I'm not a big fan of the major airlines. In fact I have written several entries that demonstrated poor customer service by United and American.
However, I had a uniquely good experience on United a couple days ago and wanted to share it with you.
I was traveling to Los Angeles with Joel Ownby and Tim Prince, en route to Yanik Silver's Internet Underground conference in Los Angeles.
The three of us board the 737 and our seats are all the way in the back row. Yippee.
We get settled in and after a time notice that we aren't going anywhere. We're just sitting... waiting... wondering...
As it turned out, there was condensation on the center pane of one of the windows and for whatever reason, it needs to be dried out.
So we were told that the maintenance crew would be taking a blow dryer to the offending window and that it could take up to an hour before we were ready to depart.
There's nothing more enjoyable than being a sardine on an airplane and not making any progress towards your destination.
I started thinking of recent stories where passengers were essentially held hostage on planes for hours on end while a maintenance crew toiled away. I told my associates that I would enjoy blogging about an event like that from the plane while it was happening. After all, I DO have an iPhone.
While we were waiting for the window to dry out the flight attendants begin offering drinks and pretzels to snack on. I happened to notice that one of the flight attendants had a Milky Way bar in her hands.
Yum!
I jokingly asked the aforementioned attendant if I could have a Three Musketeers bar... a special order. She laughted and said that it wouldn't happen. Her candy bar was from her private stash.
Well. I never.
Some people needed to make connecting flights in L.A., so they were getting off the plane to talk to a gate agent. It was a good thing because the flight was full and we could do with a few less pounds on the 737 anyhow.
Since we were stuck at the gate and people were getting off, I asked the flight attendant, whose name happened to be Miranda, if she would get off the plane and get me the candy bar of my dreams.
She obviously enjoyed her job and responded with a deliberately sarcastic and somewhat cruel "no".
Sigh. I was out of luck. Destined to only enjoy pretzels that the airline probably picked up for less than a penny a bag at a garage sale.
When I told Miranda that she was mean, she affirmatively replied that she was indeed the "flight Nazi".
I persisted in asking for the Three Musketeers when Miranda would walk by, certain that she would eventually crack. Yes, there was witty banter. And yes, it did ease the sting of sitting in tight quarters wondering if we would ever leave.
Did I mention that the seats in the last row don't recline? If the person in front of me decided to recline, my kneecaps would most definitely break. Ouch.
Finally, the pilot tells us that we are clear to go. Huzzah!
By this time, we had also struck up a relationship with Marjorie, the other flight attendant that served those of us in steerage, er, coach. I complained to her that Miranda was mean.
She laughed and was sucked into the bizarre turn of events that would soon play out.
So we're probably an hour into the flight and Miranda walks up to our row and opens up her Milky Way bar. She offers me half of it! Oooooh... chocolate! I graciously accept and quickly snarf it down. Thanks Miranda!
A short while later, she shows up with THREE big Milky Way bars and offers them to each of us. Now Joel O. and Tim got to enjoy this airborne hospitality. I politely declined the bar stating that I had alreaey had one.
But it gets better.
Soon, Marjorie shows up with shortbread cookies which I accept without hesitation. Just what the doctor ordered!
Not only did Marjorie and Miranda have a great attitude about serving, but they were willing to go outside the box and give a little extra to the three guys sitting in what they called "the worst seats on the plane".
I asked them if they knew what airline that were working for and questioned why they weren't with Jet Blue or Southwest instead...
I needed to get up and use the restroom, which of course, was directly to my back. So I got up and the two nice ladies were kicking back enjoying a snack and their newspapers.
That's when I spotted the little Ghirardelli chocolates sitting on the counter.
I thought, "Wow. the paying customers get lousy pretzels and the airlines provide the employees with a secret stash of goodies. Huh."
I looked at the chocolate morsel and Marjorie nodded that I should take a couple.
How much would it cost for the airline to buy a couple bags of mini-Ghirardelli chocolates for each flight? Seriously, it would be so much better than those pretzels they toss at us.
Needless to say, I was in chocolate heaven and went back to my seat with a smile on my face.
About 15 minutes before landing, the flight attendant from the front of the plane headed to the back. Her name was Heidi. We struck up a conversation with her and she was just as pleasant and kind as the other ladies.
