Sunday - April 20, 2008
When it comes to customer service, young consumers often get no respect. Despite the millions of dollars being spent by electronics chains, cell phone companies and other retailers to attract the youth market, I have a pretty strong sense from personal observation that kids often are treated as second-class shoppers. Want proof? Here are two recent experiences involving my own children. In March, my 19-year-old daughter was scheduled to board a plane for a spring break trip. Traveling by herself, she learned that her flight had been delayed, meaning she would miss a connecting flight.
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Friday - April 18, 2008
It's practically a sport in Detroit to complain about Northwest Airlines. But compared with Northwest, what's the customer experience on Delta, which will become Detroit's main air carrier if the merger between the two is approved? "The only two bonuses I see are snacks on long flights when you're in coach and Coke products instead of Pepsi," said Lisa Gilpin of Berkley, Mich., who flies both airlines.
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Thursday - April 17, 2008
In an acknowledgment of the frustrating experience flying can be, the government Wednesday unveiled new rules doubling the amount of money airlines must pay passengers who are bumped from their flights. But there are so many bigger complaints about airline travel today that few travel experts seemed awed by the U.S. Department of Transportation's new bump rules.
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Wednesday - April 16, 2008
Passengers who get bumped off overbooked flights will soon be eligible to receive twice as much compensation from U.S. airlines. Travelers forced onto another flight that takes them to their domestic destination more than two hours after their original arrival time will be paid the full price of their fare up to $800.
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Friday - April 11, 2008
Reviews on Web sites like Travelocity and Yahoo helped Scott Kentner choose the Breakers hotel over another locally owned hotel on Ocean Boulevard for his Myrtle Beach, S.C. getaway. Though the Breakers did not have the same amenities as the other hotel, reviewers raved about its customer service, said Kentner, of Crawfordsville, Ind.
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Wednesday - April 9, 2008
Jilted Skybus Airlines passengers clogged the phone lines of banks and credit unions this week as they attempted to secure refunds for their airline tickets to nowhere. Thousands of travelers sought reimbursement yesterday from their card issuers on the first business day after the startup Columbus, Ohio, airline went belly-up Friday evening.
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Thursday - March 27, 2008
It's discouraging that a federal appeals court has overturned New York's airline passenger bill of rights. However, the setback is no reason for New York to back down. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo should defend the state law all the way to the Supreme Court. The stakes are that high.
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Sunday - March 16, 2008
Was there ever a golden age of customer service, when actual human beings staffed help desks, answered phones and quickly resolved the knottiest problems? Opinions differ about the glories of the past, but the present consensus is that there isn't anything good to say about the state of customer service in today's world, especially in the airline industry.
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Tuesday - February 19, 2008
Online retailers are delivering the goods and better customer service than traditional stores, according to a University of Michigan study expected to be released Tuesday. Customer satisfaction with online retail was even with last year at 83 points on a 100-point scale, but surpassed brick-and-mortar retailers by 12 percent, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
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Wednesday - February 13, 2008
Getting the airline industry to improve customer service is like trying to move a parked 747: You need a whole lot of people pushing with all their might -- or one heck of a tractor -- to overcome the leviathan's resistance to motion. Thirteen months after American Airlines trapped thousands of passengers on grounded planes in Texas, the crusaders for passenger rights have nudged the jumbo jet a few inches forward.
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Friday - February 8, 2008
If you haven't already heard, the U.S. government is going digital. Exhibit A: President Bush submitted his 2009 budget proposal to Congress electronically, and he held up a tablet PC for the photogs to illustrate just how tech-savvy he is. OK, so that's not exactly Web 2.0, but then there's Exhibit B: The TSA has started a blog called "Evolution of Security."
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