KarlJ

Not really. Some of the most effective CSR's are the ones that have not only made errors in judgement, they have learned from them. This likely includes a few that you know.

capebuffalo

The video made me laugh - I dealt with this exact CSR at IAH last month when my connecting flight was cancelled. She was the only one working at the desk and since I understand how much CSRs have to deal with daily, I always make a point to be friendly and polite. She never even bothered to look at me during the entire rebooking process, snapped when I asked about hotel options for the night (the cancelled flight was the last flight out) and was aghast when the system "forced her" to give me a meal voucher and a night's stay after she informed me that such things are never provided for anyone. "I don't even know why the computer is making me give you this." I never once brought up my status, never demanded anything, was respectful and nice with all my inquiries and she obviously just hated her life and the fact that I was standing before her at all. it really cracked me up to recognize her in the video.

LEONIDES

Honestly, there are plenty of old CO personnel whose "give-a-damn" is busted.

And even if I were being recorded, I wouldn't simply ignore the customer. I might ask the customer to turn off the video, but just ignore the person? No, that I would not do.

username

I guess if more character witnesses, especially longer term more frequent posting FT members, can come forward, then maybe we can figure this out in the next episode of Flyertalkers' Court

flymonthly

No, where in the world are you getting that?

chinatraderjmr

Oh, I disagree. If he was being rude, or attacking her in any way what IMHO she should have done is call a supervisor and then IGNORE him. I don't know if that's what happened (although i suspect it was something like thadbut it's a scenerio where the way she was acting was appropriate

sbm12

When you guaranteed that had the agent asked the customer nicely to step aside that they would have. But obviously, since that didn't happen, the agent didn't ask and did things wrong. Or maybe this customer is the 1% you cannot guarantee against. Either way, stating that there are obviously 3 sides and then also that it is 99% certain that XYZ happened is pretty much ignoring that the other 2 versions might exist.

Just MHO...

HansGolden

That's actually the opposite of my experience with pmCO. On March 6, 2012 I was #2 on the upgrade list on EWR-IAH and two F pax (who had not even checked in) had not shown up. The GA insisted on waiting until five minutes before scheduled departure to mark them as no-show and give me one of their F seats. At the 10 minute mark, I asked her why she was still waiting since they were waaay past the check-in deadline and she said, "We give extra deference to F passengers; they don't have a check-in deadline. They may be connecting from another non-UA flight and already be behind security, so if they show, we will check them in and give them a boarding pass at the gate and let them board."

In contrast, I've "missed" a flight at pmUA ORD-SBN because the GA closed the gate more than 12 minutes before departure (I had specifically noticed the big display at each ORD F-gate that said gate closes 10 minutes before departure) and the plane left 12 minutes early even though I was totally checked in.

Now I'm generally a pmUA fan, but in this case, my experience has been the opposite of the blogger and the post I'm replying to. FWIW.


+1. If true, this bolsters the case quite a bit.

--

I watched the video and the blogger seemed perfectly reasonable and polite. He did not come across as DYKWIA or overly pushy re: the CEO reference. I can understand his frustration at that point--if a CSR is being totally frustrating, it's perfectly natural to try to bring pressure points to bear to try to resolve the stalemate.

I also acknowledge that we do not know what happened before-hand and that that info is pivotal. However, having been in the identical situation as this blogger (flight left early, I was at gate before clearly sign-posted "door-shut" time, flight was oversold, CS desk refused to acknowledge error or give IDB comp; was not F, was Y), I'm predisposed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I also think it's high time I get one of those pen cameras for my shirt pocket. That way I can record the whole of all my agent interactions and not be accused of only getting part of the interaction. I also need to get a cheat sheet of recording consent state laws. I am an honest person and I expect the CSRs that I work with to be honest too. It's frustrating when they're not and having proof is fair play. However, I agree that having the whole truth (everything recorded) is much better than half of the truth with the inherent intimidation and accusation of an obvious video camera pointed at the CSR.

Morally, I'm fine with utilizing mistake fares and maximizing rewards programs, but I do not feel right maximizing CSR comp when I was not genuinely wronged. That involves dishonesty which I do my best to avoid. I'm not here to judge you if you feel differently, just explaining where I'm coming from. The desire to have my interactions recorded is to make so that I don't feel like I have to be dishonest other times to make up for the times I'm genuinely wronged and disbelieved.

ETA: I would agree with those that feel the UAgent made a big mistake in ignoring the customer after he started videoing. I agree that she should have politely told him that she's called a supervisor who would be able to assist with his situation--even if she was unhappy with the situation and felt he was being unreasonable, she should have recognized the opportunity to cast things in a very positive light for herself and totally neutralize the video. The fact that the video was the starting point of recorded info should have flashed a big OPPORTUNITY sign (simply from a CYA position) in her mind to politely and quietly defer to her supervisor. However, I also realize that thinking on your feet and thinking through those situations thoroughly in a stressful situation like that doesn't always happen for me or anyone else.

Tech1

Seems a "travel blogger" would know better than to show up with 28 minutes to get on a flight. (any flight, any airline, any seat...) Idiot.

