The weirdest customer booking requests received this summer by Lastminute.com have been revealed today (Tuesday).
They include:
- ‘What is the temperature of the sea?’
- ‘Will this holiday save my marriage?’
- ‘Can you water my plants while I am away?’
The company handled a total of 70,000 calls and 24,000 emails from customers between June and August.
Head of customer operations David Beatley said: “Our customer support team deals with almost 800 customer bookings and enquiries a day during peak season.
“They are the ‘hidden heroes’ of the travel industry and do sometimes have to manage the weirdest requests. With customers seeking 100% satisfaction from their holidays, their requests do sometimes uncover very personal needs.”
Lastminute.com’s top 10 most memorable and cheeky holiday booking requests:
- One customer service representative was sent pictures of a holidaymaker’s red buttocks following a horse-riding holiday in the Dominican Republic. The customer named the offending horse and suggested it be removed.
- A customer requested not to be called back about his booking and suggested a code-word be used instead of his name because he would be travelling with his son’s wife – rather than his own.
- In a contrasting relationship scenario, a desperate husband begged for a last-minute holiday which was guaranteed to save his marriage.
- A customer insisted on being told the exact temperature of the sea in Marrakech.
- One customer expected a house-visiting service to be arranged to water her flowers while she was away, after the representative had been asked to organise a water bed for her hotel room.
- A traveller issued a complaint to the customer support team after his holiday because the colour of the bed linen in his hotel had not co-ordinated with the curtains.
- Customer agents often get detailed and embarrassing questions about the contents and usage options of ‘surprise packages’ in rooms booked as part of a romantic deal. One customer specifically requested a ‘sensual room’ with a mirror on the ceiling.
- A customer called three different members of the customer support team, asking whether an escort service would be available at his hotel.
- On returning from holiday, a jealous boyfriend called the customer support team to demand that a club entertainer who had looked at his girlfriend be fired.
- Also after a holiday, a customer emailed the team requesting the phone number of a pretty lady he had met while he was away – while failing to remember at which point in the trip he had met her.