End For The Printed Agency Brochure.

[trambo]

Looks like we will no longer wait for that thud through the letter box and the happy hours flicking through the pages.

Instead we can all get eye strain looking at this screen!

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/291233/hoseasons-no-brochure-plan-could-hit-sales

 

[Snowy]

That’s very sad, but to be expected in this day and age

[SwanR]

It is true that anyone without the access to get online is at a disadvantage in many ways nowadays. However this reads more like a concern for the travel agents rather than the customers. I only read it quickly but it doesn't say that brochures won't be sent out directly on request?

I'm almost surprised that travel agents don't seem to have declined further given that we can all make our own bookings now. Has anyone here used one recently? I could well imagine that they may disappear from our high streets altogether.

[ranworthbreeze]

We had our Hoseasons brochure through the  door last week and have not hired through them for a couple of years.

Regards

Alan

[Bound2Please]

36 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Has anyone here used one recently? I could well imagine that they may disappear from our high streets altogether.

Well my daughters just back from Turkey a few days ago, have vowed to also in the future to use a high street travel agent, after their disastrous experience.

Its like Insurance brokers, after all the messing about on line, we have now for the last few years, always got a better deal face to face, than on line. All our needs are done via high street brokers except the boat, as strangely when asked they couldn't find any one to do it. Yet all car and house insurances etc they can.

Back to hoseasons brochures, we had ours last week yet like Alan haven't hired from them since 2013, but every year we get one sent through the post.

Charlie

[grendel]

the preponderance of everything needing to be done online is hitting the older generation, for example I travel through the dartford tunnel daily, payment is online or with a mobile phone, that is what all of the signs say - I know there are certain post offices you can go into locally to pay, but that is because I have read it online. how many OAP's arrive there, then worry how they are going to pay, they dont go online (my dad has a computer, but its not connected to the internet) or dont have a smart phone they can pay through (my dads mobile phone is an old nokia- it does phone calls and texts- thats it). they are expected to view their bills online, apply for things online, and they just dont have the knowledge , facilities or wish to do it that way.

my dad will go into the bank to set up a direct debit, or standing order, when he does find someone to talk to they tell him to do it online, he then has to go through a rigmarole of providing ID and everything, (my mother cant even do that- she has no passport, driving license or name on the utility bills).

Sorry about the rant, - perhaps this should have been put in the letting off steam thread.

[JamesLV]

Working for a printers, this is a familiar story, in the last 8 months I’ve seen at least 6 if not more long established firms go under, two of them being absolutely huge companies, the likes that printed Tesco club card statements etc. 

Its a three-fold problem as I see it, the first instance being the rise of online marketing and e-commerce, the 2nd being how print is seen, for many years it had a value, and was almost viewed as a craft, now it’s seen entirely as a commodity, much like sellotape or paper clips, and perhaps the biggest issue is print management companies, aka print farmers, who walk into a big business like Coca-cola for instance and say “we’ll source all your print, and save you money” inevitably they don’t save anyone any money and just strip profit out the print firms to pad their own pockets, going from printer to printer as they hit their respective credit limits.

you can only sell a £10 note for £5 for so long...

[Chelsea14Ian]

The high street is clearly  useful to my generation and those older.I think in time as we die out booking via the high street will become rare.I like doing  both. It' also a social thing to meet others in shops banks etc.It will be sad if we only do business via computers and smart phone. Perhaps we are already seeing problems linked to technology now .Some people use technology for evil reasons from the comfort of there home.Sorry if I have gone off subject. 

Ian 

 

[deebee29]

Only this week I have been helping our 90 year old friend who has had a couple of strokes plus several other health issues deal with problems with British Gas.

She’s always phoned her meter readings in but recently the number no longer works.

when she finally got to talk to someone she could understand was told she needed to do it online or via the app which of course she doesn’t have she was then transferred and put on hold numerous times for over an hour before someone actually took the readings from her.

