A lady I quoted to Perth and spent a fair bit of time with – and who was really unpleasant and never came back to book with me – calls in to inform me that she’s been refused boarding.

Can I help her? she asks.

Knowing full well she didn’t book with me, I express my faux shock at this announcement and ask for her name so I can ‘look at her booking’.

She plays along and gives me the details. A few taps on the keyboard and I give her the bad news that I can’t find a booking for her.

“I booked it on Skyscanner,’ she tells me.

“Oh, oh,” I say. “Then there’s nothing I can do for you.” But, being nosey, I ask why she was refused boarding.

“I didn’t have a visa,” she tells me. “My son tried to do it for me whilst I was at the airport but it didn’t come through in time.”

Enjoying her unfortunate situation a little too much, I look at her documents and see the ticket is 100% non-refundable.

“What have the airline said?” I ask her.

She tells me they have ‘washed their hands of it’. Having dealt with her in my office and knowing she has previous, I can understand why.

“Best thing for you to do is to go back to the agent you booked it with and see if they can get you a partial refund on the unused taxes,” I tell her.

“I’ve tried that,” she tells me. “But I can’t get hold of anyone so thought you could do it for me.”

I reply: “I would love to help but data protection prevents me from doing anything. I’m so sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. I can of course rebook you and ensure you have all the documents you need before you arrive at the check in desk if that helps, as we do for all our clients.”

“I wish I had booked with you,” she says, as she gathers her paperwork off the desk.

Yes, I bet you do….  

Read more Secret Agent tales here.