The most recent episode of Airline involved a WN supervisor telling a woman that her carryon was oversized and she couldn't carry it on. (It wasn't clear at what point she ran into the supervisor; it appeared that it was at the ticket counter.) She started walking towards security and he followed her, again telling her her bag was too big. (It definitely did not fit in the carryon template; the supervisor was demonstrably correct). At some point she stopped, turned around, and started screaming at the guy. Their exchange went on for a couple of minutes. Eventually he backed down and walked away, and he admitted that he did so because she was so agitated.

She eventually got through security just fine, and of course her bag fit just fine into the overhead. (Let's not get into a discussion of why the rule is that your bag must fit into the template, rather than that the bag must fit into the overhead.)

I had mixed feelings about this. I felt that she should have automatically "lost" the argument once she started screaming. On the other hand, the rule that was being enforced seemed silly to me given that her bag did fit into the overhead, so in the end I didn't know what to think. :)

I'd go as far as to say that AF have been more hit by subsidy. Look at the intense competition on LON, BRU, AMS, GVA, BSL, LYS, MRS, TLS, LIL and plenty more formerly very profitable routes by the SNCF, a very definitely subsidised organisation... Not to mention EZY with its finger in the domestic routes tarte...

Culturally, though, my experience at CDG is that it helps to at least try to speak French (it's only polite), and, if you don't get what you want, it's not losing your temper, but rather dogged (albeit calm) stubbornness that gets you what you want. I do agree that the airport rarely rates highly among my 'best customer service experiences', even with fluent French.

Yes, you should have - thanks for my fist laugh out loud of the day! :D I take great pleasure at entering a key card floor when on the elevator with snotty people, but never with one I just encountered at check-in. Wistful thinking... maybe some day!

Like Punki, I don't think I've ever screamed, but I have once let an agent know that they are going to do something for me.

Flying from SEA back to BOS on UA when I was in college, there was a huge snowstorm on the East Coast. My BOS flight was canceled when I landed in ORD to make a connection. The lines up to the service agents were insane, but I got to the front, handed over my now-useless BOS boarding card, and heard "We booked you on the next flight tomorrow morning." I had been looking around at the nearby gates while in line, and a flight to EWR was boarding right across the hallway. I told the gate agent I wanted to be put on the EWR flight, where I would spend the night (with family) and then I wanted to be put on a EWR-BOS shuttle for the next day. The agent told me it was impossible, and I asked by how many seats the EWR flight was oversold. She looked at me, I repeated the question, and she printed up a EWR boarding pass for me. I made her also give me a seat (not just a reservation) on the BOS shuttle from EWR the next day, then ran over & was about the last person on the flight.

This was one of my first solo transcons, and to this day I don't know how I had the nerve to do that- I just was not about to spend the night in ORD sleeping at a gate.

Ain't that the truth? I sometimes have to make these judgement calls when dealing with my customers (always via the phone). In addition to the underlying circumstances and merits of the customer's request, I definately take the attitude into consideration. Unlike a gate agent, the next experience with the same customer is likely to involve me as well. I've seen it time and time again where giving into a customer that's being particularly rude or pushy serves as negative reinforcement and only encourages them to do the same next time.

Also, regarding "one-time exceptions" to rules, I'm surprised at how often taking the effort to do something nice for a customer gets turned against you. No matter how clear you are that the "one time exception" is exactly that, it is often used against you next time, with a haughty "Well, so-and-so did it for me last time" when they know darned well what the rules are up front.

Oh, how I wish I could see this happen in person. To be fair, I'd also love to see some of the European contract ground crew for US carriers have some recourse taken against them when they choose to not follow the rules of their carrier.

Wow! That takes balls! He's only gold and he's only been there for 5 weeks and he goes nuts because he doesn't get his specific room? Good God man, he doesn't even have the platinum reservation guarantee. They should've walked his ... to the Holiday Inn.

I've never tried screaming at any gate at any airport (I'm a timid individual BTW) even when my patience was runnning short and I realized that the GA was being incompetent. I think ever since we've been in the post 9/11 era, screaming does nothing but causes the attention of security personels. Oh oh :eek:

Exactly what I was thinking (and the desk clerks too, probably). I've often found that the middle tier is the "worst" in this regard (sorry if anyone's offended by the generalization) - they have often just reached "real" status and think it's a big deal. Long-time PLT/DIA/etc. have often been there long enough that they know the routine, know how to get things without being obnoxious, etc.

I was once in SFO when a flight was delayed and a passenger loudly announced "I've been taking this flight for 31 straight weeks and this is the first time it's been late", trying to impress people with his super-miles status. As I strolled by a few seconds lated I just quipped "And only the 4th time in the 27 months I've been doing it" Kind of quieted him up.

