When I was in my late 20's I worked for TWA in the reservations department. I was only there for about 9 months because the pay was so miniscule, but in that amount of time, I learned how to deal with the public in amazing ways. Now back then, our calls were not only monitored, but we had time limits on each call as well. That makes it pretty tough to get all "warm and friendly". But I have a strange gift (amongst all my other talents). I am a mimic. Yep. I can mimic an accent within 4 seconds of hearing it. So by accepting calls from all over the country, I was able to start talking like the caller without seeming to mock them or sound strange. I'd get the Kentuckian who'd ask me where I was from? "California, suhh?" "Mah goodniss, ah thawt ya was frum rahht nixt dooah" "Yup, sahh" and so it went. I went very quickly to being rated number 2 in an office of 200 souls, all doing the same thing, making airplane reservations, answering stupid questions, etc. And as a res agent, we had to know EVERYTHING. We had a HUGE manual we kept near our consoles and it was added to daily by updates, policy changes, eventually just becoming shredder fodder. But you never knew if the next caller would ask THE QUESTION THAT YOU COULDN'T INSTANTLY ANSWER WHILE BEING MONITORED. Ooooh. Busted.
During my tenure at TWA, katrillionaire and asshole extraordinaire Carl Icahn owned the airline. I remember hearing about him buying a 1.5 million dollar racehorse as I was staring at my check reflecting on the $6.75 an hour less taxes and the partial payment for TWA school. Later on I learnt that making people pay to go to school to work for a specific company is illegal, but good ol Carl looked at humans and saw dollar signs. (I went bankrupt on his ass anyway.) Every policy they enacted seemed to whittle down our earnings potential. I also found out after I quit that the New York res office was making double what we were. I could have stayed and enjoyed the benefits of almost free travel and actually had some money to spend once we got to where ever. But such was not to be. I did get a RT flight to NYC and took my folks to London, their first out of the US experience (besides Tijuana), so I guess I got my money's worth.
But I digress. The point of this particular blog is to tell a different story. As some of you have followed, we got stuck in NYC this last December because of the GREAT BIG BLIZZARD. (Truckee and Tahoe residents would laugh their asses off) Our going home flight was delayed twice because of no visibility/ice/whatever. Fine with me, another night was no big whoop. But after the second cancellation, I tried for four hours to ring the airline, to no avail. I wasn't even allowed to HOLD! Just booted off. So I wrote them a frantic e-mail. No response until the next day, another night in NY. (Still no big whoop, really, we were having a fine time.) Finally, a nice lady called from the airline and told me that we would not be able to get another flight until the 1st. And now with a 45 minute plane change in Long Beach. HUH? January 1st? Another 5 days? We were originally booked to go home on the 26th. Yikes. But I'd looked at other airlines and they were all booked up, too, some until the 7th, and because we had no advance purchase, we'd have to buy one-way tickets at the price of at least 1 grand each. The hotel was completely understanding in our plight, made me a deal on the remaining days because New Year's eve rack rate is normally $600.00. DOUBLE YIKES! As it was they only charged me an addl $1100 which was mighty Christian of them. They could have said tough luck and we'd have been trolling the streets of NYC (Which was filling up with New Year's eve revelers from all over the world) trying to find shelter. I did the math and even despite the extra thousand, it was still worth it to stay. So again, a bit of pissiness, but no super big whoop. Same nice room, same fun stuff, good eats, extra time with the kids, all was right with the world. We made our flight on the 1st, got home and both of us immediately got sick. Yucky whoop.
Now I am getting to a point here, really. During my illness I had a bit of time to fester on the airline situation. We got bumped from the next logical flight, which would have been on the 7pm nonstop on the 28th. They put us on a flight for next year. Hmmm. Other people must have screamed loud to get some compensation, especially ones who had to sleep in the airport. What about me? It still cost the big buck to stay in the city, I was screwed, too. (whimper, whimper, heheh) So in a fit of "justice for all" I called the res office to see what they could do for me. The first agent I got was a piece of work. This woman should NEVER be working with the public in ANY capacity. After politely explaining our situation to her, with righteous indignation she asked me "Do you want me to believe that you expected the airline to remove those lucky passengers who had booked their tickets months in advance and now had flights already booked for the 28th to put YOU on the plane?" huh? Well, yeah, I did. I guess I'm selfish that way. I booked my flights months before as well. I replied to the agent "I was looking for some sort of compensation for the money I had to spend staying in the city..." She immediately suggested I go to the website and "write my complaints to my little heart's content" in the "contact us space". I told her I used to work for TWA and we never treated passengers that way. She loudly repeated her original disbelief that I would be SO STUPID as to think that they would simply bump already ticketed passengers to accommodate me. She said that the airline had fulfilled their responsibility by putting us on the next AVAILABLE flight. She then told me she was ending the call and promptly hung up on me. WOW. People gotta know, you DO NOT EVER HANG UP ON ME. I was not using vulgarities or calling her mother names. Yes, my voice had reached fever pitch, but that was a response to her nastiness. A call back was definitely in order. Next "available flight" be damned.