I’m all for embracing technology but the current disregard for the needs of the elderly who have never had anything to do with it infuriates me.

Our friend’s family all live in Scotland so aren’t on hand to deal with these things for her. 

My mum would be in the same situation if it wasn’t for myself or my brother being able to take care of these things for her.

We still have at least a generation who are not technology aware and should be supporting them instead of making them feel worthless.

Rant over

[Broads01]

I have happy childhood memories of excitement at this time of year anticipating and then receiving new brochures. Alas in recent years the Hoseasons brochure has been poor with limited information, tiny boat photos and no accurate pricing, only a price range. It seems only a matter of time before the brochure is dropped altogether. Browsing online is better than a brochure in many ways but I'll miss the tangible thing. The Hoseasons brochure is a vinyl record in a world of online downloads. 

[JennyMorgan]

Back in time I worked in a boatyard and yacht station during the summer and come the winter I worked for Hoseason's Brochure dispatch. Back in the 1970's we didn't do brochures by the thousands, we did them by the million.  Wow, the buzz of the place, pallet loads of brochures went out daily, the Post Office constantly collecting throughout a long day, indeed they had a sorting office on the premises. Sack loads of incoming brochure requests would be sorted daily, that was my morning job before moving onto feeding the labeling machines and repacking the now addressed brochures onto pallets ready for the postal staff to sort. It was an intense, slick, manual operation with a great working atmosphere run on copious coffee and humour, great people to work for, loved it.

[deebee29]

That air of anticipation that surrounded the arrival of the brochure. Who would get to look at it first.... wishing they would hurry up so I can look 

then came the searching and choosing the boat, making the phone call to see if it was available, filling out the paperwork and sending the cheque.

followed by the wait for confirmation and of course the little book that’s often mentioned.

It was all part of the holiday excitement.

[Vaughan]

This is rather sad. The end of another era. What amazes me is how quickly this technology has jumped from its early beginnings, to take over our lives.

As a boy, I remember when the quality Blakes yards were running on 60% regular customers, and almost all the rest of the season would book up at the Boat Show in January. In the late 70s, when I was a director of Blakes, I remember the company secretary advising the board that we should purchase software to put our administration and strictly manual booking hall system onto computer. The board's response was to laugh out loud! And in a way, we were right. It took 3 years to make the thing work properly. Meantime Cilla and Hazel, the booking hall supervisors, with the authority of hospital Matrons, were still striding up and down the long rows of wall mounted booking charts to ensure it all ran like clockwork. And it did!

Like Peter, I remember the scramble to get the brochures out in November. To do this, it meant that the design and layout had to be finalised by the end of September and that meant the prices as well. No discounting in those days - the brochure price was what you paid! Not easy for a seasonal business, to decide what its prices will need to be, a year in advance.

20 years later, in the late 90s, I was a director of Crown Blue Line in France and a similar thing happened. The company secretary advised us that we ought to create a website, and make use of this thing called internet. The response was the same - we all laughed! We were proud to be still running on 35% regular customers, even then, and our marketing was through selected travel agencies all over the world. The UK was only 15% of our customer base. What did we want the "internet" for?

The silly thing is, that was less than 20 years ago, and now look at us! I hope this does not mean that the yards will become like NBD, where several members here have told their stories of how it can sometimes be impossible to make a booking with them. And I also agree that there is no point in printing a price list if you are then going to spend the winter throwing discounts around like confetti!

I suppose it is inevitable and I know that brochure production knocks a very large chunk out of a company's marketing budget, but it also means that yards will have to make it a lot easier to "fill in the form" on their websites, than it is now. Especially if, like me, you can't give a UK postcode, so the blasted thing won't let you go any further!

 

[LondonRascal]

I am sorry to go against the 'tide of feeling' but yes it was always an exciting time to get the Brochure, but that was then, and now is now and I much prefer the increased photos you get from looking online and the various research one can do for example talking about a boat on this very Forum and getting first hand accounts. But it is the fact too you can do this on your terms and book when you wish - no talking to someone, waiting in a call quire or needing to remember to call when their open which may not suit your lifestyle.

