One thing I will say about Thomsons is that I have found them to be the best UK travel operator - we've been on 17 Thomsons holidays. However their policy of not having reps on the transfer coaches is not good. When we first went to San Miiguel, we didn't have a clue where we were going when we got on the coach. When you get to the resort there are two separate entrances, - one for the hotel and one for the beach club. We were staying in the hotel and when we got to the resort we just saw a sign at the entrance saying 'San Miguel beach club'. We got up ready to get off and if it hadn't have been for some one else saying that it wasn't the hotel entrance we would have got off and found that we were in the wrong place., which would have resulted having to walk to the hotel entrance, - about 500 mtrs away up a very steep hill or carrying all our cases through the resort around the swimming pools and up to the 8th floor reception. We saw this happen to numerous people over the last couple of years.
Still I suppose their profits come first.

Hi all
We used to always book our holidays through Thomson. The Reps do always seem to be around to flog the trips. The last holiday with them I went on a stress break on my own, I wanted to see a rep, not a urgent matter, just a small enquiry about a Thomson Trip I had already booked. My hotel was one they don't attend, but the hotel around the corner was where you saw them. I waited for about a hour to see her, she supposed to have been there at a certain time, even the reception said she should have been there, but she didn't show up , and it wasn't her "airport" duty day according to the notice board. I gave up, went back to my hotel and had a bottle of wine!! The night of the trip the pickup coach was a hour late. So I and all the other"trippers" who were going to a Cyprus Evening, were a hour late, they had to hold back on the meal and the dancing, there were quite a few people there waiting for our coach to arrive. I expect they were not pleased

We book diy or go with other companies now because Thomson are now too expensive.

We are going to Ibiza for our first time in June, and have booked diy and are really looking forward to it.

Dawnie-Rob

JUst thought I may as well join in lol

We have never been on a coach from the airport without a rep aboard.

That goes for Thomson, First choice, Airtours..............anyone.

Will let you know about this year

While the british side of the TUI company seem to be doing away with reps being present at hotels and on coaches,it seems that Johnny foreigner is having a wizz time on his thomson holidays while we brits have to put up with cut-backs and second best.
For example I have just returned from a stay at the Mediterraneo hotel in Benidorm and the TUI company were holding a reps training convention there and these starlets were the cream of the crop as each and everyone of them was a singing dancing performing seal and wonderfully versatile indeed everything our reps are not supposed to be.
There wasnt a Grease miming act to be seen,there were no loud mouthed peroxide blondes sceaming at the kids at the top of their voice like we have at Thomson family,they were all very well mannered and approachable.
Why do us Brits have to put up with the greedy,grasping buy a trip from me or i will ignore you act?
While the germans and belgians enjoy a far superior version,we are made to put up with second best even though its all the same company we are dealing with.

There is a 15 page thread about Holiday Representatives on HT. It is not just about Thomson's Reps, but Holiday Reps in general. You might find it interesting, so here is the link: Holiday Reps

And there is also another 18 page thread containing discussion of Holiday Reps: HERE

Although it is possible the 18 page Link is the same as the 15 page link....I think the topics may have been merged at some point, but anyway, I hope it helps.

BHIC

I would just like to add my 2 cents as I am a rep.
We are not all the same. Many of us who are maturer in years do not see the job as just a way to make money - though that helps. Holiday Reps are paid a notoriously low amount every month. I am in my late 30's and my basic salary is less now than when I was 16 and working in a factory. And, I can sometimes work 70+ hours a week in high summer.

I knew this when I started 3 years ago and I budget my lifestyle accordingly and I don't complain about my salary or hours as I love my job.

I don't do the hard sell. I give an informative Welcome Get Together and spend quality time with my guests. If they want to buy good quality excursions and car hire from me, all the better. If they don't, I treat them just the same. They appreciate this and I do better on my customer service questionnaires than other reps who do go for the hard sell.

I try never to be late for my visits, sometimes this is unavoidable though as there is always the odd one who stops me just as I am leaving one hotel to go to another. Also on occasion there are unexpected hospital visits, airport delays or some crisis or another to deal with which may take me away from my hotels.

The company I work for puts a Transfer Rep on every coach which has more than 12 guests on it.

So please, don't think of us all as money grabbing youngsters. There are many older reps who know how to do their job and do it well.

Louise

Hear, hear Louise I would like to hope that I have been a rep like you, over the years. In my eyes the client comes first. But I am bowing out of the repping business completely at the beginning of May In my eyes, clients demands are becoming more unreasonable, and if I can't empathise, I can't do the job I was trained for, so out I go.

