[Kie]

I purchased a round-trip flight from Philly to Atlanta & back for Jan. 2011. I did this purchase at 9:30am yesterday morning.

I ended up back on the ticket selling area at 1:30pm and now tickets were only $74 each!

I was ******. I emailed customer service & I also obtained the email address for the CEO of the airline.

I got a response back from customer service:

Thank you for contacting Customer Relations at US Airways. Mr. Parker has requested that Customer Relations respond in his behalf.
I apologize you feel these ticket prices were unreasonable and hope the following information will be helpful in understanding our approach to determine pricing.
For each flight, seats are made available at various fare levels based on historical demand and forecasted bookings. As seats sell, the lowest fares in a market may no longer be available, giving the appearance of a market being higher priced.
Because pricing is highly dynamic, we are unable to guarantee that a given fare will stay the same or always be available. We do, however, strive to provide good value to our passengers and remain price-competitive with our industry peers.
Ms. , we value your business and are working hard to earn your continued patronage. We hope you will give us the opportunity to do so.
Sincerely,

Rose Kass
Representative, Customer Relations
US Airways Corporate Office

---

I'm sorry, how is this helpful? The ticket was actually CHEAPER later in the day AFTER I booked a seat on your flight.

This alone makes me know I won't be flying US Airway again, why would I? The only reason I did this time is because I didn't have too many options for GA on the date and times I need.

Seriously, did they even bother to read my email?

[cortney]

This isnt just with USairways. all airlines. just happend with me with AA for my parents tickets in Feb. But i signed a contract with the airline. i read the policy and terms. nothing much more i can do either

[Kie]

Originally Posted by cortney

This isnt just with USairways. all airlines. just happend with me with AA for my parents tickets in Feb. But i signed a contract with the airline. i read the policy and terms. nothing much more i can do either

While this may be true, the least they could have done was read my origingal complaint & responsed properly to it.

You can tell it's just some stock reply and that she didn't even bother to read the original email to see what the problem actually was. She just say something about "Ticket pricing" in my original complaint and pulled this out of her bank of replies. Aboslutely no personal touches & no hint that she even gave a crap that I was angry.

Good customer service can go a long way in keeping repeat customers, even if they have a bad experience.

[jimworcs]

You are exactly right Kie, that stock response, which most of the majors resort to, reads as if you were complaining about the price going up. In fact, the reason they cannot provide a logical explanation is that their "dynamic pricing" is ridiculously byzantine and creates perverse incentives. The market doesn't function effectively because the air market is a series of monopolies and duopolies in which the airlines have carved up certain markets that they control. US Airways controls Philly and do what it likes rericing in that market. You must do the only thing you can.... stop using them.

[Kie]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

You are exactly right Kie, that stock response, which most of the majors resort to, reads as if you were complaining about the price going up. In fact, the reason they cannot provide a logical explanation is that their "dynamic pricing" is ridiculously byzantine and creates perverse incentives. The market doesn't function effectively because the air market is a series of monopolies and duopolies in which the airlines have carved up certain markets that they control. US Airways controls Philly and do what it likes rericing in that market. You must do the only thing you can.... stop using them.

I definitely will not be using them in the future. I tend to use Southwest anymore, but they don't fly to Atlanta, which is the only reason I used US Air this time, I won't do that again!!!

[ChrisH]

Almost all of Customer Service these days is canned responses. It isn't just the airlines. That is what people need to start realizing about Customer Service Reps. They are nothing more than messengers. They are armed with a slew of canned responses put in place by management to use, given the situation. They have no control over it whatsoever. You shouldn't be mad at the person responding to your e-mail. She is just doing her job as she is instructed to do.

It is really to the point that there really is almost no reason to complain to companies now days. It is almost better to just let things be and not get stressed or get your blood pressure up over these things. I realize some people will say that nothing will change unless people voice their complaints. The point, however, is that the only people seeing these complaints are the Customer Service Reps, who have no control over the situation, do not make the policies, are simply armed with canned responses and ultimately, do not care. They are just counting down the minutes to getting off. This point is clear in that your e-mail was sent straight to one of those Reps, rather than the CEO taking time to read it. He doesn't care either. If the people who can actually make a difference (the people at the top) do not care to read or respond to complaints, than what is the point?

I hate to say it, but I've worked in Customer Service for years and unfortunately, it is the complaints that usually get passed around the office for people to read and laugh at. Sad, but true. It almost helps pass the time and people just end up sitting around laughing at customers rather than worrying about trying to help. I've worked in several different industries, including the airlines and it is all the same.

[Kie]

Well I just want you to know I complained about her and tonight I got my 126 back. While I will never fly usairway again, my complaining worked. So it's okay with me if they laugh about my emails... I don't even care if nothing is said to her about not doing her job correctly! My credit card is a little happier tonight!

[ChrisH]

It is great that they gave you your money back. Just so you know, my post was more of a general post than directed at you. Many times complaining leads no where with customer service except back and forth e-mails and calls with nobody giving in. Customer service reps are armed with canned responses and rarely pay much attention to the actual complaint.

Your complaining worked and so at least in this case, it was worth it. Just be sure to check your credit card and see that you do indeed get the credit back for the $126. This wouldn't be the first time I've heard of someone getting told they would get a refund or credit from the airlines to their credit card and it never show up.

As I said .. many customer service agents do not care at all and just pass the complaints around and never really pay attention to what is actually being complained about. It is an unfortunate, but ever increasing issue with customer service these days. The person who originally got your e-mail is obviously one of those people. I've seen it all too often. I am just glad that somebody (you) were able to have your complaint heard and got your money back. I do have to say that I am surprised at that.

[Kie]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

It is great that they gave you your money back. Just so you know, my post was more of a general post than directed at you. Many times complaining leads no where with customer service except back and forth e-mails and calls with nobody giving in. Customer service reps are armed with canned responses and rarely pay much attention to the actual complaint.

Your complaining worked and so at least in this case, it was worth it. Just be sure to check your credit card and see that you do indeed get the credit back for the $126. This wouldn't be the first time I've heard of someone getting told they would get a refund or credit from the airlines to their credit card and it never show up.

As I said .. many customer service agents do not care at all and just pass the complaints around and never really pay attention to what is actually being complained about. It is an unfortunate, but ever increasing issue with customer service these days. The person who originally got your e-mail is obviously one of those people. I've seen it all too often. I am just glad that somebody (you) were able to have your complaint heard and got your money back. I do have to say that I am surprised at that.

I understand. I am a believer in complaining though - I use to not be, I didn't like to "make waves" - but then my husband made me realize, it was people like ME (how I use to be) that made it easier for people that do complain to get something out of it.

It wasn't easy, it took 3 days & countless emails *and phones calls at the end* to get the money back, but I do believe I was "wronged" and I felt like I needed to stand up for me, if I don't - no one else is going to.

I work in insurance - I have for over 6 years now. I completely understand the CS world - I think that insurance tends to be the "be all end all" to what people consider terrible CS. I see so many people get what they want, even when I don't think they deserve it, just because they keep at it and keep going up the chain.

While I agree - CEO man never saw my emails, someone slightly higher than a line CS Rep (eventually) did, and it obviously made all the difference.