gradsflyer

Earlier this week when I was at HNL preparing to fly out for a professional conference in SFO, I spent a very pleasant time in the UC. At one point as I walked by the snack counters a GA was passing through, though we didn't chat or have any communication with each other. An hour or so later I headed downstairs at boarding time and found that the place was packed with no available seats. I then politely said to the same GA who was at the podium next to me, that maybe I should have stayed in the club rather than come downstairs to which she replied, "I know you were in the club, I saw you there, and I don't care." Later the same GA handeled the scanning of the boarding passes, and when I came up to board she did not say a single word to me or even acknowledge me when I said hello and then thank you after she scanned my boarding pass. Not sure what this was all about. Was I seen as an over entitled (albeit silver) elite in my use of the UC and therefore deserving of such snarky remarks or lack thereof?

Pegasus23

No. It's all your fault. You didn't smile in the UC. Then, when occupying her territory at the gate, you complain to her about lack of seating in gate area. What was your expected response from her? I'm sorry sir, our barcaloungers are on back order? She is busy, This is not an intimate situation; try and understand from her point of view. I'm stressed today!

Smile and carry chocolate!

TA

Strange/possibly unnecessary or easily misinterpreted comment from you, but equally un-refined comment from her.

Just brush it off and don't let little odd events like this bother you. Just commiserate with someone who's lost (or been deprived of) so much dignity in her job that she goes through the day on autopilot, and saying anything that pops into mind as an acceptable customer service response.

MayorMcKnife

Why was a GA in the UC? I don't ever remember seeing them in one. Are they allowed?

fastair

Devil's advocate here: What was the point of your comment? Small talk without purpose. The gate agent most likely didn't care, and they did see you there. They were honest. It might not have come off as a warm fuzzy, but it wasn't aggressive or blatently rude...kind of awkward, but what did you expect them to say in responce? Your comment was one of those comments that serve no purpose, like "boy, it's windy out here" when the other person knows it's windy. A time filler. It was boarding time. The agent wasn't polite, but they responded honestly to a statement by you that served no purpose, like to the wind comment, they could have said "Yes, I saw it was windy. It doesn't impact me." Pointless conversation that adds zero to either party except an interuption.

No harm, no foul...not pleasant, but not harmful...surely not harmful enough to post about it. Not everyone wants pointless banter while they are working as they have other things with purposes to do. To me, this thread is similar to your comment. It din't need to be posted as it was so trivial (at least to me) all it did was inform me of somethin that will have no use to me. Hense my reply is not rude, but not pleasant.

The other reply they (and I) could have done is the awkward silence. You know, where someone says something that sounds like it desires a reply but there is no good reply so they just stand there adn look at you, and that is just as off-putting as a candid reply.

Maybe the GA and I are both having bad days. Sorry for your feelng of being slighted.

LaserSailor

I've been told UC is verboten for staff. There are several UC where the crew area entrance is in the UC area, so it looks like they are going in to the UC...ORD Terminal C is such an example

fastair

The OP said they saw the GA passing thru. It didn't appear that they were "using it" as a club room, but rather were passing thru for 1 reason or another. I don't go into ours often, but there are times I want to locate a passenger (when I have spare time) to assist with something, or to contact an agent in the room. It isn't like I would pull up a chair, watch CNN, order a drink from the bar...It would be a very unrelaxing time...I'm sure people would come up to me in uniform and interupt my lounging with questions about rebooking. I much prefer to do my lounging in a provate break room where I can sit uniterrupted.

CodeAdam10

I would brush it off and move on. Though your comment to her was most probably not intended as such, it probably made you look like a DYKWIA "too good to wait at the gate" type of person and perhaps the GA was having a bad day and your comment ticked her off.

zitsky

OP, I wonder how old you are? Younger flyers have sometimes reported rude treatment. I do think the comment from staff was rude. She could have responded with "yes, it's very busy here". She is in a customer service role whether she likes it or not and should be a little more diplomatic about it.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

?

Silver elite status doesn't get you lounge access.

In your case, status has nothing to do with lounge use. You're either a club member or you bought a one-day pass. Either gets you entitlement to use of the club.

blueman2

Come on guys!!!! OP is a customer. End of story. Employees should always treat customers with respect and dignity. Yes, DYKWIA: customer! Whether this is worth posting, well... meh. But given it was posted, I would not play down the fact that employees should always treat customers with respect.

Michael D

I think if the GA would have omitted the "I don't care" then the OP would not have felt the comment was 'snarky' and the GA would have had two more seconds to finish her job at hand.

At the same time I think the comment should have just been overlooked and forgotten.

OTH dealing with customers pointless banter while overworked would seem to be the job description of a GA.

mrswirl

I'm surprised to see the GA's lack of courtesy being defended as "no harm, no foul". Whatever happened to politeness?

I suppose I can respond to a stranger on the street asking me for the time with "F-off!" because I don't wish to be interrupted; but I choose to be nice and reply with civility instead because I was raised to treat everyone with kindness and respect.

I disagree that there was no foul here...regardless of the circumstances I would find a response of "I don't care" as being extremely rude.

1KPath

Well said! However I am afraid that the days of the customer "always being right" has gone the way of the dinosaur! SIGH!

Doc Savage

It should be obvious to you that she thought you were trying to be a DYKWIA by pointing out to her that you were elite enough to use the UC. Why would you make such a comment to her in the first place?

It is not the fact that you used the UC but the fact that you gratuitously pointed that out to her that rubbed her the wrong way.

Despite this, what she should have said was, "yes, it IS pretty crowded out here, isn't it," and given you a smile.