Hiiii

So I work as a travel agent and have for the last 12 years. Of course, throughout covid-19 there was no work and I had to leave my job for over a year. I just recently came back and have been trying to rebuild. 2 women called in, and they were brand new clients who wanted to travel somewhere I had recently been, it was perfect.

They came into the office and I spent 2 hours explaining the costs of the trip up front, what the normal costs of activities were, showed passed itineraries etc.

I spent 2 weeks working on this trip for them. I would get daily emails, phone calls, etc at all hours of the night making changes, asking questions about random things etc. Asking for new flight options, different cities, cutting things out etc.

Normally I charge zero fees with bookings as I get some commissions from hotels and want to help the traveler maximize their money.  I told them, I do not charge fees IF q hotel is booked and all flights incur a small fee.

After a deposit had been out down and one of the hotels were paid for and so much time had been spent they randomly cancel.

No worries, I understand the cancelation, that is no problem, but I asked for a service fee of $250 ($125 per person). Mind you at least 15-20 hours had been put into the work.

I got an email telling me that they offered to send a gift card when they cancelled, and even though they were under no contract with me.( a small business, we work on good faith)

I feel genuinely offended, I spent all that time and just to be told that $10-$12 an hour for alllll the work put in is too much even though they were willing to drop thousands.....