US Airways: "Angry is One Of the Words We Look For"

[N965VJ]

US Airways: "Angry is One Of the Words We Look For"
By Alex Jarvis, Thu Nov 20 2008

If you are planning on flying US Airways, make sure you are either grumpy, perturbed, unhappy, or uncomfortable- anything but 'angry'. As reader James learned, 'angry' people get grounded on a No-Fly list.

James wanted to see if he could price match a ticket he bought earlier to the current, lower price. When he attempted to call customer service, he was informed that not only couldn't he match his tickets to the cheaper price, but that by describing himself as angry he would be considered a security issue. James paraphrased:

CS: "Did you say you were going to be angry on the flight?"
James: "I totally did. If I know that the guy sitting next to me spent $150 less for his seats than me, you better believe I'm not going to be happy."
CS: "Well, if you're telling me you're going to be angry I'm going to notify security."

James escalated his complaint, and the Executive Relations (ER) representitive backed up this claim:

James: "You can't tell me you're going to put me on a no-fly list because I said I was going to be grumpy on a flight."
ER: "But you said you were going to be angry, and that's one of the words we look out for."

Sounds like at least one Airline is telling it's representatives to look for very vague keywords. These could apply to anyone - I'm sure many of us have had an experience at an airport that made us angry, but that doesn't mean we qualify for a watch-list. As for price matching the tickets, there is always US airways executive customer service.

Linkage to the rest

 

[aredeeyou22]

Silly silly....

 

[4merresrat]

No, actually it is waay beyond silly. What it is is very poor customer service. This agent is a disgrace to the company. How many customers at any number of establishments are upset with the product/service and the company rep solves the problem and brings the customers around.

But not this agent (or the consumer affairs rep evidently), no, she decided to esculate the call and threaten the passenger. And now, the customer has brought this to the attention of the massess. Shame. Another example of poor service from the ground up.

 

[aredeeyou22]

To be fair, did the author solicit input from these customer service people? Is the company investigating? Did they pull a tape? Do we indeed know what was said by the passenger prior to the quoted exchange? Let's get some real information here from a factual publication. An angry blog is hardly a factual resource.

 

[freedom]

This comes down to simple logic here ....

one of the two people involved with this is a NUT JOB ....

now some think it could be the agent , but what are the chances we have a call agent who's gone so far off the deep end that their doing things way outside of the pale ? i think that's unlikely ...in another time , and another place we could give more weight to the possibility that we have a loony call agent , but in TODAYS economy there's NO one out there who wants to chance losing their job ... so in all likelihood we can assume the pax agent was acting rationally ... besides , i find it hard to believe that after answering phone call after phone call the agent would "snap and go irrational ""

Now as for the pax themselves ... what kind of person becomes so disgruntled that they take said incident public ? now YES it is sometimes within reason for people to publicize certain events , but usually these people are not like others , their stand out types , overly egotistical , forward , pushy ... etc they have an abundance of personality or identity if you would ... now i ask the reader to think of an irrationally angry person that you've had the experience of knowing in your life , because we all know one at sometime or another , do they take things "lying down " so to speak or do they raise a fire storm .....

in theory without my knowing the facts , i'm more apt to assume that the PAX was so annoyed , peeved and angry that the agent on the phone began to worry about the mental health of the pax and if it could possibly pose a threat ... and in some instances it's important to go with your gut feeling rather than ingnore common sense because policy dictates one to do so .

 

[4merresrat]

Addresssing the above posters question regarding what kind of customer takes a complaint like this public?

Well, the old saying, something about if a person is satisfied with the service of a company they will tell one person, and if a person is dissatisfied they will tell 15! It is very common for people to voice their complaints, and loudly; starting Web sites etc about their issues.

But in this case I think the customer had a valid reason; he was threatened by an employee regarding putting him on a No Fly List. That was uncalled for at the least. And shows a complete lack of skill on the reps part.

 

[freedom]

mmm , i just don't see it ..

