Originally Posted by
The Situation
Not the first time I have heard that. A lot of people think I get better service because of the amount of travel and spend relative to my young age - they are investing in me as a long term customer. I don't spend as much or fly as much as a lot of people, but I have a lot of time ahead of me to spend a lot of money as my travel increases over time. Personally, I don't think that has anything to do with it - I just be nice and ask the right questions and say the right things.
I doubt age has anything to do with it. More likely that circumstances and agent quality (and how you treat them) have everything to do with it.
If you treat people warmly and with respect, regardless of how angry you might be at the time, they’re almost always willing to jump through hoops for you — in fact, they genuinely feel bad if they can’t help. When I call in and the rep sounds harried or frazzled, I know he/she is either at the end of a long shift, just got off a bad call, or both. I try to lift them up a little instead of pile on. When I hang up, I want them to say “I wish all my calls were like that!”
It’s not a universal cure-all, but I’d rather suffer the fall-out from being too nice than the aftermath of being a dick.
That said, I’ve become a Grand Master at quickly discerning when to HUCA. Sometimes it has everything to do with lucking into the right agent.