no2chem

Recently, I've had to HUCA the exp desk many times on a pre-mar22 award ticket change.

I try to remember the name of the agents that I HUCA'd on, and I usually try to call at pretty odd hours. So far I haven't been unlucky enough to get the same agent twice, but there's got to be a limited number of agents working at 2AM PST, right? Especially the EXP desk?

Anyone have any idea on what the size of the exp desk is? And how many phone agents AA has in general? Has anyone HUCA'd and got the same person???? Why do you have to HUCA with AA so much???...

JDiver

As an EP, one thing I used to value was the ability we had to call and request specific agents. But call center's at LAX, TUS and BDL were closed, there was some (not total) EP agents at DFW and there was a number of retirements. (I had one favorite agent who was originally at LAX, moved to TUS and, when offered the choice of relocating to DFW or taking on international reservations at home (a la Morris Air), she retired. Another favorite at Bradley - Windsor Locks, CT also retired.)

Today IMO we have a number of new agents, some very good but some not very knowledgeable and some seemingly not very concerned with customer satisfaction or knowledge enhancement.

Yes, you can get the same agent on occasion; there is at least one agent that I hang up on when I hear her distinctive voice and accent.

cedric

Certainly happened fairly frequently on the US CP line, especially during the overnight hours.

The smallest state

I THINK I KNOW WHO YOU MEAN!!!!!!

as an aside I don't do that, instead I drag things out and she gets exasperated with me. She even remembers me. I have had her say "We've discussed this in the past you know"

The reason I don't hang up on this lady who works far harder 'to get out of doing the job, than the actual task would take her' is I work in and run a call center. We found that some customers and other callers within the company who were trying to transfer a caller would hang up on these people answering the phone. Incredibly it really helps their stats when you do that. Call center employees are graded on number of calls and customer service scoring of recorded calls. While these people generally score poorly to average on service, they always have great stats of high total calls and low average talk time due to people not wanting to deal with them.

......that all being said. I am sure we are talking about the same lady.

surftb15

Can't you still ask for particular agents if they give you their 3 digit call or code?

Taoyuan

If you get a terrible rating for service, why would it matter that you can handle a high volume of calls anyways? Wouldn't service kind of be a pre-requisite for grading volume?

discoverCSG

Your underlying assumption is that AA wants to provide good customer service.

Is that a safe assumption?

The smallest state

No. That would make sense from a customer point of view, but from a company provider point of view..........no. You want someone who can take the most calls possible.

In a call center model you have your average talk time. General rule of thumb is 7 minutes per call. Then you have your 'wrap' or 'off phone' time that is spent out of 'available' or 'waiting for a call'. Then you have quality scores, this is done by a manager on the call center who grades calls. Then you have 'client satisfaction' or 'client scores'.

Basic rule of thumb if call center agent A answers 48 calls a shift and call center agent B answers 31 calls a shift, then call center agent A is better to the company.

Now, if call center agent A just gives any old answer or disconnects or has people disconnect on her, that is where the other measuring comes into play.

But it is all down to total calls. That is the key.

Box10

Then if you get that agent, should you stay on the phone as long as possible???

rjw242

I believe that's exactly the tactic suggested by The smallest state a few posts back.

Also, if that's the industry standard, it sounds like call centers could use some help updating their performance metrics

pharmalady

There was one particular agent that, for some reason on a Monday evening, I kept getting. Finally, I called via Skype and had a different agent. The first EXP agent didn't lift a finger at all on a very simple request to change my flights on a fully flexible ticket and wanted to charge me $200. The second agent gave me several options and just changed the ticket. The first agent seemed really awkward like they did not know the systems and policies, and the second agent was quite seasoned and even told me my upgrade had cleared and asked if they could take a seat reservation.

Oh well. YMMV must be God's motto.

travelgeek1197

I think I know of whom you speak, but obviously cannot be sure. I will say this----years ago there was a huge difference between being an EP and not (all because of that AWESOME EP lined service that went with it) but with the excellent call centers went the excellent service, added value and any noticeable difference between being EP booked in F/J and just being booked in F/J.

Had they not let the wonderful EP call quality go, I might still be EP next year, at this point, I think I have only flown AA 1 time over the last 6 months. God I miss the old EP line.....

~TG