cepheid

But how did anyone know who he was? Did he post from his terminal at work? Unless UA can subpoena an IP or email address, and/or can determine the employee's identity through his/her posts, I think an employee is relatively safe... of course, it's not my job on the line, so I do understand if employees want to be quite cautious.

nevansm

Posted this in another thread, but I'll post it here as well...

Just had a question about the amount (or lack thereof) of information a CSR, GA or anyone else who interacts with my PNR may see... I'm a 2P, have a RCC membership, at least 2 PNR's booked at any time and consider myself a "nice" person. I'm definitely not a GS caliber customer, but I'm not Joe Blow from Nowhere, ID that flies once every 10 years. It seems that every time I talk to a CSR or GA that they are really trying to make me happy. Now... I'm only 24, but I've had my fair share of horrible customer service and have come to expect it (I'm looking at you Verizon and Time Warner). However lately it seems that any UA agent I talk to is the nicest person in the world (be it email, phone or in-person). So does the information they see effect my treatment or am I just being a little overzealous and expecting too much of United IT staff and their ability to provide their CSRs with the right tools?

p.s. I'm allowed to rag on IT staff as It's been my career for many years!

MrAndy1369

Just wondering how big ORD's call center for UA is. I was told it was at the North End of the airport. Does that mean they're actually ON airport property, within a building? When I taxied by ORD's north end, I didn't see an building that LOOKED like a call center, unless I'm mistaken.

Have you had good experience with their call center? Does the employees there tend to switch between working at the airport (ops, checkin, ticketing, customer service) or are they 100% on the phone? Also, would I ever be likely to see a call center employee working at the airport in IRROPS or if overflow is needed? What's the difference between UA front line employees and call center employees? Tend to be more friendlier on the phone or in person?

Many questions, I know...some of them peculiar. Bear with me. Thanks

fastair

Higgins and Wolf road. Left 1/3 is the credit unions (UA's) hdq, right 2/3 is reservations. It backs up to the airport property north center of airport.

ANd no, reservationists don't have a SITA badge to cross the fence and work on the airport property. They are different jobs.

MrAndy1369

Interesting. Do some reservationists actually never fly United and/or doesn't know what ORD looks like? Or do you think reservationists are given a tour of UA? Also, do reservationists know the airline workers?

Many questions I know!

fastair

Sure, some people don't fly. When the res center was built, it had subsidies (or tax breaks) from the City of Chicago to employee residents of Chicago. Pat of the deal was to provide transportation from the blue line to the reservation building. Many CSRs at one time work in reservations. When I was hired, CS wasn't hiring, but res was. I took the test, passed, and told them my preference was at the airport. Even though they were not hiring there that day/week, they called me back before my start date and told me that there were now openings at ORD and that I could work there if I desired. So many of the res agents know soome of the CS agents because they used to work together.

I am betting most res agents have at one time or another, flown out of ORD (for Chicago reservations at least,) and that the number that haven't seen ORD is very low (especially given that UA hasn't hired front line workers in ages, so most agents have been around long enough to fly a few trips.) A few (very few) have taken multi-week courses at res as well on Intl fare construction, or had other meetings held on site in the res offices. As well, our credit union's HDQ is attached to the res building, so many agents have been there for that reason, although there is a branch at ORD as well.

MrAndy1369

Another round of questions - do reservationists have the access to call airport employees directly in case of a situation, or call a specific gate area to scold a gate agent for mistreating a passenger calling in? Also is the call center itself a nice building or run down and ugly? Are there United signage there or does it look like a plain old call center? Customers aren't allowed in there so I wouldn't know.

I'll stop soon with the questioning I promise

WineCountryUA

Andy1369, you might find this thread interesting http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-q-thread.html (note: the previously active RAs in this thread appear no longer active)

FlyingNone

===================================
Hi Andy,
As a former reservationist (now in customer service), I can tell you about the reservations center I worked at, although it was not Chicago - (nor have I visited that reservations center). The call center I worked at was okay (as call centers go I guess). At the time (1970's - 1980's) it was in a building exclusively used by United (with signage on the outside) in a corporate park setting. It housed 400-500 reservation agents and had various "desks" for International calls, a rate desk, domestic calls, travel agent desk, help desk for agents with Apollo. There were training and conference rooms as well as a cafeteria and a lounge for those who wanted to take quiet breaks (versus watching TV in the cafeteria). The building was quite new; it was clean and well-maintained, had central air and heating. I found it to be a decent work environment. Computers were not set up row after row but in semi-circular cubicles where 5-6 agents sat. We did not have to sit in the same spot every day so we could sit anywhere we liked, although most people found their own "comfort zone" and sat next to their friends. Of course you couldn't just sit in another area (desk) that you were not trained for or did not bid for. I couldn't take a seat at the rate desk or agency desk if that was an area I did not bid or was not trained for.

