Refunds Now the Target of Customer Complaints

With millions of travelers’ flights changed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks that closed U.S. airports and millions more schedules being changed as airlines cut back flights, customer service has never been more important.

Customer dissatisfaction with airlines soared in 2000, when travelers lodged nearly 24,000 complaints with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the most in more than a decade.

But by August of this year, complaints had dropped to about half of what they were last August. Last-ranked United improved from 11.61 complaints per 100,000 boardings in August 2000 to 3.89 by this year. Southwest, the best of class, also improved, dropping from 0.48 to 0.44 from August 2000 to August of this year.

And based on preliminary data, complaints overall are down for September, says Bill Mosley, public affairs specialist with the DOT, from 1,880 complaints in August to barely 1,000 in September. The decrease can be attributed in part to fewer travelers that month, but the events of Sept. 11 might have changed customers’ mind-sets as well.

“Things we would have complained about historically, after Sept. 11 we have more tolerance [for],” says Chip Bell, a Dallas consultant on customer service and coauthor of “Knock Your Socks Off Service Recovery” (AMACOM, May 2000), a primer on counteracting errors that anger customers.

There may be one notable exception to the new tolerance, however, and that’s refunds. Mosley says that preliminary data show that the number of customers complaining about getting their money back in September was up from the previous year.

Norma Basgall of Carlsbad is one such customer. Before Sept. 11, she bought a ticket to Wichita, Kan., on United Airlines for a Sept. 26 flight. Worried about safety after the terrorist attacks, she canceled her trip. When she called the customer service department at United, she learned she would have to pay a $100 change fee to apply her fare to a future flight. (She missed United’s cutoff date for waiving the fee by one day.)

“I complained for five days in a row to get the ticket applied to a future purchase without the $100 fee,” Basgall says. “Finally I hung up because they were rude and not listening.”

United did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment.

“The airlines are ill-quipped to handle service recovery,” Bell says. “They have organized a mantra of standardization, a one-size-fits-all approach that leaves customers feeling betrayed. The times we are in are producing a greater amount of venom.”

Customers can help themselves when they’re in a tussle with the airlines by being proactive, Bell says. “I get great service because I go in with the assumption that I’m going to get great service, and the person I’m dealing with really wants to give me good service,” Bell says. His advice to the customer is to approach it as a team effort.

“Be helpful, not demanding,” he says. “Approach the problem as you would in a partnership: Here’s what I want, here’s what you’re running up against, let’s see how we can solve it. It doesn’t always get you what you want, but it is an approach that can save you unnecessary upset. When customers complain, it’s often from a sense of betrayal, and it can become emotional.”

I followed Bell’s advice in September when I was in Europe. After the attacks, I wanted to fly to New York, check in with friends, then return to Southern California and family.

I had been scheduled to return on Sept. 30 but wanted to return to the U.S. on Sept. 22; that change alone would have cost me $150 for an international ticket. But the agent told me I’d have to purchase a new one-way fare to accommodate my unplanned stop in New York. After some halfhearted hemming and hawing, “Gee, with all that’s happened can’t you be more flexible,” and back and forth, I took a deep breath and agreed to the one-way fare, at a cost of nearly $1,000.

Not so bad, I reasoned, thinking that the unused part of my ticket would be applied to the new, one-way ticket. No, the rep said, I would forfeit the unused part of my ticket.

I asked to speak with a supervisor, who, after hearing my plea, agreed to the change, although I still had to pay the $150 fee.

If such proceedings are supposed to be a partnership, the airlines also must hold up their end. Bell thinks airlines’ front-line personnel need to be given the skills, flexibility and empowerment to deal with customers’ problems.

Bell cites Southwest as a good model for the industry. “It is a very people-oriented culture in terms of believing in and empowering their people,” he says.

“If they provide a personalized experience and treatment, then what the customer gets is ‘I care about what’s happening to you.’ You may still feel angry, but you won’t take it personally.”

Norma Basgall flew to Wichita on United on Oct. 24. A rebooked ticket would have cost more than $500 plus the $100 change fee, so she used 15,000 frequent-flier miles, taking advantage of a special United offer to all customers. She’s still not satisfied with the response from United. She has talked to supervisors. Her e-mails to the United refund department have gone unanswered.

“I even called Sen. [Dianne] Feinstein’s office,” she says, the slight satisfaction of having someone listen to and sympathize with her plight ringing in her voice. “They were upset too. How can a ... bailout with taxpayer money be justified when they have no consideration for the passenger?”

Her experience with the senator’s office could prove instructive to the airlines.

“You don’t have to be perfect,” Bell says of the airlines. “You just have to show you care.”

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James Gilden can be reached at jamesgilden@aol.com. Travel Insider welcomes suggestions but cannot respond to letters and telephone calls. Address comments to Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; e-mail travel@latimes.com.