Originally Posted by
fastair
Tracer,
Many have pointed this out in the past. It isn't the AGENTS who get measured (scored positivly) by refusing to help and forcing the machine, it is management. Do you have any idea how many agents have lost their jobs due to "attrition" (that is UA mgmt talk to the union for "being replaced with the chicken" over the past decade? We all know it, but "the man" has his policy in place.....force them to use the machine, make it difficult to talk to a human, and eventualy, they will learn to use and love the machine.
So by UA's management standards, they are a STELLAR station. They have followed the rules to the point that they have achieved UA's goal. 100% outsource.
Now my posts have gone both ways in the past, but of late have been anti-mgmt. I try to remain neutral, but the point of the chicken isn't to make it easier on the customer. I mean come on, 10 years ago, the CSR could do everything the chicken can do, and with a smile. Now the agents aren't trained nearly as long or as well, their supply dwindels, and the chicken replaces them.
Isn't it a shame you can't yell "Agent, agent, agent" to the chicken to get a human?
I use Easy Check-in quite frequently (especially to get my bag tags after checking in online). What is irritating is when there is a problem with the machine and I (an experienced traveler) seek the assistance of a real human being only to be greeted with utter surliness.
This happened to me recently at IAD when I was re-routed (and overnighted) due to an IRROP. Online check-in failed, as did using the machine. The 1P CSR responded to my request for assistance with extreme disdain. When she checked my record and discovered that UA had failed to re-book me properly, she completed the BP work, but offered no sort of apology. She simply slapped my BP down on the counter.
CSRs are going the route of toll collectors. With E-Z Pass and other electronic means, the number of employed toll collectors is shrinking rapidly. I can empathize with a CSR standing there watching while machines slowly, but surely, eliminate their livelihood. However, that is not a legitimate reason for a surly attitude toward customers.