Friday, April 16, 2010

Boosting the Signal

Rachel D., who is disabled after a back injury, had an absolutely hideous experience flying on United recently. This wasn't just one person being careless, or even an encounter with one jerk. This is multiple bad experiences, over and over, on a single flight, involving employees from two airports as well as flight crew; it looks like evidence of a company-wide issue to me. This is inexcusable, especially the attitude of the customer service supervisor toward the end, who said right out that she wouldn't apologize for anything and didn't feel at all sorry for what'd happened to Rachel. Wow, I'll bet she aced Customer Service 101. :P

Angie

6 comments:

Bernita said...

Hers is a horrifying story of neglect and even polite abuse.
You'd think, in tough economic times, they'd emphasize customer service rather than the reverse!

Angie said...

Bernita -- and some not-so-polite abuse as well, there at the end. [nod]

And yes, you'd think politeness and service from employees, which a company could increase essentially for free, would be something they'd be scrambling to provide in a time when people have less money to spend and are taking fewer flights. Apparently United Airline has some other strategy for maintaining their business.

Angie

Suzan Harden said...

That's just sick! What? UA is now moving from breaking guitars to breaking people? Did they learn nothing from what the band Sons of Maxwell did to them?

Angie said...

Suzan -- I get the impression they're just not used to having people complain about their treatment, and being able to find a soapbox big enough for the complaints to make a difference. The internet is giving everyone access to a huge megaphone, and when customers who've been abused make use of that megaphone, the companies which abused them are all shocked. This should never have happened in the first place, but at least United got enough angry calls and e-mails that they're willing to talk to her and apologize now. [wry smile]

Angie

Suzan Harden said...

I hope UA does more than apologize to that poor girl. And I hope Rachel does file a complaint with the ADA, regardless of any apology.

*sheepish grin* Sorry, it's the ex-lawyer in me. She won't shut up sometimes.

Angie said...

Suzan -- no, I agree. [nod] If she feels up to it, I hope Rachel does hit them with an ADA violation suit. She certainly deserves something for what she went through, and a good, hard smack in the wallet is usually what a large corporation needs before it fully assimilates a clue.

Angie