Sometimes the airlines just blow me away … in a good way. I am in DC, got here last night, went to dinner with my Uncle and got a call from Continental Airlines to tell me that my flight today might be cancelled due to awful weather in Houston. However, the call came from the agent at Reagan Airport, not their call center. He wanted to talk with me about getting me a back-up flight today on another airline to get me to Tulsa. We worked out flights on Delta through Atlanta as my back up. I thanked him and he said no problem as he would likely see me at the airport.
Today when I got to the airport he recognized my name and told me that my flight had not been cancelled. However, I was concerned I might get stuck in Houston which would not be helpful since I need to be in Tulsa tonight. He said, no problem let’s see what I can do. In the process of working the system to move me to Delta anyway, he discovered that my flight from Houston to Tulsa had already been cancelled. He smiled and said, “now I don’t need to create a reason.” He reissued my tickets and I am on my way.
It is amazing what people can do if the care and the process will let them. Are you constructing customer service prevention processes or, as Continental at DCA is doing, creating customer service “wow” processes?
