IluvSQ

Does that mean that it is a case like Ben Lipsey, where a " regular" member
became an official spokesperson? I thought in case of a name change,
the old name followed the new one for quite some time.

superangrypenguin

90 days and then it's up to the FTer to decide what they want to do (leave it or remove it). I'm not privy to what happened with the ACr account.

tcook052

Unlike Ben however the difference is that the ACr rep. isn't one specific person but one of several staffers.

And yes, the old username only follows the new one for a short period of time.

tcook052
AC Forum Moderator

SparseFlyer

Not to worry. I'll add you as a friend.

SparseFlyer
AC forum participator

CanRulez

Me too please. LOL

Sean Peever

I do miss having the Ben's around (and Andrew - you count too).

While there was (sadly) a lot of poop throwing that happened when you cut through those half dozen (ok maybe a dozen) majour issues or statements that kept coming up they really did help answer a lot of questions and provide a lot of knowledge in the ask Ben's thread.

I will agree with 24Left and the infamous Adam.Smith that I do not need "buddies" on here. But I really did appreciate learning from them.

FlyerTalker683455

I think any usefulness of AC rep info went out the window when Ben L clarified that all information given is subject to change without notice.

While that sound innocuous enough, in AC reality it means that nothing anyone from that company says or writes matters.

It is hard to imagine a more bungled approach to social media participation than the two Bens managed to apply here on FT.

Sean Peever

I understand what they were trying to cover with that statement. But it probably could have been said better, off the top of my head, while having a burger and a few beers at Romer's I would suggest:

- "Our current model is"
- "Currently we are taking this approach, which will change should it not be successful"
- "We are doing it this way right now, but we are always open to change and improvement"
- "We believe this is the best business decision at the time, however if it does not produce the results we expect we will modify it"

24left

Well.....to be fair, the human bungling didn't come close to the majestic mess that it the IT at Aeroplan and AC.

Having met Ben & Ben, albeit briefly, and knowing that they once lived in this house, I would forgive some of things that may have been said.

However, I will not accept their decision to walk away in silence. It may have not been their personal choice, but it was unprofessional.

I believe that there are certain people who run the company as they see fit and have little if any contact with the customer, as only the shareholders matter, while there are others who understand the concept of customer engagement.

The thing is this: AC is making money and seats are full for the most part. They don't need anything said here.

Should negative economic conditions impact their profits enough, they may then change how they communicate.


EXACTLY

superangrypenguin

We really need to have a "We miss Ben thread". All of this Ben talk is off topic.

24left

Ben L is not really off topic as he was the main person to whom many of the issues posted in this thread were addressed.

But sure, if you want to start a Hug-A-Ben thread, that's cool

YOWgary

I LOL'd.

FlyerTalker683455

No we don't

PLeblond

They way they were treated and their subsequent departure was one of the two things that, for me,mostly ruined Flyertalk. The information we had from them, albeit not always delivered in the way people wanted to hear it, was factual, important and often stopped a mound of unfounded speculation in threads.

@Alvest: I have never considered this place to be social media, thus I appreciated the direct, un-flowery, non-marketing speak of their participation. If I want the PC, BS, I'll go to conventional social media platforms and press releases. I'd rather they tell me directly what they are trying to do than to sugarcoat anything. I'm a big boy and don't need to be patronized.

@24 Left: I do not blame them for walking away they did. People felt personally attacked by a corporation's decisions and responded in a hateful and slanderous manner. These reactions, in my opinion, confirmed that FT AC thread is (for the most part) a minuscule over-entitled subsection of the real flying picture and the reaction of the bullies on the thread determined that the participation of Ben L & Andrew is not merited. Since the tone of the forum seems to have matured over the last few weeks, maybe there is hope for a comeback. But we certainly do not deserve it.

24left

My initial comments on the participation of Ben, Ben, Andrew, along with the excellent additional comments from adam.smith that followed my posts are here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25829199-post1828.html


EDIT: @PLeblond
Some days, I agree with your description that AC FT might be comprised of "minuscule over-entitled subsection of the real flying picture".

However, as adam.smith said in that thread, and as Dorian has also said in the past, AC FTers are a passionate group. Back in March at the YVR Do, I commented that most of us really like Air Canada. We fly Air Canada, we spend time helping others with ideas and solutions and quite frankly, we are a pretty talented bunch with a lot of great ideas and some solutions.

The challenge, I believe, is that some just don't like how AC treats its customers sometimes, how the IT is a mess and impacts on our ease of use, or fails us, how some programs are launched without always seeing the impact on the customers and so on.

Thus, as I stated before, it was understandable that the AC reps who were here, got an earful. Sifting the great stuff from the rants is not always an easy task, but it seems to me it is worth ACs time.

Regardless of what anyone else thinks, AC has benefited from the ideas posted here. For whatever reason, they can't see to handle the noisy bunch that we are and the criticism.

Missed opportunity if you ask me.
.