The Not- So- Friendly Skies

Last week I woke up to an unexpected surprise in my e-mail in box from US Airways-"We know you love award travel and we love seeing you happy! So we added 1000 miles to your account. We hope these miles get you a little closer to your next award trip." My first thought was this must be a mistake. The airline industry in the past 10 years has become a symbol of the anti-customer service movement.
     I worked in service jobs at the peak of the customer service era-the 80's. This was a great time for consumers. In my job for a major credit card company we were told to write off any charges of $20 or less that a customer questioned-no investigation just wipe it off the account like it never existed. We were told to never decline a charge at a restaurant to avoid embarrassing our customer in front of clients. The number one goal was making the cardholder happy. Today when I call the same credit card company I usually am more frustrated by the end of the call  then I was before I dialed the number. Not only has the philosophy of customer service as a priority changed but the message that I get now is "we care so little about making you happy that we are going to have representatives with english as their second or third language help you deal with your problems."
     I also remember when air travel was fun and glamorous. I traveled extensively as a make-up artist in the early to late 90's. I looked forward to every trip and that time on the plane when I could watch my in-flight movie, enjoy my pretzels and drink and be treated like a guest by my friendly flight attendant. These days air travel resembles a very long city bus trip-squished seating, no entertainment, no snack  and constant scolding from the attendants. So you can imagine my skepticism when I discovered this "gift" from my home-town airlines.
     Well, 4 days later I woke up to this e-mail "Oops! Earlier this week we inadvertently delivered an e-mail message to many of our Dividend Miles members' e-mail accounts. Unfortunately one of those accounts was yours. Worse this e-mail incorrectly stated that we posted 1,000 miles into your account. This was not accurate." I can't say that I was shocked but really-your going to risk insulting your customer over 1,000 miles? It takes a minimum of 25,000 for a trip anywhere on US Airways.

     I understand that the airline industry has been hit hard financially since 9-11 and I understand the need to cut flights and raise prices. I can even accept the checked baggage fee. But its times like these that make me miss the 80's and my little bag of pretzels that were served up with that long lost ingredient-kindness.