A Tale of Two Airlines

So I've got some time to kill here in the Charlotte airport. The Delta counter agent just refused to put me on an earlier flight back home, even though that flight had open seats. The reason? My original ticket involved a connection, and I wanted to switch to a direct flight, and "the computer won't let me make that change." So I'll get home 4 hours later than I could have, based on some curious policy.

And that reminds me of a story.

A few weeks ago, my father told me of a terrific experience he had with Southwest Airlines. After booking a flight, he saw a better price advertised on an identical route. He called Southwest and asked if they would honor the new, lower price. Sure, they replied; just go to the website and follow the steps to make the change. My father replied that he's not the most web-savvy gentleman in the Midwest. So the customer service rep actually stayed on the phone with him to walk him through the online changes, remaining courteous and patient all the while. Dad, as is his wont, then called her supervisor with his thanks.

Days later, the following happened to me:

I called Delta to make a same-day change from a later flight to an earlier flight. Nothing too unusual there, except that, for whatever reason, the customer service rep also elected to cancel the next 2 legs on that ticket. This was never discussed in any way. So I didn't find out until days later, when I arrived at O'Hare for the next leg, that my ticket had been canceled.

Fine. When you're dealing with humans, there will be human error. But errors can be fixed, right?

Apparently not. I called the customer service number, and the rep told me that she could put me back on the original flight, but at an additional cost of $600+. I told her I didn't understand why I should be meant to pay, when the mistake was not mine, and she got a little belligerent.

I asked her for what possible reason I would arrive at O'Hare if I had previously intended to cancel that flight; her response: "I don't know you, you don't know me."

I asked what right the original rep had to cancel the remainder of my ticket, when we never discussed it at all; her response: "If you didn't want the rest of your ticket canceled, you should have said so."

This is what 600,000 lifetime miles with Delta gets you.

When the rep wouldn't transfer me to her supervisor, I called another Delta service number. This next rep was much more helpful, but the total time of the two calls (40+ minutes) caused me to miss the next flight, which in turn almost made me late for the client event to which I was headed.

That would be the end of the story, but for this:

Afterwards, when I wrote a formal letter of complaint to Delta, their method of resolution was a $100 voucher for future travel. However, as I also informed them in my complaint, when the first rep cancelled and re-issued my ticket, I was charged $91 that I should not have been charged. Put another way, Delta estimates the cost of their error, and the trouble it caused me, to be exactly NINE DOLLARS.

This is not just a venting session (though I'll admit a mild level of catharsis). There's a lesson here for all of us.

The difference between Southwest and Delta could be the difference between your brand and your competitor's - in either direction. There are policy and personal decisions that are shaping your brand experience, even as I write this. Front-line staff are making dozens (or hundreds, or thousands) of daily choices that define your brand in the minds of your customers.

How do you know those decisions are the right ones?

Inspect your brand from top to bottom. Turn over every stone. Find those policies, decisions and moments that may be driving your customers away.

Then fix them.