Totally disagree with bird on this, why is it people tie everyone with the same brush, NOT all reps are the same and Brits are the biggest moaners on holiday and the Rep gets it in the neck all the time ( please note I am not a rep and I dont work for any holiday company).

From a personal point of view I prefer a rep who is more concerned with giving me just enough information that I can get on with enjoying my holiday.

I am also more inclined to book a hire car or a trip from someone who is not pushing them down my throat.

The matter of how much they are paid is between them and the people that employ them. Many people on holiday have a budget and cannot afford overpriced trips.

We like to explore ourselves, and to be fair we find that the local people are only to willing to help, language is not really a barrier. In some parts of the UK the local accent can be as hard to understand as a foreign language.

Anyone who is thinking of becoming a rep would do well to consider they might sell more trips if they dropped the hard sell.

fwh

While the british side of the TUI company seem to be doing away with reps being present at hotels and on coaches,it seems that Johnny foreigner is having a wizz time on his thomson holidays while we brits have to put up with cut-backs and second best

I totally agree with the above quote, also Thomas Cook with their trading arm of Nekkermann display a difference in service and choice of hotels.

We have never been on a coach from the airport without a rep aboard.
That goes for Thomson, First choice, Airtours..............anyone.

Well, I don't know where you have been for the last 2 years because I have been to Benidorm/Torremolinos with several TO'S and Thomson did not supply an accompanying rep on the coach transfer.

I asked about this and was told that should you be going very early to the airport from the resort, then the chances are that you will have a rep on the coach as they also have to get to the airport for their duties, the same applies late in the evening, when they have to get back to the resort, but anything inbetween, then you will not find a Thomson rep on the coach transfer.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiii

Personally it wouldn't bother me if there were reps or not.
Mainly because i would rather hire a car and drive to the places the excursions go to anyway.
We don't go to any of the reps meetings either.
If we did encounter any problems we would be sort them out ourselves we have always done this in the past.

But there will be people who will always need a rep,so i don't think they should ever be done away with.

But there will be people who will always need a rep,so i don't think they should ever be done away with.

Yes, there are people who need reps and I can only refer to Spain and Thomsons policy of not supplying a rep on the coach.
I posted about this in the Costa Blanca forum about 18 months ago, when I went to Benidorm for Xmas and I would say the majority of the coach passengers were OAP's, some of them slightly hard of hearing and vunerable people.

The coach driver announced the hotel which was the Hotel Venus, but in Spanish sounds something like "Banuooos" and these people didn't understand, which caused confusion and delay....another point also, previously, coach drivers were not expected to speak and understand English and the removal of the transfer rep has put further responsibility on the drivers....as if they didn't already have enough responsibility, loading the coach up with cases and driving you to the resort safely, now Thomson expect these drivers to make sure you get off the coach at the correct hotel.

I can live without reps, quite simply because when I have wanted them, they have never been there to help solve any problem I may have had, which have been very few on a "major" scale and we have sorted the problem out for ourselves in the end.
I also don't go to the meetings either, I see no point in wasting my holiday listening to a person who knows less about the resort than myself.

However, I would go to one in a country that I had never been too before....or I should say, I'd send the hubby to one.
The last time I was in Lido de Jesolo, the TO wanted something like £40 for a trip to Venice....we went there and back on public transport, including my youngest son who just scraped under the bar on the bus which determines if you pay for the child or not.....all for £8...but that was then and now the world has changed and some people need security as they get older, but that should not be an excuse to exploit vunerable people with extortionate prices for excursions.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The first time I went to Florida was with Thomson.It was for a special anniversary and on that day my husband developed chest pains.We thought he was having a heart attack and the Rep couldnt have been more helpful.She got a doctor to come and stayed with us until he came.Forunately it turned out not to be a heart attack and 3 weeks after we returned she redirected an anniversary card that had been sent to the hotel by our friends but had arrived after we came home.

Simple solution give the driver a board for each hotel he can hold it up so people can read it on arrival.

As I said earlier, the only thing that gives me the hump about the tour operators (Thomson) is their lack of reps on coaches from the airport. It definitely causes confusion for first time visitors. As for the cost of the trips, they are extortionate so don't book with them. In just about every resort there are independent operators who do the same trips for a fraction of the price, and don't believe the cobblers that the reps come out with about not being covered on your insurance with these independent ops. You will be covered within the terms of your policy providing you don't undertake what is considered to be 'hazardous activities'. Simply check your policy.
However all the reps I have come across have been knowledgeable and helpfull, especially the kids reps who are fully qualified and work their socks off. There will always be the exception as in all walks of life.

Buy any product or service you have a choice.

