Dundalk-based Travel Counsellor Angela Woods has praised the support she received from the company’s global support team after she helped a customer in Australia to travel back to Ireland after a sudden family bereavement.
Angela was called at 3.00am by a distraught customer who was desperate to get back home to Ireland from Brisbane to be with his family after hearing the sad news that his mother had passed away.
Angela comments: “My cousin, aged 54, was battling cancer for seven years. She courageously made a trip to Brisbane for three weeks to visit her son, Christopher. On her return she received bad news regarding her health and sadly passed away very suddenly. Obviously Christopher was keen to get back to Ireland and I was able to source a flight for him within a couple of hours. However it was 3.00am and I needed to get tickets issued.
“As we also have an operation in Australia, I used our internal communications system to see if anyone was online in Oz. Within an hour everything was sorted by the fantastic support team in Melbourne. I know that some large companies offer an out of hours service, but for me, working from home alone, it is such a relief to know that I have the security of being able to access this type of assistance in the middle of the night. Everyone was so helpful and I went to bed contented at 4.00am, knowing that everything was in place for Christopher to travel.”
Global Support
Ciara MacConnell, Operations Executive from the Travel Counsellors Ireland head office in Cork, comments: “Angela’s story really reflects the benefits of our international presence and how our 200 global support team are always available for our Travel Counsellors around the clock if needed.
“It also means that agents are able to share local knowledge with one another and can use our internal communication systems such as webcam, instant message and message boards to do this. What is even more special is that as a company we have always maintained a strong family ethos of friendship and camaraderie, no matter how much we have grown.”
Travel Counsellors now operates in seven countries, having announced its expansion into the United Arab Emirates earlier this month. The company now has over 1,100 Travel Counsellors running their own business from home with the back-up and support of over 200 experienced staff supporting them in all areas, including administration, marketing and IT, so that they are able to focus on building relationships with their customers.
Ciara adds: “Our international presence also gives us strong global buying power with suppliers, which is another great benefit for our agents. We are always hearing stories such as Angela’s about how the unique support network and friendships at Travel Counsellors make a huge difference to them and their customers.”
