Luggage Tags = Emergency!

[Peppergirl]

I work in an after-hours call center that handles travel emergencies for people whose travel agencies are closed.

Keep in mind, in order to reach us after dialing their agency during off-hours, they have to physically push a button on their phone. Usually the recording says something to the effect of:

"You've reached Mom and Pop Travel. We are currently closed. Please leave a message after the tone, or if this call is of an URGENT nature, please press 2 for help from our emergency support center"

Here's a snippet of a call I received Saturday:

Me - Hi!
OMGLTG - OMG, Luggage Tag Guy
My thoughts in italics



Me: "Thanks for calling......., this is Peppergirl, how can I help you?"

OMGLTG - "Yeah, I booked a package to Costa Rica for November 21st."

Me: "Ok?" so???

OMGLTG - "Well, my buddy booked at the same time as me and he received luggage tags in the mail today!"

Me: "Ok, and how can I help you?" Surely to God you can't be calling the emergency service for luggage tags.

OMGLTG - "Well, ***I**** didn't get any!!!!"

Me: "I'm sorry sir, this is the after hours emergency line for that agency."
WTF??? Seriously???

OMGLTG - "I know"

Me: ......

OMGLTG - ......

Me: "Well, to check the status of your luggage tags, you'll unforunately have to phone back on Monday morning during regular business hours."

OMGLTG - *Big, put-upon sigh*

Me - "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

OMGLTG - "Well, I guess not. Since you cant tell me why my FRIEND got luggage tags and I DIDN'T!!!!"

Me - "Again, I apologize. Is there anything else I can help you with"

OMGLTG - *click*


Now, to his credit - I do have to mention one thing. The VAST majority of the people who reach us for nonsense like this deny the fact that they pushed a button to reach us. They act all shocked that ma and pa travel agent are not sitting there at 1030pm on a Saturday night to tell them the address of their favorite wine shop near their hotel in Napa for their trip 8 months from now.

This guy would have been kinda refreshing in the fact that he ADMITTED he knew we were the emergency service. Too bad he was such an asshole about it, or I would have been amused.

Seriously...what kind of pathetic, bored life must you have for luggage tags for your THREE WEEK AWAY trip to be considered an emergency.

Damn, and I thought **I** had no life.

[South Texan]

You mean that poor man's friends got luggage tags and this man didn't get any?

Now I shall be up all night worrying about him and his missing tags. How can he survive and have any hope of an even mediocre trip when THIS happened. His vacation no doubt is RUINED all because of this.

And YOU don't think this is an emergency??????

Oh, the humanity.

[/sarcasm]

[Peppergirl]

And YOU don't think this is an emergency??????

Oh, the humanity.

[/sarcasm]

I truly am a horrible human being.

It also bears mentioning that my agency is the after-hours partner of the agency that books for one of the two future presdential campaigns.

As you can imagine, it was extremely busy this weekend, with last minute campaign trail travel.

So to add more fun to the above call, the phone was honking off the hook (yes, my phone HONKS when there are calls on hold), while I nannied this ass-cheese about luggage tags.

[Kyree]

Wow....so he couldn't wait a couple days to see if his came in the mail after his friends'? He didn't get them when his friend got them, so apparently he's never going to get luggage tags?

[Peppergirl]

Wow....so he couldn't wait a couple days to see if his came in the mail after his friends'? He didn't get them when his friend got them, so apparently he's never going to get luggage tags?

Yep.

It was an EMERGENCY!!!!

[auntiem]

Now, to his credit - I do have to mention one thing. The VAST majority of the people who reach us for nonsense like this deny the fact that they pushed a button to reach us. They act all shocked that ma and pa travel agent are not sitting there at 1030pm on a Saturday night to tell them the address of their favorite wine shop near their hotel in Napa for their trip 8 months from now.

I refuse to give out this kind of information to most clients, even for a town I know like the back of my hand. You know they would call me to bitch that the place I sent them to had rude service / ran out of what they wanted / charged too much - the list could go on and on.

Any chance any of you agenty type people are going to watch the new reality show about travel agents (I think it is called First Class or something)?

[Peppergirl]

Any chance any of you agenty type people are going to watch the new reality show about travel agents (I think it is called First Class or something)?

Yep - I'm definitely gonna watch it. I used to watch "Airline" and laugh my ass off, because it showed the dark side of both the airlines and the people who fly them.