RockCheetah

Story of Two Deaf & Blind, but Mostly Dumb Airlines

Robert Cole

This post is not about physically challenged people. It deals with two airlines that lack souls.


photo credit: Wolfgang Wildner

The Who's traumatized Tommy became Deaf, Dumb and Blind. Airlines have no right to share that excuse. Remember, Tommy ended with his followers declaring 'We're not gonna take it'

Delta Airlines and US Airways put me through hell last week. The good news was, as an experienced traveler, I knew exactly what to do as the various obstacles arose.

The bad news was, it seemed I was thwarted at every step by the carriers in my endeavor to have an uneventful Silicon Valley business trip. I could not fathom the potential outcome for a typical, or heaven-forbid, inexperienced traveler.

Dementors are Real
If Delta and US Airways were cast as characters in the world of Harry Potter, they would easily be typecast as Dementors.

For the half-dozen people on the planet that have not read the engaging series of books or viewed the movies, author J.K. Rowling has character Remus Lupin explain Dementors in The Prisoner of Azkaban:

Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth… they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them… Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you.

If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself… soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life.

That perfectly characterizes my feelings following most of my interactions with Delta and US Airways.

The Sordid Chain of Events

I used Orbitz to book an outbound 7:10am flight from Milwaukee to San Jose with a connection in Minneapolis. The scheduled 11:30am arrival would allow an early afternoon client meeting. The afternoon return two days later was booked on US Airways as I was headed to Houston.

It all started with some severe overnight thunderstorms. Orbitz was kind enough to send me a flight notification at 4:30am that my flight had been delayed by over two hours to 9:15am. This delay would cause a mis-connect for the flight to San Jose. Every second wasted would reduce my options.

Enter Scene: An Airline that “Gets It”

Even though it was now less than 30 minutes prior to departure, not only was the Southwest ticket agent extremely efficient, but she also contacted the gate to alert them of my pending arrival. Even more amazingly, she even insisted on carrying my bag to TSA screening so I could save a few steps – this was particularly impressive because she was quite petite and hauling bags was definitely not part of her formal job description.

Key point of differentiation – Southwest encourages their staff to bend the rules if it can positively impact a customer’s experience. And that approach works. It wins hearts, minds and dollars.

How did Southwest benefit? First, by making certain I made the flight, they not only earned incremental revenue, but a decent margin as I paid more for my one-way ticket on Southwest than my original booking on Delta. Southwest’s critics might pipe up that by not charging for bags, Southwest was leaving money on the table. Not so in my case.

When I arrived at the gate, boarding had already begun. The gate agent offered a $25 upgrade to Business Select, which would allow me to cut to the front of the boarding line, get a drink coupon and earn a few extra Rapid Rewards credits. The upgrade fee would also cover my connecting flight. The decision was incredibly easy – of course I upgraded.

Considering that Delta was charging me $23 to check a bag, the Southwest upgrade offer represented substantially greater consumer value – I derived a personal benefit as opposed to incurring a deficit by paying Delta to check a bag. Because I had morning flights, I didn’t even use the drink coupons – aside from the paper printed to print the coupon, and perhaps an allocation for the fractional rewards credit, Southwest incurred no incremental variable cost related to my upgrade. More importantly, Southwest profited and they had a happy customer.

Next Challenge: Squeezing Blood from a Stone

But alas, the saga was not yet over – I still needed to contact Delta and get a refund on my outbound flight segments.

What could possibly cause a refund to take so long, when my credit card was originally charged within seconds for the original sale? The response was that there was a process that needed to be followed. Between you & me, I had pretty much assumed that a process was involved… My interest was the part of that process that could cause such an extended delay. I guess I will never know.

Despite still needing to periodically check my credit card statement to confirm receipt of the credit, it looked like the worst had passed. In retrospect, how could I have been so naive?

Social Media Engagement Estrangement

With a few minutes to spare in the Las Vegas airport waiting for my San Jose connection, decided that I should share some kudos for Southwest and perhaps a snarky barb at Delta on Twitter. Tweeted: “Words cannot express my deep affection for @SouthwestAir. Especially after the complete #FAIL by @Delta this morning.”

Much to my delight, about six minutes later, @Delta responded “@RobertKCole We’re here to listen. Pls DM us with what happened.”

One obstacle. As @Delta was not following me, I could not direct message them, so I asked for clarification: “@Delta You requested that I DM you. Unfortunately, you didn’t follow me, so I can’t. I’m happy to post the issues publicly if you like #FAIL.”

@Delta quickly apologized for the confusion and asked that I follow their customer care account @DeltaAssist.

Over the next few minutes, I direct messaged eight more tweets describing the challenges I had encountered.

@DeltaAssist replied “Did you want a refund on the unused part of your ticket?” Given that I started my direct messages with my PNR, this was a fairly good indication that @DeltaAssist never actually reviewed that PNR.

