I Hate Incompetence!
I have just finished a scathing letter to the editors of a well known travel guide*:
Dear Customer Service,
I have been a XXXXXX guide loyalist for the last 6 years, and own 7 XXXXXX guides for various countries. I have always considered the XXXXXX guides to be the most reliable and comprehensive travel guide on the market. For me, it is not even a matter of comparing guides to see which one is better before I buy. I always purchase XXXXXX.
I own XXXXXX Europe 2005, and my roommate owns XXXXXX Europe 2006. Both guides state in the "Red Tape and Visas" section that "Canadains need visas to visit Poland and Turkey." I have just been to the Polish Embassy website: http://www.polishembassy.ca/faqs.asp#english and found that Canadians DO NOT need a visa to visit Poland. "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Do Canadians require visa to enter Poland?No, if they enter Poland as tourists for not longer than 90 days."
I am shocked and surprised that the XXXXXX guide contains misinformation on such an important topic as visa entry requirements. I can understand if the price of a hotel or attraction is different than something stated in the book, but a visa requirement??? Yes, visa requirements do change, but isn't it the job of the editors/writers to verify information when publishing the newest edition???
As a user of your travel guides, I would assume that your staff had done their job and verified the information provided. I should not have to search out every embassy website for every country I plan to visit in order to assure myself that the information supplied by your travel guide is correct. That is why I buy the guide, and indeed why the travel guides exist in the first place.
Luckily this gross error did not result in the loss of my airline ticket, or cost me any vacation time. But because of this incident, I will certainly purchase a different travel guide next time I am in need of one.
Sincerely,
Travel Bug
I think that about says it all. GRRR!!!
*XXXXXX has been inserted to protect the anonymity of the travel guide to which I am referrning, and "different travel guide" has been inserted in place of the names of other travel guides I will be buying.*
Dear Customer Service,
I have been a XXXXXX guide loyalist for the last 6 years, and own 7 XXXXXX guides for various countries. I have always considered the XXXXXX guides to be the most reliable and comprehensive travel guide on the market. For me, it is not even a matter of comparing guides to see which one is better before I buy. I always purchase XXXXXX.
I own XXXXXX Europe 2005, and my roommate owns XXXXXX Europe 2006. Both guides state in the "Red Tape and Visas" section that "Canadains need visas to visit Poland and Turkey." I have just been to the Polish Embassy website: http://www.polishembassy.ca/faqs.asp#english and found that Canadians DO NOT need a visa to visit Poland. "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Do Canadians require visa to enter Poland?No, if they enter Poland as tourists for not longer than 90 days."
I am shocked and surprised that the XXXXXX guide contains misinformation on such an important topic as visa entry requirements. I can understand if the price of a hotel or attraction is different than something stated in the book, but a visa requirement??? Yes, visa requirements do change, but isn't it the job of the editors/writers to verify information when publishing the newest edition???
As a user of your travel guides, I would assume that your staff had done their job and verified the information provided. I should not have to search out every embassy website for every country I plan to visit in order to assure myself that the information supplied by your travel guide is correct. That is why I buy the guide, and indeed why the travel guides exist in the first place.
Luckily this gross error did not result in the loss of my airline ticket, or cost me any vacation time. But because of this incident, I will certainly purchase a different travel guide next time I am in need of one.
Sincerely,
Travel Bug
I think that about says it all. GRRR!!!
*XXXXXX has been inserted to protect the anonymity of the travel guide to which I am referrning, and "different travel guide" has been inserted in place of the names of other travel guides I will be buying.*
posted by Going Somewhere @ 9:39 pm
6 Comments:
At 10:23 pm, March 21, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Glass houses,first stones,etc.
At 3:00 am, March 22, 2006,
Just Say No said…
Wow hardcore.
At 7:46 am, March 22, 2006,
Going Somewhere said…
Is anonymous suggesting that I should not throw stones since I am living in a glass house? And why doesn't anonymous leave his/her name? There is an option to put your name in when you leave a comment. In case anonymous doesn't know, you just select "other" and type in your name.
At 4:19 pm, March 22, 2006,
M said…
oh god, that is *so* unprofessional of them! grrr indeed!
At 1:05 am, March 23, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Actually anonymous is your everlovin Dad ;) and I'm just reminding you to cut others a little bit of the same slack you might like for yourself sometime. :) And no I don't know how to post on this gol dang thing.(I do now thanks.)I'm the guy that's had the wireless router still in the box for the last 9 months along with those still-unopened CD-R's I haven't figured out how to use yet,remember,lol. :) :D ;D
At 7:45 am, March 23, 2006,
Going Somewhere said…
Hee hee! I thought anonymous might be my dad actually. Yes, well I was feeling less angry today so I deleted their names from my post. Their customer service people still haven't gotten back to me though. And I will help you with all your techie stuff this summer, I promise! I have 5 and a half weeks so I am sure we will have more than enough time.
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