No wonder the service industry is doomed
April 21, 2004 ~ 1:55 p.m.
LONDON, U.K.�Call me old-fashioned, but I like it when those in a customer service position actually act customer service-oriented.
On Sunday, I went to the airport to check-in for my flight (for the second time in two days), and I had all my documents ready, as I always do, once it neared my turn in line.
This fact, however, did not stop the woman at the counter from sarcastically calling out, �Documents please!� Her co-worker at the next desk started chortling as well.
I immediately got very annoyed at their sauciness. �Sorry, but do you care to share the joke?� I asked, my eyes flicking between the two �ladies.�
They brushed it off as harmless joking, but I wasn�t convinced. �You know,� I said, �I�ve flown seventy times, I know to present my documents at check-in.�
�What was that?� the first woman asked. �You�re saying if you�ve flown seventy times, you have to present your documents?� More sniggling.
I was not in a good mood. I�d seen the line to get through security and it looked horrendous. I wasn�t feeling that physically good either, and I suspected it could be a rough overnight flight. I was going to arrive in London in time for the morning rush hour. My vacation had come to an end. I was missing my family already. The last thing I wanted was to deal with not just one, but two sarcastic bitches at check-in.
I wanted to spew absolute venom at these two flight reps, but I couldn�t�not unless I cared to board that flight. All they needed to do was contact security: �Attention, potential madman here at check-in. Don�t think he�s fit to board.�
What I did do was level the both of them with a heavy, serious stare. �Look, you may be joking; I�m not. I want you to process my ticket, put my suitcase on the conveyor, and treat me with a little respect. In other words, try acting like the professionals that you�re pretending to be.�
They didn�t like it but had nothing to say to it. And I had the final revenge when the woman handed my passport and ticket back to me. I grabbed them from her with such pissed-off force that I actually caused her to gasp.
If passengers aren�t allowed to joke at the airport�if our free-speech rights must take second place to security concerns�then neither should the employees. What applies to passengers should apply to airport staff, no matter what their position or who they are employed by (the airline, Massport, etc.) That�s to say nothing, of course, about providing a service, no matter where or what that service is or entails.
If those two flight reps at check-in are the model by which we judge customer service, it�s no wonder the service industry is doomed. It seems to attract most of the human flotsam out there.
The airline I flew with was Virgin Atlantic, in case anyone�s curious.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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