I've just had a rather nice, swift reply to a bit of positive feedback I sent over to EZY
So have I. I find the manner in which was this was handled both on board and subsequently to be most impressive. As we all know, in any business, things can go wrong, and it's the way in which that situation is handled which differentiates good from bad.
Dear xxxxxxxxxxxx
I have been using easyJet since the airline commenced services in 1995, often several sectors a month. This is only the second time I have escalated a complaint and I am a loyal supporter of easyJet, using your services whenever possible in preference to those of competitors.
On 28 MAR 12 I boarded EZY xxxx at LGW. I had checked in one bag and had one cabin bag which was neither full nor heavy, slightly smaller than the allowed size. At the boarding gate I was told that this would have to go into the hold due to lack of overhead locker space.
As it contained items such as three sets of keys, money, passport, electronic equipment, two phones, a cheque book, and legal documents which I did not want left at the mercy of baggage handlers I told the agent this was not acceptable, and was told I had no choice. Your own regulations state “you must not include in checked baggage fragile or perishable items, money, jewellery, precious metals, silverware, computers, electronic devices, negotiable papers, securities or other valuables, business documents, passports and other identification documents or samples. Conditions of Carriage Article 9.1(c).”
I trust that you will appreciate my annoyance at this point, when I had to unpack my case on the floor, remove the valuables and find somewhere to put them. I suggested that at the very least the airline should provide some type of package for such small items as this is clearly something which happens frequently. The minimum you could do would be to provide a plastic carrier bag for small carry on items.
I had to walk onto the aircraft with these items in my arms, very inconvenient, undignified, and cumbersome, and find somewhere to stow them safely. Under the seat in front is clearly not safe for keys, phones, documents, and so on. I told a cabin member that I wanted to make a formal complaint and after one cabin attendant had tried to talk me out of doing so, the cabin manager (Joe) came and offered to have a chat later in the flight.
I was able to have a long and pleasant chat to Joe, who was helpful and sympathetic, and like most of your cabin staff, is a credit to your company and I do hope this will be passed on to him. He mentioned that this is one of the commonest problems they face on a daily basis.
I appreciate that sometimes there may not be adequate space and I have observed that this is because people who board early often do so with an excess of cabin baggage and are not stopped from doing so, thus it is those who board later who are penalised. Your conditions of carriage state 'You can take one piece of hand baggage into the cabin with you …............' which you then contradict by saying : 'On busy flights we cannot guarantee that we can fit all baggage in the cabin.......'
I understand that it may not always be possible to fit all items into the overhead bins, even though at least one of your competitors offers carriage of two pieces of cabin baggage. If from time to time you need to remove passengers' cabin baggage, the least you could do is offer an alternative for small valuables and here I see a valuable marketing opportunity. An easyJet branded reusable fabric bag of the type sold in supermarkets with a slogan like 'for your bits and pieces' would be a good promotional gimmick with a small unit cost to you, would defuse the irritation that passengers feel when this happens, and could even be sold on board.
I trust you will consider this or some other solution to this problem.
Yours faithfully
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The reply, received within a couple of hours :
Dear Mr xxxxxxxxxx
Thank you for your letter dated 4 April 2012.
I was pleased to read that you are a long standing loyal supporter of easyJet so I was therefore genuinely concerned that you are so unhappy with an aspect of our service that you felt the need to write to me.
I do understand the point you are making in respect of our capacity to store all hand baggage. This is an issue that we have identified internally and are working hard to address.
The majority of our flights have a passenger capacity of 156 and your flights departed with a high passenger load. On each easyJet flight there are of course a different amount of passengers who bring carry on luggage that can be stored safely in the overhead lockers or under the seat in front of them, but from time to time an excessive ratio of passengers do and our staff have to try to find ways of storing this baggage within a very limited amount of time so that we can hopefully prevent a delay to the flight. It is a fine balance to attempt to maintain and this is why we are currently working on a project with view to making adjustments in regards to our baggage policy. When this is finalised full details will be published on our website.
For now, as the policy stands, we do our best to implement it consistently across our network where capacity allows, however each flight will have differing circumstances and from time to time our Handlers are permitted to make operational decisions taking all factors of the day into account. I agree with you that the way your situation was handled was stressful and I fully understand your annoyance. I will make sure this is passed on to our staff at London Gatwick so that they can work on a suitable way of addressing the issue.
I will also pass a copy of your letter to our Head of Customer Experience, Lisa Burger. Customer feedback and suggestions are vital to us so that we can pinpoint the areas of our operation that need attention.
I hope you feel assured that we are continually striving to provide a smooth journey for our passengers and I sincerely hope that you see a marked difference on your next easyJet service.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.
Best,
xxxxxxxx
The next day, I received a letter from customer services :
Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxxx
I am extremely concerned to learn about the circumstances prompting your correspondence. At the same time, I would like to apologise and can understand the level of discontent this experience must have caused you.
This enhances my uneasiness whilst reading that your hand baggage was put into hold. I can understand how difficult it would have been for you carrying your valuables in your hand. This is not a general exercise that easyJet follows but this happens on some of the flights when they are full. Hand baggage is always accommodated on first come first serve basis and once there is no space in the overhead lockers, hand luggage is checked-in as hold at no additional charges. This is done for security purposes to ensure a smooth travel for all the passengers.
Further, we advise the passengers not to carry valuable or electronic items in hold bag as it can lead to damage of the items. However, I am grateful for your wonderful suggestion that when this situation arises, we should start offering reusable fabric bag which would definitely help the passengers in these unavoidable circumstances. Hence, I have forwarded your suggestion to the relevant department for their consideration and I am sure this suggestion will be looked on with great consideration.
I acknowledge that you found our cabin crew manager helpful and approachable. I have passed on your feedback so that the concerned staff will be benefited out of it.
I assure you that we have a standard policies and procedures to be followed by all the passengers and do not have any exception for passengers board the plane first. I assure you that all our staff at the boarding gate on different airports are on the same page. However, at the boarding gate the checks are random and if our staff believe that bag could be outside the maximum allowed, they may ask the passengers to put the same in the gauge.
Once again, thank you for taking your time and sharing your experience with us as this always widens the scope of improving our services. I hope my e-mail some way pacify your thoughts while choosing our services in the near future.
Regards,
xxxxxxxxxxx
easyJet Customer Services
And if you see these one day on easyJet, you'll know where the idea came from!