I took a few calming breaths and redialed. I immediately asked for a supervisor, only because I didn't want to have to go thru the same crap. The agent asked for our res number, and I again explained the situation. She immediately put me on hold to find a supervisor. She came back on after a short bit and said that she would have to look for another supervisor, the one she just talked to wasn't too sympathetic. Huh? Another hold, and then success. Without going through a lot of wordy detail, I eventually got exactly what I wanted. Two free roundtrip flights to wherever the airline travelled to. And this agent was so sweet. She totally sympathized, she was patient, she was just a pleasure to deal with. Even if I hadn't gotten exactly what I wanted, I simply couldn't holler at her. She was just too kind. I immediately kicked off a complimentary e-mail on the website, making sure to spell her name right. I know those commendation letters are important. I still have a file full of them from TWA.
This morning I had some time to reflect on what makes good customer service. Why do I take my car to the most expensive garage in the county? Because I know these guys will do it right in the first place, not treat me like a dipshit, and do little free favors for me between times. (Reference Rat Nest in My Engine on fb) Why do I shop online at Zappos for shoes? Because shipping is free both ways and I can try the shoes on in the comfort of my home. I know they pad the price, but it's worth it for me. Why do I shop at local boutiques instead of driving 45 minutes down the hill to the department stores? Because the salespeople treat me like a welcome guest. They are beyond polite. They are gracious and helpful and make shopping (which I really detest) a pleasure. These things make commerce palatable. The following does not...
My bank was bought up by another large bank (rhymes with lack of GRACE). They recently sent me a booklet announcing their new fee structure. Free checking is a thing of the past. But it mentioned "linking" accounts to avoid being feed. Ok, so I called them. Got some sort of outsourced call center, think it may be India, but not really sure. The first guy I talked to gave me a run around of epic proportions. I had a headache after the call was completed and was not sure if he did what I thought he said he did....decided to call again to make sure. This second guy was all "Yes maam!" I don't think he understood a word of what I was saying, but when I asked him if my accounts were indeed linked, he replied with a cheery but vacuous "Yes maam!" Alrighty then. I guess I will wait to see if I have been wrongfully feed on my upcoming statement and them just take my lazy ass into the bank and bitch to the manager.
People gripe about outsourcing all the time. I don't necessarily agree with keeping all manufacturing jobs in the US. This country is addicted to cheap Chinese and Malaysian goods. The middle class could never afford to shop for US made merchandise even if the workers were paid minimum wage to make them. And judging by all the cheap knockoffs of designer purses we saw on Canal street in NYC that were being sold in droves, the situation is just going to get worse for those in the goods producing industries. But I have A BIG PROBLEM with the outsourcing of important call-center jobs, such as in banking and finance. This is my MONEY we're talking about, and just like I DON'T GET HUNG UP ON, I DON'T LIKE MY MONEY MESSED WITH. No matter how many times the agent asks me if there's anything else he can be doing to be helping me on this fine day, I just don't quite believe he has helped me at all. I have an idea to improve customer service in these important industries, that if taken up on, would bring all those jobs back to our shores, pronto. Big Banker CEO dude, listen up, consumer talking to you. Instead of "managing your portfolio online" or "having your administrative assistant (or "admin" as it's shortened to now) take care of it for you", do yourself a favor. Call your own damn call center with an important question. Write down the answer and then call it again. See if the second person gives you the same answer. I'll bet you your ergonomic desk chair that they don't. Try it for a third time just for kicks. Three's the charm....usually, but I'll betcha not in this instance. I'll be taking your marbled desk, too. And your admin.
No comments:
Post a Comment