Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
Taking the article at face value, you believe that the airline canceling flights and NOT informing the passenger is doing the right thing? I don't think that it should take 3 hours on the phone to try and sort out travel plans.
This isn't about the cost of the ticket - as the article says - it is more about customer service (or lack thereof). What if the customer had not checked on her return times until the day before traveling? Why should she? She has entered into a contract with said airline for transportation at a price that the airline has set. How would the airlines handle the exact same scenario if it were the consumer (see examples in the article)
Let's not kid ourselves about the quality of airline customer service though and some of the rules that the traveling public deal with. I mean come one....these rules are put into place by the same management teams that are suggested to be feathered and tarred on this forum all the time, but now they are to be defended because the big, bad, and stupid traveling public expect service? I'm sure many of us expect service whether we are eating at Wendy's or the fanciest restaurant in town too.
USMCFLYR
I agree that airlines have slipped at all levels of customer service. Before I was with a 121 operator I used shake my head at having to phonetically spell my name over the phone to the Indian customer service agent at United Airlines. However, you get what you pay for. If the airlines charged a fare that would encompass the cost of hiring labor and amenities to provide a premium product no one in America would fly. A $500 RT coast to coast ticket was great in 1980 when JetA was $.45/gal, now it's $500 RT w/JetA @ $3.15/gal. Something's got to give, and that means Flo at the counter is doing the work of 3 agents. That = grumpy and a bad experience for the expectant and already agitated customer.