Us Just Lost My Club Renewal

[gso2pit]

No friend, what it is about is the fact that many customers claim to be big supporters of US and then they get childish, nasty, and disrespectful by referring us to Useless Air when things don't go their way. You know, I wouldn't take that crap from my family or S.O. and I will be damned if I will take it from a hothead out here on line. We are not your whipping post. Call the company if you have a complaint. It is so easy to resort to the Useless Air B.S. or US Scare. This person showed his true colors and I could care less if he EVER flies us. He is an embarrassment for those of us, YES ME, who were born and bred in Greensboro. Now where is Bill with the inflamatory remarks from this "person". Answer, Bill? Ok as long as it isn't directed to individuals? I DON"T THINK SO!!!!! :angry:

P.S. Yes, you're damned right I'm angry on this one!!!

You don't know me and I don't know you. Don't assume that you see someone's true colors when you don't know a person in real life. If you say you're from GSO, i'm VERY curious to know if you still work in the area. I'm angry because they weren't forthright with me, not because a manager decided to enforce policy. I'm going to leave it at that because the remainder of what I would say to you would get me kicked off the boards.

Get a life.

 

[firstamendment]

Sorry about the spelling errors..alittle tired and I got sloppy. Good night all.

 

[gso2pit]

Just please don't take things out here. You know things are not the best now. The last thing we need here is remarks that are nasty. I agree with your issue, but I feel you made it personal. You know that 99% support our customers. Why come here and get nasty. Anyone of us, YES, including angry First, would do anything for you. When you make those cutting remarks, it IS hurtful. Tell Lakefield. We "pions" are only trying to make sense of it all. When you say USELESS AIR, you are making a cllective statement that we all ALL useless and that just isn't true and you know it. That is my only beef with you. i agree 100% with your beef...not with your delivery and believe me, I am n ot the best my best, but man, you really got me angry. BUT, all is forgiven.

All is forgiven. Ignore my previous post.

 

[firstamendment]

You don't know me and I don't know you. Don't assume that you see someone's true colors when you don't know a person in real life. If you say you're from GSO, i'm VERY curious to know if you still work in the area. I'm angry because they weren't forthright with me, not because a manager decided to enforce policy. I'm going to leave it at that because the remainder of what I would say to you would get me kicked off the boards.

Get a life.

And I stated that I agreed with you. It was the tone, but I relayed that already, so it's ok, I'm cool with it. You know where I'm coming from and I totally understand you. You just p***** me off and that's ok, that's life.

 

[youngblood]

gso2pit,

I certainly don't agree with the 2 reps that told you your friend could have access to the club free of charge. If there is one thing I cannot stand, it's someone who makes a promise they can't keep. If I had been presented with your request, my reply would have been:

"Although we certainly appreciate your business, your friend is still subject to the charge."

And if you had persisted:

"I am not in the the position to make the decision. Give me time to check with my supervisor and I will let you know if we can accomodate your friend."

I don't necessarily agree with company's idea of customer service; however, as an employee I am required to enforce any rules or stipulations created by management.

I enforce some of the most difficult rules this company has and usually do so without having to pass an irrate customer on to my supervisor. It is called tact and being upfront. I don't apologize for it - I simply do it witha somewhat sympathetic inflection in my voice.

On the other hand, realize that the manager you degraded was simply placed in the difficult position of correcting someone else's mistake. It is not an easy job to do. More than likely, his/her supervisor had recently jumped on his back about similar situations and he was feeling the heat.

I recently spoke to a CP who had been granted several favors from one of our agents. The agent was pulled aside and was told either stop or lose his job. The next time the CP saw the agent he was disappointed with the reply to another request for a favor. The customer understood but had grown accustomed to preferencial treatment and had grown to expect it. My point is you can't enforce policy on one customer and make exceptions for another. We need the nonpreferred customers as much as the preferred. And when one makes exceptions, we are left to deal with those who have heard of the exceptions and are not getting them. The manager in your situation was simply nipping it in the bud and correcting something that in the long run could have created many more problems.

 

[youngblood]

Piney,

I agree with you to a certain degree. It was obvious he was told one thing by the 2 agents in the club; otherwise,the manger would have never called. In this this case I may have granted the favor but made it very clear it was a one time only deal.

On the other hand, you state that any verbal agreement should be honored. Realistically, isn't a verbal agreement usaully a he said, she said ordeal? How can it really be proven? I only state this fact because day in and day out I deal with some pretty outrageous lies from passengers that are looking for a way around things. That is precisely why I document any records thoroughly if I feel a customer may attempt to call back and try another round with another agent.

