It Came From the Chat: Random Acts of Kindness
During yesterday's chat, I asked people to send in their stories of above-and-beyond customer service, and the chat was quickly flooded with tales of compassionate airline gate agents, sympathetic locals and other do-gooders who turned lemons into lemonade for stuck-in-a-bind travelers. Here are some I didn't get a chance to post yesterday:
HdG, MD: Happy Customer Service story: last Christmas we were flying home from seeing family on the west coast. Flights delayed, connections shorted, all that jazz. We grabbed some food on our layover and ran to the gate. Having food I wanted to eat, we found the only seats available, right in front of the gate agent. I started eating my (bad) pizza, when the gate agent came up to us to ask if we had seats together. We did, so she offered to upgrade us to first class if a lady traveling with a toddler could have our seats together. These seats were in the way back of the plane, and considering we had just gotten off a flight where we were against the restroom with less legroom than even the cheap seats, we didn't even blink before accepting.
I love Air Tran: Last year, my teenage son and I were flying from Boston to Orlando to meet up with my husband and daughter. There was a big snowstorm predicted in the Northeast coming in later in the day, and our scheduled flight was at 7:00 pm. We arrived at Logan at 1:45 and I asked the desk agent if we could go any earlier, to avoid getting bumped or cancelled later. He looked at his computer, tap-tapped away, and said, "Go up those stairs and there's a plane leaving in five minutes."
"Those stairs" are the best-kept secret at Logan -- a checkpoint hidden behind a service elevator that no-one knows about. My son and I shot through the checkpoint and up the stairs to the gate agent. She said, "Oh yes, Joe from downstairs just called me. Your flyer status has moved you to the top of the stand-by list. Here are your boarding passes." We ran down the ramp onto the plane, only to find that there were people in those seats. After five minutes of being very patient while the flight attendant tried to fix the situation, the PILOT HIMSELF went back up to the gate and got our seats reassigned -- to the EXIT ROW! And the funny thing was, neither of us had EVER flown AirTran before.
Best Service: I was traveling back to DC from a wedding in CA and for some reason Delta wouldn't let me check in online. When I got to the airport, it wouldn't let me check in at the kiosks, either. After standing in line for almost an hour (thanks, LAPD for cutting in line), I got to the counter only to be told that I didn't have a ticket. It turned out that I was booked on the flight, a glitch in their computer record prevented the system from actually issuing the ticket. They'd never seen the problem before. I was expecting the day to get worse, but the guy at the counter got on the phone and started calling people. Within 15 minutes I had a ticket in hand - and they threw in my extra checked bag for free. I wasn't a Delta fan before this episode, but the way they handled it changed my mind.
VA: On our honeymoon, we were bumped from our flight from Malta to Rome. To make up for it, Air Malta gave us a voucher for what was then $300 each (2004) and rebooked us on a flight to Milan, then to Rome. The only problem was, the voucher had to be redeemed in person at the Air Malta office in Malta, and our rebooked flight was leaving in 20 mins. Due to a gaggle of priests leaving that day (the cause of the overbooking as they were going back to where else but Rome), the rebooked flight was the only other one out that day.
We chose the flight over the voucher. However, while walking around Rome, we saw the Italian office of Air Malta and on a whim went in, and explained our predicament. The man we talked to was nice enough to call to Malta, and upon verification of our plight, redeemed our vouchers in Euros right then and there. He was so nice and understanding, and it made two broke newlweds' honeymoon.
Sending it forward : I'd been working out of town at Rutgers in NJ all week and was headed to Long Island to visit my parents for the weekend. I'd put my back out and was in great pain.
Changing trains at Penn Station, NY I didn't have a long layover. I couldn't get any credit card to work at the automated machine and had to decide whether to miss the train or get on the train without enough cash for the fare. I got on this packed friday night Long Island Railroad train and hoped for the best. I figured the worst thing that happened would be that I'd get a ticket as far as I could go and at my father would pick me up there.
When the conductor came round I explained the situation to him and we sat counting out my pennies. This guy sitting across from me, a New Yorker in his late twenties who was probably Italian American stepped in. He was trying so hard not to come across as sleazy but just a guy trying to help out. He'd heard the conversation and wanted to give me ten bucks for the fare. His manner was wonderful and he said I shouldn't send him the money back but should give ten dollars to my favorite charity. My father tapped me the Hungarian Boy Scouts and all was well. What a good Samaritan -I try to learn from his example and pay it forward myself.
Good experience....: It was December 23rd. Flying from BWI to Memphis through Atlanta on Delta. With a cat as a carry on. Almost land in Memphis, get turned back for ice on the runway. By the time we got back to Atlanta after a stop in Huntsville, it was around 7pm, and I'd been on the road since 10 that morning. Make it BACK to the ticket counter, stand in line on cell phone begging a relative to find a hotel that accepts pets that I can get to from the airport, since I figure there is NO WAY I'm making it to Memphis that night.
Get to the counter, politely hand my ID and old boarding pass to the ticket agent. I'd already heard people telling others in line that there were no more flights open that night. Tell ticket agent I'm fine waiting until the next day, but can I possibly get an early flight. He smiles and gets me a seat on a flight leaving Atlanta at 10:30 that night.
Made my evening...didn't have to worry about having no luggage and a pet in a hotel far from home, and made it home for Christmas.
Do you have a story like that to share? Send 'em in! Don't we need all the uplift we can get in dark economic times like these?
By Christina Talcott |
October 7, 2008; 6:50 AM ET
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Christina Talcott
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Posted by: BxNY | October 7, 2008 9:58 AM
This is horrible. I miss the old blog. Isn't there anything better to report on with the economy self-destructing and gas prices finally coming down?
Posted by: TomP | October 7, 2008 11:10 AM
Hubby and I started out our honeymoon with airline problems. We did get to our destination, but without luggage. After we checked in at our hotel, we were ready for dinner. It was foggy out, and the walkways on the island can be confusing, so the hotel owner's son walked us personally to a restaurant for dinner, and left instructions with the restaurant staff to call him when we were finished and he would come back and get us. The next morning, after we ate breakfast, he asked us for our luggage claim information and shooed us out for a walk. When we got back, he had contacted the airline on our behalf, determined that our luggage would be at the island airport by lunchtime, and arranged a car to take us to pick it up. I have never before or since experienced such customer service. The staff at the hotel went above and beyond, and we wouldn't stay anywhere else should we find ourselves in that corner of the world again.
Posted by: Jenn | October 7, 2008 10:07 PM
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Moving back from overseas several years ago, I had to check my cats in as cargo. I was flying on Royal Jordanian, the only airline that flew direct from Amman to New York, because I didn't want to have to worry about the cats during a transfer. I had their health records but no letter from the Embassy saying they were okay to enter the US, because I didn't need such a letter. The airline, however, did believe I needed a special letter - you apparently need a letter for dogs - and weren't going to let me check in for my flight. I had already given up my apartment and had nowhere to go in Amman if I hadn't been allowed on the plane, and I wasn't leaving my cats. It was early Friday morning, the Embassy was closed for the weekend, and I was in tears in the middle of Queen Alia airport when an American man walked over to me and asked what was the problem. I explained, and he said he was an immigration officer with the Embassy in Athens, in Amman on business, and that I was in the right. He then proceeded to speak with the airline for me, and even pulled out his cellphone and called Athens to put a colleague on the line to get them to accept the cats. I made the flight with five minutes to spare, the cats were fine, and I sent the gentleman a thank-you note when I got home. I'm grateful to this day; it was in no way his job to deal with my problem, but he was exactly the help I needed to sort it all out that morning, and he went out of his way to help me.