While I sit here on hold, allow me to vent a bit. I had to cancel a trip last spring, so I notified the travel agency I booked the flight through that I had to cancel. They said I could use the credit toward another trip within a year, no problem. Just call the airline and give them the ticket number and you’re good to go.

So, now I’m trying to do just that. I called the airline, and found out that the travel agency didn’t cancel my ticket, so it isn’t any good after all, but the airline can work with me on it. The airline agent I spoke with said she just had to explain the situation to a supervisor and they’d sign off on it. Which she did, then made the new reservation and applied the credit to it. But–she couldn’t book it because it had to run through the agency because of the IATA number.

OK, so I call the agency, and they can’t find any sign of the original ticket. I gave him the ticket number, the locator number, the dates, etc., etc., and eventually he admitted that the original flight did exist but, because I didn’t cancel it (I did, they didn’t), it was worthless. So I explained that I already went through all this with the airline, and they were all set, it just had to be booked through the agency. He said there was no way he could do that, that I had to go back to the airline and say they were no longer our agency (as of 1/1/07 they won’t be, and I’m not sad about that). I pointed out that they’re still stuck with me until Monday.

I finally got him to actually call the airline, and now they’re saying they don’t have anything about the ticket being signed off on in their records, and we’re back to square one because I didn’t get the name of the airline agent I got on the 800 number so I can prove I’m not making it all up. He’s also telling me that I should have documentation that I called the agency last spring to cancel the original flight. How I would do that I have no idea. *sigh*

Two hours later, I’m still on hold, but I don’t foresee this having a happy ending. I guess I could live with eating the $280, but the holiday Muzak the agency has on while I’m holding just may make me homicidal.

I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

Customers Are Always says that the Telephone Doctor is holding a contest to see who has the best customer service stories. This could be a good way to let the world know how above and beyond that CSM went, or the difference that housekeeper made to your attendees—and give a little more prominence to the meeting planner business to boot. The winner gets $1,000, with second and third place winners receiving $250 and $100, and the company may include your story in a book about, of course, great customer service.

I say, go for it. E-mail your stories to bestcustomerservicestory [at] telephone doctor.com. The deadline for entries is Jan. 31, 2007. I hadn’t run across Customers Are Always before, either, but it’s well worth a read for those of us interested in customer service, both giving and receiving (which is just about everyone, right?).