January 5th, 2010 | 
Author: Big holiday firms have big flaws according to the findings of a new survey.
Some of the biggest holiday operators in the UK have gained some of the worst feedback from consumers participating in a survey rating customer satisfaction among holidaymakers for 2009. Which?, the consumer feedback site, polled 4,500 of its members to rate dozens of travel companies on the level of customer service, overall value for money and how satisfied they were with their holiday.
Whilst smaller operators shone, big companies like Thomas Cook or First Choice came at the bottom of customer opinion. With feedback criticising the big firms for unhelpful staff, poor customer service and poor value for money, it seems that when booking a holiday bigger is not necessarily better.
Overall, customers were fairly satisfied with holiday firms as the average score for 77%.
But some of the biggest names in holidays were among the nine firms in the survey that fell short of the mark; Virgin Holidays, Page and Moy, and Thomas Cook. Thomas Cook was the only firm to score a mere two out of five for its resort staff, but its similarly low score for value for money was shared with other holiday giants such as Virgin, Cosmos and First Choice.
Instead it was small companies which received the highest accolades from the survey, scoring around 89% in overall customer rating and gaining five stars in four out of five categories. Rochelle Turner, head of Which? Holiday research, said “It’s great to see the small operators doing so well. They have the advantage of being able to offer a more personalised service”.
The survey highlights the potential pitfalls of booking a package holiday with a large firm, particularly when booking a fairly local trip such as a french holiday; poor, impersonal customer service coupled with a high price tag.
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