Today, I should have been in Las Vegas, pushing the balance on my flexible friend to the absolute limit, instead I am basking in the glorious cold sunshine of South Wales.

Due to events on 11th September and my already neurotic fear of flying, my present of a fleeting visit to San Fransisco and Vegas to visit some old school friends, for my partner to celebrate his initial successful treatment of skin cancer is once again a distant dream, but my yearning for a holiday SOON becomes for me something like an obsession, one of my staff booking a week in Gran Canaria just before Christmas has set me off again, so its off on the trail of the Holiday Brochures again (when I should be studying) and checking out what I can afford.

Now when it comes to tour operators, I am loyal, preferring an arm of the Thomson brand above all others, when it comes to the Travel Agent I will go with whoever offers me the best deal, although these days prices generally tend to differ little, but the add-ons such as free insurance, free travel to the airport etc tend to be the incentives.

Earlier in the week, I obtained a quote from my local Travel House (owned by Thomsons) for a holiday for myself, my daughter and her friend which was all written out for me and included free insurance. Upon entering another store of the same chain I was called a liar calmly told that no-one would have offered me free insurance and it was my job to prove it, needless to say I was not impressed, and steamed homeward to try and locate the written out details, although upon ringing the original store, I was told by a young gentleman that it was their right to withdraw any offer at any time, that was just tough luck, and as I was already getting £198 off the price of the holiday, what more did I want?

So what has this got to do with Lunn Poly you may ask?

Lunn Poly, a chain of UK wide Travel Agents also owned by Thomsons, they sell holidays from all major and smalle
r tour operators, flight only, ferry and UK holiday services.

I decided to ring my local Lunn Poly store and establish what incentives they were offering - the difference, the young lady calmly advised me that no they were no longer offering free insurance on Winter Holidays, and that I could, if I so wished, obtain my insurance at either Boots or Post office as they were offering the best deals at that time, she then proceeded to tell me that at £25 for one weeks fully comprehensive European cover (??? my ears prick up - I am sure it used to run at around £40 for the week), their insurance did cover far more eventuallities than run of the mill insurances, but it was my decision.

Whilst I was on the phone, the young lady checked the price of the holiday, read the hotel details in the Gazateer (always worth a nose as it tells you the bad things that the brochure doesn't), gave me the web-site details for checking myself and advised me of a new service offered by Thomsons on holidays departing more than 6 weeks in advance, whereby you can reserve the holiday for a period of 24 working hours (Mondays for Saturday bookings), giving you time to check things such as holiday entitlements at work, school holidays whatever. I was advised that all this could be done over the telephone should I require.

A visit to my local Lunn Poly shop ensued today, and true to form the young lady remembered all the details and kindly reserved our holiday until I can confirm with my new boss that it is OK to take that particular week off - this will expire at the close of the business on the following day and costs a non-refundable £10 (which is an addition to the cost of the holiday but a damn side cheaper than losing your deposit if you can't have the time off work for some reason - available from Thomson Direct or Thomson Approved Agents).

I will now confirm my holiday (if my new boss takes pity on me) on Monday and the fund will be taken of
f my credit card details in store without another visit. You can pay by Debit Card, Credit Card, Cheque or Cash and they will pop the receipts in the post.

BEWARE: Lunn Poly charge for using a credit card is 2% of the balance being paid - waived I believe if you have a Thomsons Credit Card and are booking a Thomsons Holiday.

AND THE BEST PART?

The holiday had come down £21 in price from yesterdays price at the Travel House.

ANOTHER LITTLE TIP
If you are booking a particularly CHEAP holiday and travelling with a few kids, get the travel agent to check the price travelling with kids and then the same number of ADULTS, in our case, it was £81 cheaper to take three adults than two adults one child because of UNDER-OCCUPANCY supplements.

THE STORE
It was well laid out (Whitewalls, Swansea), and I found the staff amiable and helpful, managing to sell me products I didn't want because of their attitude and demeanour - they saved the day and won me over (Dont ever try travelling abroad WITHOUT travel Insurance). The shop had plenty of brochures and staff were more than happy to search over and over until I found what I wanted and, differently to the other travel agents have a consolidated price for each booking on screen rather than going through the whole booking process to check prices - I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I am not interested in individual prices for flight supplements and under-occupancy, I am just interested in the overall price and whether I can afford it.

THE MORAL
Its not WHAT you tell the customer, its HOW you tell them that can ensure whether you get and keep their business or not. If a customer is irate because she has been called a liar, don't just tell them tough - humour them, remember at the end of the day it is CUSTOMERS THAT PAY YOUR WAGES.

Just in case anyone thinks this is a one-off, Last year I booked with Lunn Poly, Morriston for a tr
ip to Fuerteventura a year before we were due to travel and it was cancelled 6 days before with no compensation, the staff in the shop spent around three hours with us telephoning Thomsons and finding us an alternative holiday which just happened to be with JMC.

So, providing I can have the time off work, watch this space for the Lanazarote ops - and if anyone has ever stayed in the Sol Lanzarote I would be interested to know about it.

Thanks
Sue

CONTACT DETAILS: Lunn Poly - 9 Whitewalls, Swansea,
Telephone 01792 455333

Lunn Poly, 23 Woodfield Street, Morriston, telephone: 01792 775544

Or visit the website for last minute bargains and details of your nearest store: www.lunnpoly.com