KDCAflyer

Customers only deserve to be treated with respect when they themselves treat others with respect. I'm tired of the "customers are always right" attitude that this country has.

I'm not commenting on this particular situation BTW.

readywhenyouare

Wow, someone needs a Tide pod in their mouth!

jdrtravel

Except that this situation is precisely what you are commenting on.

When you watch all three of those videos it seems pretty clear to me (though of course I could be missing something) that the agents were refusing to be helpful to the customer, and being terribly rude about it. Regardless of which airline was responsible for his bag (and it appears to be that DL was) there is ZERO excused for DL customer service agents not trying to help their customer. This is all the more true b/c this pax had already experienced irrops. I'm glad to see that DL suspended this employee, and I'm also glad that this pax captured this. I have been treated like this by DL the baggage staff at JFK (not sworn at, but totally dismissed) and it's not a fun experience.

KDCAflyer

Yeah, alright I get it.

Sigh, I do apologize to all. Bad day. Let's just say that I've had reasons to question the human race today.

DCP2016

I agree with you in the fact that "the customer is NOT always right" and the fact in my personal experience honey gets you more than vinegar. Like I said, I don't know the facts of this particular case or what they guy filming said/did before he turned it on however in the customer service industry you can't curse at the customer. Believe me, I've had days where I want to smack the customer but it's my job to remain calm, and if necessary, escalate it to my superiors.

jdrtravel

yeah, I had that kind of day as well. I feel you.

davie355

Please do not put words in my mouth. The customer obviously isn't always right, but the customer is always the customer. The frontline employee is fundamentally subordinate to the customer. As such it is an obligation for the employee to be respectful, and merely a courtesy for the customer to be respectful.

The vast majority of frontline employees provide good service and do understand the last sentence I wrote above - even if they accept it reluctantly.

More broadly, every human being deserves to be treated with respect regardless of how they behave. How many times have FlyerTalkers said "oh you should still treat grumpy FAs respectfully because they might have had a long day, personal problems etc." Now FlyerTalkers (specifically you) are saying "oh grumpy passengers deserve to be cussed out."

Again, if someone has been legitimately inappropriate, police and legal recourse are available. It is never appropriate to cuss anybody out.

SpinOn2

Sadly once again the passenger will look like the victim no matter what. For the agent to get that upset the passenger likely was harassing or saying some pretty awful things. I too am sick of the mindset that the passengers are always right. This passenger was not right at all, but unfortunately without any proof of what the pax said it's going to always look bad on the Agent. Sadly an agent is never allowed to express the same human emotion. Some passengers think that little paper bp gives them a right to treat people like indentured servants.

Yes there are times passengers do deserve to get what this guy was given verbally. If people actually think an agent should have to sit there and get harassed and abused all day long by someone, well then that's ridiculous.

davie355

I'm disgusted by these views you expressed. They are just mean spirited to the core. Nothing the customer could have done or said would have warranted this reaction from the employees, full stop.

readywhenyouare

SpinOn2

You know this how? So you think it's ok for people to continually stand there harassing employees who cannot move because that's their work post, and continue to argue with them when they've told you countless times that you need to speak to Hawaiian?

People who think workers should take abuse and harassment and stand there calmly and nice no matter what are unrealistic. They are humans, and need to be treated as such. Both sides of the aisle need to be better towards one another. It's a vicious cycle.

SpinOn2

I know he was wrong for insisting Delta needs to take his claim when he flew in ultimately on Hawaiian, that's a fact.

The rest is speculation, but seeing as I have done the jobs these agents have for a good deal of time back when I worked for an airline, I know it's insanely unlikely a worker is getting that worked up unless driven to it after awhile. Why else do you think you never see how these people were acting before the agents respond? They don't want you to see that side of the fence.

indufan

The thing is that you don't get a vote in any permission to record you on public property.

davie355

Did I say workers "should take abuse" - no. I actually said the opposite, any legitimately abusive customer should be removed, and there is no shortage of airport cops to do that.

The customer should never be cursed at. It's remarkable to me this needs to be said.

As for the "both sides" comment - I disagree vehemently. The customer and the employee are not peers. One is subordinate to the other. Yes they should both be respectful, however only one side must be. So any vicious cycle is 100% the fault of the employee.

SpinOn2

You are so unrealistic it's sad. You may think it's easy to just stand there and never let your emotions get the best of you in a situation like this, but you have no idea. Have you worked in the airline industry in front-facing like this?

The fact you think Customer Service Agents are "Subordinate" to Customers is all I need to know about your mindset. Employees are there to assist the process, the help manage things, they are not below the passenger, they are not forced to follow the passengers orders etc. They are not servants. Give respect get respect. See as someone who worked in a job like that for years before getting out and now flying a lot as a revenue passenger, speaking to an agent etc like a human and showing some understanding goes a long way. They told this guy repeatedly to speak to Hawaiian and were spot on, he refused to listen and kept saying things that were wrong. When anyone wants to act like a spoiled baby and take out your phone to record someone, that's pretty pathetic.