Five ways to deliver a meaningful customer complaint | Gadling.com

by Tom Johansmeyer

Bad customer service bothers the hell out of me. I know I’m not alone on this: nobody likes receiving something less than he pays for. But for me, it’s something of an obsession, having worked in businesses where there is nothing quite like a “quality problem” to put the brakes on your career (or derail it entirely). And perhaps unreasonably, I have incredibly high standards – which I do reward commensurately, from gratuity to word-of-mouth advocacy. Whatever the driver, I am quite comfortable approaching a hotel or restaurant manager with both criticism and high praise, and I’ve found out what works and what doesn’t.

Zagat survey: five ways customers say they hate airlines … in their own words | Gadling.com

It’s almost sport for customers to describe how much they hate airlines. Sure, there are a few that do well from time to time, occasionally delivering high levels of service or eschewing ancillary fees. But, the overwhelming trend tends to be one of customer dissatisfaction.

Zagat, which is in the business of measuring and publishing value and taste, has taken a shot defining the highs and lows of the airline business, and the results aren’t all that positive. Well, let’s be frank: there’s nothing pleasant about flying.

The survey results aren’t all that shocking, and you can get them here from Zagat. What’s more fun is the stuff Zagat wouldn’t print … on the advice of its lawyers, the company announcement claims with an implied smirk.

How bad can it be? Let’s look at five insights from the Zagat airline survey … with customer claws bared in all their gory glory:1. Akin to an execution: Zagat’s surveyors seemed to spend a lot of time talking about death. One noted, “The only thing missing is a blindfold and a cigarette.” Another said, “At least they haven’t killed me yet.” Get the message? In case you don’t, one called air travel, “A violation of the Geneva Convention.”

2. Service with a scowl: again, it’s not much of a shock that customer service didn’t score all that high. One surveyor summed it up: “Unwelcome aboard!” But, if you think that’s the most creative, you’re out of your mind. I did enjoy the comment, “My bags get better service, but they pay extra.” Nothing, however, beats one disgruntled contributor who asked, “Who made them mad at their customers?”

3. Not even money can buy you happiness: do you think the rich have it better? Well, not in the skies they don’t! According to one Zagat surveyor, “The only difference between economy and business classes is a shrimp on your salad.”

4. Training is key: and this is what led one to muse, “Flight attendants seem to have trained with Frau Blucher.” Yes, but what instruction guide was used? That’s where another chimed in: “Staff must use Orwell’s 1984 as a training manual.” Ouch.

5. Get comfortable? Get real: the fact that passengers don’t get a lot of space didn’t escape notice. One surveyor says, “I don’t love getting up-close-and-personal with the head of the person in front of me.” Notes another, “Seats make an iron maiden seem comfortable.” It gets worse: “Like a cattle car, except the cows are mercifully slaughtered at trip’s end.”

Zagat survey: five ways customers say they hate airlines … in their own words | Gadling.com.

TSA workers pulled drug prank twice with air passengers

A Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to find drugs in a passenger’s bag at Philadelphia International Airport in January had played the prank more than once and told one of his victims that “she would have to admit it was funny,” according to TSA documents.

The documents, which detail the dopey antics of a bomb-appraisal officer whose name has been blacked out, were released on the Smoking Gun website this week.

The Inquirer broke the story of Rebecca Solomon, 22, who on Jan. 5 became the unsuspecting butt of the officer’s joke when he pretended to find a white, powdery substance in her luggage.

Turns out, Solomon was the second traveler that day to be victimized by the worker’s bad sense of humor. The first, according to the documents, laughed the stunt off.

The TSA officer was supposed to be checking equipment instead of passengers, the documents said, and the white substance he had with him was creatine powder, not cocaine.

When he tried to trick his second victim, presumably Solomon, with the creatine, she did not take it well.

When the worker saw she was getting upset, he revealed the truth and told her that “she would have to admit it was funny,” the documents said.

When confronted later by a TSA investigator, the officer “did say humbly that he was completely wrong and he made a mistake,” the documents said.

Reports by other TSA staff indicate that at least one of them saw the prank and “resumed running the X-ray belt.” Another only went as far as to tell the officer, “Don’t do that.”

The worker is no longer with TSA, but whether his departure was forced or voluntary could not be determined because of privacy laws.

TSA workers pulled drug prank twice with air passengers | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/04/2010.

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Airlines not alone in poor customer service studies | Gadling.com

 

 

 

 

The Airline Quality Rating report was released last week, exposing the five worst airlines in the United States. It’s fun to beat up on the airlines … as it is to beat up on other companies and industries notorious for poor customer service. So, this made me wonder just how the airlines stack up against everyone else.

