Very rude airline supervisor.....what would you do??

[melissamomof2]

ok...I'll try to make this short. We booked on Friday, along with another family(8 total tickets) with USAIRWAYS for our flight in May to Orlando. We all ended up booking on the phone b/c of a problem trying to book on-line. I booked 1st, then handed the phone to my friend, and she also booked. The lady told us the flight was almost sold out, and that is why the prices went up, and that b/c of the lack of seats left, the price would not be going down.
So Monday I checked the flight....back to the cheaper price. So I called the cust. service # to ask about a voucher. I could not get through that night. I tried for 2 hours, with mo success. So I began trying Tues. AM. After hours of hitting redial, I finally was put through...put on hold for 20 minutes, and when I ask about it, she pulled up our info and proceeded to tell me our booking was canceled. HUH??? I ask her why and she said because it was not paid for. I told her we put it through on our credit card, and she said it was saying no card was given. I told her how the agent we booked with ask for the card # and the 3 digit # on the back of the card. She checked my friends booking, and it was put through. I have no idea what happend, but the agent told me to go ahead and book online for the price I was seeing. I did that, and then I received 2 e-mails with differant conf. #'s. UGHHHHHH So now I am worried that I now have booked 2 seperate times.

So I call back. Took 2 more hours to get through...when I do, the girl couldn't figure out what was going on, so I ask to speak to her supervisor. I waited 15 more minutes to speak with this woman who was the absolute RUDEST person I have ever delt with. She told me that she had no idea what I wanted her to do. I said..." I just want to for one make sure I have a booking for 4 tickets on this flight, and second, to make sure I am not being charged for a mistake that is now being shown as canceled." She said...and I quote"I see only 1 flight valid and ticketed now...Look, I have no idea why you are bothering to complain, you ended up with a cheaper fight cost, so you should be happy" I then said..."Cheaper or not, I should not have had to spend 2 days on the phone trying to figure this out. I understand you all must be busy with the snow we've had, but I was concerned about being charged more than once, or not booked at all."

The woman than proceeded to say this ..."If you think I am going to apolize to you for having to wait on hold or taking up so much of your time to get through, you are mistaken. I had to dig 2 feet of snow to get to work, and many of our agents have been stuck here, so don't think you'll be getting any apology from me." CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???????????? I didn't want any "i'm sorry" All I wanted was to be sure our booking was done correctly. I was raging mad. She then said..."If you aren't happy, then I'll be more than happy to book your flight at a higher rate, and cancel the better rate you just got."

I finally just ask for her boss, and her name. She snickered and said "yeah, ok...." put me on hold...never gave me her name.... where I sat for 15 minutes, and was then HUNG_UP on.

I will be the fist to say that I understand that b/c of the weather conditions the phones would obviously be tied up....noone's fault. BUT I was very nice to the woman, and NEVER complained until she bit my head off. I think I had a very valid reason for calling to check on the reason 2 differant codes were sent, and I wanted to call w/in the 24 hour window INCASE there was a mix-up. For a company w/major problems, I am amazed that a supervisor would talk to a customer like that.

How would you handle ithis? Any advice?

Thanks ,

Melissa

 

[Trekker]

I would personally write it off as - "wow her life must really stink if this is the way she lives it" and not let her attitude in any way, shape, or form affect my life.

You do not know this woman, you will probably never speak to her again, so why let her affect you in any way.

Go on planning and enjoy your vacation.

 

[peg2001]

Yikes! I suggest that you write a letter to the airlines customer service department. Include as many details as you can and describe exactly what happened. Explain that the supervisor, even thought you did not get her name, was rude and unprofessional.

At the very least, this will make you feel better.

Peggy

 

[Eeyore1954]

Let it go. If you dwell on it, it could turn into a grudge and ruin your vacation.

One trick I use is this: I walk outside to the tree in my front yard (I have a small yard!). I act like I am hanging my frustration from a rope and tie it to the tree. I dust my hands off, turn around and walk away. As I walk away, I tell myself, I'm leaving that anger/frustration there -- it's no longer mine, it belongs to the tree.

It just helps me deal with life's little and not-so-little annoyances.

(And I'm just glad I really can't see all the "stuff" hanging from my ash tree! )

 

[dansyr]

I agree you should not let this ruin your vacation, however, I would make a phone call to corporate offices. No one should be treated that rudely. Make the phone call and then let it go. I am a retail manager and have to deal with both extremely nice and horrific customers. I have never treated either rudely, no matter whether I was stressed out or not.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I think I know which airline is being protrayed in that new movie "Anger Management" with Adam Sandler.

Did you get the "this call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes" recording when you called? Maybe the call was recorded. If it was, definitely give the date and approximate time you called if you should follow up with USAirways on this. That way, they can check their logs.

There's no excuse for her attitude and definitely no excuse for her threat to cancel your flight and rebook at the higher rate. For that reason alone, you should follow up and contact someone higher up.

