Complaints

Yesterday I talked with one of the most annoying customers that I've had the treat to help all year. He had a routine problem that he wanted help with so I told him that I'd forward his issue over to our customer service desk. He then repeated the story behind his problem. And then repeated it again. Each time I assured him that I'd send it over to the people that could actually help him. It sounded like he believed me but still needed to talk about it. Before our call was done he told me the story five different times. It wasn't interesting the first time and didn't become more compelling the other four.
He also hit upon another of my big pet peeves. He was flying between two large cities with regular air service. I asked what time he wanted to fly and he asked for the latest flight.
"9p."
"What's the earlier flight?"
"7p".
"Earlier?"
"6p."
"Earlier?"
"4p."
"Earlier?"
"2p."
"Earlier?"
"1130a."
"I guess I'll go with 2p."
Are you kidding me? He started by asking for the latest flight and ended up flying at 2p. He passed up four later flight times! Seriously, if you want to fly early afternoon just say so and we'll work from there. Or (here's a thought) give me an exact time and we'll work from there. If he said he wanted to fly at 130p then I would have had him choose between 1130a and 2p. No problem!
Related problem? Everyone has a different sense of what different times mean. I've heard 'late afternoon' termed for everything from 1p to 8p. I've had people ask for 'crack of dawn' when they really meant noon. Just tell me the real time you want to go. I'm not judging you!
Believe me, today's day off was much needed.

Comments

Steve said…
Your experienece leaves me feeling guilty. I thought it was great that I could save almost $3,000 on my last flight to Asia by routing home via Honolulu instead of Tokyo. Even greater when I was able to do an overnight with no extra charge (I went surfing and cliff diving - low cliffs for the father of 5 - with my old college roomate). When I checked in online for my flight I found that my red-eye flight was in economoy class (the rest of my flights were booked for business) and that my direct flight stopped in LA (I now know that non-stop is the only thing that means non-stop. The other problem was that I was online and jetlagged when I found this off and had access to my email to send a note to the travel agent who booked the ticket. I complained quite thoroughly. Of course, all of this had been noted on my initinerary (except that direct vs non-stop thing) and I should have realized that saving $3,000 by routing and overnight to Hawaii had to cost something - like going back into economy.

Ah well, the surfing was worth it.
7:59 AM
Peder said…
Steve, that's the tricky part. There are so many quirky details that it's just too darn easy for something to fall through the cracks. On the traveler side they (understandably) want possible problems spelled out. On the agent side we (understandably) think that travelers have to take responsibility for at least some of their own situation. Somewhere in between there is the solution.
Glad you got some surfing in. I was tempted back in 2001 but never did it. When I go back (someday) I'll give it a whirl.
9:24 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024 Olympics?

Next week the US Olympic Committee will decide if they'll bid on the 2024 Olympics (I'm betting they will) and may decide on which city they'll put forth to host.  There are four cities on the host list: Boston Los Angeles San Francisco Washington DC I've long believed that if the US bids on 2024, they will win.  The US hasn't hosted an Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002 and no summer games since Atlanta in 1996.  Given the importance that the US has, particularly in funding, a 28 year gap is a huge one. So who gets the nod?  I have absolutely no insider knowledge but I'd like to make some guesses.  Pure speculation to follow. San Francisco is an interesting choice.  The Bay Area is certainly beautiful.  I'm guessing (I haven't checked into it) that there are enough venues in NoCal to satisfy the sporting requirements.  Between the professional teams (six?) and the number of big time colleges, there must be.  Throw in the big mo...
Read more

Box Elder Bugs

Yesterday morning's breakfast started badly. I'd split my bagel in half and was ready to toast it when I noticed a BOX ELDER BUG sitting on the toaster. The FP Gal tried to help remove him but it looked like he went into one of the slots. Not cool. She then shook out the toaster over the garbarge while I helpfully supervised from the other side of the kitchen. After that we couldn't see it in the toaster. So...we did a test run to smoke it out. Nothing. After careful inspection I finally toasted my bagel. Carefully checked it for embedded insect. Found it clean and ate it. Whew! This morning I sliced my bagel. And found another Box Elder bug on the toaster. The FP Gal was still asleep so I had to take care of it myself. Kleenex over mouth, eyes barely open and a quick paper towel latter it was gone. Seriously, if I find another one tomorrow we have to sell the house.
Read more