I work at the airport/for the airline. You're wrong.
Mar 28, 2016, 9:16 am
#61
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77L swapped for 77W on 1136 today. No biggie, just need to see if I can move my sxit-row to the PE cabin.
Agent: "Well, yes sir, 14D is open and I've moved you into it, but that's definitely not a premium economy seat. Are you sure I can't put you in an exit row? "
Me: "No, thank you, if it's the HD then row 14 is the PE seats, but it'll show up in the manifest as regular economy because they don't sell PE on Vancouver-Toronto."
Agent: "Sir, I'll show you the seat map. See, row 14 is 2-4-2, it's a two-cabin aircraft. The exit row is a much better seat."
Me: "If row 14 is 2-4-2, and the row behind it is 3-4-3, then it's an HD and row 14 is PE seats, and I'm happy to stay right where I am, thank you."
Agent, with an angry sigh: "Sir, I've tried to help you. It's nothing to do with what products we sell on that flight. This flight shows as a 77F and it definitely, absolutely does not have any Premium Economy seats anywhere on the aircraft."
So, i say thank you, I'll take my chances.
Got to the MLL, asked the agent there to check and tell me if I'd been wrong, if there was maybe a new seating configuration, and proceeded to have almost the exact same interaction. "No, sir, there definitely aren't any PE seats on the 77F."
Anyway, here i sit in a PE seat. Easy to see where the agents would see that only J and Y seats are manifested on the flight, but you'd think they'd know the HD product.
Agent: "Well, yes sir, 14D is open and I've moved you into it, but that's definitely not a premium economy seat. Are you sure I can't put you in an exit row? "
Me: "No, thank you, if it's the HD then row 14 is the PE seats, but it'll show up in the manifest as regular economy because they don't sell PE on Vancouver-Toronto."
Agent: "Sir, I'll show you the seat map. See, row 14 is 2-4-2, it's a two-cabin aircraft. The exit row is a much better seat."
Me: "If row 14 is 2-4-2, and the row behind it is 3-4-3, then it's an HD and row 14 is PE seats, and I'm happy to stay right where I am, thank you."
Agent, with an angry sigh: "Sir, I've tried to help you. It's nothing to do with what products we sell on that flight. This flight shows as a 77F and it definitely, absolutely does not have any Premium Economy seats anywhere on the aircraft."
So, i say thank you, I'll take my chances.
Got to the MLL, asked the agent there to check and tell me if I'd been wrong, if there was maybe a new seating configuration, and proceeded to have almost the exact same interaction. "No, sir, there definitely aren't any PE seats on the 77F."
Anyway, here i sit in a PE seat. Easy to see where the agents would see that only J and Y seats are manifested on the flight, but you'd think they'd know the HD product.
The idiocy about this whole thing is insane.
Mar 28, 2016, 10:20 am
#62
Join Date: May 2012
Location: BKK/SIN/YYZ/YUL
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What would a tantrum achieve? Seriously, what do you expect that going "bonkers" will result in except your being arrested or denied boarding? The agents don't know. There is nothing that can be done at this stage except for what was done. In your case, call up your close friends at AC and address it with them. Go bonkers with them if you wish, but refrain from taking it out on the agent who can only do what the agent is trained to do. There is a way to deal with people who are limited and going "bonkers" is not what is done. We do not abuse personnel, ok? Thank you.
Mar 28, 2016, 10:36 am
#63
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He got what he wanted. It's one thing to argue when they refuse to do what you want, but it's quite another when they DO what you want but don't understand it.
What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?
Mar 28, 2016, 11:25 am
#64
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
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Always been my experience that there is nowhere in life where angry complaining will achieve less, than at the airport.
When friendly conversation doesn't get anywhere, and I'm already 99% sure I've got what I was looking for...
Last edited by tcook052; Mar 28, 2016 at 11:48 am Reason: remove animated image
Mar 28, 2016, 1:04 pm
#65
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AC SE; SPG Plat, Fairmont Plat
Posts: 251
45 min on the phone to fix a waitlisted upgrade from latitude that had not been processed despite the flight having P space available.
"Sir, I assure you that latitude upgrades require R space......".
When she came back on line to announce the upgrade had been processed there was still no acknowledgment that she had been wrong. I think that's just human nature though and so long as I managed to have the upgrade cleared and my wife sits up front then I am a happy man.
Mar 28, 2016, 2:52 pm
#66
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And now four months later I just lived the same adventure.
45 min on the phone to fix a waitlisted upgrade from latitude that had not been processed despite the flight having P space available.
"Sir, I assure you that latitude upgrades require R space......".
When she came back on line to announce the upgrade had been processed there was still no acknowledgment that she had been wrong. I think that's just human nature though and so long as I managed to have the upgrade cleared and my wife sits up front then I am a happy man.
45 min on the phone to fix a waitlisted upgrade from latitude that had not been processed despite the flight having P space available.
"Sir, I assure you that latitude upgrades require R space......".
When she came back on line to announce the upgrade had been processed there was still no acknowledgment that she had been wrong. I think that's just human nature though and so long as I managed to have the upgrade cleared and my wife sits up front then I am a happy man.
Mar 28, 2016, 3:00 pm
#67
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Delta, BC
Posts: 1,646
Yes, going "bonkers" (other than internally doing a double-take on the insanity of the conversation) is pointless as long as the customer is given the specific request in the end regardless of whether the agent continues to think it is wrong.