As i stated before , in today's job economy , it's unlikely that a worker would do anything out of the norm that could jeopardize their job .. people everywhere are scared about layoff's .. and people know there are little if any jobs out there to go to .. people are playing their job performance safe , or close to the chest if you would ...

what you mind find interesting is how amazing it is when you think about human behavior and self interest ... people in very very large numbers rarely go against their own personal best interests , in this case doing something that could jepordize their job .... i could for instance run back and forth on the free way , but i don't because it's not in my best interests ....

or i could show up to work completely hammered , but i don't because it's not in my best interests ....

now on the OTHER hand , the pax has little to lose from behaving irrationally , in fact it could almost be to their benefit to sound agrevied .. how many times have we read a travel article that as a tip explains that a little emotion might get one a more beneficial result like money off or a voucher ....

 

[NCFL]

But not this agent (or the consumer affairs rep evidently)...

This agent and these people are SO not Consumer Affairs material. The Consumer Affairs professionals of yesteryear that actually cared about the affairs of the company's consumers would have likely...
- not made such an asinine comment in the first place,
- resolved it at the first point of contact with a thorough, personalized and substantive reply,
- not tossed a voucher or a waiver on it hoping it would go away and not come back,
- not needed escalation to "executive relations,"
- taken ownership of the problem so the customer wouldn't have felt compelled to go into the blogosphere (or to the DOT, for that matter).

I'm not at all trying to call you on the carpet, 4merresrat, but the correct term for the group of complaint handlers you're referring to is Customer Relations.

people are playing their job performance safe , or close to the chest if you would ...

now on the OTHER hand , the pax has little to lose from behaving irrationally , in fact it could almost be to their benefit to sound agrevied .. how many times have we read a travel article that as a tip explains that a little emotion might get one a more beneficial result like money off or a voucher ....

This is so out of touch, it almost isn't worth responding to.
So what you're saying is, in essence, "There's no way the employee did this and it's the customer's fault."
How old USAir (and I mean the AL orange/red/rust era) can you get?

I've seen enough of these to know that the truth is, as with most things in the world, somewhere in the middle. Neither the agent nor the customer was as pure-as-the-virgin-snow as each thinks he or she was. And I'll bet the perceived "security threat" from the pax and the ridiculous agent comments described in the blog are also exaggerations of the truth.

 

[freedom]

This is so out of touch, it almost isn't worth responding to.
So what you're saying is, in essence, "There's no way the employee did this and it's the customer's fault."
How old USAir (and I mean the AL orange/red/rust era) can you get?

I've seen enough of these to know that the truth is, as with most things in the world, somewhere in the middle. Neither the agent nor the customer was as pure-as-the-virgin-snow as each thinks he or she was. And I'll bet the perceived "security threat" from the pax and the ridiculous agent comments described in the blog are also exaggerations of the truth.

you are completely discounting my "economic" element of the situation ... Where are our call centers based ? RENO springs to mind , and when we think of Nevada we think of , foreclosures , job losses , etc ...

Now do you honestly mean to tell me that, in theory , if this call agent is calling from RNO a city that is most obviously going to be hard up for jobs that the agent is going to go looney or wacko on ANY pax ?

JOBS ARE HARD TO COME BY!!!!!!!!! no one and i mean NO ONE unless their a nub job is going to do ANYTHING to jeopardize their job ....

the pax doesn't have to worry about feeding their family ....

now yes , maybe we've got some nut job worker there , but looking at this , without knowing all of the facts it is FAR FAR more likely that the PAX who has no vested personal interest OTHER THAN their plane ticket is most likely the one to fly off the handle and behave irrationally because they have THE LEAST TO LOSE ....

logic .....

 

[aredeeyou22]

Addresssing the above posters question regarding what kind of customer takes a complaint like this public?

Well, the old saying, something about if a person is satisfied with the service of a company they will tell one person, and if a person is dissatisfied they will tell 15! It is very common for people to voice their complaints, and loudly; starting Web sites etc about their issues.

But in this case I think the customer had a valid reason; he was threatened by an employee regarding putting him on a No Fly List. That was uncalled for at the least. And shows a complete lack of skill on the reps part.

Again, you have a one sided little snippet from a supposed conversation that transpired, with absolutely no facts whatsoever. Produce the tapes, or get the two agents sides of the story. Something.

