HaeMaker

Had it occurred to you that there is an accounting at the end of the day/flight? That all of the money and drink chits go to a person at the station who verifies that everything is accounted for, and can see that RCC drink chits are in the bag?

If it were an issue for WHQ, it would have stopped. It doesn't seem to be an issue.

UNITED959

Stop it. In no way was I "FA bashing."

The very fact that you, GalleyGal, and other FAs post here speaks volumes about dedication to your occupations, and it's appreciated.

But you have to admit, several of your colleagues are just "putting in their time" and don't really care about following rules, customer service, etc.

There are good ones and there are bad ones, we all know this. Sadly, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Please do not take my comments as if they were personally directed towards you.

We have a good argument going on: whether or not FAs should follow the rules of a cert in the interest of customer satisfaction.

jcasner

When I am given free drinks - I get lucky sometimes - the FA will just walk up to the F cabin, and replace whatever I drank in Y. There is no accounting of the booze in the F Cabin, so the FAs can really easily hide the "missing" booze when the mistake is caught later. I don't think any FA is really risking their job here, unless they have a really prickly purser who won't let them cover their tracks.

roadkit

Well, maybe someone at UA has finally realized what a stupid rule it is.

Maybe someone at UA just said: "Hey, why don't we just have a policy that we will accept free drink chits - regardless of source - throughout the UA enterprise. It won't affect the bottom line and we can stop nit-picking customers."

Of course, it wouldn't be an issue if they just stopped charging for drinks. The marginal cost difference between wholesale soft drinks and liquor is not that great.

UNITED959

Perhaps.

I have my doubts...since my 1K kit that arrived only a few weeks ago contained certs "for onboard use only."

Goes2Oz

United 959, no one will loose their job over this kind or error, purposeful or not. If it happens alot, there may be some sort of notation in an inflight communication, but not much more. It costs too much to audit this, and the goodwill is more productive. Obviously, UA does want us to follow rules, there has to be some sort of order, but they also want us to make customer friendly decisions as well. As a Purser I make decisions like that all the time ... I know the rules ... I also know when to bend. There is a difference between being "careless" and "not caring", and perhaps it just wasn't worth the energy expended on something so small. Where UA does get excited is UG's for no reason, outright lies, dishonesty, theft, abuse of priveleges, etc. I know we seem like a company hamstrung by rules, and we have many, but I see them bent all the time to maintain good relations. Whether the FA's were careless, or didn't care, I am glad it happened because it made this person happy and hopefully we will have his business again.

Ari

In general, do you look carefully at the drink chits, or just a quick glance?

Would you accept a RCC chit inflight?

Could an FA get in trouble for accepting a RCC chit inflight if the bean counters get involved after the fact?

UNITED959

I would agree, maybe a slap on the hands...but termination would be a little extreme. Regardless, anybody who cares about their job wants as few "letters in their file" as possible.

With a company of 50,000+ employees and a supposed frequent flyer base of several hundred thousand, rules are a must. And this is where accepting both certs for alcohol can pose a problem -- 'illegal' expectations can be set. What may seem like a nice gesture to offer a customer what he/she wants can wreak havoc on crews down the road who simply follow the rules (which is fine) and don't feel the need to bend in the interest of keeping a customer happy.

I appreciate when FAs do little things that I know are against the rules, but I also know not to expect the same from future crews. Some people, though, are not always that understanding.

Goes2Oz

OK, deal, won't take it personally. I think I answered your cert question of weather to accept or not in my other post. The problem of not following rules is then we get slammed for being "inconsistent" ( oh, how I have come to dislike that word). The problem of following rules is that we get slammed for being too rigid. My feeling is that "foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a mediocre mind". Consistency is good if it benefits the customer ... but inconsistency can benefit the customer as well. The key is good judgement.

mre5765

I've explicitly asked FAs about accepting RCC chits for alcohol and BOB, and after only a brief hesitation and shoulder shrug, the chits have been accepted.

YMMV.

UnitedSkies

I am all for "good judgment" but I must side with UNITED959 on this one.

This, to me, is a classic case of "doing good" actually ending up doing more harm in the grand scheme of things. If an F/A with completely good intentions accepts RCC drink tickets inflight, it absolutely can set up false expectations for that customer (and customers within earshot of this transaction) to think that they should expect this the next time they try it on another flight. What this effectively does is set your flying partners up for an unpleasant exchange should they choose to follow the rules and not accept the RCC drink chit.

In the end, the original good intention benefits no one but perhaps yourself because you chose to break the rules and make that one transaction more pleasant and/or less confrontational.

Just to be clear, I'm not bashing anyone. I simply wanted to point out that customer satisfaction is perhaps greater than the sum of individual goodwill interactions. If everyone were to bend the rules on simple issues like whether or not to accept RCC drink chits inflight, then what is left is little semblance of consistency. That is the ultimate failure in customer service.

Shareholder

What puzzles me more about the initial post is not the idea that RCC vouchers and be used inflight...never tried since they exolicitly say "RCC" while normal inflight drink certs restrict their use to inflight...is how the OP said these chits were being passes out like peanuts to everyone in the RCC that day. I find these vouchers are guarded by the receptionists and must always be requested when using a non-UA/US STARGold card (on a coach ticket) and even when flying in C. Why were they being distributed so liberally that afternoon is what I'd like to know.

I got blasted over on the STAR forum by an RCC member for even suggesting that STARGolds from non-American programs should get these chits when using RCCs domestically since our airlines are paying UA $25 for every entry...and our own lounges offer free booze to everyone of legal drinking age with open bars.

Goes2Oz

I agree with you that it creates confusion and sets another crew up for failure. In no way do I engage in wholesale disregard for rules, nor would I advocate it ... I almost always follow them. But if I took a chit by mistake, would I go back and ask for money ... no. If I know someone is a 1K in Y class would I take it ... yes, but with a disclaimer of it not being routine. I fail to see how good intentions benefit me, and that is not my motivation. The intention is not to avoid conflict but to face it and resolve it, should it exist. To do otherwise IS the ultimate failure in customer service.

Goes2Oz

Just more inconsistency. OK, UA fliers, do you want total rigid consistency? Or do you want some semblance of common sense? In all honesty, your own interests aside, what do you think we should do to provide good customer service? Inquiring minds want to know.

CAPT Tee

Has anyone been successful in using expired In-flight drink chits? I still have all 10 chits from last year that will expire in JUN 08.