Couple of years ago I restored an old gate leg table. When it came to the hinges I had a choice. Buy from B&Q or from hardware suppliers. B&Q were charging around £5.00 per hinge. The supplier sold me two for less than the price of one at B&Q. It just took a little more effort on my part to go to another place and check out the prices.

If you run out of sugar you can go to the corner shop instead of the supermarket - it will cost more, but you have a choice.

The same applies when you book a trip with a TO. Do you find the price acceptable? Do you find it convenient? Do you trust the kiosk down the road against the TO?

Whilst I agree that many of the trips sold by TOs are overpriced I also recall our first ventures abroad. We were new and so not as well informed. If you liked the look of a trip then you booked it. I often read comments against paying these prices but we should remember that we are a little more experienced.

If, as a rep, it is an essential part of your income, then you are going to try to sell them. Any one in sales will tell you that not everything you sell is at a price you will agree with personally. We have all had to market items against people selling the same product for less.

Louise makes a very good point. Her approach is to give her clients the information and let them make their own choice. Not pushy but available if required. I would venture that she may have a better success rate selling with that approach than someone who does the hard sell.

I have also come across many "seasoned holidaymakers" who do not consider the cost. They simply line up to pay their money.

Suggestions that the continental arm of the TOs seem to have better attention from reps could simply be down to what they are willing to pay. We often want to pay 1 star prices yet get 5 star services. Could just possibly that be the reason? I would be interested to see a price comparison between a holiday from say Germany against one from the UK.

fwh

What FWH as always is correct. I am a Thomson Rep and have been so for the last 7 years. As i speak many different languages i do interact with the other parts of our group which is ofcourse TUI from the other countries that are in the TUI group they are on a much higher basic wage probably just like a normal wage back home in the UK and therefore dont need commision's so much. When a new rep starts for Thomson they generally earn around 230 GBP per month basic wage which is why they are so sales focused and so "Hard Sell". With the basic wage being around 800 GBP for the other non british reps of TUI you can see there is a big big difference, also one of the reasons you would maybe see a better rep with the other brands of TUI is all pretty much down to the money again. Many years ago repping was a job that alot of people wanted to do now its totally different in the UK whereas in the other parts of TUI because the pay is so good and guarenteed it entices good quality people to do it. I mean let's be honest would you want to work more than 60 hours a week if you received as little as 230 GBP. When i first started with Thomson it was very very different and was very difficult to get a job with them because they wanted the creme de la creme (The money was also alot better too and probably one of the reasons im still doing this job because i get a high fixed salary) nowadays the experienced rep's like me say if you can walk and talk at the same time you will get a job. I do agree and at the moment i do work with rep's that dont care about the guests or anything like that and all they are bothered about is making sales but like many other reps on here have said don't tar everybody with the same brush just because of one bad experience don't think all reps are like this. From this summer that is all to change as the basic wage is due to change and all new rep's will no longer be given extreme sales training so they can keep away from the "hard sales" I for one am hoping this starts to bring back decent hard working people wanting to do this job too. With regards the no rep's on coaches this was done from customer feed back aswell as a PR company offering guidlines. The resort where i work is probably one of the most effected from the no rep's on coaches and was one of the resorts where the feedback was obtained and it came back that a high number of guests felt there was no need to have rep's on the coaches. The PR company wanted much more drastic changes saying that rep's on coaches was very dated and they even proposed that rep's would not even "see off" the coach telling you which stop you are on - this was one step that was not implemented. One of the final reason's I think sometimes rep's may seem like they don't care is the way they are spoken to i have been shouted at and sworn at by far to many to remember guests and this is one thing I think should not happen, if you was in a shop and you swore at a guest you would be kindly asked to leave so why swear at rep's? There are way's of getting your point across and i don't think shouting and swearing at a person is one of them. I for one would deffinatley be put off by someone who did not speak to me with a civil tongue and when anybody ever does swear or shout at me i politley remind them not to speak to me that way or i simply will not deal with them. But the main point I am trying to get across is don't tar everybody with the same brush imagine if we tarred you with the same brush as being one of the small amount ill mannered brit's that i have spoken about (I'm sure we have seen them all on holiday). Sorry about the long rant and maybe I will see some of you this coming summer. Take care
CJ

Thank you for your post....just a few points.

With the basic wage being around 800 GBP for the other non British reps of TUI you can see there is a big difference, also one of the reasons you would maybe see a better rep with the other brands of TUI is all pretty much down to the money again. Many years ago repping was a job that alot of people wanted to do now its totally different in the UK whereas in the other parts of TUI because the pay is so good and guarenteed it entices good quality people to do it.