As far as calling airport employees to scold them for "mistreating" a passenger. No we would not handle that type of problem that way. If a passenger was calling to complain about an airport situation going bad, the call would be handed over to a service director or supervisor in reservations. I would be pretty out of line to call an airport employee with little or no details and get into a "tangle".

Conversely, as an airport CSR, from time to time I might have to call reservations to get something clarified or rectified on a PNR (passenger's reservation). Sometimes there are glaring mistakes on the PNR and wrong information has been given to the passenger (or claimed by the passenger).
Even at that, I would be talking to a reservations supervisor to get something cleared up or overidden or waived. Still this is generally not done because 99 percent of problems are discussed, rectified, decided upon in real-time, real-life at the airport with the help of service directors and/or supervisors. If a reservations supervisor sees a glaring mistake made by the reservationist, I'm sure discussion takes place with the reservationist - in fact I know it does - but not by me. Furthermore, chances of that particular reservationist being on duty days after the reservation has been made or even hours later might be impossible or 12 time zones away.

Hope this has been of some help.

MrAndy1369

FlyingNone - thanks so much for the detailed info! So you're currently an airport CSR, right? How do you enjoy it? Which do you think you prefer, being on the phone or dealing with pax in person?

ozflier

I do fly enough to see just how much expertise , knowledge , patience and increased skin thickness a GA needs.

I wonder how much extra they pay these guys to get them to put up with the inane questions and unhappy sometimes abusive passengers.

I have rarely came across a United GA who was not doing their absolute best to accomodate fellow passengers requests in a very tight time frame .

Happy Christmas to you all.

FlyingNone

======================================
Thanks for recognizing that, although sorry to say not all CSRs are created equal. Unfortunately we don't get extra pay - RSSRs and CSR's pay scale equal out eventually with time. My reservations background helped tremendously when I entered the ranks of airport personnel. However, the anonymity of the phone versus dealing with passengers face to face was a huge difference.........see my next post below..........

======================
You're welcome. Yes, I am currently an airport CSR. I enjoy it very much except standing on my feet for eight hours was a big adjustment from sitting in a call center for eight hours. I prefer working at the airport - it is very "addictive". Helping people face to face is more rewarding because it's really where the action is. Results/resolution is more evident in the airport setting. There can be times of great stress - weather delays and cancellations, passengers running and late or missing flights, language and culture differences, angry people, rude passengers, general communication/verbal misunderstandings, etc. I can't believe how many grown adults I've seen burst out in tears in sheer frustration with traveling or their travel plans shattered by a cancelled flight or major weather irregular ops. Sometimes we can move mountains, sometimes we can't. But seeing happy faces, families, children, even pets can brighten up the day as they go off to see relatives, friends or a wonderful vacation.

Regarding reservations - there are those that hated being "tethered" to a headset and phone pad with breaks and meals specifically timed while working in the call center. Nevertheless, I got great satisfaction on the phone, first assessing what the passenger wanted/needed and then meeting the request with the lowest fare or a schedule that really worked well for them. Boring, droning, complaining passengers - "Sir, let me put you on hold while I check that".....Hold buttons are a great thing - can't do that at the airport ! Hanging up was a definite no-no but that's where you would pass the call onto a supervisor.

I've had great experiences working in both areas, have no plans to leave the CSR ranks until I retire. What I wouldn't do though to see United bring back the days of "white glove" service - to all passengers. I sometimes can't believe I now work for an "entirely different company" than the one I started with 30+ years ago.

I'm just sitting here laughing to myself about a small, tender moment I had with a four-year old boy today checking in with his parents. He showed me his "driver's license" ID with a smiling beaming face and all eyes on me as I told him I had to look at it and make sure it was him, all right. Yeah, you're good to go !! He was thrilled !!!

777-200LR

Hey, thanks for all the answers!
What is the rule for complimentary uprades?

goalie

emphasis mine: things like that are the best things about a job and it's folks like you ^ that i love running into during my travels. thank you for sharing and thank you ^^ for participating (and feel free, if you'd like to pm me with your location as i'm always looking to add another airport csr to my list of tootsie-pop victims )

jackal

Funny; that's exactly the same thing a friend of mine who was an airport CSR said--word for word, I think. (She was laid off when the ANC station closed.)

UA was one of the first airlines I remember flying. I was obsessed with Channel 9. UA will always hold a special place in my heart, and I hope that someday it returns to its former glory.

Uh oh--don't tell the folks over in the TS&S forum! They'd say he's being brainwashed to always show ID at too young an age!

(Cute, though!)