To travel agent or not to travel agent?

[Kel123073]

My travel agent printed us 250 Save the Dates for free!  We ended up making the boarding passes because my FI really wanted to send those but for the budger conscious bride I thought I would let people know.....

[Sharon99]

Originally Posted by LTLFAITHY 

 

We have been in touch with one of the TA's from this forum (Teresa) and she has been great! We are just waiting for the contract for the room block to come back from the resort (Now Sapphire). Today however, I was looking at some online travel sites and it looks like booking a "Flight & Hotel" package is less expensive (by between $70-$100) than if guests book the hotel through the TA and their flights separately......................has anybody else run into this?? I'm super confused about what to do now. 

I would tell her the prices so she can match or use someone else.

 

I also used Teresa & was not impressed and felt like once they got our depositsbookings they didn't care. I did not hear from them from when we signed until the month before when I asked for an update to who was booked. (about 6 months) I thought that was also a little ridiculous. With the amount of money spent you could at least send an email with a hey here is who booked so far or the booking deadline is coming...anything. I had questioned the lack of communication to Teresa & her response was they dont do that...

We also had some issues with guests checking in including US. I emailed Teresa from the resort about it & to make sure no other guests had issues & to make sure their reservations were confirmed. She responded rudely to me and basically said they had rooms. Yeah, they had rooms because WE resolved the issues from that day. She never even bothered to check because the 2 days later a guest who supposedly had a reservation was not in their system. 

Also, most of our guests complained that they never received email confirmations and receipts and a few responses were "lost".

I will say on a positive note that every time I emailed I did receive a response. I guess I just expected more seeing as she made out with our group block. We had 27 guests in total...

Good luck to you. 

[LTLFAITHY]

Wow, now I am super concerned. She has been great with responding to emails, but we haven't signed the contract yet ~ I hope that doesn't change after we plop down $3500 to reserve our block. I'm surprised to hear that she didn't update you as people booked their rooms, that was one of the reasons that we thought it was a good idea to use a TA, so that we wouldn't have to worry about confirming with people that they had made travel arrangements. 

 

What kind of issues did you have with "guests checking in"? 

[TammyWright]

Originally Posted by Sharon99 

 

I would tell her the prices so she can match or use someone else.

 

I also used Teresa & was not impressed and felt like once they got our depositsbookings they didn't care. I did not hear from them from when we signed until the month before when I asked for an update to who was booked. (about 6 months) I thought that was also a little ridiculous. With the amount of money spent you could at least send an email with a hey here is who booked so far or the booking deadline is coming...anything. I had questioned the lack of communication to Teresa & her response was they dont do that...

We also had some issues with guests checking in including US. I emailed Teresa from the resort about it & to make sure no other guests had issues & to make sure their reservations were confirmed. She responded rudely to me and basically said they had rooms. Yeah, they had rooms because WE resolved the issues from that day. She never even bothered to check because the 2 days later a guest who supposedly had a reservation was not in their system. 

Also, most of our guests complained that they never received email confirmations and receipts and a few responses were "lost".

I will say on a positive note that every time I emailed I did receive a response. I guess I just expected more seeing as she made out with our group block. We had 27 guests in total...

Good luck to you. 

I actually find it surprising that Teresa was rude to you.  She has worked with hundreds of brides and I have not heard any respond back that she was rude.

 

Also, it is standard that she emails confirmations.  I have worked with her many times and never NOT gotten a confirmation from her.

 

You are usually emailed or mailed a copy of your travel vouchers to present to the hotel/transfer company etc. to make check in easier.

 

Unfortunately, sometimes the resorts screw up...if you called Teresa I am sure she would have helped resolve it.  Teresa owns a very large wholesale company and has great relationships with the hotels.

[TammyWright]

Originally Posted by LTLFAITHY 

 

Wow, now I am super concerned. She has been great with responding to emails, but we haven't signed the contract yet ~ I hope that doesn't change after we plop down $3500 to reserve our block. I'm surprised to hear that she didn't update you as people booked their rooms, that was one of the reasons that we thought it was a good idea to use a TA, so that we wouldn't have to worry about confirming with people that they had made travel arrangements. 

 

What kind of issues did you have with "guests checking in"? 

In all honesty, hundreds of BDW brides have used her and I have not heard these complaints...i sent her the link to the post so hopefully she will chime in...

[ChocoTaco7568]

Originally Posted by Sharon99 

 

I would tell her the prices so she can match or use someone else.

