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Club Med’s mystery-shop angers Harding-McKay
Hollie-Rae Merrick
An independent agent has won an apology from Club Med after angrily complaining about being mystery-shopped by the supplier. Nick Harding-McKay, managing
director of Balham-based Travel Designers, hit out at the operator for mystery-shopping his agency. The shopper entered the agency
and requested a holiday in Turkey for a family of four who wanted to stay near a water park. Harding-McKay, who vented his anger on the Travel Gossip page on Facebook, said one of his members of staff approached three operators, obtained five quotes and spent an hour-and-a- half with the customer. “As an independent agent we’re impartial and can advise our customers with information to suit their wants and needs,” he said. Club Med, which has four
properties in Turkey, was not one of the operators recommended. It later contacted Travel Designers to ask why. Harding-McKay (pictured) added: “Someone called and had a go about the fact we didn’t
recommend them, but my staff did nothing wrong. “This isn’t how I expect to be
treated by a supplier; partners shouldn’t be treated this way. “I know of four or five other agencies who were mystery- shopped by Club Med recently. I’m really unhappy about it.” He said Travel Designers’ business with Club Med was up by £100,000 so far this year and that he would like to be shown more appreciation for the bookings his agency is making for the operator. Joy Lacana, agency sales manager for Club Med, said: “We apologise to any agents that we have upset during this mystery-shopping exercise. “Here at Club Med, we value
the relationships we have with our travel agents and appreciate the great lengths they go to when selling our product.” ❯ Mystery Shopper, page 52
Barrhead eyes locations in England for new shops Juliet Dennis
Scottish agency chain Barrhead Travel is considering up to four locations for new stores next year, including locations in northern England, according to chief executive Sharon Munro. Previously, Barrhead had ruled out extending the brand into England. Last year it established Brilliant Travel, which has 25 franchises and 18 homeworkers south of the border. Glasgow-based Barrhead, which has 31 travel agencies in Scotland,
has previously ventured into Cumbria, where it has a Barrhead Travel-branded call centre. Munro said plans for expansion south of the border came after its stores in Scotland had seen a 26% increase in footfall this year. She said this demonstrated consumers’ demand for advice, adding that Barrhead had responded by extending opening hours. This outstripped an 18% increase in visits to its
website, which customers from England can access. Munro said three or four locations were being seriously looked at for new store openings next year. “We don’t want to be the biggest [agency chain],” she said. “It’s about the right locations and getting the best deals – quality not quantity.
“We have got an idea of where we want to be and we are in discussions about what is available and we’ll take it from there. “I would like to have something up and running next year. Barrhead
Travel is a national website and I think it would help the stores and website to have more of a shop presence.” Longer-term, the chain would consider opening stores in the south of England if new stores in the north were a success, added Munro. Barrhead has responded to the increase in high street footfall by
extending store opening hours. Munro said customer numbers to date for summer 2015 were up by 43% year on year.
4 September 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 5
“As an
indie agent we are impartial
and can advise as suits our clients”
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