DJ_Iceman

Last week when flying home from Orlando there was an extremely rude flight attendant who, in three separate incidents, did things to people in my traveling party that alone would have been enough to make me write to the airline. All three taken together were way too much to take, so when I got home I fired off an e-mail, not really expecting much except a form reply.

Instead, the very next day I got a phone message at work apologizing for the problems and promising to investigate the situation and deal with the flight attendant suitably. I thought that was the end of it, until I got ANOTHER call two days later from a customer service supervisor who said they wanted to discuss with me the issue of compensation for the inconveniences we suffered. I returned the call and had to leave my own voice mail, and told them I wasn't at all interested in compensation but just wanted to make sure that particular flight attendant didn't continue to treat customers in a very un-Continental way. Today I got an e-mail from that supervisor saying that she has sent me a complimentary system-wide upgrade certificate and a gift certificate for dinner at my choice of restaurants in the local area.

This was clearly NOT a form response, as in each case they referred to my specific complaints and promised that positive action would be taken to ensure the behaviors in question would not be repeated. I've got to say that I'm impressed--this is the first time I've ever written Continental with a complaint (although I've sent in plenty of compliments for outstanding service), and their serious treatment has redeemed what was a very negative experience.

MEBenson

That's been my experience with CO customer care, too. Always service-oriented, with good follow-through. You probably won't get many responses to your post. People here would rather spend time bashing CO, and complaining about the lack of Biscotti in the Presidents Clubs. Some people have to B*TCH, or they'll explode.

dthernandez

I don't think it's that most people on this board don't think that Continental doesn't do a fair to good job at what it does, but that CO's We Care is in the majority of cases, pretty unresponsive. I've never received a response from CO's customer service that hasn't been not only canned, but sufficiently off-topic as to make me think that they didn't understand my original email.

But, then, admittedly (and gratefully) I've never received treatment that's been outrageously bad. Curt and indifferent service to be sure, but I've never had a CO employee go out of their way to treat me poorly.

It heartens me to know that when it counts, CO will do the right thing. Now, if they could just do something about the bad attitudes that some of their employees have...

jaguar

What a wonderful response from CO. That's why I think they are fantastic. I just wish they had more comfortable seats in coach.

entropy

I didn't even know they had SWU's. Can you confirm its valid for BusinessFirst? (not the standard CCFC)

channa

If you can get past the email reader folks in customer service (the ones who blow you off with an email that makes you wonder if they actually read your email), then you're in good shape.

Once it gets to the actual person's supervisor, or person in charge of that area, I've found CO's responses to be very well handled. You just have to get past the front line....

What's funny is how it's so night and day. The front line email responses are so half-a** and give such a poor impression of the company, but once it gets to the right person, the company actually does care and will deal with it.

Now if only I could find a contact to report co.com bugs to. I have a bunch of little things that are easy fixes, but they never get to the right person using the "report a bug" link...

ajhun9

Who'd you write to? I need to voice a complaint about a "lost" BF meal request over a 12-hour journey on my honeymoon.

vachataboon

I've always had a response to any comments that I've sent off to customer service. Not that I have any many problems, just a handful over the few years I was a Gold and Platinum. I never asked for anything in compensation, however, like DJ_Iceman, I wanted to point out a problem.

Of course I was always civil, pointed out the problem and mentioned how it has affected my CO experience.

There's not a particular e-mail to use, I just submit either via the standard e-mail address or grab a We Care card out of the onboard magazines.

DJ_Iceman

I just used the standard customer service e-mail link on the website. I had intended to write an honest-to-god letter, but when the time came I got lazy. Given the excellent response to my e-mail, I don't know if I'll bother writing paper letters in the future!

I have not yet received the promised certificates in the mail, but when I do I will come back and post the details. If anyone is REALLY interested, I can post the exact text of my e-mail and the associated responses, but I think the bottom line that they're making a bad situation good is the important thing!

smoothtakeoff bumpylanding

hah .. like they'd care about that

EmailKid

Sure, I'd be interested in the responses.

And I will continue to b*tch about the premium we have to pay to fly out of the InterCONTINENTAL hub as opposed to connecting through it.

I would prefer another two inches of legroom in coach, BUT I'm always grateful when a UG comes my way.

And since most of my flights are leisure travel I have the luxury of waiting for a sale and choosing routes and / or flights that are not serviced by JungleJets (for the most part).

All in all CO ain't bad, I just hate the fact that I'm held hostage here at InterCONTINENTAL hub (sorry, I don't think HOU-CLE HOU-EWR really count). Who knows, I might choose CO, in fact I would probably choose CO, but I hate the fact that defacto I don't have a choice in carriers from Houston.

EmailKid

climbermom

It's been my experience that CO responses are determined by your onepass status. When dealing with a recent issue with CO, I emailed them using my information and onepass number (no elite status at the time). I received a "canned" response, i.e., thanks for sharing, but we can't help you.