HansGolden

I agree that that was foolish because TSA is unpredictable. If you'll take the time to examine this situation, you'll see he got lucky and sailed through TSA and got to the gate in plenty of time; once you get to the gate, it's the airline's gate time limits that one should have to worry about, not check-in/arrive at airport time limits. Unfortunately IME United only worries about these gate time limits when it suits them. They're also inconsistent about them: the CoC says 15 minutes and as of Sep. 9, 2011 (not sure if they've changed it since my incident; I had to go pretty high up to get it resolved) the big, red LED displays above F-gates at ORD says that gates close 10 minutes before departure.

I would remark that if you have a small local airport which you fly out of a lot and know its rhythms, you can arrive 28 min before flight time without problem, though you are gambling. At my home airport of ICT my record for from car in parking lot (shuttled lot) to gate is six minutes.

The point is, though, there are set standards for each stage of the process:
90 minutes before domestic departure if checking bags
60 minutes before domestic departure if not checking bags
15 minutes before departure at gate

If you've gambled and won on one of the earlier deadlines, that doesn't mean you should automatically lose on the later deadlines even if you meet them.

Tech1

Fair enough, the early door close thing has caught me enough that I can easily agree with this. Doesn't make this blogger any less a jerk

Renard

While I've had more than my share of rotten CS agents at IAH, I think that this CS lady did exactly what one should do when the camera is rolling....call a Sup and wait for her/his arrival. The bottom line is that this guy cut it too close....one is a FOOL to ever try to show up at IAH security 0.5 hrs before your flight pushes back.

Rotten CS at IAH is hard sometimes to detect at first but in my experience it is typically accompanied by a smile as they lie right to your face.

grahampros

In this case i agree the rep did exactly the right thing from what it appears. There are times and this appears one of them you sit there and keep your mouth shut and let the boss deal with it.

There was clearly and agenda here going on that she wisely picked up on. Her best choice was to NOT get involved in anyway.

fastair

It amazes me that many of my co-workers can't spot "an agenda" a mile away. People with agendas rarely ask what they want, they build a case without directing you to the case itself. I believe that once he whipped out his camera, she was pretty sure he had one, that's if she didn't get that feeling prior to the camera.

Instead of asking if they can transfer/standby to a flight, they ask if it is full. (not always an agenda, but it is a start of a very common ploy.) When you say "no", they (some, not all) say, "well the next one is, and I would like to do you the favor of moveing to this flight so you don't have to deny anyone boarding on that one." "Ok, that will be $75..." "What?!?! Me pay you?!?! I am the one doing you a favor."

Now clearly not everyone that asks if a flight is full is trying to get the change fee waived, but I hear this one every day. The situation of what their agenda is varies, but almost always, it begins with asking round-about questions to find a back door, becuase they know the front door isn't free/open. I don't assume people are trying to back door, but when people don't ask the question they want answered or state their purpose 1st, they usually make me be guarded. They either never took a writing class, or are often looking for an angle. People hate fees and know that eventually, they may find someone to violate the contract for their benefit. IMHO, you get much furthur by being straight forward. If you don't get what you want, you still retain respect. Morale high ground is a currency that is worth more than trickery to an honest man.

Reminds me of when I was in college, it was just after the ant-trust breakup of the Bell companies from ATT. I was one of those groundbreaking (in terms of irritating) 1980's telemarketers for MCI. I would say "Your telephone number now qualifies you for a rate reduction..." (which it did, certan prefixies were cut over at different times, allowing them to honestly cut their rates ith one of the new long distance companies.) I would then ask (I was toughtthis one, didn't come up with it on my own) "You like to save money don't you" It is a question where unless your are an idiot, you are going to say "yes" to. From there, the ability to gt you to see that you really should buy my product was relativly simple (success rates sucked, but that 1 statement/quston was th key to most of te switchers to MCI via me.)


Lead them down one path, never the direct one, a roundabout way from your goal, and walk right in the back door, which is unguarded.

Most likely the video guy was trying to set her up for some IDB (or at least VDB) comp. Instead of asking the gate agent (the one who knows the answers and is familliar with the situation) for VDB comp (most likely he wasn't sue any) and getting rejected, he goes to a 3rd party and paints a picture that he was there, the flight was too full, and that he was denied.

If a gate agent sends you to be processed as a VDB somewhere else, like the "wailing wall", communication is given. He was sent there (imho) to be rebooked as he had missed his flight. The agent at the wailin wall knew nothing of a VDB/IDB, but h tried to wedge his foot in the door and pry it open a bit at a time. It appears she was unwilling to play his game.

Again, this is all just my opinion as a guy looking in. I could be wrong, the guy could have been there early, was denied boarding for oversales as he is trying to imply, but I don't buy it anymore than she did. I'd have sent him to the gate and deal with the gate agent who had operational knowledge of his situation, with or without a supe, as the wailing wall isn't going to have any of the other side of the story (which, imho, is why he went there to begin with.)

grahampros

The entire story makes no sense. Airlines don't deny boarding to true first class PAYING passengers who are at the gate 15 mins before. If they have upgraded someone they will downgrade them to accommodate a true high fare..even the new United.

And your correct some folks always try and create a run around to get around some rule. Again it's a situation even assuming a true F pax was denied bored full fare or otherwise as an experienced traveler you get on the phone and work something else out, not screw with the lines at the airport. That or you go the the lounge and let them sort it.