Customer Service Standards - Trend or cycle

[XSBaggage]

After reading several posts on this forum (and others) I am just curious what people´s thoughts are on the state of customer service in the airline industry. Are standards and expectations on a permanent downward spiral or is it just a "cycle" we are going through.

With the emergence of MaxJet and eos, and also the general decline of the traditional charter holiday, one may expect that standards are rising again, but with Ryanair and flyBE charging for luggage, and Virgin charging for exit seats, along with the fact that several airlines are abandoning First Class, the opposite would sometimes appear to be true.

From a personal point of view, on a short haul flight I would expect a free choice of orange juice or water, the ability to transfer baggage if I had a connection, and thats about all (I do not live in an idealistic world). Long haul and add a free cold meal and the chance to get an exit seat at check in are all I need, but I know that others have different expectations. I dont need the check in agent to use my name, I dont need a VIP lounge, and I dont need the cabin crew to smile all the time. But I DEFINITELY dont want to be sitting next to a person who paid 20% of my fare for the same service.

Ryanair = too basic and every flight feels like a fight between the terms and conditions and the pax.

Malaysian = lots of superfluous "frills" (but nice though!) and consequently airline in financial trouble.

Would be interested to know other people´s thoughts on this.

XSB

[TJ747]

Hi There,

I work for a charter company that I am happy to work for and in regards to customer service etc, it very much does depend of the types of flight that are operated.

The usual bucket and spade routes to spain,greece etc are generally quite easy going, most are holidaymakers that all they really want is a quick easy check in, seats together and an on time departure. Meal, i know some airlines do charge for them, and we do too, but its already included in the price and at the time of booking, the option is there to remove them and go without, which gives choice to the customer. Drinks i dont think should be complimentary nor should entertainment.
I think that sometimes, the more you give, the more they want ... give an inch, they take a mile. keep it simple and straight forward and i think thats a safe option.

Long Haul, this should be kept the same as shorthaul with the option to upgrade if the aicraft has this service, again, gives choice but when airlines start charging for this and charging for that, this is when things go wrong and errors can easily be made, although i do think water and juice should be free on long haul.

When it comes to delays and errors etc, we are generally very good at helping customers and most of us will do everything we possibly can to please, within reason.

Remember, we have the power to turn a bad situation into a bearable one and i think alot of people forget this. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do and can't allways win, but I think being helpful, understanding and showing that you are trying to resolve goes a long long way.

I dealt with a hurrendous delay a couple of summers ago from start to finish, the customers all knew me by name by the end of the delay and actually thanked me, with a smile, for everything that I had, despite being over a day late, not only is that self satisfying but they left with the impression, ok we were delayed, but they looked after us and faced up to their problems. Well Done, and I think that can make a huge difference to what they all tell their freinds when they get back, delayed but looked after well.

Hope this helps

Cheers

[XSBaggage]

TJ747,
Yeah been in a similar situation to yours, and totally agree about solving problems actually giving you more opportunity to demonstrate your customer service skills than when everything is smooth. The thing I have noticed over the years is that, from a handling agency perspective at least, the word "no" crept into use a heck of a lot more than it did at the start!

Thanks for your comments anyway!!
XSB

[bealine]

I have to say, over the past five years or so, three things have been happening:

1. As fares fell, and as the EC set compensation levels, most airlines have insisted that customers receive exactly what they are entitled to - no more, no less - and that they must make a claim, compensation will not be offered as a matter of course. Now, prior to the EC dictate, at Big Airways we used to go the extra mile - and not always when things were our fault either! (At least once a week we would have an elderly "Mrs Sanchez" who had managed to go to the wrong airport and was stranded. We would put her in a hotel overnight at Big Airways' expense, take her in the morning to Heathrow and have a Customer Service staff member meet the coach and escort her to the gates! We simply can't afford this now!)


2. Customer Service standards have remained the same as far as those people delivering it are concerned. However, as the airlines have removed our "discretions" regarding excess baggage etc and hardened attitudes, it puts us front-line guys in more situations of conflict than we used to experience. THis would appear to the customer as if our standards have dropped.

3. Customers are definitely more demanding - and this is fuelled by the airlines' promises of "seat assignments" (forgetting that for operational reasons advanced seating may be thrown awry!), "jump the queues when using self-service" (that only works when 10% use self-service, now everyone does it, the queues can be as bad as conventional check-in!)

IMHO Michael O'Leary, much as I dislike him, has the right attitude. "If you pay £1 for your tticket and there's a delay or cancellation, I'll give you your pound back!" Why should you get back more than you paid?

[lexxity]

As Bealine says the customer service agents discrection has been removed which can now come across as being "hard faced" and that is not a good front to present, but when your hands are tied what can you do?

[radeng]

Bealine has a point, but looked at the other way, once you get down to the fare and the timing being pretty well equivalent between airlines, it's only the customer service that differentiates A from B. While you have lots of bums on seats, that doesn't matter, but if you're struggling for market share, it makes a big difference.
There seem to be an awful lot of bums on seats, though. In the 31 flights I've done so far this year, only one was relatively empty - a 757 LHR to NCE in the mid afternoon, and even that would come back full. In Club Europe last night from Stockholm, on the 2050 departure, there were only 4 empty seats in Club Europe, so that was 75% full. The rest was very full.......