As to those people who do not get online, then in the main it is down to them not embracing it years ago. The Web is not a new invention after all. Let us just presume that the average Joe was a later adopter to the Web and did not get online until 1999 with Freeserve or AOL. This is 18 years ago now, so someone  who has retired and is for example 66 years old would have been 48 back then, hardly old and probably would have had gone to great expense to have bought from the likes of Comet or Tempo, a beige box to have in the front room or hall called a computer. This no doubt would be 'for the kids school work'.

What has happened is a great number of people saw it as some kind of new fangled thing that was pointless and expensive bit of equipment. It was slow, it went wrong after a couple of years and had all these viruses and issues that made it even more slow not to mention the fact most of us was on dial-up connections. Now that is not to say there are not people now in their 80's who have missed the technology boat, because they never have used one, but equally they are not likely to be the people off on activity holidays such as boating to book such online. But it is a shame that as many older people through natural progression have smart phones, Apps like those for paying the Gas Bill or Electric are not used and people shown the benefits and simplicity these provide.

There is little excuse now to not 'do it online' and things are so much easier, especially if you actually give up using the Web but instead use Apps on a tablet or phone. If I need a hotel room I will compare prices in an area using 4 Apps and pick the best, but it is all done on my phone with a few taps - far easier actually than going to the website, and indeed using the App as a registered user unlocks genuine price advantages and discounts over the website or unregistered users. Just opt out of all the email marketing rubbish meaning you get the benefit and they don't get your inbox to fill up with 'offers'.

If anything therefore, I await the first boatyard to bring out a dedicated App for their bookings further streamlining matters and, as I have noted the data availability on the Broads has been getting better since last year, so the App could work in the field so to speak, as more than just a way to book a boat. It could be a way to video call an engineer, or allow your location to be known to seek help. It might also be a way to offer discounts and incentives to customers who 'download the App' and have a short time valid QR code to be used in certain pubs that expires after their holiday so can be more tailored to their needs and further giving them an advantage (and incentive) to have got the App to begin.

Nothing is going to slow down and change now, but that is just how the world is.

 

[JamesLV]

46 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

I am sorry to go against the 'tide of feeling' but yes it was always an exciting time to get the Brochure, but that was then, and now is now and I much prefer the increased photos you get from looking online and the various research one can do for example talking about a boat on this very Forum and getting first hand accounts. But it is the fact too you can do this on your terms and book when you wish - no talking to someone, waiting in a call quire or needing to remember to call when their open which may not suit your lifestyle.

As to those people who do not get online, then in the main it is down to them not embracing it years ago. The Web is not a new invention after all. Let us just presume that the average Joe was a later adopter to the Web and did not get online until 1999 with Freeserve or AOL. This is 18 years ago now, so someone  who has retired and is for example 66 years old would have been 48 back then, hardly old and probably would have had gone to great expense to have bought from the likes of Comet or Tempo, a beige box to have in the front room or hall called a computer. This no doubt would be 'for the kids school work'.

What has happened is a great number of people saw it as some kind of new fangled thing that was pointless and expensive bit of equipment. It was slow, it went wrong after a couple of years and had all these viruses and issues that made it even more slow not to mention the fact most of us was on dial-up connections. Now that is not to say there are not people now in their 80's who have missed the technology boat, because they never have used one, but equally they are not likely to be the people off on activity holidays such as boating to book such online. But it is a shame that as many older people through natural progression have smart phones, Apps like those for paying the Gas Bill or Electric are not used and people shown the benefits and simplicity these provide.

There is little excuse now to not 'do it online' and things are so much easier, especially if you actually give up using the Web but instead use Apps on a tablet or phone. If I need a hotel room I will compare prices in an area using 4 Apps and pick the best, but it is all done on my phone with a few taps - far easier actually than going to the website, and indeed using the App as a registered user unlocks genuine price advantages and discounts over the website or unregistered users. Just opt out of all the email marketing rubbish meaning you get the benefit and they don't get your inbox to fill up with 'offers'.