Go bonkers at the ineptness of AC's systems and training.
Mar 28, 2016, 5:21 pm
#68
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: AC SE; SPG Plat, Fairmont Plat
Posts: 251
I guess it all depends where the glitch was and if it was specific to her request or a general failure of the waitlist. I don't presume to understand AC IT
.
Mar 28, 2016, 5:48 pm
#69
Join Date: Oct 2013
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Let's say they hadn't done what I was asking; what would have been achieved by causing a scene at the check-in counter, or at the MLL desk, other than greatly increasing my chances of being denied boarding?
Mar 28, 2016, 6:15 pm
#70
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He WAS trying to get them to understand that he got what he wanted; it was the agents that were insisting his choice was wrong and "kindly" offering to give him something better (that wasn't).
Yes, going "bonkers" (other than internally doing a double-take on the insanity of the conversation) is pointless as long as the customer is given the specific request in the end regardless of whether the agent continues to think it is wrong.
Go bonkers at the ineptness of AC's systems and training.
Yes, going "bonkers" (other than internally doing a double-take on the insanity of the conversation) is pointless as long as the customer is given the specific request in the end regardless of whether the agent continues to think it is wrong.
Go bonkers at the ineptness of AC's systems and training.
So I think we agree
I'd ask for a supervisor
Mar 28, 2016, 6:31 pm
#71
Join Date: May 2014
Location: DMV
Posts: 2,092
I don't think you can blame the airlines or even the staff for this stuff.
In a normal customer support operation it's generally the case that the agent possesses a lot of information the customer does not have. This means the support staff can speak with some authority and confidence knowing that the client will not be able to question them. That allows them to get away with a lot and that's intentional. A business will only invest as much in training as necessary.
It's different in this scenario because FTers and FFers in general have invested far more time and energy in learning about all things air travel related than you can expect from a front line service staffer who privately might not care one bit about air travel and is solely relying on training provided by their employer (which is typically not very extensive especially when it comes to more unusual requests).
It's not like these people are enthusiasts. It's not like a lot of the air travel experts here would quit their jobs and pursue airline clerk as a dream job given compensation levels and so forth.
In a normal customer support operation it's generally the case that the agent possesses a lot of information the customer does not have. This means the support staff can speak with some authority and confidence knowing that the client will not be able to question them. That allows them to get away with a lot and that's intentional. A business will only invest as much in training as necessary.
It's different in this scenario because FTers and FFers in general have invested far more time and energy in learning about all things air travel related than you can expect from a front line service staffer who privately might not care one bit about air travel and is solely relying on training provided by their employer (which is typically not very extensive especially when it comes to more unusual requests).
It's not like these people are enthusiasts. It's not like a lot of the air travel experts here would quit their jobs and pursue airline clerk as a dream job given compensation levels and so forth.
Mar 28, 2016, 10:42 pm
#72
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Delta, BC
Posts: 1,646
Mar 29, 2016, 5:05 am
#73
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Had similar conversations with agents over seating on the different 77s (maybe in another lifetime, AC could have given each of the different configs better names/descriptors.) That said, I've had to walk a couple of them through the different seating maps that we see on AC.com and EF. I chose to be patient and at least the agents said "Thank you for sharing that with me. We don't see what you see"
(Dunno, Internet is a useful tool sometimes. But ok. Lol.)
(Dunno, Internet is a useful tool sometimes. But ok. Lol.)
Mar 29, 2016, 8:09 am
#74
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
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You'd think if a customer was quoting exact seat numbers and configurations, and pointing out the way specific flights are manifested, you'd at least check before saying "No, you're definitely wrong".
Jun 2, 2016, 11:17 pm
#75
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I had a couple similar encounters this past weekend, and I'm actually writing in about them. None of the agents said "I work at the airport. You're wrong." But they came close.
Case #1:
I had booked an Aeroplan ticket for a friend who holds status. Per http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/151022.html, we asked a check-in agent to put his number on the booking. She and her colleague would not even ATTEMPT it until I pulled up that page and gave it to her to read. "You're not allowed to do that."
Of course, then it didn't even work
Case #2:
"You're not booked on 568 today. You're booked on June 19th."
"I'm __also__ booked on June 19th, yes. But I'm booked today."
"You are NOT booked on 568 today." (like seriously, ...?)
"My booking reference is ABC123."
*type type type*
"Here's your boarding pass. Sorry about that." (yay an apology, but don't be rude and tell me I'm wrong when you're the one who's wrong, and you won't NEED to apologize)
I actually had issues every time I went to a check-in counter this weekend. Unreal.
Case #1:
I had booked an Aeroplan ticket for a friend who holds status. Per http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/151022.html, we asked a check-in agent to put his number on the booking. She and her colleague would not even ATTEMPT it until I pulled up that page and gave it to her to read. "You're not allowed to do that."
Of course, then it didn't even work
Case #2:
"You're not booked on 568 today. You're booked on June 19th."
"I'm __also__ booked on June 19th, yes. But I'm booked today."
"You are NOT booked on 568 today." (like seriously, ...?)
"My booking reference is ABC123."
*type type type*
"Here's your boarding pass. Sorry about that." (yay an apology, but don't be rude and tell me I'm wrong when you're the one who's wrong, and you won't NEED to apologize)
I actually had issues every time I went to a check-in counter this weekend. Unreal.