 

I also used Teresa & was not impressed and felt like once they got our depositsbookings they didn't care. I did not hear from them from when we signed until the month before when I asked for an update to who was booked. (about 6 months) I thought that was also a little ridiculous. With the amount of money spent you could at least send an email with a hey here is who booked so far or the booking deadline is coming...anything. I had questioned the lack of communication to Teresa & her response was they dont do that...

We also had some issues with guests checking in including US. I emailed Teresa from the resort about it & to make sure no other guests had issues & to make sure their reservations were confirmed. She responded rudely to me and basically said they had rooms. Yeah, they had rooms because WE resolved the issues from that day. She never even bothered to check because the 2 days later a guest who supposedly had a reservation was not in their system. 

Also, most of our guests complained that they never received email confirmations and receipts and a few responses were "lost".

I will say on a positive note that every time I emailed I did receive a response. I guess I just expected more seeing as she made out with our group block. We had 27 guests in total...

Good luck to you. 

That's unfortunate because I love Teresa, I'd probably invite her to my wedding.  Okay, not a true statement, but I'm trying to emphasize my satisfaction with choosing her to be my TA.  I signed my contract more than 3 months ago, and nothing has changed in terms of her level of commitment and service.  I correspond with her just as much as I did prior to signing and shes always prompt and pleasant (and I know I can be annoying).

 

I say take the advice from Tammy and follow-up with a phone call.  Sometimes a person’s tone/attitude can be misconstrued in an email and there are certain situations where a phone call just works best.

[LTLFAITHY]

Originally Posted by ChocoTaco7568 

 

That's unfortunate because I love Teresa, I'd probably invite her to my wedding.  Okay, not a true statement, but I'm trying to emphasize my satisfaction with choosing her to be my TA.  I signed my contract more than 3 months ago, and nothing has changed in terms of her level of commitment and service.  I correspond with her just as much as I did prior to signing and shes always prompt and pleasant (and I know I can be annoying).

 

I say take the advice from Tammy and follow-up with a phone call.  Sometimes a person’s tone/attitude can be misconstrued in an email and there are certain situations where a phone call just works best.

 

Thanks for posting this! So far Teresa has been nothing short of spectacular, and we are 110% going to move forward with her. I just had a slight panic attack after reading that post, but my own experience with Teresa has been very positive. 

 

We're getting married at Now Sapphire a month before you Yay!

[ChocoTaco7568]

Originally Posted by LTLFAITHY 

 

 

Thanks for posting this! So far Teresa has been nothing short of spectacular, and we are 110% going to move forward with her. I just had a slight panic attack after reading that post, but my own experience with Teresa has been very positive. 

 

We're getting married at Now Sapphire a month before you Yay!

Woohoo, Congrats!

 

Glad I could help ease some of the reservations you may have had.

[TammyWright]

Originally Posted by Sharon99 

 

I would tell her the prices so she can match or use someone else.

 

I also used Teresa & was not impressed and felt like once they got our depositsbookings they didn't care. I did not hear from them from when we signed until the month before when I asked for an update to who was booked. (about 6 months) I thought that was also a little ridiculous. With the amount of money spent you could at least send an email with a hey here is who booked so far or the booking deadline is coming...anything. I had questioned the lack of communication to Teresa & her response was they dont do that...

We also had some issues with guests checking in including US. I emailed Teresa from the resort about it & to make sure no other guests had issues & to make sure their reservations were confirmed. She responded rudely to me and basically said they had rooms. Yeah, they had rooms because WE resolved the issues from that day. She never even bothered to check because the 2 days later a guest who supposedly had a reservation was not in their system. 

Also, most of our guests complained that they never received email confirmations and receipts and a few responses were "lost".

I will say on a positive note that every time I emailed I did receive a response. I guess I just expected more seeing as she made out with our group block. We had 27 guests in total...

Good luck to you. 

Sharon,

 

I just got a response from Teresa and it looks like the mistake was not on her end at all.  The reservations were never NOT confirmed.  

 

In addition, she did send you a rooming list.

 

I read the emails and they did not sound rude.

 

I think it would be helpful to other brides if you were more truthful with your statements.  

[LTLFAITHY]

Originally Posted by Tammy Host 

 

Sharon,

 

I just got a response from Teresa and it looks like the mistake was not on her end at all.  The reservations were never NOT confirmed.  

 

In addition, she did send you a rooming list.

 

I read the emails and they did not sound rude.

 

I think it would be helpful to other brides if you were more truthful with your statements.  

 

Thank you Tammy. You have been very helpful! My fiance and I are very excited to be getting married at Now Sapphire and we are looking forward to working with Teresa