So, there is a 2 tier system in operation, although I already knew that.

I do agree and at the moment i do work with rep's that dont care about the guests or anything like that and all they are bothered about is making sales

Thankyou for acknowledging that fact, it couldn't have been easy to say it, as no one likes their profession being slagged off.

The PR company wanted much more drastic changes saying that rep's on coaches was very dated

The PR company wanted cut-backs because a few years ago Thomson were in the poo big time and only the sell off to the German Preussag AG and with re-constructuring within Thomson pulled them from the brink, those cut-back were applied in the British side of TUI.
Preussag renamed themselves TUI AG
For the last 5 or 6 years, the German economy has been up the swanny with inflation and unemployment running high, the "average" German couldn't afford to take holidays and this was bad news for Thomson's rescue plans...so they sliced services down on the British side, who make up a very high percentage of the tourists of the World of TUI.

The PR exercise to abolish reps on coaches was also flawed because depending on which resort they based their information from, this determined a blanket company policy. (on the British side)
IMO: They never took into consideration that for 9 months out of the year the average age of the tourists is 60 + and these tourists are the ones who fill the hotel beds and flights for Thomson, they never took into consideration that these people whilst they might be "seasoned travellers" some of them are going deaf and the eyesight is not as good as it was 20 years previously.

Finally, No ONE should have to stand and listen to foul language and suffer intimidating behaviour whatever line of employment they are doing and I think frustration gets the better of people when problems are not, or don't seem to be getting resolved....it's no excuse, but IMO, it is the reason.

I would never tar people with the same brush, I can only speak of my experiences of the times when I really really needed help, which thankfully has been very few times in all the years I have been going abroad and the reps (not particularly Thomson) were hopeless to put it mildly it does leave a "bad image" in ones mind.
I met a great Thomson rep in Benidorm a couple of years ago, a "mature" lady who can speak fluent Spanish, she knows her stuff about the resort and has been in the rep business for many years....now she is the kind of person who I felt would be capable of helping me, should any problem arise.
I saw her being encircled and ambushed by a load of foul mouthed Brits, mainly women screaming their heads off at her and coming out with the kind of language my father used down the mines.
There is no excuse for it, apart from the fact that if Thomson (and other TO's) employed people like yourself and the type that are employed in the rest of Europe, then the competence of these reps would stand out a mile and people wouldn't have to resort to language that I'm sure 99% of the time, they would never dream of using.

Thomson (the fat cats sat behind a desk) are not the ones who are facing the general public daily and taking the flack, but the buck must stop with them, if they are prepared to let British Citizens put up with bad service and employ youngsters to take the insults.
I can't see the Germans putting up with it, and Thomson know this too.

Just my opinion.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

During our winter stay in Tunisia I have observed the following;-
Rep. subjected to glares and sulks throughout the welcome meeting because the weather was dull and cold and guest wished that they had gone to a different resort and wanted a free transfer
Rep. criticized for not doing her job because the guests transfer coach hadn't arrived. (They hadn't booked one!)
Rep. lent her own child's cot to guest who hadn't requested one and all the hotel's were in use due to the high influx of guests celebrating Islamic New year. Departure date and guest left the hotel and cot in soiled condition with no thanks or excuses.
Rep. offered to go home to fetch guest her iron, as she hadn't brought her own and she didn't want to pay for an ironing service. Instead of handing the iron back, it was left on desk in the foyer still full of water. No thanks attached. (It was actually my iron, as I bumped into the rep. as she was on her way out to fetch said iron.)
Rep. mistakenly woken at 3am by reception because guest had arrived and no trace of hotel booking. Eventually found out that not only wasn't guest booked with her company, but she wasn't actually booked for our hotel, but she did persuade hotel to allow guests a room for the night. Despite facts, she managed to sort out the problem next morning and sent guest off to correct hotel . No thanks - just complaints that they wouldn't visit Tunisia again
Rep. subjected to vitriolic complaint the outside pool was too cold.
Rep. subjected to moans that inside pool was too hot.
Rep. had to listen to furious guest who's normal seat in the bar had been 'taken' by a German guest.
Rep. asked to sort payment from a group men who had got drunk the night before and broken into the wine store - drinking 3 bottles of wine.
Rep. had to twice intervene between male guests who had hit their screaming partners - disturbing other guests.
Rep. having to sort out dispute guest had with taxi driver.
I have no doubt that there were many more such incidences that I was not privy to, but that was enough for me. A rep.'s job - for their wage? No thank you!
Incidently, the rep concerned had been doing the job for 17 years and despite everything, loved it!! Ah! well ..... Jenny