Otherwise, gimme a break.

 

[NCFL]

nub job

logic .....

As I was typing a reply to your post, I remembered one of the lessons of a certain fellowship to which I belong: "You don't have to attend every fight to which you are invited." I think I'll employ that advice in your case and just stop replying to your nonsense. Doing so will no doubt have a positive effect on my serenity.

 

[kicked2curb]

you are completely discounting my "economic" element of the situation ... Where are our call centers based ? RENO springs to mind , and when we think of Nevada we think of , foreclosures , job losses , etc ...

Now do you honestly mean to tell me that, in theory , if this call agent is calling from RNO a city that is most obviously going to be hard up for jobs that the agent is going to go looney or wacko on ANY pax ?

JOBS ARE HARD TO COME BY!!!!!!!!! no one and i mean NO ONE unless their a nub job is going to do ANYTHING to jeopardize their job ....

the pax doesn't have to worry about feeding their family ....

now yes , maybe we've got some nut job worker there , but looking at this , without knowing all of the facts it is FAR FAR more likely that the PAX who has no vested personal interest OTHER THAN their plane ticket is most likely the one to fly off the handle and behave irrationally because they have THE LEAST TO LOSE ....

logic .....

Maybe the the reservation sales representative was in Manilla or Mexico City?

 

[sharktooth]

you are completely discounting my "economic" element of the situation ... Where are our call centers based ? RENO springs to mind , and when we think of Nevada we think of , foreclosures , job losses , etc ...

Now do you honestly mean to tell me that, in theory , if this call agent is calling from RNO a city that is most obviously going to be hard up for jobs that the agent is going to go looney or wacko on ANY pax ?

JOBS ARE HARD TO COME BY!!!!!!!!! no one and i mean NO ONE unless their a nub job is going to do ANYTHING to jeopardize their job ....

the pax doesn't have to worry about feeding their family ....

now yes , maybe we've got some nut job worker there , but looking at this , without knowing all of the facts it is FAR FAR more likely that the PAX who has no vested personal interest OTHER THAN their plane ticket is most likely the one to fly off the handle and behave irrationally because they have THE LEAST TO LOSE ....

logic .....

Sir,

I think you have come completely unhinged. While that is not unseemly for most any Tempe tot, it belittles the discourse here.

In your world it is way too easy to diminish the client instead of the hard work of criticizing the corrupt and, frankly, idiotic, policies of your own company. Your comments remind me of the core of stories about every failing company, blame the customer. Comments like yours almost guarantee failure.

Instead of making an easy process of quick transport from A to B, you add in belittlement of a customer who uses your facilities infrequently, not to mention the security theatre they must transit and the insult of paying sky-high fees for things that used to be included. Add in a dose of Tempe STFU and you still wonder to where the customers have gone? Are you daft?

The high dollar customer, the one that used to pay for the operating costs, is gone, preferring to charter, for about the same price, a jet where the customer is "job one". Your job should be to interface with the moronically imposed interface so as to make a customer feel they are "job one" and not support moronic interface imposers from Tempe.

It will likely hurt your head initially, but, with practice, you will be surprised at the positive changes you can make.

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> when we think of Nevada we think of , foreclosures , job losses , etc ...

When I think of Nevada I see cocktail waitresses in skimpy outfits bringing me comped bottles of Bud, video poker, and flyers advertising escort services with blonde Asian ladies.

 

[Furloughd4now]

When I think of Nevada I see cocktail waitresses in skimpy outfits bringing me comped bottles of Bud, video poker, and flyers advertising escort services with blonde Asian ladies.

You obviously haven't been to Reno lately. some of their cocktail waitresses make some of our FAs look like teenagers.

There will always be a spin on both sides. This customer (or former) most likely called with their guard-up, ready for a fight. Granted, if the agent's response was as pointed as stated, something should be done from our end. However, most likely, the customer could have made the exchange so heated that there was no alternative. There are 2 sides here.

They need to pull the tapes, if there was wrongdoing on our part, fix it. If it wasn't no-fly the guy.

People are just nasty these days all across the board. :down:

ps. I thought we would honor a lower price? (If the ticket was already purchased and the fare went down)