Slashdot Mirror
A New Way to Tell Your Airline You Hate It (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Airlines -- an industry not known for stellar customer interactions -- are joining the party, and not just to break the bad news about your flight. They're inviting you to ask questions, and maybe even complain. Two airlines have dipped their wings into the waters of two-way texting. Hawaiian Holdings's Hawaiian Airlines is adding the feature while JetBlue Airways took a stake in a software startup that will allow its call center staff to start texting customers in the coming months. Texting, technically called SMS (which stands for short message service), is arguably the world's most favored form of communication, but much of corporate America has been slow to adapt. The few that have -- including Verizon Wireless retailers, British telecom company Sky UK, and Nestle SA's frozen foods division -- are dwarfed by an array of local commerce, from insurance agents, veterinarians, air conditioning techs, and auto dealers who have already jumped in to conduct their business.
140 characters isn't nearly enough for what I have to say to some of the airlines I've flown on.
Yeah Iberia, you're first on the list.
Thanks Slashdot. Without you I never would have learned that "Texting" is technically called "SMS" which stands for "short message service".
Truly News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters!
What's MMS then? Chopped liver?
Stop flying. There is no more meaningful vote than one which deprives a business of revenue.
Hawaiian is one of the better airlines. Wake me when I can text United about how much they suck.
That is all.
Create a complaint section
It will be hard for them to convey their normal sense of surliness, contempt, and outright disdain for the customer, but I know they'll find a way.
Send a piece of S**t to the HQ - http://en.shitexpress.com/
The airlines don't even have to bother with human agents.
AI scripts can answer all your texts, and if they can't answer you, I'm pretty sure the texts will disappear.
"Texting ... is arguably the world's most favored form of communication, but much of corporate America has been slow to adapt."
Texting is inherently one phone number to another. But large corporations have thousands of phone numbers. Their customer service groups have phone systems to direct inbound calls to an 800 number to the "next available agent", and the customer never knows the agent's specific number.
Are there equivalent systems that can multiplex multiple simultaneous SMS sessions, from many customers texting to a single phone number, and from many agents, all seeming to text from the same phone number?
I got a request for feedback from my last flight, I ignored it, and then they started nagging me for feedback.
OK, you want feedback? What is going on with your operations out of Atlanta? I was in an older twin-engine jet not known for its acceleration (MD-88, JT8D-200 engines). Looking out the starboard window, as soon as I saw the same kind of jet from the same airline start laying down kerosene smoke for it takeoff roll, we swung onto the active runway right behind it. I thought we were doing a "position and hold", but we immediately powered up our engines and started our takeoff roll.
I asked in the comments section if this was standard procedure at Atlanta and if this were OK, explaining that I read that the military would conduct such rapid takeoff drills during the Cold War, but this type of thing was recognized as having the potential for a really bad accident if one of the jets on the runway had to abort its takeoff, but the military did such things because men and women in uniform assume risks for our common defense.
This started some kind of investigation, and I was called to the telephone to repeat my comments orally and answer questions about "my story", some of the questions hinting that I was a stupid non-pilot. "Look, I saw the jet ahead of us down the runway through the cloud of the engine smoke on those older MD-80's just as we swung onto the runway and immediately went to full power to start our takeoff." "Did you still see the other plane during your takeoff." "No, not after we lined up on the runway, I can't see that way out my passenger window."
The person on the phone got all "corporate" on me that yes, they will investigate this internally but they volunteered without my asking that they would not share what they found. No, "our crew followed all relevant safety procedures, and if you have questions about operations at Atlanta Hartsfield you can contact the FAA at 555-1212" or "thank you for your input, we are putting the word out to our crews reminding them to maintain safe separation from other aircraft." Don't worry your pretty little head, they tell me -- fine! You nag me for survey feedback and you then don't want to hear what I have to tell you. This is this corporate garbage "admit nothing, nothing! on anything safety related because 1) the passenger doesn't need to know and 2) we might get sued."