Finally, I received @DeltaAssist’s concluding reply of “I’m glad you made your meetings, though I’m sorry that we nearly caused you not to. I’ll try to see if I can push the refund up for you.”

This exchange, while eliciting an apology, actually underscores the fundamental challenges with Delta’s customer engagement strategy:

First, is Delta’s statement that they are “here to listen.” Customers don’t just want someone to listen, they want solutions. Look at the Twitter handle: @DeltaAssist – That indicates an intent to provide assistance. A more beneficial response would have been – your refund is being processed today – or tomorrow – or any particular definitive date.

Also, the ability to expedite a refund also begs the question of exactly how much padding is included in the standard refund process to benefit Delta from the funds float?

This would be the last time I interacted with @Delta or @DeltaAssist. More on that a bit later…

The Empire Strikes Back

Eighteen hours before my return flight, I logged on to USAirways.com to check-in; accessed my PNR, selected Check-In and … received an error. Apparently this saga would have a sequel…

I was told that I could try calling Delta and have them release the ticket. If I then still received the error message, I could call back US Airways to investigate. A second option was that I could simply check-in at the ticket counter and my PNR would have a notation that I should receive the lower online bag fee as opposed to the higher amount assessed for bags paid at the ticket counter.

Unable to reach Delta and tied up with Saturday morning and afternoon appointments, I figured I would simply follow the suggestion of US Airways and check-in at the airport.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back to the Airport

Cue the Theme from Jaws… Running late from my Saturday meeting, I managed to arrive at the US Airways ticket counter 70 minutes before my flight.

The US Airways agent advised me that my reservation had been cancelled because Delta had refunded the ticket – Not just the outbound Delta legs, but the return on US Airways as well. (Dumb) My only option would be to buy a new ticket – at a walk-up price as opposed to the original ticket value. It was my choice to see if Delta could transfer my previous payment and/or cover the difference.

By coincidence (conspiracy theorists, please apply your own interpretation) the moment I reached a Supervisor, the line dropped. My phone retained its connection, so the disconnection apparently originated toward the Delta end of the line. As the agent had not confirmed my contact number at the beginning of the session, there was no opportunity for the supervisor to contact me.

As a result, with valuable time wasted, I informed the US Airways ticket agent that the line had dropped and was trying to re-connect, but to let me know when I needed to buy the new ticket to make the flight. She acknowledged the request by saying “OK.” I continued to remain standing at an adjacent, empty position at the US Airways ticket counter, waiting for Delta to answer.

So What’s My Beef with US Airways?

Her reaction to my comment was surreal… “It’s too late for you to make that flight… It departs in 30 minutes.” (Dumb)

I did not curse. I did not rant. I calmly advised her that it was actually now 31 minutes prior to flight departure and asked if she was out of her mind. She did not reply. I took that as a yes.

Shaking her head, she confessed that with 30 minutes left to board the flight, she didn’t think the computer would accept a ticket purchase. I asked her to try – she was surprised to see that the system responded with inventory availability. I’m not exactly sure what she was doing for the next 5 minutes of staring at the screen and periodically punching keys, but she finally said that it was too late to sell a ticket and make the flight.

It is still difficult to understand why the same process that took Southwest under two minutes with less than 25 minutes left to flight time took Delta more than 7 minutes with 32 minutes before the flight departed.

The inexplicable lack of attention / contrition / resolution was profound. She simply asked to help the next person in line as there were no connections that would get me to my destination that evening.

Like her fellow Dementors, that agent sucked the life out of me and moved onto her next victim, an inexperienced flyer with two identical bags – one slightly over the weight allowance, the other well under the weight allowance. That would have been an expensive rookie packing error if I hadn’t suggested that he balance the loads as I left the counter…

I eventually arrived at my destination the next morning, nine hours late, managing about 3 hours sleep between the connecting flights.

All is Not Lost

I’m not cynical enough to believe that Delta and US Airways are beyond redemption. It will not be easy and there is no indication where or how a champion for the customer might arise. What gives me hope? Emily. A Cincinatti-based Delta Customer Service Supervisor.

I left out an important aspect of that excruciatingly long 91 minute call with that Delta supervisor to arrange my return flight to Houston.

Emily made the decision to allow me to fly at no charge on my return flight. It was a one-stop red-eye, but it was also the first flight on any carrier that would get me to my destination most quickly.

She fundamentally recognized that I had already paid extra to reach my outbound destination in a timely manner and that I would be paying a much higher one-way fare if I was forced to book the return independently. She also understood that if I had been able to communicate with Delta in real time, using conventional methods, the vast majority of my problems could have been avoided.

She was the first, and only Delta employee I encountered who proactively determined a course of action and saw it through to completion. In every other situation, I either had to specifically request action by Delta or was required to personally take action to complete a task.

