Getting It Right when Things Go Wrong
There is a lot of griping in this forum about bad experiences, poor customer service, nonsensical decisions, and sundry other tales of woe arising from airline travel. That's only to be expected: when things go well - flight on time, comfortable journey, baggage arrives - there's just not much of a story in it.
So I thought it might be interesting to talk about the times Things Went Wrong where the airline actually did a good job of retrieving or at least alleviating the situation. For me, this is the real test of a good airline. Perhaps a staff member (gasp!) Exercised Discretion. Perhaps the airline actually had a well-rehearsed contingency plan ready. Perhaps someone applied unusal imagination or resourcefulness, or went above and beyond what was expected. Whatever the case, tell your stories here: maybe we can inspire repeat examples. (I hope I am not the only one posting...)
I'll start. Returning to Geneva from Jakarta last year, in economy class on Singapore Airlines via Singapore and Zurich, we had pushed back on schedule when the captain announced we had a problem with one of the engines. (Cue groan throughout the cabin.) Back to the stand, engineers get to work. Captain kept us updated on progress, and we were underway a little over an hour later. Alas, it was just too late: I knew I had missed my connecting flight to Zurich, and the next one was not for 12 hours.
I disembarked at SIN, exasperated, fuming, and in a generally foul temper, to be greeted at the end of the airbridge by a cheerful and efficent SQ lady who apologised for the missed connection and handed me an envelope containing:
- boarding passes for the next flight to ZRH and onward flight to GVA
- hotel voucher
- taxi vouchers
- meal vouchers
- instructions for making a free phone call to Geneva
- tourist map of Singapore
Took the wind right out of my sails! No queuing, no fussing, no haggling, no arguing, no waiting. I left for my free Singapore mini-stopover not exactly with a smile on my face, but feeling considerably mollified and much more kindly disposed to SQ than I had been a few minutes before. It was a slick and impressive effort, and very effective at turning customer frustration into customer goodwill.
Anyone else?