Pay those bag fees, expect refunds when your bag goes missing?

[testifyoncruises]

Like, Continental is actually one of the few carriers that actually still includes a meal, (such as it is.)

Not anymore.

 

[BadRomance]

Delta lost our luggage on our return flight of our Honeymoon... Our bags just didn't make it on the plane. They got them on the next flight and gave us $100 dollar credits for the inconvience for each bag they lost. (They lost 2 so we got 200$ bucks). They were also very kind and placed the blame on themselves.. They weren't snotty and didnt seem "put off" by the fact that we were complaining about our lost bags. Great customer service.

I really really like Delta.

 

[sbell111]

But bad business, given how that would provide way too much incentive for transgressive people to abuse that.

I disagree. The very fact that they must reimburse you for a lost bag proves your theory wrong. After all, the lost bag reimbursement is much more costly than this fee reimbursement would be.

I think many consumers grossly overestimate the value of "good customer service" these days. Mass-market customers are simply no longer generally making their supplier selections on quality or service, but instead are maniacally fixated on price.

Actually, you are presenting a pretty good argument for the necessaity of this fee reimbursement. As you know, people are less loyal to individual airlines than they used to be. A customer is much more likely to get peaved at some minor thing that an airline does to them and choose to not ride that airline. Perhaps they won't 'never' ride that airline again, but given the choice of two similar flights on different airlines, they will go with the one that hasn't done something to piss them off.

Keep in mind, not reimbursing bag fees after losing a person's bags is two irritations. If you piss someone off twice at the same time, they're going to remember it when they make future purchases.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'd be angry if I'd paid $25 to check my permissible-carry-on-size bag and later found out I could have checked it for free. It just seemed shady to me.

But most people wouldn't, in advance, check a within-regulation-size carry-on piece of luggage - so there'd reasonably be nothing for passengers who checked larger-than-carry-on luggage to be angry about.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Delta lost our luggage on our return flight of our Honeymoon... Our bags just didn't make it on the plane. They got them on the next flight

Respectfully, though, that's not lost - it's 'just' misdirected. $200 is GREAT!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

But most people wouldn't, in advance, check a within-regulation-size carry-on piece of luggage - so there'd reasonably be nothing for passengers who checked larger-than-carry-on luggage to be angry about.

But there is no cost difference between checking the 50 pound monster bag versus a lightweight itty bitty (But check-able) carry on.

They either charge to handle bags or they don't.

My last flight I did check "carry on" sized luggage--b/c my little munchkins can only help me so much. I did fly southwest and it was free, so no biggie.

But if I had pre-paid on another flight and found that passengers were getting checked carry-ons gratis...that would be a problem and it would upset me.

(we packed carry on size b/c it makes it easier to pack the bags in the trunk of my husband's car on the other end of our trip).

 

[angelmav]

But bad business, given how that would provide way too much incentive for transgressive people to abuse that.

So, people are going to purposefully have their baggage lost to reclaim the baggage fee?

The difference is they now charge for a service, one in which they failed to provide. You have the baggage contents value and the service value for which you paid. I find it completely within reason to expect the fee to be refunded as well when they have failed in that aspect of their business.

 

[bicker]

I disagree. The very fact that they must reimburse you for a lost bag proves your theory wrong. After all, the lost bag reimbursement is much more costly than this fee reimbursement would be.

So you're suggesting that if they lose your luggage that they just refund the fee, rather than paying the lost bag reimbursement.

I didn't think so.

Keep in mind, not reimbursing bag fees after losing a person's bags is two irritations. If you piss someone off twice at the same time, they're going to remember it when they make future purchases.

Generally, many will find something to "remember" regardless, and others will maniacally just look at price. That's why your earlier logic doesn't work anymore.

 

[bicker]

So, people are going to purposefully have their baggage lost to reclaim the baggage fee?

Some people would purposefully report their baggage lost. It's as likely as anything. The point is that too many customers are too exploitative to open any doors.

The difference is they now charge for a service

They always have. It just used to be a blanket inclusion, and now there is a separate fee. Effectively it is the same thing, even if some folks refuse to allow themselves to see it that way. It still is the reality and still the way that what you're going to experience as a passenger is going to be driven. Refusing to recognize it just leads to confusion and frustration.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So you're suggesting that if they lose your luggage that they just refund the fee, rather than paying the lost bag reimbursement.

I didn't think so.

Generally, many will find something to "remember" regardless, and others will maniacally just look at price. That's why your earlier logic doesn't work anymore.

On your first point---

I know that when you aren't happy with an item via mail order--you don't get refunded S/H.

But from a customer service perspective--if they mishandled the item, they'd send you a new one but not recharge you and in some cases you would get a full refund if you cancelled the order.

As for your second point--

While I "maniacally look at the price", I also consider customer service--and charging baggage fees to me...is a bit much.

