USAir gives a smarta** reply to Navy man

[CapnCockroach]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/22091682/detail.html

 

[freedom]

""It makes me mad," he said. "I'm sure it would make everybody mad."

not really , it's a change date fee , our company asses them all the time , lots of people get hit with it .. i'm sure they feel just like you do ...

"Then Russell learned he needed to be back to duty one day sooner than he expected. "

now either the military got your arrival date wrong or YOU did , if i recall when the military messes up like this , won't THEY pay for the change date fee ?

""I said, 'Look, this is my situation. What can you do to help me?'" Russell said. "And they basically just didn't try to help me at all. I wasn't looking for a handout."

if you weren't looking for a handout why are you upset with having to pay the change date fee , don't tell me you've never heard that airlines charge fees for things .

This is what our company said to the man ,

"if you fax us in a copy of his orders, we will be more than happy to issue a voucher worth $145."

this is what they said to us

"That goodwill gesture wasn't good enough for Russell's family, who rejected the offer."

well we tried , can't say we didn't ..

 

[VAflyGal]

Wow.

 

[HPDriver]

Wow.

So someone calls in and says he/she is military and you believe him/her right off the bat?

Please, I'm sure the company has heard more than their share of excuses when a pax tries to avoid fees. Most of you on these boards should know better. How many relatives have died, or become sicker, etc. so that a ticket can be changed for free?

The company offered to reimburse him as they should have so long as he had proof of his situation.

This article is nothing more than the media pandering to its readers and vilifying the bad bad airlines.

Grow up people.

 

[BMIBABYgirl737]

Is there nothing else going on in JAX that News4 has to report that information?

 

[SparrowHawk]

So someone calls in and says he/she is military and you believe him/her right off the bat?

Please, I'm sure the company has heard more than their share of excuses when a pax tries to avoid fees. Most of you on these boards should know better. How many relatives have died, or become sicker, etc. so that a ticket can be changed for free.

The company offered to reimburse him as they should have so long as he had proof of his situation.

This article is nothing more than the media pandering to its readers and vilifying the bad bad airlines.

Grow up people.

Well sorry to say that it's incidents like this one that make airlines the butt of late night TV comedians. Sadly no airline is better when it comes to delivering knee jerk, ham handed responses to legitimate issues then US Airways, except for maybe Spirit.

Rightfully or wrongfully so, US Airways is borderline paranoid about being scammed on change fees, bereavement and special circumstances. Equally sad is they have a legitimate basis for their skepticism as some customers aren't very honest.

Conversely, IMO when you get a legitimate issue presented at the right level US Airways is among the very best when it comes to doing the right thing in a case like this one. I'll grant you that the media in JAX was pandering big time.

This is a business process issue for US. They need to retool their new software to have an expedited escalation process for members of the Military. The trick with US is getting your e-mail in the hands of the right person in Customer Relations.

 

[HPDriver]

Well sorry to say that it's incidents like this one that make airlines the butt of late night TV comedians. Sadly no airline is better when it comes to delivering knee jerk, ham handed responses to legitimate issues then US Airways, except for maybe Spirit.

I think you're being a bit dramatic. EVERY airline has its time on some talk show host's opening monologue. And, I'd bet, that US Airways has had more positive than negative exposure with the media.

Equally sad is they have a legitimate basis for their skepticism as some customers aren't very honest.

A pax will do anything or say anything to save a buck.

This is a business process issue for US. They need to retool their new software to have an expedited escalation process for members of the Military. The trick with US is getting your e-mail in the hands of the right person in Customer Relations.

So if someone calls you at home right now claiming to be military, how would you go about confirming his status? How do you expect Airways to?

 

[BoeingBoy]

Maybe US just doesn't like military personnel...

There's this one too:

Injured soldier fights for refund

BTW, US didn't offer to reimburse the Navy guy. They offered a voucher, most likely good for a year and only worth $145 if he buys another ticket on US that costa at least $145. It can't be used anywhere else, unlike a reimbursement. Of course, US has his money, making interest, until he uses the voucher. Going back in-theater how soon will that voucher get used? If ever.

