Comments on: What can we do about abominable airline service? The answer’s in the spreadsheet, genius

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:21:20 +0000

Robert Johnson September 10, 2009 at 10:42 am
When I wrote the above piece I made the assumption that we were discussing legitimate issues and not some of the pettiness you’ve politely pointed out. I am one of the founders of FFOCUS (Frequent Flyers Organized & Concerned over Unacceptable Service
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I’ve seen your website, you should of posted it: http://www.ffocus.org/awa/

Good cause.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:20:32 +0000

Just a ‘clue’ for those with the biggest complaints of all (or should I say most numerous) – Lost Baggage:

The airlines very rarely LOSE your bags!!

Yep, you heard me correctly… They VERY RARELY actually LOSE your bags!

BUT, they do VERY OFTEN (and on purpose) LEAVE THEM BEHIND!!

As a former baggage/freight handler, here’s how it works – it’s plain and simple, it comes down to money (of course!):

When your plane is full of PEOPLE, it won’t be full of baggage!! Planes can only carry just so much weight and still be able to take off – the heaviest items are Fuel and People – You MUST have fuel to take off… And PEOPLE pay to fly… Baggage does not (well, it used to be free anyway, now they charge to discourage you from bringing any!).

So, if the plane is full of people, it CANNOT be full of bags/freight… Oh, and freight is a higher priority than baggage…

So, when they purposly leave your bags behind, it’s because they know they can send them on a ‘less full’ flight later (less full of paying passengers that is!) and they will pay to have them delivered to your home/hotel because they know it’s cheaper in the long run to hire someone to spend 4-8 hours delivering 5000 pounds of ‘lost’ luggage than it is to lose out on 5000 pounds of passengers (baseline is 200lbs per passenger to include carryon – this means 25 paying people) over just a few flights… After all, paying someone $15 an hour to deliver bags will only set them back $120… But taking out enough seats (6 per flight) to ensure bags get sent on will cost them 5-10 times as much!

That’s why they ‘magically’ find and deliver (or call you to come get) your bag within 24 hours… They know exactly where the bag is (it’s bar coded even!!) – they also know it was left off because of weight restrictions… Not ‘lost’…

Oh, and first bags NOT to be loaded in case of weight restrictions?? Those huge jumbo bags… After all, they can make 1 person mad or 3… Also, bags are put onto the carts by FILO… Meaning first in, last out… so, if you get to the bag drop off early, your bags will be buried and might not get loaded… you are best off being in the middle somewhere…

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:06:01 +0000

Wow, Allison. That is just too much logic for one post.

By: Michael Anisfeld

Michael Anisfeld — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:29:46 +0000

There is another simple solution to bad service. Make a claim against the airline, or other bad service provider, in small claims court. No lawyer is needed for individuals making claims. In most cases the service provider will settle up rather than spending ‘expensive’ lawyer time on this (corporations must be represented by lawyers). In Illinois the court filing fee is about US$ 25 – 50..

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:05:11 +0000

Allison September 10, 2009 at 1:17 am
I’ll take a somewhat devil’s advocate view on customer service. I think we can all agree that not all complaints are equal. In fact, I would argue that at least half, or even a majority are completely inane. Just look at a lot of the drivel on untied.com. As long as there are so many people with just stupid or petty complaints clogging the communication system, the airlines or other travel companies aren’t going to waste a lot of time and money being responsive to people who frankly don’t deserve a thing. This does come at the expense of legitimate issues.
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Awesome! Allison, your post is one of the best I’ve read here in a long time. Nice job!

By: David B

David B — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:57:34 +0000

I have had my fill of airlines. I have a few necessary trips I have to fly and a couple of trips to use up frequent flyer miles. After that I will be able to schedule everything around driving to my destination.
With less and less customers you would think even the biggest idiots would figure out that in addition to the economy, bad treatment is a substantial part of the equation.

By: nadabrainiac

nadabrainiac — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:50:24 +0000

The endless prompts that so many companies use to shield themselves from customers is simply the electronic version of the same system we were all raised with. As children, problems and confrontations were frequently deferred, delegated, or ignored, not by a computer voice, but by “wait til your father gets home” or “go ask your mother”.

By: Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:42:27 +0000

@Kelley & Allison,

When I wrote the above piece I made the assumption that we were discussing legitimate issues and not some of the pettiness you’ve politely pointed out. I am one of the founders of FFOCUS (Frequent Flyers Organized & Concerned over Unacceptable Service. I act as a Customer Advocate and have a good high level contact at the airline I’m responsible for. The somewhat amusing thing is I tend to be tougher than my contact when it comes to suggesting remedies. I also don’t get involved in petty issues. When I get contacted with a BS complaint I politely refer them to the e-mail form on the web page.

I will and have gone eyeball to eyeball with this particular airline in support of the customer since August of 2002 and I will continue to do so for as long as it takes for them to realize that without customers there is no airline.

Frivolous or just downright silly complaints do indeed clog up the system and in that regard Kelley is spot on in her observations.

However, until the metric in the example changes to the point to where it is cheaper to give good customer service rather than bad or indifferent service little if anything will change

By: kelley

kelley — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:12:06 +0000

Allison, nice to see someone with a more balanced perspective. So many of these rants would have people believe that all customers are saints with 100% legitimate grievances, being victimized by some horrible company with whom they voluntarily chose to do business. Whatever happened to that old adage about glass houses and stones? If the maladjusted, egocentric screamers would just move on, the legitimate issues could be resolved and everyone could go home early. Step outside the mob mentality and take a look at what is really happening, and you will find that instead of constantly attacking the companies, you’ll be looking at the passenger next to you (or in the mirror) and wondering how they could believe they are entitled to whatever it is they are demanding. It’s amusing (on some level) to watch and listen to the people that show up at an airport, primed for offense. They look for any excuse to be outraged by any percieved injustice. In reality, they don’t “have” a problem, they are the problem. The solution is simple. Everyone needs to do their own job the way they demand other company’s emplyees do theirs, and treat other people the same way they insist on being treated.

By: Emtravels

Emtravels — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:33:28 +0000

What this country needs is more plumbers, carpenters, & electricians–and fewer MBAs.

Give me the trip with the fewest hassles, even if it costs more. Am I alone in this?