Emily also hung in there with me the full time – refusing to simply transfer me to the refund department. She aggressively sought resolution to the issue and would not abandon me until there was closure. She was empathetic, informative, but mostly determined to make certain that I was in good shape from both a financial and itinerary perspective before we parted company.

Emily did a great job, she immediately established reasonable expectations, ensured she had a method to reach me if we got disconnected, engaged expert resources that could work the issue, and provided status updates on a regular basis on the progress being made. She listened to the issue, researched the facts, identified a course of action and made certain that its completion satisfied the customer need.

However, I also witnessed a different rule bending example set by another Delta employee, where the rules were being broken for the wrong reasons.

When I checked in at the Delta ticket counter for my return flight, the San Jose Ticket Agent waived my bag fee, but the circumstances had nothing to do with my plight. When asked for a credit card to pay the bag fee, she noticed that I was using an American Express Gold Card. “I think Gold Cards might get bag fees waived” she stated. “I’m not sure if it needs to be a Delta SkyMiles Gold Card… but I don’t care… close enough for me…” (Dumb)

I knew that only the Delta Amex Cards receive bag fee waivers, but felt that it wasn’t really my place to familiarize Delta ticket agents with their baggage fee policies – especially since she didn’t seem to care one way or the other. I was happy to save my client an additional $23. If waiving the fee had been in consideration of my ordeal, her efforts would have been appreciated. However, since it was clear she intended to charge me, but then decided it was easier to waive the fee than to check on the actual policy, it seemed like the goal was to simplify her life more than mine.

Latent Financial Revelations

A few days after my return, somewhat halfheartedly, assuming that the estimated 10 to 14 business day time frame to process the refund still applied, I started working on getting my client an accurate expense report.

There was also something peculiar about the credit – it was split in half and transacted two days apart. The first was on the original date of my outbound flight – for about 50% of the ticket value.

It seems that in reality, Delta had originally only refunded their share (the outbound portion) of the airfare, but had cancelled the return flight, without providing US Airways access to the ticket or the cash.

The second credit was processed on the day of my return flight for the remainder of the original ticket. I was wondering why it took so long to book a flight if the previous fare had already been fully refunded. A chunk of that time must have been allocated to refunding the return portion of the original ticket.

In retrospect, it seems the explanation provided by Delta on Saturday’s phone call was substantially fictional. All that happened Saturday was that they processed the previously un-refunded amount. It also became clear why Delta did not simply transfer the funds remaining in their possession to US Airways – as the ticket had been cancelled, there was a potential liability for a higher ticket value if I traveled on my previously reserved flight.

Instead, Delta wound up putting me on their own flight, presumably costing no more than the incremental fuel cost to accommodate my body weight (no wisecracks, readers…) and luggage. Even with the “free” return flight, my client – who was footing the bill for my flight – ultimately only wound up saving $61 as I had to pay 85% of my original roundtrip fare to fly one-way outbound at the last minute on Southwest.

Everyone Love a Snipe Hunt

There was still the task of getting the prepaid bag fee refunded. Had a hunch that this could get complex – and I was right.

The Delta customer service supervisor handled the transaction after requiring me to provide the equivalent of the ticket number of the transaction that was located on the printed bag fee receipt. Told the refund would be processed in 7-10 business days. Again, no idea how such a transaction could reasonably take so long – the PNR clearly reflected that I did not take the flight, no bag tag printed at airport, and the bag fee transaction was independent of other airline ticket.

I purposely did not ask for refund to be expedited as I was interested to see how long this might take. It was not processed on the same day or two days following the conversation…

So even refunding a prepaid bag fee wound up being a five step, multi-day process (assuming the refund eventually gets processed.) Sigh.

The Root of All Evil

Each problem I encountered shared a common elemental source: Someone didn’t care. I can’t think of a worse syndrome to inflict a company.

Based on Delta’s ineffective customer service communications policies governing call center and Twitter support, they don’t care about real-time communication with travelers. Despite comping my bag fee, Delta’s San Jose ticket agent didn’t care about me or my situation, she was merely mirroring management’s dismissive attitude toward the customer and reflected that attitude back toward the company itself. Not caring can be a highly contagious disease within an organization.

The same applies for US Airways. The indifferent US Airways ticket agent didn’t really care if I got to my destination, if she did, I would have paid US Airways a full fare, one-way ticket price and made the flight. She too didn’t care about me or her company. The US Airways telephone customer care agent similarly lacked the initiative to identify potential problems with my reservation, postponing the issue until it was too late to address. Preventing problems is a much more effective strategy than reacting to problems.

Not caring is particularly criminal during an economic downturn when there are plenty of skilled people available who would be happy to step into a job, eager to care for their customers and company. Not caring is also a common trait of things that lack souls.

