The parable of the assistant manager
Really, it shouldn't be this big a deal. We gate-checked our stroller. It came out broken. The airline's at fault, right?
Well, yes, with a great big "but."
You see, according to AirTran's Richmond representative, I needed to report the damage within four hours after landing. Which in fact I tried to do. The gate-check ticket said to go to a baggage service center. Air Tran doesn't have one in Richmond. It was past 11 p.m. on Sunday night, there was no one at the ticket counter, so we decided to go home.
On the way, I called the company's 800 number. Because of inclement weather conditions at the time (Wilma was approaching Florida), the system said, please call back later if you're not traveling within the next 24 hours.
The next morning I looked up the company's customer service number, called it, and got the baggage complaints department. Even though it was 9:30 a.m., I got a recording. I left a message including my phone number, my name and my itinerary number. Just for good measure, I sent an email to the customer service line.
Nothing.
Today I called the airline's customer service number again, and was directed to someone at the Richmond counter. I called the guy, who told me I could bring the stroller in and he'd see if they could fix it. Otherwise, I was out of luck because I didn't report the damage within the first four hours of the flight.
The conversation did not go well. I pointed out that I'd tried to do so and had been thwarted. I told him I'd called the customer service number the next morning. He told me I should have read my ticket jacket (the ticket attached to the stroller just said to go to the baggage service center, which as we've established, does not exist), which would have told me to contact the airport.
I said I thought that contacting customer service should count, especially since no one got back to me. He was not impressed. Bring in the stroller, he said, but if we can't fix it, all we can maybe do is give you a discount on a future Air Tran flight. I assured him that such a discount would at this point probably go unused and hung up.
I called back customer service, which apologized, and gave me the number and email for the guy's boss. I haven't heard back from him yet, and I'm sure he'll take care of this, but it got me thinking about customer service.
Now, it's not this guy's fault that our stroller got broken. It's Air Tran's. It's not Air Tran's fault that this guy was argumentative and dismissive. It is, however, the airline's fault that it directed me to a guy with zero service skills, which basically determines whether or not the company loses a customer. (Perhaps not coincidentally, I bumped into an Air Tran employee with the same name as the guy I talked to before we left. I apologized, and he told me, "You need to watch where you're going.")
I travel a lot, so I know how this is supposed to work. I've already expended a lot more effort on this silly situation than I should have had to. They broke something that belonged to me. I tried my best to get the company to take care of the situation. And goddammit, it looks like this particular model of stroller isn't made anymore.
Okay Air Tran, if you're reading this--better figure out how to get one to my house pronto.
Well, yes, with a great big "but."
You see, according to AirTran's Richmond representative, I needed to report the damage within four hours after landing. Which in fact I tried to do. The gate-check ticket said to go to a baggage service center. Air Tran doesn't have one in Richmond. It was past 11 p.m. on Sunday night, there was no one at the ticket counter, so we decided to go home.
On the way, I called the company's 800 number. Because of inclement weather conditions at the time (Wilma was approaching Florida), the system said, please call back later if you're not traveling within the next 24 hours.
The next morning I looked up the company's customer service number, called it, and got the baggage complaints department. Even though it was 9:30 a.m., I got a recording. I left a message including my phone number, my name and my itinerary number. Just for good measure, I sent an email to the customer service line.
Nothing.
Today I called the airline's customer service number again, and was directed to someone at the Richmond counter. I called the guy, who told me I could bring the stroller in and he'd see if they could fix it. Otherwise, I was out of luck because I didn't report the damage within the first four hours of the flight.
The conversation did not go well. I pointed out that I'd tried to do so and had been thwarted. I told him I'd called the customer service number the next morning. He told me I should have read my ticket jacket (the ticket attached to the stroller just said to go to the baggage service center, which as we've established, does not exist), which would have told me to contact the airport.
I said I thought that contacting customer service should count, especially since no one got back to me. He was not impressed. Bring in the stroller, he said, but if we can't fix it, all we can maybe do is give you a discount on a future Air Tran flight. I assured him that such a discount would at this point probably go unused and hung up.
I called back customer service, which apologized, and gave me the number and email for the guy's boss. I haven't heard back from him yet, and I'm sure he'll take care of this, but it got me thinking about customer service.
Now, it's not this guy's fault that our stroller got broken. It's Air Tran's. It's not Air Tran's fault that this guy was argumentative and dismissive. It is, however, the airline's fault that it directed me to a guy with zero service skills, which basically determines whether or not the company loses a customer. (Perhaps not coincidentally, I bumped into an Air Tran employee with the same name as the guy I talked to before we left. I apologized, and he told me, "You need to watch where you're going.")
I travel a lot, so I know how this is supposed to work. I've already expended a lot more effort on this silly situation than I should have had to. They broke something that belonged to me. I tried my best to get the company to take care of the situation. And goddammit, it looks like this particular model of stroller isn't made anymore.
Okay Air Tran, if you're reading this--better figure out how to get one to my house pronto.
posted by Andrew Beaujon at 15:59
1 Comments:
A big downer for today: I think many goods are designed with a limited lifespan,ie telephones, DVD players, and things of that ilk seem to have no one able to repair them for less that what it would cost to buy a new one. I hope this doesn't apply strollers. (And even if this does apply to strollers, it doesn't diminish the airline's responsibility.)
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