Preparing for international travel recently gave me some food for reflections on long distance customer service.

Many of us take for granted online booking of travel arrangements, from airfares, accommodation, train, car hire and tours. But what happens when things go wrong?

I found that the bookings system on some sites didn’t work too well. This can be frustrating. On a couple of sites I found it difficult to make the date ‘stick’ so that I accidentally booked for the wrong dates. There were other difficulties, too. It’s a reminder that it’s wise to schedule occasional checks of your website functions, following through a complete booking, for example, to make sure everything is working as it should.

The next question is: how easy is it to fix when things go wrong with your bookings?  I give a big bouquet to online tour booking agency Viator. Their website listed contact phone numbers in several countries, including my own. When I called to correct an incorrect date in my booking, I received prompt, friendly service and the error was corrected there and then.

It’s this kind of responsive customer service that builds our confidence in booking overseas services online.