Had I stepped into the twilight zone? Usually I receive short, curt replies from impatient attendants that know that are working for an airline that is notorious for "we could care less" customer service.
I shared my recent experiences with Heidi. I told her about the gate agent that recently disciplined me for stepping on the red carpet when I boarded a flight.
I told her about the telephone support agent that charged me a ticket change fee for a flight I had already booked.
She, too, was shaking her head at the ridiculous policies of the major carriers. What ever happened to common sense?
I took these photos and let the ladies know that I would be posting them on my blog.
So Heidi, Miranda and Marjorie, if you should happen to read this entry, please know that your hospitality and willingness to go out of your way to make another humdrum flight a pleasant experience was greatly appreciated. United is lucky to have the three of you and I hope you will strive to continue putting "friendly" back in "the friendly skies."
Now you've got to believe that these poor ladies deal with every kind of obnoxious idiot in the western hemisphere. We were just a bunch of nice guys playing around hoping to pass the time by entertaining ourselves.
They played along and I honestly can't say I've ever encountered such nice attendants on United airlines. At one point I asked them why they
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March 29, 2008 11:27 AM
What an excellent story Joel. I really enjoy your writing style and how you progress through telling a story.
This is much better experience for you compared to your last, huh? Thanks for sharing. :)
Best Regards,
Garry Conn
March 29, 2008 07:00 PM
There are 'little people' that can indeed make a bad or disagreeable company look great in acustomer's eyes. That's true customer service.
It's also great when the customer sees this and gives them a much deserved compliment. Golden!
March 30, 2008 01:21 AM
Hey Joel:
Joel I have been a big fan, even back in the days of OK. I loved your first ever live show last week with Dan. I particularly liked it when you jumped up to your the folks out the window, what Loveland looks like. (I used to live just outside Aspen.)
This is a great airline story! It reminds me of the stories related by Jan crlzon, the ex-president of SAS airlines, in his book, Moment of Truth.
I wonder if you would give me persmission to share it with some of my colleagues on a social networking site. It's called fohboh.com (stands for: "front of the house--back of the house" in the restaurant business). I post blogs there frequently, often using examples like yours. I like to illustrate how we in the hospitality business should be on the look-out for those who really do provide: "hospitality" to others, which is what Heidi, Marjorie and Miranda were doing.
Whaadya say?
Regards,
RoyMacNaughton
Restaurant Marketing FF.com
March 30, 2008 01:29 AM
Hi again, Joel:
I hate typos and spelling mistakes! There are a couple of them in my earlier post. Sorry....
Please excuse my lousy typing. The author of the book I mentioned, Moment of Truth...all about marketing in the airline industry....was written by
Mr. Jan Carlzon.
My bad,
Roy
March 30, 2008 05:51 PM
This is wonderful! Good service is not rewarded enough. I hope these friendly attendants get a raise out of this! :D
Thanks for sharing.
March 30, 2008 10:09 PM
Joel - Why were you up front in the sweet seats of First Class?
March 31, 2008 09:48 AM
Hi Joel,
It is true that there seems to be a virus running that is called "bad service" or "no service at all", not only at the major airlines but, seemingly, everywhere.
But it is also true that the little, and many times unsung, heroes at the very front lines of business are what make an experience worth writing about -- being it positive or negative.
Long praise to Miranda, Marjorie and Heidi, the sung heroes of your story. Let them be an example that we only have to do some *ordinary* things to give *extraordinary* service.
Greetings from the City of Eternal Spring, Cuernavaca, Mexico,
Jorge Pinkus
Your Maximum Success Coach
http://www.JorgePinkus.com
March 31, 2008 11:16 AM
Great Story, Joel!
If I had had the pleasure of flying with these ladies, I might well have been willing to fly United again.
Sadly, the surly F/A I had on a JAX-DUL flight, the lousy customer service and dirty, dingy planes I flew SYD-SFO-EWR and the lousy customer service and "promises" of a connection being held on a delayed PHL-DEN-ALB flight have all seen to it that I will NEVER fly United again. Ever.
I'm a very happy and very loyal Continental frequent flyer. I've dated more than one flight attendant in my day, and I know what these women (and men) have to deal with.