Whereas J.K. Rowling expertly described the characteristics of Dementors, two additional quotes from the Harry Potter series, both from sage Headmaster character Albus Dumbledore provide the best advice for airlines interested in retaining their souls: “It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities” (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and “You have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.)

As exemplified by Southwest, airlines can provide good customer service. Developing a corporate culture that puts the traveler first is a conscious choice. I am sure there are thousands of employees like Emily at Delta – or US Airways – they desperately crave the support of their respective companies to help the organization and their coworkers regain their souls.

What Should Have Happened (A Top 10 List)

  1. Delta should be appropriately staffing their frequent flyer, toll-free and general reservations phone lines to answer calls for customers that lack web connectivity, require information that is not posted online, or need assistance with urgent functions that must be completed by speaking personally to an agent or supervisor.
  2. Delta should have communicated flight options on other carriers, even if they lacked ticketing agreements, that would have allowed me to reach my destination with as little delay as possible.
  3. Given the extreme nature of the delay, Delta should have offered to refund my outbound flight segments immediately. If the airlines can not self govern the process to assist passengers suffering from flight delays, perhaps Rule 240 should be reinstated…
  4. If telephone phone coverage is unreliable, Delta should offer 24/7 Twitter or web click to chat coverage.
  5. Delta Twitter customer care resources and 2nd-tier supervisory support should be able to handle any issue in a similar manner as telephone agents.
  6. Delta should have handled the outbound flight refund to ensure that the US Airways return flight was not impacted by the itinerary change.
  7. US Airways should have been willing to accept the original ticket value if it was clear that the flight had been cancelled by a third party in error.
  8. US Airways call center staff should be trained to proactively identify potential ticketing issues that jeopardize ticket validity.
  9. US Airways ticket agents need to be aware of customer needs, flight closing times and processing times to make certain travelers do not unnecessarily miss flights.
  10. Delta needs to train all staff on processes to refund prepaid bag fees.

Counterpoint: Can Heinous Customer Service be a Strategy?

It is difficult to predict the lost value of an alienated customer over their lifetime. It seems Ryanair who pioneered this strategy does not feel that it amounts to much. It worries me that Delta, the world’s largest airline, appears to be moving down a similar path.

This week, Delta recorded a $467 million profit in the 2nd quarter of 2010 (actually $549 million, excluding $82 million in special items) that reversed a $257 million loss it incurred for the same period in 2009. My guess is that part of that profit was a result of the new call center policy that inhibits customer interaction.

Don’t expect any significant customer service improvements in coming quarters as a result of this newfound profitability – Delta CFO Hank Halter recently went on record stating “we strive to keep our non-fuel unit costs flat for the full year.”

When it comes to customer engagement, based on the consistently poor quality and low service delivery levels, Delta behaves like it is Deaf and Blind, but mostly Dumb, regarding the processes required to provide even adequate customer service delivery. I don’t subscribe to that philosophy – especially for a large network carrier operating a hub and spoke structure within a global alliance.

US Airways is a different case. In retrospect, as opposed to the overtly customer hostile policies of Delta, I basically suffered from neglect at the hands of US Airways employees.

The telephone agent who advised me everything was fine should have taken a look at the information that allowed the counter agent to immediately identify that payment had not been properly applied. But the ticket agent’s lack of awareness, indifferent attitude and refusal to contact others to speed me onto the last flight of the day, especially in light of the Southwest agent taking care of me two days earlier – exhibits a similar Deaf, Blind & again, mostly Dumb result that also alienates me from that carrier as well.

Some may say that it is not fair to vilify US Airways based on encounters with a few employees, but I disagree. This highlights the importance of organizations recognizing that each employee in an customer contact role represents a potential point of failure that can negatively impact perception of the overall brand.

The solution is simple – Treat your customers with respect, empower employees to help customers in need, and establish processes that provide the organization with an opportunity to proactively identify and correct issues. It appears that Southwest inherently understands this challenge and meets it head-on. It is not a cost issue; it reflects the corporate culture, the brand promise and the company’s sincere interest in customer engagement.

This episode in all likelihood was not a low cost endeavor for Delta. In this case, their cost avoidance strategies backfired, incurring labor to slog through the aftermath of their various mistakes.

Perhaps the greatest impact is actually on the the revenue side. What is the lifetime revenue loss from a customer who now ranks a carrier at the far extreme of the brand preference spectrum?

Based on my experiences last week, Delta and US Airways are now at the bottom of my list. Considering that I live in Milwaukee, Southwest, AirTran and Midwest/Frontier are engaged in an aggressive market share battle, so many alternatives exist. JetBlue and Virgin America don’t yet serve Milwaukee, but they both seem to fall in the same area of the “enlightened” spectrum as Southwest.

To sum up my feelings about Delta and US Airways, I can only quote The Who’s lyric from Tommy’s Go to the Mirror “What is happening in his head? I wish I knew, I wish I knew…”

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