If she knew they were so bad why did she book with them in the first place?
There is price, 20 different fees, customer service, and a long list of other variables to consider..
And you're asking why customers in the free market don't always buy the best option? Too many variables, ads, distractions and other things.
IMO, we should have stronger regulation to simplify prices, fees, etc. (Note. the EU usually does a good job here)
Well, if you're not a pilot, then you probably are mistaken about procedures then. I hold a private license. I was on a commercial flight one time where our plane rolled straight from taxiway, onto the runway and immediate takeoff without even slowing down. A guy in front of me freaked out and told the guy next to him that it was illegal. Sheesh... The controllers know what they are doing (though the pilot is the primary safety - fly the plane first, otherwise follow instructions and procedures). You can be on a taxiway when the controller tells you "clear for takeoff". When that happens, you just go - and sometimes they need you to go in a reasonably short time because somebody else is coming in for a landing on your runway. The controllers and pilots understand these procedures. If you're not a pilot, then you probably don't know this. If you see something obvious (fire coming out of the engine, perhaps) then speak up, otherwise take some pilot training and chill out. I had to tell the guy in front of me the same thing.
There's a rule of thumb about voter feedback to Congresscritters. A hand-written letter is worth about 10 phone calls. A phone call is worth about 10 faxes. And a fax is worth about 10 emails.
The idea is that the more effort you had to put into the feedback, the more you must care about the issue. If your level of concern is so low that you can only be bothered to type in your name and email address on a website form letter and click "send", then the issue must not be very important to you. OTOH if you take the type to write a letter by hand and physically mail it to your representative, the issue must be very important to you, and they'll treat it as such.
Same goes here. If your complaint with the airline can only get you to expend enough effort to shoot off a text, then your level of outrage must be very low. They're not going to treat it very seriously. If it gets you to write a nasty (non-form) email, your level of outrage must be higher and they'll take you a bit more seriously. If you're outraged enough to call them and suffer the wait time on hold, then they'll take you even more seriously. And if you spent the time to write a hand-written letter and paid for a stamp to mail it to them, you must really be angry with them, and they'll take your letter very seriously.
So championing the easiest-to-use form of feedback isn't really the best way to get your complaint heard by the higher-ups.
Has to be one of the worst text chat protocols ever.
"Texting, technically called SMS (which stands for short message service), is arguably the world's most favored form of communication,..." ...for old people and company managers perhaps, the rest of the world uses Whatsapp because, unlike SMSes, it's free and encrypted.
Aviation is one of the industries where the customer is almost never right. You don't know what happened, and you don't know what you're talking about.
"That door is open," it does that.
"That engine is turning," wind.
"The engine is clanking," wind.
"There's a hole in the wing," there's supposed to be.
"There's a fuel leak," it's water.
"That other plane was REALLY close," no it wasn't.
"That turbulence was REALLY bad, is the plane ok?" It was light turbulence, you'll break before the plane does.
"You didn't do a run up, you're supposed to do one," no we're not.
"Nice landing," actually it was terrible.
"Wow, that was a bad landing," actually it was perfect.
"The flaps aren't set for takeoff," yes they are.
"You took off too close behind that plane," no we didn't.
I could go all day.
Cleared for immediate takeoff with an under-powered jet still on the runway straight in front of you?
When SAC did this back during the Cold War, they were conducting a drill to get their bombers in the air during the time they had before a Soviet sub-launched missile on a depressed trajectory could wipe them all out on the ground. The author of the Web page describing this told of how the families would gather at the fence by the end of the runway to see the spectacle of one jet after another roaring by. The author also suggested that it was not a great idea for the families to watch this because one engine failure could result in a flaming pile-up of their family members serving on those crews. This was not a safe mode of operation, but it was done because our service members sacrifice their safety for the common good, in this case, maintaining the condition of deterrence during the Cold War.
