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The 10 Most Annoying Passengers, As Told by a Flight Attendant {Lemondrop}
Jul 7th 2009 12:31PM Glenn, I made it clear that I do not blame the attendants. However, while I wouldn't have used "J"'s language or tone, I do have to agree with his sentiments. Overall crappy service and crappy space/comfort (for what I pay) and then the flight attendant wants *us* to go out of our way to be nice? While I'm not, nor would I advocate being, rude to them, I'm also not inclined to go out of my way to make nice to the employees of an industry that for years has been getting worse with it's treatment of paying customers.
And as to prices...the deregulation issue is a whole other argument, but for my family of 3 I still have to shell out in the thousands for a round-trip to, say, upstate New York to visit family. Say $500-700 per person, that's $1500-2100. For that I get a seat the size of an elementary school desk chair, no meal, no legroom, no refund if I can't make the trip, no ability to change flights if plans change, no courtesy from most of the employees in the chain, and no real expectation of being on-time.
Forgive me if I'm not in the candy giving mood. I am polite to the attendants, but I certainly do NOT think they are getting the bad end of the deal. No one at the airline is...they give third-rate service for what I pay them, and the overall flying experience these days is so crappy that I avoid it if at all possible. Maybe, just *maybe* if the airlines tried a little harder to remember that, first and foremost, they are in the *CUSTOMER SERVICE* business...and acted accordingly...I'd be a bit more sympathetic to the aggravations of their employees. They say it's not their fault (employees up and down the scale at airlines), but it is...they *ARE* the airline. The put on that uniform and insignia, and thus are each representatives of their company, and I'm sorry to say but they are judged by the performance of their airline just as their airline is judged by their performance.
If they can't handle that, or can't handle decent customer service, maybe a different career is what they need.
The 10 Most Annoying Passengers, As Told by a Flight Attendant {Lemondrop}
Jul 7th 2009 11:34AM While I agree with some of your list, I really wish the airline industry would see things from the customer's perspective. While I don't blame the flight attendants, they are working for an industry whose customer service has going down the toilet.
Non-refundable tickets. Exorbitant prices. Rude personnel all up and down the spectrum. Cramped, tiny seats that get smaller and smaller with each passing year. Poor timeliness. Non-existent meals/amenities (I understand budget cuts, but your industry doesn't understand the value of my dollar).
Here's an example for you...United Airlines. I flew from Honolulu to Midland, TX for a job interview (in a town about 90 miles from Midland, but it was the closest airport). Due to delays, we missed our connection from Dallas to Midland, and were told there was nothing available until the next day (*after* my interview), so we had to drive (no refund, and a lukewarm apology at best). But hey, I wanted the job and I'm a big boy, I figured I could handle it, and it didn't cost me any more (the company interviewing me picked up the tab).
I took the job...and two months later I'm making the same trip on the same airline, this time to move there. Military booked it, as I was retiring from the Navy and it was my move-home trip. This time, due to our pets having to go on a different airline (United doesn't have climate-controlled cargo, and it was July), we *wanted* to cut our flight short in Dallas, pick up our pets and my car (which was shipped there by the Navy) and drive to our new home. As we had a layover/plane change in Dallas, all we needed was for the airline to simply mark our luggage to get off in Dallas...they could keep/resell the Dallas-Midland leg, I didn't want to use it, but the Navy had already bought it.
I asked the person at check-in to mark my luggage to get off in Dallas, and when asked why explained my situation and that I was not going to use the second leg of the ticket. This turned into a major issue, as we were told we'd have to repurchase the entire trip (at significantly higher prices, and out of pocket), that we simply couldn't get off the plane and not use that second leg, it was just not allowed. Funny, when it was the airline's screwup, they didn't care one bit that we did the *exact same thing*, but now it was a major hassle.
So...I ended up just keeping the tickets, and when we got to Dallas we left, got our pets/car, and drove to our destination...swinging by the Midland airport to pick up the luggage that, of course, flew on without us.
We later get contacted, as they are very upset that we didn't use the remainder of our flight, and even chastised me by saying that if we'd have let them know, they could have sold the seats. I was really angry at this, as *I did let them know* and they wouldn't work with me. What I wanted to do did not cost them any more money, in fact they could have pocketed the money and sold the seats again (I didn't care). An now they are annoyed at me?!?
This is just one example of many that I and my family personally have of poor/rude service from an airline. So while I see your points, I have a really hard time mustering up a huge amount of sympathy, considering you work for an industry that tops the list in poor value, poor service, poor quality, and a demonstrated lack of concern for doing it's job adequately. I'm not looking for first-class treatment in coach...I'd settle for third-class treatment. What your industry provides is barely civil and barely competent. Which is why I don't mind driving unless it's overseas
Ask the Readers: iPhone games you can play with your own music? {TUAW.com}
Aug 3rd 2008 4:36PM Yes...I've even tested it out to the tune of "Don't Fear The Reaper"...got some strange looks at work, but I had a fever and the only cure was more cowbell!
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