Tag Archives for customer service.
Kicking off Labor Day weekend didn’t go well for passengers booked on American Airlines 1831, the morning flight from Chicago O’Hare to West Palm Beach.
You need to be very careful Googling airline phone numbers because scam travel agencies have corrupted the results. But even knowing this, here’s a truly strange case.
Hyatt has reportedly laid off nearly all remaining U.S. phone customer service agents. Last week it appears that roughly 300 U.S. agents were terminated, and there seem to be just 35 left. The hotel chain is also said to have dismissed 18 managers and the bulk of the U.S. chat team, leaving about 36 U.S. chat agents left.
The Chicago O’Hare Customer Service Center is currently open 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. On the upcoming employee summer shift bid, service center shifts prior to 2 p.m. have been eliminated. Usually airlines staff up for peak summer! I’ve reached out to American Airlines to learn what scheduling cuts are being made at other hubs.
One 91 year old reader – who is still a working actor – shared a story about United that shows initiative, customer service, and just what United employees can and sometimes will do to take care of a customer.
While American will now reimburse hotel nights under specific circumstances, their conditions for doing so are totally unreasonable. Here’s a message to an Executive Platinum customer.
American Airlines rolled out a new automated phone system this summer. There was an AI-sounding voice that forced you to listen to a minute-long greeting about how, for instance, you can add a pet to your reservation online before you’re allowed to do anything else. The system no longer recognized “agent” or similar requests until it had finished burning a minute of your life you’d never get back.
Beware Googling airline phone numbers because scam travel agencies have corrupted the results. You call thinking you’re reaching your airline, but the person on the other end charges you for changes you are entitled to for free – like a new flight when yours is cancelled, or seat assignments.
Sunday morning’s United flight 1116 from Washington Dulles to San Francisco cancelled… after passengers waited around for about 17 hours.
Several issues compounded here – from weather delaying the inbound aircraft, mechanical problems and an aircraft swap, to crew timing out and exceeding their maximum duty hours. Passengers made it onto the Boeing 787 twice and even pushed back from the gate. That’s a miserable travel day that, paradoxically, highlights something that United does really well: communicates with customers throughout.
American Airlines rolled out a new automated phone system this morning. When you dial, there’s a new voice on the other end. And you have to listen to the entire recorded message – no skipping it by asking for an agent.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
