It's taken me a while to share the last bit of the adventure, which ended up lasting a day longer than planned.
Post script to the mistake my travel agent made: When I got back to Yangon, I stopped in at the agency that's next door to my school because I needed a copy of my invoice and also to have a short chat with the manager, not angrily, but just to be helpful, help them improve their procedures so that the problem I had doesn't reoccur. It should be an SOP to enter the client's e-mail address for the contact information with the airline. My agent had entered her own.
Consequently, when I got to the airport on that last day,I had no idea my flight had been cancelled.
The smiling agent gave me a copy of my invoice, and then I asked if I could briefly speak to the manager. Her face went pale and her smiled turned into a look of terror. Oh no! The foreigner client wants to complain.
"Ummm..." she hesitated, "The manager is in a meeting." Although that's an old excuse, I did actually see an older guy in a nice suit duck into a meeting room along the periphery of the large, open office space.
"See," I told her, "there was a problem with my return flight."
"Yes, I know. It was cancelled." Okay, so she read her e-mail.
"Well, how was I supposed to know?" I replied, and her head dropped in absolute remorse and shame.
"Sir, we tried looking for your e-mail, but could not find! I am sooo sorry!" She looked like she was about to cry. She was truly mortified. We talked a bit more, and she agreed that from then on, she would always ask the client for an e-mail address for contact info. This should have just been common sense, but since this agency happens to be Myanmar's largest online travel booking provider, they don't do a lot of walk in business.
When I did arrive back in Yangon a day late, I looked into my wallet and found something rather unusual....
Post script to the mistake my travel agent made: When I got back to Yangon, I stopped in at the agency that's next door to my school because I needed a copy of my invoice and also to have a short chat with the manager, not angrily, but just to be helpful, help them improve their procedures so that the problem I had doesn't reoccur. It should be an SOP to enter the client's e-mail address for the contact information with the airline. My agent had entered her own.
Consequently, when I got to the airport on that last day,I had no idea my flight had been cancelled.
The smiling agent gave me a copy of my invoice, and then I asked if I could briefly speak to the manager. Her face went pale and her smiled turned into a look of terror. Oh no! The foreigner client wants to complain.
"Ummm..." she hesitated, "The manager is in a meeting." Although that's an old excuse, I did actually see an older guy in a nice suit duck into a meeting room along the periphery of the large, open office space.
"See," I told her, "there was a problem with my return flight."
"Yes, I know. It was cancelled." Okay, so she read her e-mail.
"Well, how was I supposed to know?" I replied, and her head dropped in absolute remorse and shame.
"Sir, we tried looking for your e-mail, but could not find! I am sooo sorry!" She looked like she was about to cry. She was truly mortified. We talked a bit more, and she agreed that from then on, she would always ask the client for an e-mail address for contact info. This should have just been common sense, but since this agency happens to be Myanmar's largest online travel booking provider, they don't do a lot of walk in business.
When I did arrive back in Yangon a day late, I looked into my wallet and found something rather unusual....
I You really look like you had a good time. Hope you do et to go back. See, I can write without including a nag. :))q
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