Air Fair?

January 3, 2010 by Rob Waldeck · Comments

: Image by caribb via Flickr

I feel like I am a reasonable customer. While I really appreciate great customer service I am quick to forgive less-than-stellar performances by any one person. You never know what they may be dealing with . . . a death in the family, a divorce, an illness, or maybe the cable guy hasn’t shown up. What I don’t have patience for is corporate incompetence. When large businesses run by smart and incredibly highly compensated individuals can’t get the message to the minions about what needs to be done to provide a simple and pleasant buying experience for their customers.

Is it obvious? I just hung up with Delta Airlines.

To prove I am not a total prick, let me say that I had a less-than-stellar interaction with the guy at the returns desk at Best Buy in Burlington, MA, and I wasn’t motivated to write a blog post. Delta motivated me.

Last night I tried to book a flight online and after going through the whole routine I received an error message: “Fare No Longer Available.”

I tried again, assuming some kind of user error or maybe a momentary glitch in the system: “Fare No Longer Available.”

It was late and I was tired, so I tabled it.

Almost 24 hours later I tried again and had the same result. I tried different computers and different web browsers.

No luck: “Fare No Longer Available.”

So I called. “No problem, Mr. Waldeck.” Except the fare was $20 more than the online fare.

“Would you waive the $20 fee?” I ask. “I’m having trouble online,” and I recount my whole story.

“Nope,” she says, “there are no reported issues online.”

“Manager?” I ask.

“Nope,” she says, but she can connect me to some internet something or other group.

Guess what? The internet guy confirms they have been working on the site all weekend and they are having problems. He can book my flight for me if I can hold a few minutes — but it appears the cost will be $4 more than what I was shown online. “Sorry,” he says, “but we’re struggling with our rates this weekend as well.”

This is a long story. Here is the short version.

At the highest level of the Delta organization, they authorized and planned for website and fare updates to take place this weekend. What they did not do, apparently, was two important things that would have made my experience acceptable:

1) Let Delta’s front-line phone folks know that the website is being tinkered with and there may be problems;
2) Empower the same folks to book flights over the phone and wave the extra fees.

I stepped off a Delta flight a few days ago. As we landed, I am fairly certain I heard them say “that they know that I have a choice when it comes to air travel and that they appreciate that I chose Delta.”

I’m not sure appreciation is sufficient.

Posted via email from holland-mark posterous

Delta Doesn’t Even Have A Customer Service Number Anymore [Kafkaesque] (consumerist.com)

Filed under Societal Musings · Tagged with Business, Customer Service, Delta Airlines, Fare No Longer Available, Online Reservations, Website, World Wide Web

The Miles Paradox: Can a free benefit actually decrease customer satisfaction?

December 24, 2009 by Anita Tandon · Comments

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Ah, the holidays. With my parents in Austin and my in-laws in San Francisco, I’ve picked the most convenient location of Boston in which to reside. Accordingly, the holidays call for the dreaded task of finding a flight to one coast or the other. I pay it up and suck it up, comforting myself in dreams made of miles earned, upgrades enjoyed, and status galore.

And yet, every time I try to enjoy said benefits, I find a frustrating set of fees, blackouts, lack of seats, and general irritation. Customer Service Reps scoff at my 25,000 miles. When they call out those with my hard-earned Gold Status, everyone in the waiting room gets up. A moot point, because the Triple Platinum Executive Czars who boarded before me have already filled the overhead space with blazers and once, an oversized foam cowboy hat. My frustration turns quickly to anger. All in all, I can’t remember the last time I had even a barely satisfying experience with anything that comes with any sort of travel rewards program. I imagine many of you have felt similar pain. Slowly but surely, I launch into a tirade of how much I hate X Airline.

What’s interesting is that these are “free” benefits. They are given to me and shouldn’t impact my opinion of the airline. I should be thankful for what I get. Regardless, I can’t disassociate the two, and my opinion of their customer service and care decreases. This happens because there is an expectation of benefits that comes with granting someone “status.” But the people within the status system continue to increase — mostly because everyone clamors for entry-level status for basic benefits of boarding and baggage that we should get anyway. The airline answer to this conundrum is to continue to add higher levels of status — rather than raising the barriers to status. Unless you are at the highest levels, you are generally disappointed with the perceived benefit of the status you do have. The same follows with miles.

As only the airline industry is capable of, they have built a system that simultaneously increases their costs and decreases their satisfaction levels. I’d much rather a system that doesn’t give me a mirage of benefits. It’s ok that it takes 50,000 miles to buy a ticket. But don’t run around showing me a 25,000 option. I think only 10-15% of people should board the plane early, so if that means there’s no “gold” status, then so be it. Make rewards feel like rewards, not a hassle.

