Good Examples of Bad Customer Service

It takes so little effort to provide good customer service and yet so many companies like to get it wrong. A few examples, one that's a year or so old and another that happened just a few days ago.

A year or so ago, I was visiting a client in Houston, from Dallas. The price difference between the airline I normally fly and Continental Airlines was about $150, so it made sense, from the client's perspective (if not mine) to fly Continental. It was an overnight trip, so I had carry on luggage only - a small suitcase and my computer bag. I don't fly Continental very often, so I don't have much status with their frequent flier programs. As a result, I was in the last group to board. There were about 10 people left to board when a Continental flight officer, with a roll-aboard, a Jeppson case (the big cases they carry for charts, logs, etc) and a computer bag comes down the outside of the line and cuts in front of one of the passengers waiting at the door.

A few minutes later it's my turn to board but a flight attendent stops me and tells me that there is no more overhead space left, so they will have to check my bag. Now, this has happened on my favorite airline, but when it does, they put it in the cargo hold then bring it back up to me on the jetway. I ask the Continental flight attendent if that's how they handle it. No, she tells me, I will have to wait 20 minutes in Houston for my luggage to get off-loaded. I tell her it's just the one bag, couldn't she put it in the crew closet. Nope.

As she write out the tag I mention that I didn't think my preferred airline would have done that and she replied that perhaps I should have taken them!

Once on the plane, I notice that the flight officer who jumped the line isn't actually in the cockpit, he's in a aisle seat across from me. An hour later, after we land, he stands and opens the overhead bin and pulls out his bag, his Jeppson case and his computer bag. He didn't store anything under the seat and, indeed, took up the space of two passengers (who are only allowed two items in the first place).

On the ground, I go to the gate agent and ask for a manager. After 10 minutes, one arrives. I tell her the story and she smiles and says "So what would you have Continental do?" I told her that I wouldn't inconvienance a revenue paying passenger over a dead-heading pilot. They could have checked my bag with the flight crews, or they could have (should have) made the dead-heading pilot check his. With that, she wishes me a pleasant stay in Houston and moves on. After a 10 minute walk in the airport and the 10 minutes waiting for and talking with the manger, I thought that at least I wouldn't have to wait for the bag. Wrong. It was another 10 minutes until the bag showed up.

I've flown at least 20 times since. Not once on Continental. I won't willingly fly them again.

The other good example of bad customer service happened this last week while some we (my family and the family of a good friend) were doing a post-Thanksgiving tour of Texas Hill Country vineyards.  In Fredricksburg, Texas - the heart of Hill Country - we finally located the Fredricksburg Winery.  Almost immediately I knew it wasn't going to be fun, since they featured not wine but curious and wine-related gifts at the front of the store, along with some poor quality art.

With us were our two childern - my 11 year old daughter and their 12 year old son.  They are both very well behaved and had spent most of the trip out doors, kicking a soccer ball around while we tasted and bought wine. In the Fredricksberg store they both went to look for gift items while we, the parents, drifted back to the tasting table in the back of the room.  There a woman nodded to our kids and told us that they couldn't wander around the store - it was a state law since they had open wine.  That's a bold lie right there.  The only open wine was in her reach on the tasting table and they had a 17 year old girl stocking bottles.  So we asked the kids to move closer, to a table with books on it, about 8 feet from us.  The lady started to explain the wines, for the most part sweet because, as she said "That's what a lot of Texan's drink."  I leaned over to my wife and whispered "I'm ready to leave now" but she wanted to see what they had.  The kids had moved to another table about 12 feet away and the lady stopped her pitch and said "I'm sorry, you really need to have your kids with you...they can't move around the store like that." 

That was it for all of us.  I said, out loud, "I'm ready to leave" and we all headed to the door. 

So, let's summarize.  The lady lied about state law.  She lumped us in with "Texans who like sweet wines." And she made an assumption that our children were not well enough behaved to be out of arms reach in the store.  Customer service failure on several levels.  We bought about five cases of wine on our trip.  Not one from Fredricksburg Winery.  We'll never go in that store again.