Weddingbee boards

I, for reasons unknown to me, cannot seem to find a travel agent who will respond to me. I have called and emailed tons in the area I am currently living in and, since I am moving next weekend, all the ones in the Ponca City area in Oklahoma. Guess how many I have heard back from...not one! I would really love to at least hear what they can offer from a professional stand point before I try to attack this monster alone. What the heck is going on? I am trying to find the best hotel and airfare deals for my Fi and I and our guests. Every time I have spoke with one at a bridal show/fair they tell me to contact them and elaborate on all the things they can do for me but we I do contact them I never hear anything back. Ugh its just frustrating! Thanks for letting me vent

I have gone to a few in person but most of the times the local ones are closed by the time I get off work. The ones I have made it into have taken my information and said they would love to help me out and to let them do some research and they will get back to me and still 3-4 weeks later I got nothing =(

Hey I just realized you are in Spokane... I was living in Moses Lake for 2 years working on a construction site there and i was in Spokane almost every weekend! 

Ugh. I had this problem with every single wedding vendor category! I came to the conclusion that if their customer service is THAT bad, I probably don't want to work with them!

How are you wording the e-mails? Are you saying you want to meet, talk to them on the phone, or something else? I found that putting a set date in- I'd love to hear from you within two weeks/month/week/hours/etc.- helped me get more responces back, as it added a sense of urgency, I think. When you e-mail them, try saying, "Look, if I don't hear back from you within a week (then put a date 1 week from that day here), then I am going to assume you are uninterested in my business and take you out of the running/pool of candidates/etc." Its harsh, but sometimes I think wedding vendors (and travel agents ARE wedding cendors if you're using them for your wedding!) have no sense of time or place or customer service!

Good luck!

Do you really need a travel agent? We've been all over the world and never booked with an agent. Use kayak for hotels and flights. We tend to use tripadvisor to find the best hotels then figure out which of those we can afford. Inexpensive is bad if the place is bad.

Thanks ladies, I will try wording messages and emails differently to try to get a better response and maybe be a little more "aggresive" without being abrasive. 

I dnt necessarily think I "need" a travel agent, I have just heard from other people and agents that they can end up saving guests and us quite a bit of money because of all the contacts they have. Like I said I just kind of want to see what they have to offer.

I'm using Nancy Barkley - she owns the company Honeymoons and Getaways.

www.honeymoonsandgetaways.com

I actually found her on brides.com - she is in PA and we're in Chicago, but she specializes in destination weddings and she has been nothing but fantastic. She got back to me right away when I first contacted her and she responds to emails within hours. She's always available by phone, too. Basically, she'll find the best deal for you, and if you or your guests happen to find something cheaper, she'll price match. She offered us travel insurance and has been our liaison with the hotel and the hotel's wedding coordinator.

I seriously would be going crazy at this point if I hadn't found her.