Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Business, Communication Strategy, Context, Culture, Customer Service, Empathy, Equality, Honesty, Perspective
Following on from yesterday’s post this is about the return trip from London to Amsterdam.
This has nothing to do with British Airways [though I was very politely asked if I could put my hand luggage in the hold as the plane was full and I was happy to help] and everything to do with London City Airport.
Look, I fly a lot.
I have flown a lot for at least 20 years.
And one of the things I absolutely loathe is the X-Ray machine.
Shoes off. Belts off. All electronic items separated into a different tray.
It’s a pain. It’s even more of a pain than the treatment you get at the hands of American and Australian immigration.
But I get it.
It’s for our own safety.
It’s to keep everyone protected.
And while some airports have systems that seem to be designed for inefficiency rather than traffic flow, we always get there in the end – even if you get stopped to have your bag more thoroughly checked.
So on the day I was flying back to Amsterdam, the airport was pretty busy.
Because of that, the X-Ray machine was working overtime and there ended up being quite a lot of bags that needed an additional check.
The 2 people in charge of this were kind, courteous and – from my perspective – quick.
However it seems there a bunch of people who had a different view to mine because I saw this …
Now I get companies wanting to get a gauge on their audiences experience.
I even get companies being interested in their audiences specific commentary.
But to offer a presentation pad for people to write their comments on, in clear view of the actual staff, is either motivational evil, or team building ignorance.
Personally I thought putting a digital ‘rate your experience’ board there for people to press, was good enough … but that extra mile actually ended up being more about the impatience of some passengers than the quality of airport security.
I get us Brits like to complain, but this presentation pad is like the definition of passive aggressiveness and yet it appears people have forgotten WHY we have these things in place.
It’s for everyone’s safety.
It’s for everyone’s wellbeing.
It’s for everyone to be able to look forward to where they’re going.
Quite frankly, that pad really pissed me off … so I daren’t imagine how it must have affected the staff.
Should there have been more than 2 people allocated to double check baggage?
Maybe … but what pisses me off is the commentary isn’t about how they did, but how much the passenger felt put out.
Were any planes hijacked that day? Nope.
Were any planes blown up that day? Nope.
That means the people did their job well and so maybe next time people go to the airport, they remember ‘good service’ isn’t always about your individual expectations being met, but whether you can board your next flight with a greater degree of confidence you’ll get to your destination than if there wasn’t anyone looking out for you.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Business, Communication Strategy, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Customer Service, Insight, Management, Marketing Fail, Standards, Stubborness, Tourism
So a few weeks ago, I was in Amsterdam and about to fly to London.
I was quite excited because apart from going ‘home’ for the first time in well over a year – even if it was just for 18 hours – I was going to fly into London City airport for the first time and I was interested to see it.
OK, that’s not why I had chosen to pay the higher fair – I had to be in the city at a specific time – and so that airport made things super convenient for me.
About 30 minutes before we were going to board, a member of British Airways came up to me and asked …
“Mr Campbell, would you be interested in catching a later flight that lands at Heathrow. We will provide you with a €25 voucher if you do.”
Now for those of you who don’t know, Heathrow Airport is not in the middle of London and while it is obviously well served with transport links, it’s a much longer journey and probably costs more than the €25 they were offering.
Because of this, I asked …
“Does anyone ever accept that offer?”
The representative looked at me rather sarcastically and said …
“Yes, lots of people actually”.
Now maybe I was a bit jet-lagged.
Or maybe I just didn’t choose the right words.
But I found myself replying with …
“That must explain why you’re no longer the World’s favourite airline”.
OK, that was a majorly dick move, but I still can’t work out how an airline thinks it’s OK to offer an alternative flight that goes to a completely different airport and a voucher that doesn’t come close to covering the higher price I’d paid for my ticket [so I could fly to that specific airport], let alone the probable cost of getting into the city from this new destination.
I get things change and alternative plans have to be made, but brands need to remember that the best way to deal with screwing up is to offer a genuine level of compensation, not something that literally rubs salt into the wounds.
Have they learnt nothing from their war with Virgin?