Yeah, yeah, I am just a dumb airline passenger and the MD-88 ahead may have reached its V-1 no-abort speed prior to the MD-88 I was on reaching full power. All I know is that a couple of weeks later at O'Hare International a jet blew up an engine midway down the runway, the news media was questioning what this column of black smoke at O'Hare meant for a story, and we later found it took a formation of fire trucks to put out the flames to get the passengers safely off that plane. Another jet sequenced too closely could have ploughed into that wreck. I just get this vibe that the way business is conducted at World's Busiest Atlanta Hartsfield is shaving some corners and no one wants to admit to nothing. Yes, the controllers know what they are doing, the pilots know what they are doing, and you changed in Atlanta to get the flight you wanted so keep quiet?
Just stop talking, people like you are the laughingstock of airline employees everywhere. You have no idea what you're talking about and you're just making a fool of yourself.
"Aviation is one of the industries where the customer is almost never right."
You're talking about flight safety. When you're talking about the business side, it's the airline that's almost never right.
and 2) we might get sued.
Those rules have been set up by sue happy lawyers and now that's how 'merica works today.
Don't blame them for playing along the rules.
bickerdyke
They usually follow their own policies, so they're, by definition, right. Most things that passengers complain about are, in fact, safety related. People don't get what it is they're actually doing. They're getting into a pressurized aluminum tube and shooting through the sky ~6 miles above the ground at ~500 miles an hour. Things that would be a minor annoyance on foot, or in a car, could kill you in that situation.
Consider an airplane that didn't have any epinephrine on board (this was the case a few years ago when there was a shortage). A passenger with a peanut allergy doesn't have their own epi pen, and is removed from the flight by the captain. What do you think their reaction will be? Probably something like, "OMGWTFBBQPWNSAUCE they discriminated against me and denied me boarding because I have a condition OMGOMGOMGSUESUESUE I HATE THIS AIRLINE THEY'RE THE WORST EVER!!!" What's going to happen to them if their seat neighbor busts open some peanuts and they go into anaphylactic shock? They're probably going to die. There is literally nothing that can be done. You can't pull over, you can't call an ambulance, you can't separate them from the problem. They were removed from the flight because their life would be in danger.
How about the canceled flights due to fog? Invariably there are passengers that complain, "my wife says it's clear there," and things to that effect. Well, it's not clear at the airport, and if we try to land in that fog, YOU COULD DIE.
Or cancelled for thunderstorms, "OMG, YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE, I HATE THIS AIRLINE, WHY CAN YOU JUST GO." Because that thunderstorm could kill you.
"OMGWTFBBQ they canceled my flight because of snow, I can drive in snow, why can't they fly in it?" Have you tried landing a 150 ton pressurized aluminum tube on a snow or ice covered runway at 150 miles a hour? You could die. They don't make chains for that, and they wouldn't help anyway.
The reason airlines are so safe is because they don't take stupid risks. Most passengers don't even realize what those risks are and don't consider the consequences.
The airline ripoffs and excesses I'm talking about have nothing to do with flight safety. Fees for everything is one major area. Fees are supposed to apply to optional extras, such as extra bags, meals, drinks, special seats, and class upgrades. The huge fees for fixing a typo in your name in the ticket are a prize example. The operation is a SQL update in place to a single field in your passenger name record, for which airlines could still make money if they charged $25 for the validation and the few seconds of labor the fix would involve. Instead they have been charging $200 or more, and recently have been treating a name type as an excuse to cancel and remake a reservation, a screw job that allows them to charge a huge walkup fare in addition to the change fee.
Change fees are another example. Though this actually does require a cancel and rebook, every convention in the worlds charges on a sliding scale, with the price rising as the event date approaches. Airlines could easy do that, and still make plenty. Southwest gets by without charging change fees at all.
And did you ever book a premium seat in Business or First? If the premium service cannot be provided on flight day, because of some carrier issue like an equipment change, yuo should get a refund of the difference between what you would have paid for Coach and the premium fare. Instead, you get an artificial differential using phony "airline math."