Jim

 

[tadjr]

Last time I researched it for work, US waives the change fee for military on orders, but does charge the difference in fare. Sounds like what happened here since he didnt even pay the $150 amount a change fee would have been. If he changed dates on his ticket, especially last minute, then there very well could have been a fare difference that he was required to pay. If this is indeed what happened, then US should make it known that we did not charge the change fee, but only charged the fare difference for a different days flight.

 

[SparrowHawk]

I think you're being a bit dramatic. EVERY airline has its time on some talk show host's opening monologue. And, I'd bet, that US Airways has had more positive than negative exposure with the media.



A pax will do anything or say anything to save a buck.



So if someone calls you at home right now claiming to be military, how would you go about confirming his status? How do you expect Airways to?

Melodramatic? Not in the least. Yes every airline has their SNAFU's but only US can muck it up royally. As a decade long CP I know of what I speak.

We aren't "pax" we're CUSTOMERS, you know the source of your paycheck! pax is a pet peeve of mine. I don't call Flight Attendents "Stewardess's" do I? or you a "Jet Jockey"?? So extend me the same courtesy.

As for verifying Military status, this should be relatively simple. While it's likely impossible to avoid a change fee via the res centers or web site, what can be done is the PNR can be noted "Active Military, ask for copy of orders". The soldier goes to the counter presents his orders, agent verifies policy and promptly refunds the change fee.

US, if they were smart could get some PR and increased business by becoming as "Military Friendly" as possible. Instead what we get are PR nightmares where none need to be.

 

[freedom]

{so on , so forth }

US, if they were smart could get some PR and increased business by becoming as "Military Friendly" as possible. Instead what we get are PR nightmares where none need to be.

not a PR nightmare

"It makes me so sad to know that one of our military that risks their life, that missed their child's first birthday, that we can treat them like that," one family member said while crying. "It makes me sad. We should be outraged at US Air. Outraged."

no this is something else , you decide just what it is . :unsure:

 

[marco90821]

"...We aren't "pax" we're CUSTOMERS, you know the source of your paycheck! pax is a pet peeve of mine. I don't call Flight Attendents "Stewardess's" do I? or you a "Jet Jockey"?? So extend me the same courtesy."

This is an airline message board, and the term "pax" is industry lingo. Not unlike in retail when the term "POS" is used for Point of Sale, or in radio broadcasting where the term "AOR" is used to identify a format as Album Oriented Rock. The point is that every industry has lingo that is only pertinent to that particular business. Your analogy of the flight attendant/stewardess is irrational in the comparison. This is an industry website, and industry lingo is the norm. So "pax" is the norm on this site.

 

[jcw]

Melodramatic? Not in the least. Yes every airline has their SNAFU's but only US can muck it up royally. As a decade long CP I know of what I speak.

We aren't "pax" we're CUSTOMERS, you know the source of your paycheck! pax is a pet peeve of mine. I don't call Flight Attendents "Stewardess's" do I? or you a "Jet Jockey"?? So extend me the same courtesy.

As for verifying Military status, this should be relatively simple. While it's likely impossible to avoid a change fee via the res centers or web site, what can be done is the PNR can be noted "Active Military, ask for copy of orders". The soldier goes to the counter presents his orders, agent verifies policy and promptly refunds the change fee.

US, if they were smart could get some PR and increased business by becoming as "Military Friendly" as possible. Instead what we get are PR nightmares where none need to be.

US is very miltary friendly. We regularly upgrade military personel if space is available. Once again I feel we look for every possible thing wrong and pile on. We have no proof this individual is in the miltary. One would think if it was a DOD purchased ticket it would have been a government fare which is easy to figure out.

 

[john john]

They need to retool their new software to have an expedited escalation process for members of the Military. The trick with US is getting your e-mail in the hands of the right person in Customer Relations.

“theyâ€￾ need to let the agents do their jobs and provide good customer service NOT some stepford child agents.Situations like this should never get to a e-mail/ queue limited staff procedural person away from the exact situation.Agents in the field ATO work under an M.A.S.H type environment. Management has to put trust in the hands of the workers

 

[john john]

US is very miltary friendly. We regularly upgrade military personel if space is available. Once again I feel we look for every possible thing wrong and pile on. .

This is not company policy and management could issue disciplinary penalties if desire
“Revenue Leakage!â€￾ The companies reason to fire
http://www.cwalocal1171.com/