As technologists, we all know bad customer service and poorly designed IT systems when we see them. Folks, that’s exactly what I saw last Thursday night when I flied from Newark to Charlotte on Continental Airlines. Flights were delayed due to weather and I went to have my flight changed to an earlier flight. Here’s what I went through:
- Went on the customer service line. Waited five minutes. Agent was able to change my booking onto the earlier flight but could not issue me boarding passes or reroute my luggage. This needed to be done at the gate.
- At the gate, a customer on line in front of me takes thirty minutes to change something about his ticket. I have no idea what the issue was, but it took five agents banging away at their keyboard to finish the job.
- When it was my turn, the agent was able to print me boarding passes, but she didn’t know the procedure to reroute my luggage. She suggested I return in a few minutes, that her shift was almost over, and the supervisor could probably help with this issue. (It should be noted that this agent found me in the waiting area and apologized.)
- The supervisor refused to help with this issue. “We don’t message for bags during bad weather”. Folks, it was drizzling outside. This agent went on to say that customer service messed up and should never had ticketed me on the earlier flight. She was loud and rude.
- I went back on the customer service line. The new agent was able to message for my bags.
It took three lines, four agents, and about sixty minutes to complete the change. Clearly, there’s something wrong with Continental’s systems, training, and procedures.
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