Ridiculously long hold times!!!!
One hour and 30 minutes and still holding for a reservation sales counselor to get to me '"SHORTLY"!!!!! PLEASE DEFINE SHORTLY!!
WHAT AN EXTREMELY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE!!!
Time to book with the competition!!
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Comments
I used the call-back option yesterday & received a call within the hour. A few minutes later, my booking was complete. I have been asking Tauck for years to let us book online; perhaps I don't comprehend the complexities, but other companies don't require a phone call for routine requests.
Good luck Speters. I was trying to get ahold of a different company and it didn't even tell me how long the hold might be and certainly never gave a callback option. The callback works when it's offered. Just follow the directions carefully.
I had to call Tauck today in panic mode because they had sent me what turned out to be a n automatically generated email telling me I had a week to put a deposit on a waitlist tour I had already put a deposit and insurance on a week ago. I called group sales and got a weird message, I called again and got a voicemail. So I called the regular Tauck number and registered in the call back process. Then we tried emailing. We had to do all this today because we are leaving for a tour later today. We got two phone calls and an email back! Apologies for erroneously sending us the email message and confirming our deposit. While it was not good sending us the email in the first place, the call backs worked!
I called Tauck twice in the last week. I used the call back feature and received a return call within 30 minutes each time.
We love our AAA Tauck Certified TA - she does all the work for us. I know many people here don't like the idea of a TA, but we've never had an issue and we get both the Tauck perks/gifts and the AAA perks/gifts and never have to wait on the phone.
Was going to call @ 7:58 am on Tuesday- didn't get around to it until 8:04 am
Peter Tauck (his voice) said 45 min. wait at that time. I hung in for another few minutes but when offered a call back, I accepted. Got a call back in less than 15 min.! That works for me! 
FYI, according to the agent I spoke with, Tauck was open from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm on Monday, July 4th. Who would have guessed?
I called twice yesterday. 45 minute wait the first time. After 10 minutes with no offer of a callback I gave up. Tried in the evening and a 60+ minute wait. They might have gotten around to offering callback but I wasn't sure how late.
I booked a trip last week thru my travel agent. She said they have a special number to call and they are never on hold more than 5 minutes.
Our latest Tauck booking was last week. We went through a travel agent at AAA for this one and there were no hold times or other frustrations. Most of our communication is via email which makes it very easy.
I thank my travel agent each and every time I plan a trip. There are different phone numbers for travel agents and they get through without any kind of long wait.
SPeters GO FOR IT!
What competition?
Try calling as soon as the lines open or near the end of the day. If a call back is offered do it. If the queue for call back is too long it is no longer offered.
I really do wish Tauck would offer callback more often or always.
Oh, for the old days when Tauck answered the phone immediately!
If you use an agent, you call the agent, the agent calls Tauck, the agent calls you. How long is it before you get an answer. What if the answer provokes more questions, do you start the whole process again?
I email my agent. Takes 2 minutes. She contacts Tauck. Gets back to me with an answer usually same day. No waiting on the phone or for a call back. Could not be easier or more efficient use of my time.
We have just used a travel agent for a tour for the first time in about 40 years, but it was not Tauck and the agent was in England. I don’t know any agents here in the US. It doesn’t make sense for me to start using an agent for Tauck now after all these years. If travel settles down, it will get better with them. They are certainly better than most other tour companies. I use one other company that replies instantly to calls and emails, actually, better than Tauck
I just booked Morocco for 2023 last week. I called the egent, who picked up the phone immediately. She called me back an hour later with the confirmation of dates and price. I had the initial "paperwork" confiraming phone details the next day.
TIme spent on phone, including hold time = 5 minutes.
There are those who use agents and those who don’t. We use our home phone for contacting Tauck, so we would be waiting around for an hour or more doing it your way. The call back works for us and it is certainly better than confirmation the next day for us. All a personal choice.
