Quote:
Originally Posted by disturbingfurniture
If seats in row 2 are "on hold" and a customer comes up with a compelling reason to be near the front, why not switch the "held" seats? No, that guy is not off the hook nor is US Airways. Having spent my life serving customers in retail and the library, I know poor service when I get it.
I can let US Airways off the hook for our planes not being bumped to the front of the lines for takeoff, but that doesn't let them off the hook for everything else they put us through.
The gate agent at Logan doesn't get off either. Those were lies. She's been doing her job long enough to be able to 1) better estimate when a problem will be solved 2) indicate when something is a blind guess, when it is an estimate, or when it is a certainty and 3) how to communicate that to an obviously distressed customer.
And, Nope! US Airways does not get off for the "routine maintenance" issue. If it's not serious, get the dang plane in the sky. A month earlier when we were in Presque Isle for a pleasure trip, we flew from PQI to BOS on a plane with a malfunctioning toilet & we didn't mind. If the problem is serious enough to warrant fixing that will take over an hour, then get another plane.
I know there are plenty of things that are out side of the ticket agents' control. That's where the company's policies are at fault. I told several people (that day and since) that I knew they were just doing their jobs. Yes, it sucks what happened to us...but no US Airways does not get off the hook.
I spend my days going the extra step and bending over backwards for my customers...I don't expect it when I'm on the other side of the desk, but I expect to at least be met halfway. And when I get POOR customer service, I call a spade a spade. What we got May 30th was a spade.
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The 'gate agent' would have to assign those seats, not the agent you spoke to. The gate agent has control of the flight, and only s/he can "unhold" those seats. I worked for two years, for the airlines, and frequently we would have people not show up for flights. I've seen flights overbooked by eight people, go out with empty seats, because people do not show up. It happens much more often than you might think. It is VERY possible that the seats that were open, were "held" seats, which that particular agent cannot switch/unhold (only gate agent can do that), and that some of the seats were from people who didn't check in, checked in too late, or misconnected. When I was a customer service agent, and someone asked me to move them closer, or change their seat, and there were no options closer, I ALWAYS informed them to check with the gate agent, again, because seats do, and will open up from time to time, especially, 30 minutes prior to departure. This is when the flight is restricted for check in, and when the "held seats", will be "unheld", and when people who didn't check in, in time, or didn't show up, their seats will now be open. I always communicated this, to passengers, when I couldn't change their seats. This agent did not, and many do not, but I always tried my best to let them know to continue checking. I doubt the agent deliberately lied to you, about not being able to get you closer, so much as he didn't communicate that you could check again, at the gate, and other seats may open. Also, if there are open seats in an airplane, passengers are allowed to get up, and move. Once you realized that there were seats open, closer, you could have gotten up, and moved into them.
Glad you understand that ATC has control over airplanes, and when they takeoff, and not the airlines themselves. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that.
Again, I worked for the airlines for two years, and there is no way I could estimate to anyone how long it normally takes for particular delays, it varies, WAY too much. I've seen airplanes with the exact same delay reason, on seperate occassions, where one left earlier than it's original delay estimate, and one left well after it's original delay estimate. There is no way to predict how long a delay will be, and it varies, even with the same type of delay reasons. I know you may not understand that, but work a week in the life of an airline customer service agent, and you will see. Things can get out of control, when flights start delaying, and it is completely unpredictable. I always communicated this to passengers, during delays. I would tell them, "your flight is estimated to leave at 9:15, however, keep in mind, that is just an estimate, and it could become later". Typically, delays are always later than originally estimated, but it is VERY hard to predict how much later, as it constantly varies. I just always made sure that passengers understood the delay could be extended. An example of this ... I once worked a flight, where the airplane was delayed due to a tire needing to be changed. The flight was estimated to be delayed 1 hour. The mechanics had to be flown in, with the new tire, and tools to change the tire. Problem is, when the mechanics arrived, they had forgotten the "jack", that allows them to lift the side of the airplane, where they will change the tire. Long story short, the flight went out WAY later than just 1 hour. There is NO WAY I could had predicted the mechanics would forget their jack.
As for routine maintenance. The issue may not be a 'serious' issue, but there are certain issues, serious, or not, that are required to be fixed, by FAA regulations, before the airplane can fly. Again, I am a pilot, and there is something called a MEL (minimum equipment list). There are certain items that can be "written off", and the airplane can fly, even with the problem, while there are other problems that must be fixed. If they could have flown this particular airplane, with the problem, they would have, and trust me on that. Some of these issues are serious, while others are not so serious, but still required to be fixed, before flight, because they 'can' become serious, later on, etc. Sure they could have gotten another airplane, but airlines do not have spare airplanes just sitting around. By the time they would have gotten a new airplane, in place, chances are, it would have been not much, if at all, earlier than the delay to just fix the problem.
I am not trying to stick up for USAirways, at all. They are a pretty bad airline, and I've heard A LOT of bad things about them. I am just sticking up for the customer service agents, because there is so much about being a customer service agent, for an airline, that people don't understand. There is so much that is not within the CSAs control, etc. I can assure you that if these agents could solve the problem, themselves, they would. There was NOTHING more stressful, that made me want to walk off of the job, than dealing with flight delays, cancellations, and frustrated passengers. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do, and as you said, it is about the airline's policy, and what CSAs are told they can/cannot do, that is the problem. I understand that you had a bad travel day, on the 30th, and USAirways didn't do much to help the situation. I would call their customer service line, and seek a voucher, if you haven't already.