Ziptie

I see how that could have been misunderstood

Stranger

Weren't you supposed to be an optimist?

canadiancow

The concierge phone lines are one of those services that are very hard to offer in a useful manner.

If you staff it to the level that can handle massive network-wide IRROPS, then most of the time they will literally be doing nothing.

If you staff it below that, then when there's massive IRROPS and an SE needs help, they can't get it.

Could concierges work from home and be on call, so if a snowstorm hits, a bunch of them can get paid overtime without having to leave home?

That being said, this assumes the only issues are during network-wide issues, which clearly does not seem to be the case.

24left

You forgot an emoji. Also I took a break from pragmatic optimism to make dinner.
Like others, I have recent "concierge failings in YYZ" (email, phone, follow up and comprehension) but I'll let that stew for a while.

canadiancow

To add my own issues (though I'm sure I've mentioned them in other threads), I've found way too many concierges who want to call res or Aeroplan to do SDCs. This is both over the phone and in person.

The result is either:
1. I don't get my SDC
2. Someone more senior steps in and gets it done

CZAMFlyer

It has occurred to me from numerous unrelated threads that the concierge service is used by some members for plenty of issues that might be easily self-solved using a priority telephone line or online through the website. It's always nice to experience personalized service at a whim, but is it any surprise that doing so too frequently could conceivably result in delays for others?

Concierges exist to help navigate truly exceptional circumstances, not to absolve your responsibility for your own travel plans, nor to hold your hand during routine transactions easily handled via regular customer service channels.
It's possibly another example of my oft-quoted "90/10 ratio".

canadiancow

Can you clarify which issues people are using the concierge for that could be "easily self-solved using a priority telephone line or online through the website" ?

InTheAirGuy

Today there were NO IRROPS.

They failed in their basic mission of answering the phone. And failed in calling back. They never did.

I reach out to them maybe 5 or 6 times a year. That's it. My spend, and MrsITAG, is about #$80,000. This is one of the so-called benefits.

They fail at it.

Today was a luggage issue: all of the staff I was interacting with were busy absolving themselves of blame, finding something else to do, doing anything other than trying to fix a problem AC had created.

My intent in calling the Concierge was to say, 'hey, could you escalate this, and get this thing resolved, so I can make my flight.' Not a lot to ask for, and it something they could have easily done.

Except, well they don't pick up the phone. They don't call back.

And that is increasingly becoming the norm.

In other words, the service offered by AC known as "Concierge" is a failing service, and I see no activity whatsoever by AC to acknowledge this, let along act on fixing it.

Increasingly, it's this:

"We’ll provide you with a 24-hour hotline available 7 days a week that you can call. There's a strong likelihood that a) we won't answer b) if we do, enough time will have lapsed that we probably won't be helpful or c) might not even call at all."

Clearly, I'm venting, but today was the icing on the cake of iteration with a failing service.

Again, I see no sign that AC will do *anything* to acknowledge that it is not working, let alone a plan to fix it.

mapleg

So you get them by smoke signals then?

jc94

Stranger

Right. Don't ask me, though. Why would you think I should know?

CZAMFlyer

Fair enough. You don't sound like one of the SEs that is clogging the system.

I will in this answer defer to yourself as one of the self-described frequent consumers of AC Concierge services. In other words, you tell me. I've never called them. Using your example, is it possible to request an SDC apart from with the help of a Concierge?

canadiancow

No.

Rarely (and I mean I've seen it once, ever), OLCI will offer SDC with the flight I want. But there's almost nothing that can be done online, day of departure.

The one time I called months in advance, out of desperation at reservations being useless, the concierge said something like "call us first next time". And the concierge was able to help me, when reservations was not.

I've said it many times, but if AC had better technology powering all their systems, the concierge service wouldn't be required. Or it would be rarely required.

Sunny Day

Could a SDC be done by phone with reservation? As SE, there is a dedicated 1-800- reservation phone number. That would at least be one task taken off the plate of the concierge.

canadiancow

No. SDC is an action that must be performed through DCS, which requires someone who "works at the airport".

Alternatively, it requires they give res agents access, which I suspect is technically possible. I don't know why it isn't set up that way. But it's not something I can change.