Thomson wont match their website price

Gemonster

I went in to the local Thomson office this lunch time, and took a copy of the web price (Thomsons own) with discount code, but I was told that they dont match prices.

The person I spoke to confirmed this with the manager. All they would offer is a £30 discount, leaving a whopping difference of £200. :eek:

I was told by a different branch that they could have a look at matching a price, and appeared as if it wasnt a problem. The trouble is its in a different town so i will have to wait. Will I be going to see them only to be told the same thing?

Has anyone else had this?

Anyone have any tips apart from not giving them my money?

Thanks

Gemonster

alanrowell

Book via their website?

tazzababe

Hiya,

I was also in my local Thomsons today asking them to beat their own web quote (also with discount code) I was told that they are the cheapest around and that they will match or try to beat their own web prices. BUT it depends on the percentage deifference. I wanted them to beat thier quote for a cuba hol, coming in at around £1200, on their instore comp system it was coming in at £1500. They got the calculator out, tapped in loads of figures. Then said that they were unable to match or beat it because the % diff was too high, and they would not make any money.

They told me that the difference between the web and their comp was over 18%, and that if it had been 12% that they could have knocked something off.- Go figure

lottee

Gemonster wrote: »

Anyone have any tips apart from not giving them my money

Ummm, book on the web ...

A travel agent offers a service, it's pretty obvious to me, but surely it makes sense to people that part of the reason we are sometimes slightly more is the fact that we are doing the work for you ??? If you have any problems, before you travel, while you're away, or when you get back - we do the work for you again.

If the price is that good on the website, then why bother going into an agent in the first place?

Not sure why another branch would say something different tbh, I would call them back & make sure, before wasting a trip.

Gemonster

alanrowell wrote: »

Book via their website?

Paying in store offers Nectar points. With an additional voucher I could get 9600 points. So it makes sense if they can match it. I dont think it would cost Thomsons anymore as these promotions tend to be marketed by a third party.

I am looking at £1300 web price compared to £1500 in store (not accounting for Nectar points). So thats just over 13%. I would also point out that last week they had £100 off in store so that would have made the difference less. All of a sudden they cant do that either! I dont see the customer service.

Off course I could wait until the last minute and grab a bargain. Funny how they can sell them off cheap when it suits. Not forgetting I'm only looking for a 13% discount.

Thanks for the replys. Does anyone else have something to add?

budgetflyer

Tazzababe

try http://www.caribbeandeals.co.uk/cuba.asp they are part of Global travel group.

Gemonster

How do you get 9600 points on a £1300 spend ? Its 2 ponts per £1

Engadine

Travel agent branches can't always beat their web prices, iat the end of the day it comes down to making money on the booking. If a branch is going to lose money on the booking then there is no way the manager can do that. A branch has higher overheads than the website.

As lottee said travel agents provide a service so aren't going to lose money on something. There are agents now who charge a consultation fee but if you book they take it off the cost of your holiday.

Agents who are part of the Global Travel Group tend not to deal with Thomson any longer, there was a major fall out about 18 months ago with the amount of money Thomson was paying agents for selling their holidays. There is no way a Global Travel Group member would be able to do the booking at the price you are looking for as they would be losing a lot of money on it.

13% is a lot for a branch to give away in discounts so really unlikely that a branch will do it for that price for you.

If I was you I would book online

Gemonster

budgetflyer wrote: »

try http://www.caribbeandeals.co.uk/cuba.asp they are part of Global travel group.
You may not get Nectar points but they may be able to beat Thomsons online price.

How do you get 9600 points on a £1300 spend ? Its 2 ponts per £1

I have another voucher from Nectar giving 7000 bonus points on a spend of more than £800. However, the voucher becomes void after the end of this month. Hence wanting to book early. All-in-all these points are worth £47.50, but I would rather have the cash discount than the points. Off course it would be ideal to have both, which is what I am after.

Engadine, the branches were giving £100 off on bookings up until last weekend, so they must still be able to do so and not make a loss. The prices this week are the same online. The price quoted at the branch was the same (like for like details) apart from the £100 discount.

I tried to build the same holiday as suggested in other threads, but it doesnt seem to work for the one I am looking at.

Engadine

The discount campaigns come from head office level, they tend to have various terms and conditions etc attached to them and they will only do them for short periods of time. They can afford to do them now and then short term only not for lengthy periods (I used to be a travel agency manager). Discounts in a branch can change on a daily basis, they can offer a decent discount to stimulate the market and get some bookings in if it works in the first day then they lower it the next. Basically an agency isn't going to give away discounts unless it has to.

Is it a Thomson holiday or another operator?

Gemonster

Engadine wrote: »

The discount campaigns come from head office level, they tend to have various terms and conditions etc attached to them and they will only do them for short periods of time. They can afford to do them now and then short term only not for lengthy periods (I used to be a travel agency manager). Discounts in a branch can change on a daily basis, they can offer a decent discount to stimulate the market and get some bookings in if it works in the first day then they lower it the next. Basically an agency isn't going to give away discounts unless it has to.

Is it a Thomson holiday or another operator?

I appreciate the insight Engadine. :T

I take your point about the daily change, as thats what the agent I spoke to said. Even when asking the manager if they did a price match "I'll see if its changed since this morning". I thought she was being sarcastic at the time.

Everything I've looked at and mentioned in this thread is direct from the Thomson's web site and from the Thomsons branch in the city. The branch that said they might be able to do a match was out of the city centre.

Do you think that might make a difference?

Although I think they said they would have to phone head office to confirm. Why I didnt ask them to check at the time... I didnt have a copy of the online quote with me at the time and I understand it needs to be less than 24hrs old.

Engadine

She would have been genuine when saying that as they can change the same day, it's all down to the amount of business coming in against the amount of discount being given away.

At times managers do have to call their Regional Managers or Head Office to authorise discounts, just to keep an eye and make sure that managers aren't giving away all the profit (it does happen!)

Doubt it will make any difference that the branch was out of the city centre as it does tend to be the same policy for all branches.

Check with them again tomorrow or even just call another branch and ask if they are having an weekend discount campaigns this week. Quite often there are weekend campaigns that are valid for 1 weekend only, so worth asking just incase.

It does seem to be a Thomson holiday so really unlikely that another agent could beat the price due to Thomson falling out with most of the other agency chains over money!