Posted via web from holland-mark posterous

Distressed Travelers Unite! (wilmaswineworld.com)
The DOT Orders Airlines to Adopt a Customer Service Plan (flightwisdom.com)
Been Away From the Airport? A Lot Has Changed (abcnews.go.com)

Filed under Relevance of Offering, The Holland-Mark Way · Tagged with Business, Customer Service, Loyalty program, Travel Rewards Program

DON’T MAKE ME USE ALL CAPS!

December 17, 2009 by caroline b. · Comments

: Image by Candie_N via Flickr

Has anyone had any experience with customer service live chats? Whatcha think? I’ve been testing a few recently and can’t decide whether I find them to be more or less satisfying than a good ol’ fashion phone call to…wherever. I do think that the silly scripts are too, well, scripted and become painfully obvious online. It can actually be very frustrating. Recently while chatting with Overstock.com, my rep replied “Thank you for submitting those details” every time I said something about my order. You’re welcome, Overstock.com rep. But when things escalated and he was giving me canned lines about why my order hasn’t arrived (two weeks later) I had to keep myself from emphasizing my words using italics or worse… ALL CAPS. I’ve included a bit of the chat (I don’t exactly come off like Princess Grace…) for your enjoyment:

Derrick: The item is currently in transit to you.

you: okay

you: and there have been no updates since the 9th

you: that’s nine days ago

Derrick: The U.S. Postal Service does not provide detailed tracking information for their deliveries. The number listed is only a delivery confirmation number, and only shows information after your order is delivered. I apologize for this inconvenience.

you: at what point can i assumed it’s not coming?

you: i cant exactly wait another week when christmas is in a week…

Derrick: The item will be delivered to you with in 24th December.

Derrick: Is there anything else that I can help you with today?

you: no, derrick.

you: and im only typing this because its going to make me feel better, even though i know you couldnt give two shits… but someone doesnt order something 17 days before christmas so that it can arrived one day before the big day. that’s fucking insane.

Derrick: Thank you for visiting Overstock.com. Have a great day.

you: you too…

Post Office to Children: Bah, Humbug! (shoppingblog.com)
The View From Your Recession, Ctd (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
Busiest time for shippers is now (timesunion.com)
Ask The Consumerists: Should I Report My Package-Rolling Mailman? [Revenge] (consumerist.com)
Christmas Shipping: How to Beat the Rush (time.com)
Returning a gift gets costly (money.cnn.com)

Filed under Consistency of Experience, Societal Musings · Tagged with Christmas, Customer Service, Holiday

Giving Up On Retail

December 13, 2009 by Rob Waldeck · Comments

: Image by Hans van de Bruggen via Flickr

I had pretty much given up on retail. I hadn’t had a remarkable retail experience in I don’t know how long. In fact, I found myself so convinced that retailers couldn’t meet my needs as a consumer that I found myself making excuses for them . . . they are under-paid, under-staffed, under-something. Even worse, I convinced myself that I was the problem – I am too demanding, my standards are too high, I am unreasonable. And as we descended deeper into this recession-that’s-not-a-depression I was continually surprised that even those that were still employed weren’t able to provide a level of service that made me take notice.

Until this weekend. Two retail experiences, two home runs. One for Nordstrom’s and one for Apple.

Very briefly . . .

Nordstrom’s: I bought a pair of shoes. I wore them around the store. They felt pretty good. I wore them around the house. They still felt pretty good. I wore them to a party on saturday night (snow/rain/mud) and they killed my feet. I had to return them. I couldn’t wear them again. Nordstrom’s took them back. No question. No problem. Thank you Nordstrom’s for empowering your employees to make it easy for me. By the way, I bought another pair. More expensive.

Apple: I bought a new computer on Thursday. Today I woke up and realized I needed a printer. Went back to Apple and saw that they had printers with a $100 rebate when you buy it at the same time as a computer. I mentioned that I had bought one on Thursday, could they accommodate me? 2 minutes later they had printed out a duplicate copy of my receipt (I didn’t have the original with me), sold me the printer with the rebate and made me aware of two other promotions that are currently offered at a discount with a new computer. Thank you Apple for empowering your employees to make it easy for me.

So the weekend is over and I’m once again hopeful for you, Retail. Not to mention that you’ve reminded me of a few things about customer service that will serve me well as I begin my work week tomorrow. Thanks.

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