We're at BAT again , time for the triple play

[Dog Wonder]

Did anyone notice this in todays triplle play blurb?


"The primary reason for complaints is our inability to gracefully recover from irregular operations, such as severe weather and ATC issues. To bring us up to par, we’ll implement a multi-point service recovery improvement plan in 2009."


Sounds like a new attack on the Irregular Ops front. Iw ould like to see us more proactive the reactive.

To address a problem after it bites you in the arse is reactive.

 

[InternationalShannon]

To address a problem after it bites you in the arse is reactive.

Here's a triple play for you....
Computer systems up to par with at least a speak n spell
Employees who would rather (insert whatever non fun/painful activity you want) than give one more inch to the "man"
Management decisions that don't fuel my need to self-medicate

And a frickin' Dr. Pepper, seriously, what does it freaking take? I'm SO THIRSTY!! :angry:

 

[Dog Wonder]

Here's a triple play for you....
Computer systems up to par with at least a speak n spell
Employees who would rather (insert whatever non fun/painful activity you want) than give one more inch to the "man"
Management decisions that don't fuel my need to self-medicate

And a frickin' Dr. Pepper, seriously, what does it freaking take? I'm SO THIRSTY!! :angry:

Do you think Admin at Wendy's would accept a sick note from Dr. Pepper?

If you can find him.

 

[mga707]

Hot off the press - September DOT data


Complaints:
ExpressJet
Southwest
Frontier
Mesa
Pinnacle
Alaska
Skywest
Atlantic Southeast
American Eagle
Hawaiian
Northwest
AirTran
Continental
American
Delta
United
Comair
jetBlue
US Airways

Surprised no one else commented on this: Not surprising that ExpressJet had the fewest September complaints...they only operated ONE DAY during the month! XJ shut down their branded operation as of September 2!

 

[BoeingBoy]

As a separate certificated carrier ExpressJet's ranking is based on their entire operation, not just the separately branded operation.

Jim

 

[NCFL]

2/3 of USAiways is Express with mutable carriers no matter how you slice it

Not sure I'm following what you're trying to say, exactly.

But if what you are wondering is how having such a large Express operation impacts our ranking...if Customer Relations is doing its job right, all complaints where Express is responsible have been filtered out and the number shown in the last place ranking is for mainline only. As are all of the other airlines' rankings for those with commuter airline partner arrangements similar to US/USE.

Is that where you were trying to go?

 

[happy01]

So wait a minute, Happy. What you're saying is that if the customer perceives he or she was treated badly, but the policy dictates he or she was in the wrong, then the complaint is automatically bogus? To me, and many others, your assertion doesn't hold water since in the end, you still have a dissatisfied customer. Maybe someone needs to look at the policy? Maybe the individual employee needs to look at his or her customer interaction skills and needs to stop being so defensive or dismissing negative customer perception because "Mr. Passenger was wrong so his complaint is bogus."

It IS possible to tell someone "no" in a way that doesn't come across as Draconian or like you're being a big meanie. It IS possible to tell someone "no" and have them actually understand. They might not like it, but at least they'll understand. One way is to present "no, with alternatives." "Mr. Smith, I'm sorry, but you've arrived too late for this flight; as soon as I finish this flight's final paperwork, I'll see what I can do to get you on your way to Tampa. Have a seat, I'll be with you in five minutes." Compare that with "You're late; go to special services up the hall on the left next to C-13."

Not paying attention to customer perception is a very dangerous position to take. If you ignore it, which many seem to do, you run the risk of getting the exact sort of reputation US has today: the kind of company that doesn't give a damn about its customers.

In the end, if you ignore passenger perception, and they all perceive you as crap, you'll find yourself without any (passengers that is). Let me know how that turns out for you.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying, or maybe I could have said it better. Sometimes I just get typing so fast and it makes sense to me, but I realize you could have read it differently. The complaint should be logged against policy not against the agent at the airport or the refunds department, because it was policy that prevented them from getting on the plane and policy that prevented them from getting a refund. I'm sure as you have notice there are many fine agents on this site who treat all passenger's with respect, but the passenger will say that it was the agents personal decision to not let them on which isn't true. When a flight is closed it is closed and there isn't a darn thing the agent can do about it.
I wasn't saying to ignore a passenger's perception, but customer relations should know better than to hold the complaint against the agent or the department since it was truly policy that prevented the passenger from getting on the plane.
Now, on a better note I did find out today that if enough passenger's complain about the same thing the policy really is reviewed and changed. There are 2 big policies that I know of right now that are being reviewed for change, so THEY are listening believe it or not.

