Originally Posted by
Sopwith
Where do you draw the line between delivering exactly what people bought and not treating them like cattle?
Really good question. Especially when so much of the 'product' that people are buying is made up of artificial constructs (i.e. rules, policies and procedures tied to different fare types) rather than tangible differences.
Every consumer understands the "you get what you pay for" when it comes to the hard product -- the difference between J and Y, or even the difference between regular Y seating and extra-legroom Y seating. But when so much of WestJet's customer experience (like many airlines) is now dictated by rules in a tariff that most consumers don't see or understand -- I fear that a lot of WS's traditional customer base is going to start to feel like they're cattle, too.
I think a lot of WestJet's current brand reputation is frankly based on what they used to be: casual, informal, and nice folks who'd try to help out leisure customers -- who largely tended to be infrequent and uninformed travellers. Now, IMO, those same interactions are much more focused on rule enforcement and fee collection, with the level of 'helpfulness' determined largely by the fare paid (even when the actual, underlying "product" that was purchased appears identical). I'm not opposed to what WestJet is becoming -- but I do think some of their customer base will see a disconnect between this ad campaign and the real/current WestJet.