Customer Service

[Doc]

Doc my last post was meant to mean you. Not anyone else. You need to learn good customer service skills. You're the reason US won't be profitable in the future.

Yea...I figured that out...my glass of cool aide is on it's way.....oh and by the way I collected 14 AB coupons in the last 3 months mostly from chairmans and you guessed it I don't send them in.
I also have customers stop me in and thank me for helping them out from time to time. You are the reason........... you want to give it all away........................................

The difference is I realize this company treats us like crap

 

[vantheman63]

Silver, Gold, Platinum and CP status expires end of the month. Let's see what the Yield numbers look like in March.

Like this maybe???

Through Feb 17, 2009

ON US AIRWAYS
Flight Segments On US Airways = 2
Total Miles Flown = 2,457
Airfare paid to date = $86.52
Yield paid to date = $0.035 per mile (How SWEET is that? $0.035/mile?!?)

ON OTHER CARRIERS (AS, CO, DL, FI & WN)
Flight Segments On All Other Airlines = 20
Total Miles Flown = 18,563
Airfare Paid To Date = $4,502.08
Yield Paid To Date = $0.243

 

[BuffaloJoe]

US Airways and Customer Service should never ever be mentioned in the same sentence. This is a dig at Corporate, not the Hard Working Hourly Employee.

 

[4merresrat]

US Airways and Customer Service should never ever be mentioned in the same sentence. This is a dig at Corporate, not the Hard Working Hourly Employee.

No, it's actually a dig at the front line hourly employees. They are the ones that provide customer service. That is ONE thing you can't blame on management. If customer service at U is bad look in the mirror.

 

[NCFL]

No, it's actually a dig at the front line hourly employees. They are the ones that provide customer service. That is ONE thing you can't blame on management. If customer service at U is bad look in the mirror.

I agree 100%. One can gripe about tools being taken away, decline of product quality, etc. all he wants, and he doesn't have to like those changes or agree with them one bit. But management can't take away a person's smile, ability to apologize, helpful attitude or tone of voice. Those are all under an individual person's control no matter how many people might respond to this and whine that "management makes it impossible to do our jobs nicely." Period.

I spent umpteen years defending the actions of bad management decisions and rude or unhelpful employees at this airline in a relatively thankless job where 99.99% of the customers I came into contact with were angry. And I managed to keep my attitude in check most of the time and have the person leave satisfied. And, I might add, I was stingy with compensation...I didn't give away a free ticket for goodwill comp in all of my 18 years. People thought Consumer Affairs gave out freebies willy-nilly.

Some people manufacture their own problems. They forget the addage "you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar." Even when I'm angry with a company, I start out being nice to the person who is there to help me. It's not their fault. But let that person be rude to me and look out. The gloves will come off, my smile will disappear, and I will go over their head. Finding a CEO's e-mail address is easy.

What employees don't realize is that the act of being rude gives the customer the exact leverage they need to get what they want.

And now, let the flood of "everytime we tell a customer 'no' they automatically think we're rude" comments begin. Because to that, I say BS.

 

[The Man]

But management can't take away a person's smile, ability to apologize, helpful attitude or tone of voice.

You couldn't be more wrong. I've seen it, lived it. When you continually have to deal with unhappy,( justifiably unhappy ) customers, due to horrible service, created by poor managerial decisions, it gets old fast. Yes, that smile goes along way when you ruin someones vacation they've been planning for six months. Sorry, (smile) Mr. Smith we couldn't get you to that meeting, how about tomorrow.

Tell me oh customer service guru, how does an smile and an apology help, when a customer shows up 2 hours before his flight to the caribbean, and the flight leaves on time, but he's left behind because you don't have the staffing to process him in time to get to the gate? You see, it's more important for that flight to be on time, than for him to go on his vacation.

Maybe I could upgrade him on the flight tomorrow, nope, can't do that anymore. How about some extra frequent flyer miles, nope, can't do that anymore. How about I extend his return another day, nope, can't do that anymore. How about even a free drink coupon, nope, can't do that anymore.

Yes, a smiles nice, but the tools you so easily dismiss, go alot further.

So how do you deal with it? You either quit, or for those of us who can't, you numb yourself to it. You see, management "DOES" reflect attitude.

 

[john john]

I spent umpteen years defending the actions of bad management decisions and rude or unhelpful employees at this airline in a relatively thankless job where 99.99% of the customers I came into contact with were angry. And I managed to keep my attitude in check most of the time and have the person leave satisfied. And, I might add, I was stingy with compensation...I didn't give away a free ticket for goodwill comp in all of my 18 years. People thought Consumer Affairs gave out freebies willy-nilly.

Because to that, I say BS.

It is different to sit behind a phone or write a letter then have customers stand in front of you with the problems. Face to face time restraint multitask with very large upset crowds can be the course
The airport is the end of the road for the customer.

 

[flybynite]

No, it's actually a dig at the front line hourly employees. They are the ones that provide customer service. That is ONE thing you can't blame on management. If customer service at U is bad look in the mirror.

What planet did you just drop in from???

Management has taken away most of the tools that are needed for the front line employee to provide any decent customer service. And they have hired people that have NO COMMON SENSE! Much less any CUSTOMER SERVICE SENSE.

