Lastminute.com reveals strangest customer requests

The weirdest customer booking requests received this summer by lastminute.com have been revealed today (Tuesday).

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:

1. 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.


2. 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.


3. In a contrasting relationship scenario, a desperate husband begged for a last-minute holiday which was guaranteed to save his marriage.


4. A customer insisted on being told the exact temperature of the sea in Marrakech.


5. 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.


6. 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.


7. 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.


8. A customer called three different members of the customer support team, asking whether an escort service would be available at his hotel.


9. 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.


10. 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.