I'm fortunate to live near an airport where we can mostly use SWA to fly to our destinations. They are consistently the least expensive and most reliable (in our experience) of the airlines AND they don't charge baggage fees.

I'm always curious how their business model compares to the other airlines. Usually b/c of the much higher cost to fly the other airlines before the baggage fees.

My DH flies frequently and while he is cost conscious for business purposes, he has certain airlines he avoids at all costs if he can due to poor customer service. He will spend the extra money to fly someone else if it is within a certain price difference. He will only fly the undesirable airline if he is flying to a destination where they are unfortunately are the only airline available and he is left with no other flight options.

It is a generalization to say that customers only care about the price. If an airline consistently charges low--but sucks, they'll have problems with bookings and not do well at all.

For me--I can't understand paying twice as much for the same flight on a crappier airline and then defending that point by saying customers only care about price. If SWA were (IMHO) crappy, I wouldn't fly them no matter how cheap they were.

 

[bicker]

But from a customer service perspective--

I think you're confusing "a customer service perspective" with "What's good for Lisa". "A customer service perspective" necessarily must take into consideration all factors, including the cost of providing a higher level of service, as you suggest, and most importantly, the extent to which customers will financially reward a supplier that does provide a higher level of service.

Again: Generally speaking, what has happened over the last thirty years has been a sharp and steady decline in the extent to which customers are willing to financially reward a supplier that does provide a higher level of service. I know. It was my career. And the decline was one reason why I retired early. I didn't want to work in a cesspool, and that's what the consumer marketplace has become.

While I "maniacally look at the price", I also consider customer service--and charging baggage fees to me...is a bit much.

You are one person. We would all love to think that the consumer marketplace revolves around us, but unfortunately it doesn't. We're all each like Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot, practically meaningless outside ourselves. You may or may not be different from the typical consumer -- you say you are -- but it doesn't matter because what you're going to encounter in the consumer marketplace is not shaped by how you are but rather is shaped by how everyone else is.

It is a generalization to say that customers only care about the price.

However, it is a generalization that practically always helps you understand the reality you're going to encounter, instead of, as is the case with a lot of people in this thread, experiencing surprise at the way things are. Denying the truism that I outlined for you puts you on a never-ending death-spiral of disappointment and dissatisfaction. How does that help anybody?

 

[Keli]

You guys are reminding me of the time a couple yrs ago when we were flying to CA to go to Disneyland. SIL was intending to propose to our dd and just as we are standing at the counter to check our luggage (AA but prior to the fees) SIL turns to me and says "I've got the ring in my bag, it should be safe in checked luggage, right?"
I thought I was going to have a heart attack! LOL. Clearly he has been VERY lucky in regards to checked luggage in the past or he would never have asked me that question, lol.
It was quite a job for him to retrieve the ring and then get it through security without dd seeing the comotion but we did and the ring traveled safely in SIL's pocket.

 

[sbell111]

So you're suggesting that if they lose your luggage that they just refund the fee, rather than paying the lost bag reimbursement.

Nowhere in my post did I take that position.

I didn't think so. [/quote]If you didn't think so, why did you misrepresent my post to bring it up?

Generally, many will find something to "remember" regardless, and others will maniacally just look at price. That's why your earlier logic doesn't work anymore.

While it is true that some people will be bent even if everything is awesome and that some small percentage of people will stay with a low cost carrier regardless of bad experiences, it doesn't change the reality that many people who have had bad experiences with an airline will remember this when they make future travel arrangements. These customers are the ones that the airlines cannot afford to lose. (This is particularly true if the airline in question is not a low-fare leader, since that airline will lose your angsty customers and those customers who solely chase fares regardless of service.)

 

[sbell111]

Some people would purposefully report their baggage lost. It's as likely as anything. The point is that too many customers are too exploitative to open any doors.

Given that that 'door' has been open for many years due to lost bag reimbursement, your argument quickly falls apart.

 

[bicker]

Nowhere in my post did I take that position.

You said: "the lost bag reimbursement is much more costly than this fee reimbursement would be". There is no other reasonable interpretation of your intent for including that statement.

If you didn't think so, why did you misrepresent my post to bring it up?

With respect, your post made no business sense whatsoever, so I did the best I could with what you provided.

While it is true that some people will be bent even if everything is awesome and that some small percentage of people will stay with a low cost carrier regardless of bad experiences, it doesn't change the reality that many people who have had bad experiences with an airline will remember this when they make future travel arrangements.

And they'll ping-pong between suppliers, holding unreasonable expectations with regard to each, and finding ways to be disappointed with each, with really no true correlation between what the airlines provide in terms of service and which airline gets the most business. So effectively, customers, through their general lack of consistency and consistent concern about service, have abrogated whatever leverage they may have once had.