gates_2

Why must AA consistently disappoint? Flying on a paid F fare to HNL today. Placed my and my wifes ID on the desk for the gate agent (K Ko) he made me take my ID off the counter and hand it to him on his other side. He was surly and rude the whole encounter, handing the BP to us without saying a word. Perhaps we should have used the automated main kiosk and avoided human interaction and much as possible.

apeortdz

Wow. I hope your day improves when you get to HNL.

Uncle Nonny

Was his full name Kirk? I have a sworn enemy there by that name. Sounds like something my guy would do.

SJOGuy

I think life is way too short to be developing a "sworn enemy" at an airport.

To the OP, you did something that people who work in retail and customer service dislike. Don't make them reach. I've worked in retail. It's an annoyance. Instead, hand them the documents or the payment or whatever objects are part of the transaction. Now, granted, I didn't get to call out the customer on it, and that agent shouldn't have done so either. I just accepted that they did what they did. But courtesy works both ways. As apeortdz said, I hope your day improved when you got to Hawaii.

econometrics

The priority check in AAgents at DFW D are most usually very "to the point". Sometimes this can bleed over into rude.

BUT, they are fast, good at what they do (usually) and accommodating, I've found.

rufflesinc

I believe a big chunk of FT would claim TSA is their sworn enemy at an every airport.

wrp96

There was a local agent that I, and several people I know, referred to as Mr. Grumpy (my first encounter with him was bad enough that others observing the encounter swore off flying AA). My friends and I took initiative and decided to nice him into a change of attitude. It took a few years, but the last year or so he and I have actually been able to joke back and forth with each other. But I can tell you that until his attitude changed, if I had a choice, I was choosing the other agent every time.

JDiver

Problem is that when we report these kinds Ipoh instances, it’s often more indicative of differences than anything else. To wit, in the BAEC forum there’s a currently active thread where a LHR-TLV passenger is complaining that though the flight was okay, he feels slighted that twice he was not proffered his “Gold greeting” he feels is important.

Sometimes, there’s genuine rudeness.

But ipoften enough it’s about personal style and differences. Just as examples,

Tolerance for directness : some are very direct (e.g. most Australians) whereas others (e.g. some Middle Easterners) have little tolerance for directness. Instead of being open, they’ll say what they think the other person wants to hear - whether it’s feasible or not.

Tolerance for conflict: some can withstand conflict and remain “unhooked”, others have less resistance and feel every sling or perceived sling and are easily drawn into conflict.

Some still like to “dress up” for flying, and may have animus against those in shorts or sweats, particularly in First class.

Some prefer formality - “Welcome aboard, Mr. Ginslinger” and “professional” treatment, more to be found on zcathay Pacific as example, others are “Call me Bob!” and engaging in informal chit chat and jocularity.

And on.

For me, I usually have bigger fish to fry. I prefer to mostly just accept others as they are and maintain sight of my objective - get checked in, baggage tagged to my destination, correct boarding passes, etc. I don’t have too much time or energy to invest in what I might see as nit-picking.

I do enjoy and being aware of personal differences, and I may use my communication partner’s style to mirror a bit (the Platinum rule is “treat others as they would be treated”) to achieve my goal - that seat change, the earlier flight, etc. I can observe and choose, communicate for effectiveness. In Latin America, Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia that requires more courtesy and formality, in Australia p, New Zealand and parts of the USA that may call for a more informal approach, even with a shared joke.

s0ssos

When you say "reach" do you mean stretch a muscle, expend some effort, do anything more than the minimum possible?

LINDEGR

Give me a break. They are customer service agents - their job is to provide service to us. It is not my job to provide my license to the person in his/her preferred method; short of throwing it in his face, of course, just about anything should be acceptable- placing it on the counter, handing it to him in the palm of my hand, placing it between two fingers and holding it over the counter for him to grab.

fastflyer

Exactly. If it is such a concern by the airline staff regarding how the customer presents his ID, perhaps AA could buy little trays like they use in Europe for receipts and change. There is no need for hand-to-hand contact or combat, and frankly many passengers would rather minimize the interaction as much as possible if the agent has attitude. A proper first class interaction should be pleasant and relaxing to the customer who may be stressed about rushing to the airport. The demand for such an atmosphere is supposedly the reason for the Flagship Check-in desks, or how BA First operates at Heathrow Terminal 5

tismfu

I appreciate the perspective from the other side. I always thought it was more polite for me to leave ID on the counter when asked because if the cashier / agent / customer service rep is engaged in another activity I didn't want to be perceived as rude by pushing something toward their person / "in their face".

nrr

Different "ballpark", at the Zurich Casino, when you cash out with a cashier, you are required to place your "card" on the counter, NOT hand them the card.
In LAS VEGAS or AC they are not so fussy.

hornedfrog

It is too common, it's almost like they enjoy it. You must complain and take your $ elsewhere if things don't improve. They have cut costs to a level where they hire people with no skills. Perhaps AI will replace them.

AA100k