Having said that, I DO understand that Management has basically beaten down the front-line people on most airlines in the US. But, I do have a choice of where I spend my money, and it sure as heck isn't going to be on United.
March 31, 2008 12:02 PM
Joel
Just don't book on United for Hawaii during the "off season" - (between Labor Day and Mid March). They'll change your plans on you, even if you book the flight 8 months in advance and then expect YOU to pay for the inconvience.
Like you, I'm here in Denver and had a direct flight to the Big Island. In July of last year, they decided to CANCEL the flight and had me flying this LOVELY route (NO JOKE)
Denver to Chicago to Los Angeles to San Francisco to Hawaii
Can you say NO @#$@#$@# way??? (and yes some of those legs were the following day as well!)
And forget talking to customer service..more like BLAME the Customer service.
Luckily Frontier is mucho better (but not much)..just wish they went to paradise! :(
Thomas
March 31, 2008 12:26 PM
Hey Joel,
I guess you was lucky to have such nice attendants helping you out. I know that it is the worse thing ever to be stuck on an airplaine going no where. I have had a couple of bad experiences my self, one with new born twins.
Thanks for sharing,
Malik
March 31, 2008 12:50 PM
It's nice to read about pleasant experiences and not just complaints. I had a nice experience on Northwest Airlines, too, about two weeks ago when flying from LA to Pittsburgh on a connector through Detroit.
March 31, 2008 03:43 PM
Hi Joel,
I am a United Flight Attendant and whenever I fly, thoughts of running into one of these great marketing gurus like you cross my mind. I hope I have you on a flight one day. Everything is your attitude. I am sure you were friendly and nice to the flight attendants. No one, not even flight attendants like delays and being on a 737 in the last row are the worst seats on the airplane. I always feel sorry for these people. Especially if they are three grown men stuck in them! 737's are my least favorite airplanes. There is no video for the passengers to keep them occupied. Unfortunately we are grounding airplanes due to high fuel costs, but fortunately they are all 737's.
Thank you for your kind blog. It is always nice to hear about good experiences and not just the bad ones.
March 31, 2008 06:40 PM
Hey Joel,
Nice story. But I know from a friend of mine who is a Southwest flight attendant that what will really help these most excellent examples of exceptions to the usual United treatment is to write a letter to the airline. Even just copy the post you wrote here and send it to the attention of Customer Service or some such. It will go in their files and forever serve them well. It may even serve as an inspiration to others in their org. Wouldn't that be a shock? Really appreciate your noticing niceness!
Di
March 31, 2008 10:13 PM
Hi Joel, and thank you for looking out for the Females on the flight, as I have been one of your clients for a while now, but have not been able to get my blog to earn any money at all ever.
And I get tired of hearing about all the cash both you and others are making so I have decided not to buy anything from online again as when I see stuff being advertised that is over a year or even 6 months old, it tells me one thing its had the guts sold out of it and now they decide well lets get Affiliates to sell it now, no thank you if you want affiliates to sell your stuff let them sell it first up as well as you sell it don't dare wait for over 6 months then try and make out its just comin g on the market, because it won't wash with me any more I re formated my whole Computer and gotten rid of any thing thats over 3 months old its cleaned off and Wow my computer is now so fast, even I got a surprize, and so now I'm doing Articles trying to make a dollar, even the Do Jo Scripts never worked for me so they gone as well. Sorry a woman has to do what a woman has to do, and thats get tough.
Regards Samantha.
March 31, 2008 10:38 PM
Hey Joe,
Nice Story and the presentation of the facts was awesome. Keep up the good work.
Regrd
Amit
http://howtomanagehumanresources.blogspot.com/
April 1, 2008 05:53 AM
Hi Joe
A few years ago I toured Peru using a local airline. The hostesses played bingo with the passengers in Spanish and English. We decided it might be to take our minds off the condition of the plane. As I was leaving Peru all the planes were grounded.
Best Wishes
Margaret
July 3, 2008 09:19 PM
Joel
Thanks for sharing this with us.
This is a valuable lesson for anybody into Internet Marketing. These great ladies are the ones you would want to fly with next time right? Just like having a great experience when you you "fly" on somebodies web site.
I hope you meet these ladies again ... or better still I hope they leave you a reponse on your blog.