APRIL 25, 2008

United, Can You Hear Me?

United Airlines, this has not been our week.

I’d been planning to write this post since last Wednesday when a large glob of green gum on my airplane seat first put a strain in our relationship. And now, it so happens that I’m sitting down to write this post at my gate in Dulles International Airport, waiting for United Flight 7681 to Dallas/Ft. Worth. You must have sensed I had something important to say because the monitor here just informed me that I have an extra two hours to perfect this post. Sure, the gate personnel said it’s because of a delayed aircraft, but I know better. You realize I’ve had a busy week and wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to write about my customer service incident. And so, I’m following the lead of several fellow bloggers and put my experience out there, easily accessible via Google Blog Search for your listening pleasure.
 
It’s fair to say that my one-day business trip to Boston last week started off on the wrong foot. Halfway through the short flight to Boston I made an unfortunate discovery: my black pants had a newly-acquired large, green, sticky spot directly on my backside. The culprit was a piece of chewed gum that must have been the result of an entire pack of Bubblicious. At the back of the plane, a gracious flight attendant did her best to help me remove the spot, but as anyone who has ever been in this situation knows, gum removal is not an easy task. Without a change of clothes, I was left to face my day of meetings with an unflattering green reminder of the morning on my ruined pants.     

Strangely enough United, it’s not the gum that damaged our relationship – it’s what happened in the next 48 hours. The flight attendants on board were great, doing everything they could to help with a bad situation. As I left the plane they handed me a coupon and assured me that United would compensate me – namely by paying for my dry cleaning, a solution that seemed very appropriate for the situation.

However, when I logged on to make my claim, I was taken to a general apology site. Nothing is more frustrating than a general apology. I had a bad day because of something that happened on your flight, and you couldn’t even take a minute to ask me what happened before you gave me a general “gift of goodwill”, which happened to be $25 off my next United flight? Such a general gesture makes me feel like you’re trying to appease me in the way most convenient for you, not that you value me as a customer or an individual. I shared my feelings on surveys provided in the days following my incident, but the lack of response after more than a week does not exactly leave me feeling valued.

Face it United, the world is personalized and so are my expectations. Generalizing just doesn’t do it for me anymore. You have too much technology at your fingertips – and too many other companies are stepping up to the challenge. If you want to keep up, you need to adapt – and adapt quickly.         

So United, if you’re listening (and I hope you are), please let me know. Leave a quick comment – or if you prefer, email me directly at lbader AT tmgstrategies.com. I’m not worried about being compensated for my pants – to paraphrase Forrest Gump, Gum Happens. But, I am wondering if you can hear me.

Here at TMG, we talk often about the importance of listening. In fact, it is the core of what we do. The one good thing about incidents like this one is that they remind me why a willingness to listen is so valuable.