Meanwhile, I ought to get up and start my pre tour day in Anchorage. If only Mr B would wake up😂🤪
our AAA Tauck-certified TA has booked all of our Tauck trips -she already has all our info, CC, Passports, emergency contact, etc - so no time is wasted - if there are questions, she has texted me during the call or even put me on a 3 way call with Tauck when she gets them on the line. Using our TA agent has never wasted time for us and and always added benefits as that way both Tauck and AAA has our back over there if anything ever happens. I would have no hesitation booking straight with Tauck, I just don't see the need to since we've never had an issue booking with our TA.
Actually, our Tauck/AAA TA knew and notified me about all the Xmas Market River Cruises cancelling last year way before people on this forum did - I posted it here and many of you all didn't even believe me when I posted they canceled because you all hadn't been notified yet - so Tauck notified the TAs before they notified individual customers. I found out by my TA way before AlanS found out from Tauck - he actually had to CALL Tauck to find out about the canceled cruises, Tauck didn't notify him - so I actually think Tauck keeps in closer contact with their Tauck-certified TA than they do with individual customers. My TA always lets me know changes, issues, etc very fast. I can always reach her quicker than Tauck and she, being a Tauck Certified TA gets thru immediately as she has a special number. She paid off our Sept. Ultimate Alps & Dolomites Passion Play tour for us this morning in less than a minute for us.
I'm sure Tauck would rather deal with TAs who know what they are doing and how things work because that is what they do all the time, than with a bunch of grumpy old, entitled travelers who haven't done their own research, etc. That is not to say there are any of those on the forums.
Have I ever used a TA, sure- for a few trips to Club Med and family Disney park and cruise. Disney planning and booking was far more complex than any of our Tauck tours. According to what my daughter-in-law tells me, Disney now requires everyone to use a TA!
Whether they are a better way to go or not, I think a lot depends on the customer and the individual TA. My objection to TA's is they add a layer between me and Tauck that I don't like- it is not a chore to me, I enjoy and want to be involved with the minutia, others do not. Once established and for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is avoid conflicting input, Travel providers protect that layer, often to extreme- they often won't talk to you about your reservations, and won't make changes, if you have a TA because you are not the customer, the TA is. And, last but not least, is the knowledge, that when people say a TA costs them nothing, that is wrong. Travel companies pay the TA, it is no small amount (it must be good since TAs often offer "special," sometimes prohibited, discounts and benefits) and that fee has to come from somewhere. Theoretically, if travel companies didn't need to compensate TAs, trips could be sold for less.
Alan - that goes for many things. Do you pay for your trips with a credit card? I certainly do. If everyone paid by cash or check Tauck could reduce the cost of the credit card. Of course, the percent paid to a TA is surely higher than they get for a credit card but it does add to the cost. 😀. Just saying.
AlanS, BSP51 - Hey, Tauck has saved the costs they pay to TAs and credit card companies and way more by having electronic green books that they infrequently update with correct information (per British). 😂
I had a similar experience with the e-Green Book not being up to date for my May hawaii trip. There was a hotel substitution (which my TA told me about before booking), but in the "book" they had its name, with an incomplete address and no phone number. That certinaly could have been updated. Oh, and in the text of the day's activities, they named the usual hotel, something to the effect, "and then we return to the Four Seasons..." when that wasn't where we were returning to. Poor proofreading.
Like BKMD and terrilynn, we are in the Travel Agent camp...if you have an excellent one like all three of us do, there is no need to argue...it fits our style perfectly. Furthermore, it does not cost me as a client a penny more and gives my TA income which is important even more so since the pandemic. Our guy has us booked so fast sometimes I have to hit the pause button! Having never used Tauck travel until post 2020...it's now our new norm so that we don't have big airline credits that may expire on us before we can find an alternative tour if we have to cancel. We might pay a bit more (not true this year so far) but peace of mind is worth a lot in our home! Whatever works for you...go for it...we are all different travel types but we all want to see the world...and usually with TAUCK!
Very well said, Nancy.