From The Associated Press
—UNITED TO UNPLUG PHONE NUMBER FOR COMPLAINTS—
United is dropping an Indian customer call center that handled compliments or complaints, telling customers to send a letter or e-mail instead. United informed workers that it would stop publishing its customer relations phone number, and will turn it off altogether at the end of April. A United spokesperson said the airline is able to respond better to customers who write, since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response.
Are these guys smoking crack? Using this same logic, they should tell Congressmen and Senators to please send all questions about airline operations and funding requests by email, “since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response.”
Perhaps all United Red Carpet Room help should be provided by email and small kiosks that will check membership and then allow the most-frequent-of-fliers to type in their questions about changing reservations, making seat changes, allowing a friend to join them in the club room? That would also work far better “since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response.”
United Airlines should tell their bankers, bondholders and shareholders to only send email so that the airline can “repond better to” owners. We’ll see how much that system helps the airline “provide a more specific response.” I think the stakeholders will provide the imperious airline a “specific response.”
“Shove it.”
Who need someone asking questions for clarification? Who needs communications? When could there possibly be a problem that might need immediate action? Who carries a computer around with them at all times so that they can communicate with the Pooh-Bahs at United?
Email might be a part of the customer service process, but it is a poor substitute for human interaction, especially when time is of the essence.
Who do they think they are fooling. Is this really the airline that paid Walt Disney hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve their customer service and that hired a former Disney executive to head their customer service team?
United should get their money back for the Disney training if this is the result. And, United should keep their customer service phone plugged in. And, they should answer it.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
United doesn’t even want people to write letters…they want it all by email, though with some digging you can get their snail mail address. Drives me crazy when they try to push the email option over everything else, as often you need to send in receipts etc to document your issue…
Indian call center, that says it all.
I own a Dell computer. My first issue with my computer required help via a phone call. Of course, that call went to India, where I barely understood the man on the other end. Out of frustration, I just hung up. Mind you, I PAID for a TWO YEAR contract that included technical SUPPORT. Because of this language barrier, I decided in the future to just use a local computer guy. So far, every pleased.
Back to the article, This airline has over 60 MILLION passengers per year. Hundreds of thousands per DAY. Call centers, in my day, dealt with complaints, but the majority of the job dealt with passenger itineraries and Travel Agents. Going EMAIL relieves these agents of dealing with lengthy “complaint calls” who have no authority in compensation and/or complaint resolution. Probably, same with the customer service number. Just how many employees would they need to answer calls all day long about service issues. That’s a cost in itself. Say only 10 percent of 60 million passengers have complaints. That probably overwhelms the phone lines. Avoids the personal stories. Etc. I bet it reduces the number of employees it takes to answer emails versus the phones. Hence, the reason these call centers went overseas in the first place.
Obviously they were very deserving of being bailed out after 9/11 right?
Short term gain=Long term pain. Perhaps those calling for the current government bailouts should keep this in mind? Oh wait…too late.
Fools…
I for one won’t miss them. I do not understand the people in India either … but the ironic thing is that I used to live in that neck of the woods, and I speak Hindi! What does Joe Schmuck do who doesn’t understand Hindi or Hindi-accented English? The problem with the Indian call centers is that the workers are trained in English as a second language by people who have English only as a second language (and have never heard it consistently as a first language) who were trained by peoiple who have English only as a second language (and have never heard it consistently as a first language) who were trained by people … ad nauseaum. Linguists call this language situation “fossilization”. People who learn English from third-generation non-English-speaking teachers have as much chance of learning relatively unaccented English as a fossil does of reproducing itself. But the people on top don’t see this because they don’t have to deal with these workers. THEIR call center is in Chicago!
The loans after 9-11 were necessary to stabilize the aviation industry. Terror Attacks devastated an already troublesome industry. Loans were paid back or resold without the government guarantee, example: Frontier repaid its loan of 70 million. As well as America West and USAir. Eventually CEO’s in the industry went to DCA to voice that further aid should end. Seven carriers were approved, nine were turned down.
I had to check my calendar to make sure that it wasn’t April 1st.
Then I realized that you were talking about United Airlines where the truly bizarre is the standard operating procedure.
And this is the reason why I drive past O’Hare to get to Midway to fly Southwest.