[katie bayer]

On February 11th I was flying from Norfolk to Corpus Christie. When I approached the ticketing agent although I was the only one in line Kiki the agent called called a couple from over in 1st class to help them before me....There was only the 2 of us. I was patient because I was early. The agent Kiki looked at me several times as i was filling out my name and address to stick into my luggage.She said loudly to me to go to machine to get my ticket..I told her it was alright, I would wait for her assistance. She then screamed at me "I only wait on customers with problems and you have to use the self service machine." I then told her I would wait she then started screaming very loudly, "didnt you hear me, I dont do tickets you have to use the machine. At this point I was thourougly embarassed as people at different airline windows were looking at us due her yelling...I told her i would wait due to me forgetting glasses and I needed assistance...
she then again started yelling commands at me. A woman walked over from another direction to get in line and told Kiki that she needed to settle down that this was no way to treat a customer...she said for crying out loud you only have 2 passengers. At that point she told the lady "you better settle yourself down. At this point Kiki went to the door and started screaming for Billy a coworker stating she needed help...When he came out the lady defending me went to him and told her of his co worker screaming at both of us...Billy then said, "she acts like this All the time. Here i was crying because of the scene she created only because she didnt want to do her job, altho she went out of her way for the customer ahead of me...I truely felt ashamed and told this to Billy and he handled me very favorly. I have never in my 53 years ever been screamed at or humiliated and to have a coworker say this is how she acts is perposterous..I made a formal complaint with Continental but have yet to be contacted although they did call me back when they didnt have my luggage and claimed they had tried calling us....caller id showed no calls in , and the baggage dept rep basically called us liars...yoi know i worked for the phone company for 17 years if I ever acted out like these 2 ladies did i would of been escorted to the door..It wasnt as if they were overwhelmed with customers, they simply didnt use any courtesy and took pride in their belittling... I for one will never use Continental again..every time i fly to Corpus Christie I NEVER recieve my bags when I land and I have enough respect for myself to NEVER put myself into the embarrasing situation....And the fact that although 3 complaints were made because altho i was suppose to get a wheelchair and never did, that was the only advocate to call me back to get information

[pattis]

She acts like that all the time and still has a job????? That's terrible. Even an isolated event is bad enough, but for a coworker to say that....not good! One thing true is that many airlines want customers to use self check-in, and many seasoned travelers know that. But we always have a print-out of names and confirmation #'s. A big part of my job is to go out to the machines and assist or just do it for people. This is not nor ever has been a problem. I personally would just prefer to check people in with computer. Some people are some-what intimidated by self check in devices, and customer service is to help. This woman (Kiki) sounds like she needs a mental health evaluation or at the very least a different job. What angers me about events like this is that after people have been treated that way they expect it to happen again. Next time they fly they might approach ticket counter expecting the worse. Every one has bad days or get stressed out, but her behavior was completly unacceptable.

You say you filed a formal complaint with CO ( I will asume corporate office). Here is a suggestion, although it may not help. If this was in Norfolk (or whatever city) see if you can find out the name of a local manager and send him/her a letter directly. You can probably send it directly to that airport address / CO airlines / attn : manager name. Sometimes doing a complaint on a local level gets more results than national level.

Good Luck, I sincerely hope that you are treated better next time you fly. There truly are some nice , helpful agents.

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

To KATIE and PATTIS:

KATIE: If Kiki behaved like some ticket counter, gate agents, or flight attendants, she might have taken her bad behavior to the next level—called the cops, lie, and say you were threatening her, then have you thrown out of the airport!

PATTIS: Every organization, the size of Continental, has a significant number of “Kikis.” However, there are a lot of organizations this size, with none of them being US-based airlines, who encourage staff to police each other’s behavior. United Air has this crazy idea that they can get more customers if they spend millions on buying new planes; installing sleeper seats, and the like—then staff the operation with people like Kiki! This is a textbook case of backwards-ass thinking! United, American, Delta, et al need to devote their resources to paying better salaries, so they’re not hiring people McDonald’s wouldn’t take. Money also needs to be spent on training. Pattis, you would be amazed how many people are willing to quietly tolerate rock-hard eggs, and other service shortcomings, if the people you are dealing with have the capacity to extend normal social courtesies. Until this happens, people like you, Pattis, must be empowered to “rat-on,” if you will, misfit staff like Kiki. The alternative is, as you (Pattis) suggested, decent staff will continue to be the “whipping boy” for people like Kiki. Until us customers start hearing from you, Pattis, on this subject, we will never know you are any different than Kiki. All of you, do, wear the same uniform.

On a broader scale, it is people like Kiki who are, partly, behind the passenger rights movement, and calls for re-regulation of domestic air travel—both of which I support. Ultimately, if the airlines can’t bring themselves to institute peer policing of bad behavior, the government will step-in and impose a solution of its own.

For a comedy contrast, between Pattis and Kiki, see the video attached to the following link.

http://www.britishairwaysandpamann.com/