 

[happy01]

Which just proves my point that US has set up their draconian fee structure in such a way that it has the potential to produce more complaints than ever. If I paid extra for a "choice seat," and for whatever reason US is unable to fulfill their end of the bargain and allow me to sit in the seat for which I paid, and then makes it not even worth my time to chase down my refund.......I am going to be really ticked off.

I can only imagine how US is handling situations when a customer is involuntarily moved from an aisle "choice seat" to a middle "choice seat." That customer may have preferred a free aisle seat in the nosebleed section to a courtside middle seat, and I'll bet you a $2 bottle of water that this customer will be told by US's Refunds department to go pound sand.

It doesn't matter if you're moved to another Choice Seat, if it isn't the seat you picked you get a refund. So if you paid for 3D, and you end up in 4D you would get a refund. It's not a hard process, and you don't have to chase down your refund. One simple email to the refunds department and you will have your refund. When a choice seat is purchased a separate ticket is generated with the choice seat number on it, if it doesn't match the seat number listed on the manifest you get a refund. The problem comes when a passenger is moved and flight attendants or the gate agent (whoever does the moving) doesn't update the seat assignments or document the passenger's record.

 

[N903AW]

The problem comes when a passenger is moved and flight attendants or the gate agent (whoever does the moving) doesn't update the seat assignments or document the passenger's record.

OK, as a Flight Attendant, how would it be possible for me to update the seat assignment or document the record? Flight Attendants do not have access to passenger records on SHARES.

That being said, we do receive preliminary paperwork prior to boarding with a list of passengers who have reserved choice seats. I believe the designator is "CHOI". As Lead, I bring these seats to the attention of my fellow FAs before boarding and basically tell them that these seats are "off limits" for assisting in changes.

Now, I am sure there are some FAs out there that may not be as thorough and may move a CHOI passenger to another seat. If this is the case, the FA has no way of documenting the PNR or updating the seat assignment. If we asked a gate agent to do this, as we are closing the cabin door, we would probably be told, in so many words, to "get bent!"

 

[john john]

Not sure I'm following what you're trying to say, exactly.

..if Customer Relations is doing its job right, all complaints where Express is responsible have been filtered out

Most of the time passengers are oblivious as to what carrier within the US system the are on .Coding the complaints with 9 express carries and 2/3 of the airline being express IS FUZZY MATH that is my point.

 

[NCFL]

Most of the time passengers are oblivious as to what carrier within the US system the are on .Coding the complaints with 9 express carries and 2/3 of the airline being express IS FUZZY MATH that is my point.

Let me set this straight...this is kinda long, but stick with me.

First of all, I know this stuff first-hand because I did it for East for years.
And when East Consumer Affairs closed, I moved to Express and handled this for the entire network of airlines before I left the company altogether. I also worked directly with West CR on the whole process. Not bragging, just establishing credibility.

At the start of every month, the complaint information the DOT sends to carriers is a confusing, jumbled mess. There is NO way it is ready for prime time, and the DOT expects airlines to sort it out. You're right: customers can't keep straight which USE flight is operated by Piedmont, Mesa, etc. let alone state whether they were on US vs USE. Unless (and we know most won't) the customer specifically states something like "I was on USXXXX PHL-ERI, operated by Piedmont, and the flight was delayed by three hours," the DOT is going to automatically assign the complaint to US if the carrier code on the flight was US or the ticket began with 037.

But read on...

CR reviews every file and looks up which airline operated the flight in question if the complaint is about a delay, as in the PHL-ERI example above. If the complaint is about an employee issue, CR determines which carrier does ground handling in that city. For example, if it is PHL, and the complaint is about an agent, CR determines if the flight was leaving from F-CON (Piedmont Employee) or elsewhere (Mainline) before assigning carrier responsibility. Then representatives from Mainline and Express review the findings and come to an agreement on the complaint code assignment before resubmitting the whole thing back to the DOT before their final numbers are run for the monthly report we're talking about in this thread.

Customer Relations (or in my day, Consumer Affairs) pours over every single complaint that comes in to determine which airline is responsible. They are the ones who "un-fuzz" the math for you and the consumer.