I copied the email verbatim and sent it again from my husband, a CO platinum for many years. He immediately got a telephone call from a supervisor, who was more than happy to make amends to satisfy us.

Coincidence?

EmailKid

Methinks NOT !!!!

EmailKid

mbreuer

I've received both canned & personal responses when elite, and when not. IMHO, it has to do with the nature of the question/complaint. Human nature being what it is, if they have a canned response that seems to be appropo, they use it, if not, not. That said, I can't remember a canned response that was actually correct. All required follow-up. Once someone actually re-read the original email, I have alway received a satisfactory answer. I'd have to say that this puts CO way above most businesses when it comes to customer service.

DJ_Iceman

Here it is, cut-and-pasted from my e-mail program (therefore my original message is at the BOTTOM and their reply on the top--also keep in mind that this e-mail followed three phone calls from them):

Dear Mr. Iceman:

Thank you for taking the time to email and for returning my call regarding the service you and your family received on flight 1493 on October 26, 2004.

Your frustration with respect to your journey is certainly understandable and I apologize for the inconvenience. We appreciate your feedback, and regret learning of your disappointment in our performance.

As much as I regret your disappointing experience, we are grateful you brought the matter to our attention. I have forwarded your comments to our Director of In-flight Services. I can assure you this matter will be addressed immediately and any measures that may be deemed necessary will be taken.

Per my conversation, I will be sending your wife a first class upgrade for her future use. Since your family did not receive the vegetarian meal requested, and did not enjoy the same complimentary service as your fellow passengers. I will be sending you a gift certificate for your family enjoyment. Perhaps you'd like to take your family to dinner. The outlets for use are shown on the back of the certificate.

Your Platinum Elite status clearly demonstrates your loyalty and I apologize for the service you received. Your business is important to us, and we will make every effort to leave you with a better impression when we have the privilege of serving you again.

Mr. Iceman, thank you for choosing Continental Airlines whenever possible to meet your family's travel needs.

Kind regards,

Rosie Memari
Customer Care Manager

-----Original Message-----

From: [email protected]
Sent: 28 Oct 04 19:01:30
To: <[email protected]>
Cc:
Subject: Flight Experience

Submitted: 10/28/2004 7:01:18 PM
Remote Host: 4.8.140.217
User Agent: MOZILLA/4.0 (COMPATIBLE; MSIE 6.0; WINDOWS NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322) Signed In: No

Name: Mr. Iceman
E-mail Address: [email protected]
Home Phone Number: 1 xxx-xxx-xxxx
Business/Other Phone Number: 1 xxx-xxx-xxxx

Address:
xxx

OnePass Number: xxxxxxxx

Subject: Flight Experience
Reply: Yes

Message:
Unfortunately, I am writing about a bad experience I had with a flight attendant on a recent flight. Actually, my traveling party had three independent poor experiences with Janet on this flight.

First, I am a platinum elite member who got an upgrade to first class for myself and a traveling companion. I chose to use these two upgraded seats for my wife and infant daughter. For some reason, Janet chose to take the meal orders of everyone else in the first class cabin, in front of and behind my wife, before telling her there were no meal choices left and she'd have to "take or leave" what was left. I find this behavior rude and completely unacceptable.

Second, my other traveling companion is a vegetarian. We did not order a special meal for her in advance, but Janet treated her rudely as well. When it was time for the coach meal service, she advanced down the rows curtly asking, "Turkey sandwich?" to each passenger. When my friend said she was a vegetarian, Janet's testy reply was, "So do you want the turkey sandwich or not?" Again, this is hardly the level of professionalism and courtesy I expect from the finest flight attendants in the skies.

The last case of poor treatment occurred when I went into the first class cabin to visit my wife and daughter. Janet glared at me, then went to get one of the other flight attendants to ask me to leave to "maintain the integrity of the first class cabin". I understand what they were saying, after all I've flown in first class often enough to resent frequent encroachment from coach passengers especially into the first class lavatory. I fail to see, however, how a short visit to see how my family was doing was disturbing other passengers or creating any kind of security problem. In any event, what annoyed me was Janet's holier-than-thou attitude and inability to even ask me herself to return to my coach seat.

I fly Continental a lot. I've seen the best and the worst of in-flight service (luckily, a lot more of the best, which is why I keep flying with you), and this was by far the worst flight attendant treatment I've experienced. It could just be that Janet was having a bad day (it happens to all of us), but I figured that corporate HQ at least needed to hear from a dissatisfied set of passengers. It's equally likely that Janet treats ALL passengers this way, in which case she has no place among the rest of your excellent crew.

Flight Number: 1493
Flight Date: Tue., Oct. 26, 2004
Approximate Departure Time: 12:00 Noon
Origin: MCO
Destination: EWR

Airport: None
Date: None