If anything therefore, I await the first boatyard to bring out a dedicated App for their bookings further streamlining matters and, as I have noted the data availability on the Broads has been getting better since last year, so the App could work in the field so to speak, as more than just a way to book a boat. It could be a way to video call an engineer, or allow your location to be known to seek help. It might also be a way to offer discounts and incentives to customers who 'download the App' and have a short time valid QR code to be used in certain pubs that expires after their holiday so can be more tailored to their needs and further giving them an advantage (and incentive) to have got the App to begin.

Nothing is going to slow down and change now, but that is just how the world is.

 

Given their passion for innovation it wouldn’t surprise me if it was Barnes who were first to do the app

[smellyloo]

I have a smart phone (yes even me) but the screen is so small i find it difficult to do anything on it.

I went to the most "grump inducing store ever" Ikea to pick up a purchase and was directed to the computer thing to register that I had arrived. Inspite of there being three helpers doing nothing I had to grapple through the meaninless form. Having finally completed it it said NO NO NO you have entered an invalid mobile phone number!!

A helper finally sussed out that maybe I was having difficulty letting them no that I was there and pointed out that I should enter a mobile phone number instead of a home line. WHY i foolishly ask ..... so we can text you when your package is at the counter.

BUT I'm here, waiting for the package, you can tell me face to face that the package is here.

Yet another unpleasant visit to the most mystifying, grump inducing place ever .....

[grendel]

a couple of years ago I went to sit an exam for site safety, the whole thing was done on computers, out of about 40 people sitting the exam, I would have to say that over 75% had to be shown how to use the computers, some of them were in their 30's, Chatting to one guy he was saying it was one of the main reasons he was a labourer because he just could not get the hang of computers, the biggest stumbling block was using a mouse. Now these people were not stupid, but while they had never used a computer, they could build a perfect brick wall.

the electronic age is not for everyone, so the more we push towards paperless and online, the more some people are going to be alienated and outcast.

My dad is in his mid eighties, he introduced computers to his office, back in the days where you had to stick an authentication dongle into the computer to be able to use it (he calls them God sticks) these only gave you access to the areas you were allowed to access. yet he still struggles with his computer - its not connected to the internet as he thinks he would get nothing done if he was on the internet all day (he is probably correct there too).

[Chelsea14Ian]

1 hour ago, smellyloo said:

I have a smart phone (yes even me) but the screen is so small i find it difficult to do anything on it.

I went to the most "grump inducing store ever" Ikea to pick up a purchase and was directed to the computer thing to register that I had arrived. Inspite of there being three helpers doing nothing I had to grapple through the meaninless form. Having finally completed it it said NO NO NO you have entered an invalid mobile phone number!!

A helper finally sussed out that maybe I was having difficulty letting them no that I was there and pointed out that I should enter a mobile phone number instead of a home line. WHY i foolishly ask ..... so we can text you when your package is at the counter.

BUT I'm here, waiting for the package, you can tell me face to face that the package is here.

Yet another unpleasant visit to the most mystifying, grump inducing place ever .....

Sometimes technology is and can be overused like you said they will send you an email even though you are there.Madness.Techology is a good thing,but can be misused. I remember  being told once computers are common it will do away with paper.Yet that is not always the case.As I have said until most of us are comfortable with technology many will.need a personal toach.

[SwanR]

7 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

 

As to those people who do not get online, then in the main it is down to them not embracing it years ago. The Web is not a new invention after all. Let us just presume that the average Joe was a later adopter to the Web and did not get online until 1999 with Freeserve or AOL. This is 18 years ago now, so someone  who has retired and is for example 66 years old would have been 48 back then

 

I'm afraid that I can't agree with you on this one Robin. My mother-in-law is 98 so even 18 years ago she would have been 80. She would not have had the money to be able to afford a computer or an internet connection. She does her best to keep up, having an old Nokia phone for calls only and an e-reader so she can use large text. So this is nothing to do with her not embracing it ... we just have to remember that as people are living longer we really do still have a generation who haven't been able to keep up with this.

