far more time servicing the prospectives and turning them into clients.
A FLOP to Northwest Airlines phone agents who say they cannot hold a reservation without a credit card. And if you don’t call back within 24 hours, they run the card through. I talked to a supervisor and she said the credit card is not needed. But try telling that to a res agent. I wonder how many people forget to call or have problems getting through to them, and then are charged.
This type of FLOP causes nightmares for agents. Clients are booked for Costa Rica. Agent calls because the docs still haven’t arrived ten days before departure. Jet-A-Way Tours had booked flights that don’t exist. Options were slim, non-stops turned into extra traveling time for the white-knuckle couple. But with lots of wheeling and dealing, clients should be on their way to celebrate their anniversary.
A FLOP to the cruise line that in one day faxed out 15 pages of cruise offers — identical pages, but each one targeted for a different state. Was it a mistake or does someone in Florida really need to know the rates for Nebraska residents? Agents rushed out — not to book- but to buy more ink for their fax machines.
One more thing. Agents had better keep checking on port stops with all the horrendous happenings the past few months. Don’t wait for your clients to call — contact them right away. And when you call, make sure you can offer a great excursion in the substitute port