Someone else screaming benefited me once at HSV. It started when an elderly woman, who was very confused (or very clever), wandered up to the first agent that appeared available. This happened to be an agent at the first class counter. The agent tried to explain to the woman that others were waiting and that she needed to go to the back of the line. However, it soon became apparent that it was going to be quicker to issue the woman her BP than to send her away. The entire episode was less than 5 minutes but the man ahead of me was fuming about it by the time he got to the counter. He berated the agent from the moment he approached the counter until he walked away with his BP. When it was finally my turn I commented on how well I thought the agent had handled the two previous pax and joked that she had more patience with unreasonable people than I ever would. She thanked me with one of my first op-ups. I'll follow a screamer any day! :D

Does SCREAMING at a gate agent actually work? Reply to Thread
 

I would caution about screaming at a gate agent. If anyone has watched A&E's "Airline", you will know from a couple episodes that ticketed passengers have been denied boarding and even removed from the aircraft for shouting, swearing at, and screaming at the gate agents. I would probably not scream at an agent, but if they royally screwed up and the blame did fall on them or the airline, I may demand some resolution, solution, or answer in a stern, and firm voice, not wanting to cause them to call airport security or police! Sometimes being so nice and pleasant on our part might get you somewhere. I know some thing that's crazy, but I've seen it work. A sense of humor gets you a lot farther than screaming in my book. The gate agents have a demanding job, deal with a ba-zillion different issues daily (late arriving aircraft, mechanical problems, weather, no crew to fly the aircraft, etc....) that are out of their control. But, when they have screwed up, there is no excuse. I can not tolelate their incompentance, especially when they don't or won't go find an answer. I learned long ago when I was in retail management that if you don't know the answer let the customer know you don't know but you're going to get an answer, then move your butt to get that answer and get back to you customer. That'll win them over big time! So folks, no screaming! Save it for the ball games! :)

Just a few weeks ago, checking into a hotel in Chicago, I was given a truly awful room. The heater sounded like a 1938 Ford with bad shocks and slipping fan belts. The view was of a wall. Grim for a 4 night stay.

This was the weekend of the Bears - Vikings game, and the town was full.

I did not scream at anyone, but being calmly adamant worked. I called down and said that the room was simply unacceptable. I was told to come back to reception. I had waited in line for about 20 minutes the first time, so I said that I would come directly to the woman on the phone, whose accent I recognized as belonging to the one who had checked me in. She said that I would have to wait in line. I said that I had already done that.

Down went I. And straight to the person mentioned. Are you in line, she asked. Yes, I said, I'm in this line. What''s the problem? The room you gave me is simply not acceptable. It is shabby and the heater would keep me awake all night it is so loud. You'll have to get in line, she said. I said, I have been in line, please take me next.

Perhaps you should speak with the manager? she asked. I said that was a good idea.

The manager, also working the check in counter perhaps having sensed an impending riot, went through the same routine with me. What's the problem.

Not screaming, but calmly, firmly and loudly enough so that several people in the line close to me could hear, I repeated my complaints. I said that I had been in line a long time to get a room already and that checking in should not take as long as my flight from the west coast.

She took me next. She gave me a room on the top floor with a view over Michigan Avenue to the lake.

I stopped by later to thank her profusely and we exchanged smiles over the next days.

I think if I had screamed, I would not have been successful. Likewise, had I been quiet and seeminlgy ready to cave.

A balance, perhaps?

Best wishes if you got this far,

Teacher49

She said

teacher,
i think most of us agree that the best way to make demands is through being polite and standing your ground. That's what I also do and 90% of the time it works alright.
But I will still argue that one can teach/train themselves to be able to successfully intimidate others through the use of screaming and other bullying methods.

I can't imagine it, but don't doubt it.

Have you tired waving a gun about? ;)

Best wishes,

Teacher49

Jan 2002, I was on a UA flight BOS-IAD to connect to an AS transcon back to SEA. I had three hours to wait in IAD, and had been travelling for about two weeks. I was out of clean clothes, coming down with a cold, and loaded down with a briefcase that contained TWO laptops and a projector, plus a heavy wool overcoat. Large rollaboard was checked through to SEA even though there were two seperate (E) tickets. I was very, very cranky.

We sat on the ground in BOS for three hours, no explanataion other than "mechanicl problem". I several times explained to FAs that I had a connecting flight in IAD and could they please try to help make sure I was able to get home? They showed a bit of concern but basically said, "you'll be fine, don't worry."

I ran off the plane when we got to IAD and ran as fast as I could to the AS flight's gate. This was a long distance, through the bloody pods twice, and arrived completely out of breath just as the AS flight had closed and the plane was backing away from the jetway. "PLEASE!" I bellowed at the person on the other side of the door. They just shook their head and gave me a "you shoulda been here" look.

I let loose with an F-word that I'm certain was heard throughout the concourse and flung my overloaded briefcase at the door with all my might. The sound of two laptop screens shattering, their chassis twisting, is not pleasant. Within 30 seconds, THREE IAD cops had surrounded me. To their credit they were polite and just wanted to make sure I wasn't a danger to myself or anyone else. Once they determined I wasn't, they wandered off, leaving me sitting in the middle of the departure area.

FWIW, the AS flight was an e-ticket and since they had closed the flight they also sent all their ticket agents home. UA told me if I had a paper ticket they would put me on one of their flights via ORD that night but with an e-ticket, I was SOL. Despite the valiant efforts of some NW agents who tried to fake-print me a ticket as a NW codeshare on the same flight (didn't work) I spent another 24 hours in IAD, another night at the dreary airport Hilton, and caught the next as flight back the following day at 5:30 PM.

Under most circumstances no. I try to level with with and get them admit what's really wrong, and how things can be fixed. i.e. help them do their job, esp. if there are other pax making his/her life miserable

HOWEVER, screaming is entirely appropriate if the gate agent is committing ethnic intimidation and exhibiting racially-biased behavior.

- Pat