USAirways and Customer Service
Complaint
John
Country: United States
I wrote to USAirways Customer Service in July after flying Envoy Class in broken seats to Frankfurt and back -- no leg support on either trip and pretty uncomfortable. (Envoy class was full, so there were no alternatives.) I made a reasonable request--to return the points I had used to upgrade; I don't drink when flying, the food isn't much to write about, and I upgrade only to get comfortable seats. My wife had accompanied me and upgraded as well; we paid more than $2600 for our tickets; I wasn't asking for anything other than my upgrade points, in return for what was plainly not in any sense a business class experience. They responded with a form letter that barely apologized and offered a $100 voucher (with many strings attached).
I wrote again to reiterate my request, and they responded with a patronizing letter that contains no apology, offered to convert the voucher to 3000 miles, and told me that "customer satisfaction is our main focus." You have got to be kidding.
USAirways is committing corporate suicide with such policies. Nearly all my fellow travelers (almost all frequent fliers) on my recent flights had horror stories to tell about USAirways. Sitting in the Club in Charlotte or Philadephia, one regularly hears similar comments. Their reputation is low and they seem determined to move it even lower, with no end in sight. They treat their most loyal customers with disdain, made worse by insincere and empty promises of "customer satisfaction". No one is fooled by upbeat letters from Mr. Parker (the CEO) that promise a new quality of service and yet fail to provide working seats, least of all veteran business travelers.
I guess they have made a choice. I recognize that businesses must make choices about how to deal with customers. But they should recognize in return that fliers also make choices, and a brief "thank you for choosing USAirways" at the end of each flight is not sufficient to win loyalty. I and many other loyal fliers will take our business to other airlines (I hope!)-- far easier to do nowadays because of the widespread alliances. They have given me no incentive to choose USAirways and certainly no incentive to achieve Gold status in the future, as I have done for many years.
Eventually, they may realize that not worrying about customer satisfaction will have disastrous consequences. When they do, I suspect it will be too late.
I wrote again to reiterate my request, and they responded with a patronizing letter that contains no apology, offered to convert the voucher to 3000 miles, and told me that "customer satisfaction is our main focus." You have got to be kidding.
USAirways is committing corporate suicide with such policies. Nearly all my fellow travelers (almost all frequent fliers) on my recent flights had horror stories to tell about USAirways. Sitting in the Club in Charlotte or Philadephia, one regularly hears similar comments. Their reputation is low and they seem determined to move it even lower, with no end in sight. They treat their most loyal customers with disdain, made worse by insincere and empty promises of "customer satisfaction". No one is fooled by upbeat letters from Mr. Parker (the CEO) that promise a new quality of service and yet fail to provide working seats, least of all veteran business travelers.
I guess they have made a choice. I recognize that businesses must make choices about how to deal with customers. But they should recognize in return that fliers also make choices, and a brief "thank you for choosing USAirways" at the end of each flight is not sufficient to win loyalty. I and many other loyal fliers will take our business to other airlines (I hope!)-- far easier to do nowadays because of the widespread alliances. They have given me no incentive to choose USAirways and certainly no incentive to achieve Gold status in the future, as I have done for many years.
Eventually, they may realize that not worrying about customer satisfaction will have disastrous consequences. When they do, I suspect it will be too late.
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