I don’t envy those who work in airline social media. I sort of feel like it has become a necessary evil for airlines. Many airlines decide that they need to provide customer service there, though I find that they largely do a poor job:
- It seems their most important metric is response time, so they’ll respond in a way that doesn’t actually address your concern
- In general it’s hard to provide good customer service in Tweets and even DMs, since many things are time sensitive, and the service typically doesn’t happen instantly
- People complain about things on Twitter that they’d never complain about in real life, so the attempt at even providing “service” for those issues can be silly at times
So if you don’t use airline Twitter customer service for anything else, at least it’s sometimes worth a good laugh. There are two things the past few days that have given me a good laugh.
United Economy Plus = Lexus
A Twitter user complained how he was on a flight and the seven rows in front were allegedly completely empty. When he asked if he could move forward, he was told he’d have to pay.
United explained those seats carried an extra charge, and asked why they wouldn’t let him have a better experience after the door closed. United’s answer?
If you were to purchase a Toyota, you would not be able to drive off with a Lexus, because it was empty.
LOL! The Twitter user then calls the United representative a “wise ass” and says he won’t fly with United again.
In this case the United representative is giving the right answer, but the logic is terrible:
- The Twitter user was making the point that once the door closed it was spoiled inventory, so if not like they would have been able to sell it otherwise
- Cars aren’t similar commodities to airline seats, since you could still sell a Lexus at a premium over a Toyota to someone in the future
But the point remains, the reason you can’t move up is because if you are given it for free this time, you’re less likely to pay for it next time. Airlines reckon that if you see all these empty rows you’d be more likely to pay for those extra legroom seats since you’re not just getting more legroom, but also a lot more space otherwise.
It’s the same reason you can’t move up to an empty first or business class seat.
Generally airlines would rather let a premium seat go out empty than give someone a better experience for free, and that’s true almost across the board.
The Southwest Poppers Saga Continues…
A couple of weeks ago a Twitter user asked if he could put poppers in his carry-on. Southwest’s response?
Mind clarifying what you mean by “poppers”?
OH MY.
Well, it gets better, though the Tweet has been deleted since. Someone followed up about this question, and then this happened:
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.