 

[NotUrsula]

... and most importantly, copy your Congressional representative, and make sure they know it. That little threat to cancel your booking as retaliation should get some attention. Give them all of the details, but most especially the date and time. The reservations systems keep track of who worked on what reservation when, so include your confirmation number.

As to the credit card charge, I wouldn't trust them on that one. Check directly with your cc issuer and have the transactions for that date checked.

Anytime you have a question that requires you to call an airline reservations number, try to call between 11 pm and 5 am. You get MUCH better service at those hours; I've even gotten free changes on occasion.

 

[inkkognito]

I agree with those who have suggested sending a letter. I know that they might totally ignore it, but even if they do, I think it will help to get it out of your system by writing it down. And maybe you will get a response, and perhaps it will help them to look at the areas where their customer service needs improvement (and it obviously does!!!). I am a corporate trainer, and I'll be giving a class on customer service in a couple of months. I sure wish I had a tape of that call, because it would be the perfect example of what NOT to do and how NOT to treat customers! I can feel sorry for the woman because she was obviously having a bad day, but it's not appropriate to take it out on customers.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[bunnyfoo]

I agree that you should not let this situation ruin your vacation but I do think you should report this person to the airline. She might have been having a bad day but that is no excuse for her to take things out on a customer.

 

[kylara]

I also say write a letter or call the corporate office. If she was just rude, that would have been one thing (and still not good) but threatening to cancel your ticket and rebook you at a higher price is going way to far...and most likely would have been illegal if she did. It is for that reason that I think it is important to notify someone in corporate. I would also cc the letter to the better business bureau.

 

[seashoreCM]

Write the letter detailing the situation and also include a request for a specific favor of some kind. For example you might ask for several thousand additional frequent flyer miles. If the trip is somewhat off in the future and you are familiar with buckets or allotments you might ask for a fare reduction done by enlarging an allotment that was already sold out, just for you.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

 

[Redbeard52]

First of all, I'm so sorry you had this incredibly rude supervisor. That is just unreal!

Secondly, write a letter explaining what happened. Try not to get personal with it (meaning; do not say, "I don't think I should have been treated this way," or "I do not deserve this....".) Just present the facts (as horrible as they were). The more emphatic, but less emotional you are, the better.

Nothing will probably come of this, but I promise you'll feel better. A very similar situation happened to me a few years ago (with a flight attendant on TWA named MaryAnn (I'll never forget this)) and I wrote a well-documented letter to the CEO. Nothing happened, but I did feel better.

After you write and mail the letter, let it go and know that you are the better person.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

and most importantly, copy your Congressional representative, and make sure they know it. That little threat to cancel your booking as retaliation should get some attention. Give them all of the details, but most especially the date and time. The reservations systems keep track of who worked on what reservation when, so include your confirmation number.

No one threatened to cancel her booking, they said they would be happy to cancel the present one and reissue at a higher rate.

..."If you aren't happy, then I'll be more than happy to book your flight at a higher rate, and cancel the better rate you just got."

 

[hentob]

Please do NOT hesitate to write a letter. Document everything and call your credit card company to see if anything was cancelled or added.

Long story short, I had an encounter with a US Air employee before our October 2001 WDW trip. She was just as rude as your supervisor and hung up on me as well. DH is a very passive person and told me to "forget about it, relax and concentrate on our upcoming vacation." So, I did. BIG MISTAKE!!

Showed up at the airport and our flights were changed on us!!!!!!!!!! I shake as I type this. Again, I will not go into detail (very long and drawn out), but we missed an entire DAY at Disney due to not being able to fit (there were four of us) onto a flight together. They were all packed. We had to call Tiffany Towncar to change our pick up, as well as miss our lunch PS's. We were only going for a long w/end, so that day was packed with plans.

US AIR _did_ give us all comp flights, but I don't think it was worth the trouble.

I don't even like to talk about this, it makes my blood boil. Believe me, they have more power than you think--With one touch of the computer--Goodbye plans!

I would also buy a tape recorder from Radio Shack--one that tapes phone conversations. Inform them that you are taping them (heck--they tape you!) and believe me---They will be very nice from now on!

Why in the world would you just let this slide? You are paying big bucks to be treated like dirt? I don't think so!

Touchy subject with me---Sorry to vent.

Hentob

 

[peg2001]

I like the suggestion to tell the airline what you want from them. Even if it is just a letter of apology. I wrote to Delta customer service one time after I was forced to change seats (from a relatively comfie exit row on the aisle to a crummy seat in the very back of the plane closer to the tail mounted engines) by a rude flight attendant who would not explain WHY I had to change seats, despite my asking several times. I asked for a more comfortable flight in the future by way of an upgrade coupon (to first class) and got it along with a very nice apology letter.

Good luck,
Peggy

 

[Tigger22]

http://www.planetfeedback.com/

I used this website to email a letter of complaint to Delta some years back. It helps you construct the letter and everything, and I ended up getting miles added to my frequent flyer account. Even if I got nothing back, it made me feel a LOT better about the service I got from their reservation service. And it was a lot easier for me than sitting down and handwriting a letter.

Good luck - I have been in your shoes too!

Tigger22