From where I'm looking, it makes NO sense to deny boarding to passengers that have been standing and waiting to get on the plane because of management's door closing policies. God forbid someone has to take their child to the bathroom and isn't there after waiting for an hour or so.

The down time between flights is beyond stupid. I had a flight the other day where I was landing at 12:25 and I was supposed to take back off at 1:00. DUH!?? Do you think we left on time?? No. But the agents were hysterical to get us out on time. And because of this... the passengers were frantic about their connections. I knew we had ample time to get them to their destination and make their connection but because of the harried way they were boarded at their origination they thought they wouldn't make their connection.
This is wrong and it's bad customer relations.

And that, my friend, is managements fault.

 

[NCFL]

You couldn't be more wrong. I've seen it, lived it. When you continually have to deal with unhappy,( justifiably unhappy ) customers, due to horrible service, created by poor managerial decisions, it gets old fast.

Tell me oh customer service guru...Yes, a smiles nice, but the tools you so easily dismiss, go alot further.

I don't want to get into a back-and-forth debate. You seem pretty angry, as do a lot of people. I've lived the constant barrage of angry customers too. It sucks sometimes and, yes, it gets old fast. But "management" can't be responsible for changing one's attitude. Only I can choose how I react to external stimuli. Nobody can force me to react a certain way to X, Y or Z. I control that reaction inside of my brain.

I am stating my opinion based on my personal experience which (John John) includes more than sitting behind a phone. I've got enough humility to know that I'm not a guru. You may disagree with my opinions if you wish, Man, but there's no need to be snide.

 

[drifterreno]

I always took great pride in assisting my passangers and if they were irate I made sure they hung up feeling if not happy, then at least understanding the situation. AND I did not give the store away.

 

[N903AW]

If you don't turn in your A & B's it shows your contempt for your customers.

Actually Piney, many of us are realizing that the whole A&B Drawing is rigged and it is really not worth the cost of a stamp to send them in. I don't send mine in anymore. I used to send in over 50+ (sometimes up to a hundred) cards in the calendar quarter and would get ZILCH. Others have told me the same....but then you have someone in Revenue Accounting, Timekeeping or Payroll Management send in one card and rake in the bucks! Something is fishy if you ask me and, of course, there is no oversight to what happens when cards are mailed in and who makes the final "cut" for the drawing when Quarterly Results are announced.

In addition, the positive comments that passengers write on the cards are never passed onto the employees' supervisors or placed in our files. As a matter of fact, the cards are now so small that you can barely write anything on them at all.

So don't be insulted that we don't send them in. We appreciate receiving them from our customers....but most of us know that sending them in to the Company is a waste of our time. By all appearances the names chosen in the drawing at the end of the quarter have already been "pre-selected".

 

[NCFL]

...the whole A&B Drawing is rigged and it is really not worth the cost of a stamp to send them in...By all appearances the names chosen in the drawing at the end of the quarter have already been "pre-selected".

The issue of filtering/rigging/pre-selecting A&B might be a good thing for Morgan or someone in Corp. Comm to address. As it stands now, all of this is speculation.

At one time, IIRC, there were some filters that disqualified people. Disciplinary levels, attendance problems, whether they'd won before. Measaurable, quantitative stuff, not just management's whim like you're describing above. I may have read that on this board or in AboutUS or something. That's a vague recollection, though. I may be wrong, and it may have changed.

 

[SS255]

Actually Piney, many of us are realizing that the whole A&B Drawing is rigged and it is really not worth the cost of a stamp to send them in. I don't send mine in anymore....

In addition, the positive comments that passengers write on the cards are never passed onto the employees' supervisors or placed in our files. As a matter of fact, the cards are now so small that you can barely write anything on them at all.

So don't be insulted that we don't send them in. We appreciate receiving them from our customers....but most of us know that sending them in to the Company is a waste of our time. By all appearances the names chosen in the drawing at the end of the quarter have already been "pre-selected".

There were a few times when I tried to get enough info from an employee in order to send the card in, and I was told by the employee not to bother. My protests did not change their mind, they did not want me to hand them a filled out card so they could submit it themselves, and obviously I needed basic information in order to submit the A&B's. Go figure!

 

[tea42]

There were a few times when I tried to get enough info from an employee in order to send the card in, and I was told by the employee not to bother. My protests did not change their mind, they did not want me to hand them a filled out card so they could submit it themselves, and obviously I needed basic information in order to submit the A&B's. Go figure!

I never give out the info...I just tell the pax I am just doing my job...as long as my customer cares---thats all I care about. The company cares squat about us....and the A and B is a big joke....take it back to where we could get PS2B tickets after collecting so many....god knows we can not get on airplanes when we want to anyhow.....

 

[N903AW]

At one time, IIRC, there were some filters that disqualified people. Disciplinary levels, attendance problems, whether they'd won before. Measaurable, quantitative stuff, not just management's whim like you're describing above.

If a person has won before, and yet continues to bring their A-game to every flight and every customer, then they should have every opportunity to win in every drawing. Attendance problems? Does one need to have perfect attendance to win? That would weed out a lot I imagine. And what about those who do send in numerous cards for the Quarter? Is each and every one played in the drawing or are 75 or so cards considered as good as one?