 

[firstamendment]

Piece of advise, don't whine here, call Mr. Steve Rice, General Manager of the Clubs and share your disatifaction. I've met Steve personally and despite our initial dust-up over an issue I will tell you he is a very customer focused person. He needs to hear this type of stuff directly. He's at CCY.

Piney
That was my point.

 

[RWerksman]

"It's not what they did , it's how they did it"

That is the key to this whole issue and it is one that airlines in general persist in there unwillingness to comprehend.

First off whoever was the US Airways Club Manager was absolutely correct in his interetation of the rules. If US Airways policy is "No Waiver, Ne Favors" and it extends to the clubs, so be it.

But, and this is a big BUT, if the 2 club employees made a commitment to a customer as described then IMO, US AIrways has a moral, ethical & perhaps legal obligation to honor that commitment. Now if behind the scenes US Management decides to formally reprimand those 2 employees for breaking policy I am OK with that also.

But NEVER under any circumstance should a CP (or ANY customer) be denied what was verbally promised to them in a case like this that was apparently well documented.

In defense of US, they did at least call. I am certain that UA and others would not have bothered to call at all. They would have embarrassed your friend and subsequently you with their complete inaction.

Piece of advise, don't whine here, call Mr. Steve Rice, General Manager of the Clubs and share your disatifaction. I've met Steve personally and despite our initial dust-up over an issue I will tell you he is a very customer focused person. He needs to hear this type of stuff directly. He's at CCY.

You sir are 100% correct.


One thing that really gets my goat is thinking that VFFs have to "support" US Airways. Where exactly did this come from?

VFFs are not here to "support" you or the company, they are customers -- very good ones actually. If they play by the rules, have an incident happen to them (such as 3 hours to get bags in PIT or PHL) and voice displeasure with the airline they have invested so much time and money into they are 110% within thier rights.


Thinking along this line does nothing but hurt the company. The idea is to serve a customer so well they he or she always enjoys the product enough to talk highly of it. If he or she badmouths the company, the service is subpar (as in this incident via the promise) or the expectations are unrealistic.

 

[ktflyhome]

I flew into RDG las week on my days off to visit friends. The day I was leaving, we hit an unexpected Detour which took us way out an around and hit major traffic. My friend did an illegal U-y just to get us on track in the right direction. Consequently we got there 15 minutes before departure. This is a Beechcraft 1900. The ticket agent denied me boarding, stating that the paperwork had already been done and Security was closed. Well, security was not closed and the plane was still there with the stairsteps down. I, being a NR could not squabble or say much and this agent was not going to Budge at all. She really had a very sour attitude to put it mildy.

I bit my tongue and knew that I would be spending another day with my friends, unless I wanted to take a chance going to Altoona.

What really bothered me and I felt bad for was not me. I understand my peramiters in all of this, but was the paying passenger who just happen to follow me right in. She denied him boarding and was very rude to him. He told me he flies over 50,000 miles a year out of this small airport and would never fly on U again and definately not out of RDG. He said he has been treated like this time and time again and he was done.

Well, I felt really bad for him and also, being that TSA's were still there, the stair steps were down, last flight of the day, we NEED our customers. Why not let him on.?????? This really disgusted me. :angry:

 

[bagosh]

As I see it management stepped up and reared it's ugly head once again. Does anyone remember the PPF classes we all had to attend, what was said "Own the problem" to me this was to encourage agents to make decisions. When the agent committed to the customer then management should have lived with that decision.
The agents could have been corrected to not allow this in the future, but they were made to look bad.

This seems to be the modus operandi at USAIRWAYS, currently I am in a management position with another company, I have been encouraged and encourage my reports to make a decision. If it is wrong you learn by the experience. The management team at local levels at USAIRWAYs seem to be afraid to rock the boat.

The only time I had the opportunity to fly on BA, I met a friend of a friend and he arranged for me and my family to enter their club, it certainly made a good impression on me.

 

[sfb]

It was obvious he was told one thing by the 2 agents in the club; otherwise,the manger would have never called. In this this case I may have granted the favor but made it very clear it was a one time only deal.

Actually, if you read the account posted by gso2pit, the manager didn't call -- he or she delegated the task to one of his/her subordinates. That's poor customer service IMHO; if you're going to renege on a promise made to a customer by your reports, you should darn well speak to the customer yourself (and explain the reason). And as you said, the best customer service outcome would have been to grant the exception and make it very clear that it would be a one-time-only thing.

