Customer Service at it's Best (Thomson Holidays)

Member Name: World-of-Bones

Product:	Thomson Holidays
Date:	10/07/09 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great customer service, punctual flight times, great staff.

Disadvantages: Garish shirt, Salty food, cramped seats on the way back

As a few people might know (if anyone bothered to read the review hehe) I recently returned from a week-long holiday to the Greek Island of Santorini. Now this is not going to be a review on the holiday itself due to the whole "That's already been written" thing. This review is about what Thomson Holidays did for us to allows us to enjoy this holiday.

Rewind back to Tuesday 30th June 2009, about 11am. We arrive at Manchester Airport with our luggage, me, my Mum, my Dad, my 2 brothers and my Grandmother. There's a queue for the check-in desk as you would expect, but it doesn't take long before we are stood in front of the broken conveyor belt at the check-in desk. Obviously not Thomson's fault but I thought I would add it in. When they eventually fixed the conveyor belt we went through to passport control, where I was basically strip searched and anal probed after the walk-through metal detector went haywire on my metal laden pockets. Not a good start, but so far we haven't even had anything to do with Thomson.

Fast forward a few hours after marvelling at duty free vodka and tequila and we enter the plane about 30 minutes before take-off, ensuring enough time so we all find our seats, get as comfortable as possible and listen to the dozens of safety lectures. I myself wasn'y very happy with the seat because I was sat right near the wing, with no window fully visible from my seat, and I like to look out of the window. But again, this isn't Thomson's fault, someone has to get that seat. All in all the seat was satisfactory, it was comfortable enough and until the 3 foot child in front of me launched her seat back there was plenty of leg-room and i'm over 6ft. The staff on the plane were all very helpful, asking if we needed anything and being kind and courteous when we informed them that our 4th pair of headphones weren't working. When the meal came they served the kids meal first, and according to my brothers it was very nice, ours came soon after. I've got to say, I was impressed with the meal, the only problem I found was the fact everything seemed very salty, and there was some sort of fruit salad for a starter that was vile. Overall though the meal was nice, and came with a free bit of chocolate, always good, although the cups of coffee were tiny. We arrived in Santorini at about 8 or 9pm, almost to the minute that was announced to us. The staff were very efficient in letting us off the plane and when we got our free coach to the hotel we were informed by a very pleasant Bulgarian fellow that he would be holding a welcome meeting at 9am the next day. The main problem I found with this guy was his garish bright pink shirt, but I assume that is Thomson Holiday uniform.

The next morning we arrived at this welcome meeting along with the other newcomers. It was a very well presented presentation from the Thomson Holiday's employee, who gave us a history of the interesting isand of Santorini before discussing in detail all the tours you could go on. He seemed very informed and was very pleasant towards all of us. After the meeting had finished he stayed for over an hour to answer any question we had and talk to us individually if there was anything we didn't understand, which I thought was a nice gesture, so I commend Thomson Holidays for organising things such as this and employing these courteous people.

We saw this guide-esque person a few times through the holiday as he came to give other welcome meetings or to just see how we were all doing. When the time came to head back to the airport he came and picked us up from the hotel and informed us of the nature of Santorini airport. He recommended that we all gather at the Taverna nearby so as not to be waiting in the small waiting room for longer than necessary, which showed he cared once again. He talked to a few of us before we boarded the plane and wished us all a safe journey. I didn't hear one person not say "Thanks for all your help" to this person, so Thomson Holidays are commended all round.

We got on the plane, a different one from before and again were talked through the safety procedures. Once again the meal was nice, sausage and leek mash, very good. With a pasta salad for starters and sticky toffee pudding afterwards. Once again all the food was very salty though. The seats weren't as comfortable as on the journey to Santorini and I also found myself a bit cramped, not over cramped but it definately was not as spacious. However, this was all put into perspective by the fact some little git of about 8 years old was sat behind me screaming for the whole 4 hours journey. When he started I almost asked the air hostess if she had any longer straws, because it definately seemed we had drawn the shortest one (I wonder if she would have understood).Him and his family looked like they had walked straight out of the Jeremy Kyle show and for the final 2 hours of the flight, it being midnight in Greek time, whilst I was trying to sleep I had this sod sat on his Dad's knee screaming like a banshee and kicking the back of my seat in some sort of furied temper. When the time came for us to turn off all electrical devices I was seriously considering risking that crash landing so I could still blast music out of my headphones to drown this screaming out.

Overall though I am very happy with the service Thomson Holiday's provided to us, the only problem I found was the cramped seats on the way back and the overly high salt content of the food, oh, and not forgetting the ridiculously pink dresscode. 4/5.

My review on Santorini if anyone is interested:
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/national-parks-intern ational/santorini/1277758/

Summary: Very good airline who care about their customers.