[Broads01]

I think there's room for both brochures and the online way. I agree with you to a point, Robin, in that online is king in terms of many things, 360 degree interior views and easy bookings out of office hours comes to mind. However, much as I referred to the brochures of my youth, I do think there's a place for them now too as a medium for presenting and selling the boat hire products on offer. We've been discussing Hoseasons and yet some of the hire operators themselves offer brochures much better than Hoseasons, having larger photos and exact prices. I was impressed with Barnes 2018 brochure I received last week and Richardsons, Herbert Woods and NBD have always produced good brochures. How long that will continue I don't know.  

[High6]

I began my employment in computers in the early 60's when they were still built from cogs, levers and springs. For the next 50 years I worked in hardware and software development and design, and spent my final 10 years teaching computer science at Uni.

I have just utterly failed to register my change of address online with HMRC. I provided my Government Gateway number, my NHS number, old and new addresses, date of birth, password, mother's maiden name and my inside leg measurement. They required me to insert a special Pin number sent to my phone. It could not go to my land line because of my call blocker. I have no cell phone signal at home, so was allowed 20 minutes to drive up the road, pick up the code and get back.

After all that, the website went off to check my credit rating, and came back with the news that it could not complete my change of address because it did not have enough information about me.

There is no address anywhere to notify them by post. Santander also refused to process our request by post. I am not registered with them online and held no credit card with which to register, so we had to make a round trip of 20 miles to our nearest branch.

Ye gods! What have we done? We have a new generation of undergraduates who have never read a book. From primary school onwards they have been taught to submit assignments which are 100% cut and paste and sign them off as being their own work. They can neither construct sentences correctly nor spell with any reasonable accuracy.

I have to share responsibility for chasing our technological dream, although in truth it is the world's largest and richest corporations who have benefitted most by creating a perceived need for their wares. It may well be that in the end hackers, viruses and cyber warfare will create such global havoc that we will no longer place so much reliance on technology. I very much hope so. It may be quaint, but it is an abhorrence that our libraries have been reduced to phone boxes.

Remember, books do not crash.



Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[YnysMon]

What’s this about people finding it difficult to book with NBD (Faircraft Loynes)? Ok, this time I did have a slight problem. I was trying to book an early March 10 day holiday, which gave us an early booking discount, and a very generous discount for the 10 days as opposed to 7 days. However the extra loyalty discount wasn’t coming off the price online. I phoned the (prominently displayed) helpline number, which was answered very promptly, and was very impressed that they were able to see the details of the booking that I was attempting to make and very quickly confirmed the extra discount, applied it to the price and confirmed the booking. Very slick and professional, even though it would have been better if the online discount would have worked.

I’m feeling good though because I wasn’t kept hanging on a phone line, didn’t have to go through loads of details, and I’ve saved almost £400 though various discounts ( early booking, loyalty, 10 days), and ended up with a much cheaper deal than comparative boats from other yards.

Helen

[NorfolkNog]

I've always phoned yards direct rather than going online or ringing Hoseasons. 

NBD are very helpful in my experience. 

Of course Herbert Woods are independent anyway and really helpful on the phone. I had so many different discounts for booking in February, I nearly got the boat for free!! 

[SwanR]

6 hours ago, YnysMon said:

What’s this about people finding it difficult to book with NBD (Faircraft Loynes)? 

Helen I had problems trying to book with NBD one year but hopefully it was a one off given all the other good customer service reported here. I've mentioned it before so it wouldn't be fair to repeat the story - it was one time and other bookings had been fine.

[TheQ]

7 hours ago, High6 said:

I

Remember, books do not crash.



Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
 

yes they do.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the floor when I fall asleep reading them....