On the other hand, you state that any verbal agreement should be honored. Realistically, isn't a verbal agreement usaully a he said, she said ordeal? How can it really be proven? I only state this fact because day in and day out I deal with some pretty outrageous lies from passengers that are looking for a way around things. That is precisely why I document any records thoroughly if I feel a customer may attempt to call back and try another round with another agent.

Clearly, if it was deemed necessary to have a representative call the customer back, it wasn't a case of the customer's friend showing up and being denied admission due to there being no record of an alleged verbal agreement. Why would you bother to call if there were no proof? I think it's clear here that the customer was asking for a favor in light of his/her unique personal circumstance, and that "pretty outrageous lies" were never part of the picture.

Look, promising the customer something to which he or she is not entitled is a mistake, but it is an even bigger mistake to go back upon that promise (within certain reasonable limitations) at a later date. And that seems to be the basic problem here.

 

[gso2pit]

When I called consumer affairs today and ultimately Steve Rice per Pineybob's suggestion, I was told that "US isn't in the business of goodwill and the agents involved will be severely repremanded".

Gee, they blundered what could have been a good CS opportunity. Dennis Smalls in the Office of Consumer Affairs really needs to learn a thing or two about tact....

:down: :angry:

note to firstamendment: I do not hate all US employees

 

[firstamendment]

note to firstamendment: I do not hate all US employees

I know.

 

[javaboy]

this is a microcosum of UAIR as a whole.

UAIR provides ammenties that other airlines dont (which is why costs are higher, which is why ticket prices are higher you get more for your money)

Customers want the UAIR service and product but at LCC type prices.

as some have pointed out flying an SWA or Airtran doesnt even get you a club, of course there are lower prices (but are there?)

as others have pointed out go fly someone else and dont ask for something for nothing.


I should like to submit to the group at large solve this problem and you can solve the airline's problems in a nutshell. charging the 35 dollars is the policy, yet the customer doesnt see the value there. The employees while wanting to "do the right thing please the customer" were really in violation of current company policy which was corrected (in a direct perhaps uncooth way) by a manager.

Now if there were a way to make this customer happy, and still somehow be in compliance with the company rules it would be a win win situation.
we currently know this is about 35 dollars? or is it?
by waving the 35 dollar fee does the airline retain future revenue? and perhaps get even more revenue from the person traveling? or does the airline give something away for free and thats why the airline is losing money and asking employees for yet more pay cuts.

i should like to start (and encourage more sugguestions) this is how a turning point in the company begins.
1. call back the owner of the card, politely explain why the rules were applied
2. offer a "free" day pass to the owner of the card, for he or she to distribute to whomever they see fit (a one day one time pass)
3. this builds goodwill and more importantly return business.
4. the club on that one day doesnt get the 35 bucks but in the days to come risks the possiblity of losing more revenue than just 35 dollars.
5. so for just this "type" of situation Crystal City should allow managers to "do the right thing" without any repercussions. and perhaps think along the lines of increasing passenger traffic instead of yet another round of cuts. more revenue means no need for cuts right?

perhaps that vistor would have flown out on US then perhaps bought food or drink on board thus more $$ recovery, and the other customer (original) says to other poeple hey that company (UAIR) treated me right or at least the way i expected i will not only return but reccommend to my friends.

and that last paragraph is a very powerful thought please re read it. that is Exactly what the LCCs are doing Exceeding expectations to pleasantly surprise the traveling consumer.

 

[youngblood]

sfb,

I never said gso2pit was telling an "outrageous" lie to get what he wanted. I said I deal with lies day in and day out from people who want to get around the rules. I also stated that it was obvious that the 2 reps promised something they couldn't deliver. Forgive me if I said the manager called. I must have overlooked that part. Since you brought it to my attention, then I would have to agree that the manager should have been the one to call.

I also said that U and I don't always agree when it comes to customer service. I am a compassionate person and as such sometimes feel terrible enforcing some of the rules the company has created. The bottom line is that if I don't do my job the way the company requires me to and start handing out favors, I could get fired. Being canned for insubordination is not at the top of my priority list.

Piney,

I have always said that all the rules (especially with fares) are too complex and this company - along with other legacy carriers - have created a sea of red tape that is not customer oriented. I have a firm belief that the average consumer wants good customer service that is not the exception but the norm. The employees of this company do their best with what they have; however, their best will never be good enough because lower management is not given the tools necessary to make viable, good will decisions for customers. I encourage anyone who does not like certain procedures to take it up with corporate.

You as the consumer have to be willing to step out on the ledge and make your gripes known to those who can change the rules. I know you already do that, Piney. Just keep pulling in the cockroaches. There is power in numbers.