So, in the end, this report is as unfuzzy and as pure as possible.

This "fuzzy math" thing comes up pretty often. You'd think the folks in Tempe (or, really, in the old CCY since they didn't do it either) would have explained how complaints get assigned on the DOT's report by now, rather than relying on an ex-employee on USAV and word-of-mouth, but there it is.

 

[jimcfs]

Not sure I'm following what you're trying to say, exactly.

But if what you are wondering is how having such a large Express operation impacts our ranking...if Customer Relations is doing its job right, all complaints where Express is responsible have been filtered out and the number shown in the last place ranking is for mainline only. As are all of the other airlines' rankings for those with commuter airline partner arrangements similar to US/USE.

Is that where you were trying to go?

So Mesa's go with Mesa... Colgan with Colgan (or Pinnacle). Same with Air Whisky. Where do complaints with Piedmont or PSA go... under mainline since they are wholly owned?

Not to defend anyone here... but I recall an incident that happened to me back at PIT in the mid-90s with an Express flight. At Special Services, the agent told me this was really a contracted carrier's fault, not mainline US fault, to which I responded, but they fly under the US name, thus it really is your problem. All the agent could do is shake her head and agree with me.

 

[NCFL]

So Mesa's go with Mesa... Colgan with Colgan (or Pinnacle). Same with Air Whisky. Where do complaints with Piedmont or PSA go... under mainline since they are wholly owned?

No. They go to Piedmont or PSA. Never Mainline.

If you'll look at the actual DOT report (www.dot.gov, and look for Air Travel Consumer Report), then find the September complaint ranking chart, then scroll up a few pages, you'll see one that lists complaints by carrier by code. Some months EN and PS show up there; some months they don't. The reason for that is DOT only lists carriers on that chart if they received five or more complaints for the month.

 

[happy01]

OK, as a Flight Attendant, how would it be possible for me to update the seat assignment or document the record? Flight Attendants do not have access to passenger records on SHARES.

That being said, we do receive preliminary paperwork prior to boarding with a list of passengers who have reserved choice seats. I believe the designator is "CHOI". As Lead, I bring these seats to the attention of my fellow FAs before boarding and basically tell them that these seats are "off limits" for assisting in changes.

Now, I am sure there are some FAs out there that may not be as thorough and may move a CHOI passenger to another seat. If this is the case, the FA has no way of documenting the PNR or updating the seat assignment. If we asked a gate agent to do this, as we are closing the cabin door, we would probably be told, in so many words, to "get bent!"

It's funny you should say this, a while back I posted on here about this very issue. At work one day I was told that there was a mysterious log book kept on every flight for the flight attendants to document such issues since they don't have access to shares, and after the flight the log is turned over to the dragon lady at the hangar, but its hard to get your hands on it. So, I posted on here to find out if this was true and had a few responses telling me it wasn't and I believe a few attendants said when they get to the destination they ask the agents at the gate to update the PNR for them. I believe you when you say the would tell you to "get bent", but I was only going by what people had previously told me I wish I could find the old topic to show you.

 

[NCFL]

I'd be remiss if I didn't say this in the course of a discussion on complaints in general, and on DOT complaints specifically. I don't have a dog in this hunt any longer since I don't work for US anymore, but I do want to see the company succeed for the sake of the employees.

Trying to dismiss a complaint away because...

-it is not legimitate,
-it is circumstantial,
-it is based on false passenger perception,
-it is caused by passenger stupidity or non-compliance with XYZ rule,
-it is another work group's fault,
-it is the result of confusion between Express and Mainline,
-you're doing the best you can with the tools you have,
-etc...

is only going to perpetuate US' last place DOT ranking and foster the reputation for poor service that both US and AWA have had, independent of one another and now collectively, for years.

Employees are up against the wall having to deliver the bare-bones product management has designed. Complaint data - current and historical - states factually y'all are making it worse by delivering that product - crappy as it may be - in a way that is unacceptable to the customer.

Until you stop trying to make that service delivery someone else's fault and accept your personal responsibility for your part in creating this problem, you will continue to work for the industry loser.

And before you start chanting "I bring my 'A Game' to work every day," think about it long and hard. I could rattle off a list of names on this board that I suspect are direct contributors to this last place ranking problem, based on their attitude alone.