Back in August, the American Customer Satisfaction Index rated hundreds of companies and came out with the results. Some airlines are in there, of course, but they aren’t alone. I took a look at the bottom of the barrel – 18 companies featured by Business Insider – and saw that the airlines were well-represented but far from dominant.

Telecommunications companies led the pack, accounting for a third of the list, with airlines next – four companies accounting for 22 percent. Banking followed with 17 percent. Strangely, social networking contributed two companies, with both Facebook and MySpace getting poor marks for customer service. Insurance, restaurants and utilities each contributed a company.

The airlines that got the nod will look pretty familiar: in fact, they’re four of the five identified in the Airline Quality Rating report. American Airlines took the #12 spot, immediately behind Facebook and MySapce. Delta and US Airways took the next two positions, with United Airlines at #17.

The worst company for customer service was AT&T Mobility, with DirecTV and Citibank behind it.

Airlines not alone in poor customer service studies | Gadling.com.

Veteran’s family denied WH tour because of shorts

Medal of Honor Flag

The White House apologized Thursday for turning the family of a Medal of Honor recipient away from an exclusive tour last week because the late veteran’s 10-year-old grandson was wearing shorts.

Vernon Baker, the last surviving black Medal of Honor winner from World War II, was buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery after dying in July from complications of brain cancer at age 90. He belatedly received the military’s top award from President Bill Clinton in 1997, after historians concluded he’d been wrongly denied because of his race.

On Saturday, his widow and grandson went to the White House for a special tour of the West Wing, which includes the Oval Office and rooms that are in use.

The staffer who was to lead the family wasn’t sure whether 10-year-old Vernon Pawlik’s attire – shorts and a T-shirt bearing a picture of the boy’s grandfather – was considered appropriate, officials said. Another winner of the military’s top award, Thomas Norris, also was turned away because he was not previously cleared for the tour.

Norris and the Baker family had turned down a previously arranged East Wing tour for the more exclusive visit to the West Wing.

“This is an unfortunate misunderstanding,” White House spokesman Adam Abrams said Thursday. “We would have loved to have hosted 10-year-old Vernon and his family at the White House and we have reached out to the Baker family and Lt. Norris to communicate our deep regret and invite them back to the White House.”

A message left at the home of Baker’s widow, Heidy, who was also on the tour, was not immediately returned.

In 1945, Baker rallied black troops after their white commander deserted and they captured a German stronghold in Italy, taking out three machine gun nests, two bunkers and an observation post. But he did not receive his award for more than half a century, and no black soldiers received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for battlefield valor, during that era. An Army study initiated in the early 1990s concluded Baker and several other men had been denied the award because of racism.

Baker and six other black World War II veterans received medals posthumously at a 1997 White House ceremony.

Baker had lived since the 1980s in a valley near St. Maries, Idaho, about 50 miles east of Spokane, Wash.

The office of Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, is working with the Baker family to help them return to the White House, said press secretary Susan Wheeler.

“The senator was upset by the news,” Wheeler said. “We want to make sure they are comfortable.”

via Veteran’s family denied WH tour because of shorts.

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Spirit Airlines: “Negative publicity” on customer service could hurt business

Spirit Airlines, as you might have heard, is trying to raise $300 million in a public stock offering. Here’s the Form S-1 it filed last Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It’s worth a read. Companies are required to disclose any risks to potential investors. And although this one seems obvious, it’s interesting to see how Spirit characterizes its own reputation, when it comes to customer service.

Negative publicity regarding our customer service could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In the past we have experienced a relatively high number of customer complaints related to, among other things, our customer service, reservations and ticketing systems and baggage handling.

In particular, we generally experience a higher volume of complaints when we make changes to our unbundling policies, such as charging for baggage.

In addition, in 2009, we entered into a consent order with the DOT in which we were assessed a civil penalty of $375,000, of which we are required to pay only $215,000 provided there are no further similar violations for one year after the date of the consent order, for our procedures for bumping passengers from oversold flights and our handling of lost or damaged baggage.

Our reputation and business could be materially adversely affected if we fail to meet customers’ expectations with respect to customer service or if we are perceived by our customers to provide poor customer service.

Our business and reputation could have been harmed by the business shut down during the June 2010 pilot strike and any perceived failure to meet customer expectations during the strike and related negative publicity from the strike.

OK, then. I wonder how other airlines might describe their own risks, when it comes to customer service.

I wonder how passengers would describe it?

via Spirit Airlines: “Negative publicity” on customer service could hurt business.

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