Good and bad

When it comes to customer service, it's safe to say that few companies are at the extremes of the good/bad continuum. Good companies can have bad days/people, and vice versa. On my trip to America, I dealt with both, and I wanted to highlight some of those experiences so that others can take what they want from it.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the three biggies and what I think of them:

Air New Zealand. Overall, this is a good airline. The frontline staff I dealt with—check-in agents, inflight crew, telephone customer service representatives—were all excellent. They were friendly, professional and clearly competent. The planes I flew on (and on other trips) have been good, clean, modern and with excellent in-seat entertainment.

But the airline isn't perfect: I ordered special meals, but my dinner was incomplete and my breakfast was not only incorrect, it actually had things in it that I can't have. That's not just bad, it's inexcusable—what if I'd had an allergy? As it was, the inconvenience was mild, but the point is they need to take more care. The missing baggage system is also terrible. Agents in person were friendly and efficient (I'm tempted to add “of course”), but once the report was logged there didn't seem to be a way to speak with a real person and their phone and web checking system was woefully inadequate. That's terrible.

On the flight over, we were kept sitting in the plane for three hours while they fixed a problem. I have no idea whether that was something that could have been dealt within advance, but they did, at least, try and keep us informed. Still, even with all the problems I'd gladly recommend Air New Zealand (itself, not a “Star Alliance” airline) to anyone, and I'll certainly fly them again—though with tighter control over my luggage. Did I mention that the flight to Auckland landed ten minutes early? It was the only one of my four flights not to arrive late.

Allied Van Lines. This started out promising: I contacted them on a recommendation and the Wellington office was friendly and got back to me in a timely manner. Once I got to Chicago, I rang the contact I'd been given and in short order I was talking with their local agent at Allied Reeby Moving and Storage. He, too, was friendly and professional, and suggested ways of streamlining the process to avoid the holiday.

My first mistake was calling Wellington: Apparently, the quote had to go back to them since they were the referrers (it had to do with sales commissions). I had a weekend and the New Year holiday in the mix. On Wednesday (January 2, a work day in America), I emailed all the people concerned. I received no reply. I rang the agent. He didn't phone me back. On Thursday I again emailed them all, and no one replied, not even to say “sorry we were unable to help”.

Because of this, I could only bring back with me what I could fit into suitcases, and that was less than half of what I'd otherwise have brought. The rest will end up in the rubbish. I now know that I should have contacted the Americans directly and that I should have contacted many international movers and let the threat of competition drive them. Those were my ignorant mistakes.

However, nothing can excuse Allied at any level not bothering to return my emails or phone calls. They really let me down. So, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone for anything and would only consider them myself if there was no other alternative (apart, maybe, for moves within New Zealand). For international moves, my best advice is contact many reputable international movers in the country you're moving from. Apparently, you need to hound them to death, too.

United Airlines. Well, what positive thing can I say about them? Hang on, give me a few minutes, I may be able to think of something. I know, that Gershwin music they use in their branding is kinda nice.

Seriously, I can't say anything nice about United. Once upon a time, they were my favourite airline and I'd choose them before any other. Those days are gone.

An hour in a check-in queue in Los Angeles, a two hour queue at O'Hare along with hundreds and hundreds of people whose flights had been delayed or cancelled (roughly half their flights that day, by the look of the monitor), no food apart from a $5 box of total crap on a four and half hour flight, losing my luggage, surly and indifferent frontline staff, including inflight crew: Add it all up and I'm just not sure that there's a way to make flying any more unpleasant.

I will avoid United Airlines in the future and I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy (okay, maybe I would). If I'm going to be treated like cattle, then I'll choose an airline where I'm paying for it. As it was, I paid full fare and was subsidising the folks in cheap seats, but I was treated as badly as everyone else. At the high price I paid, I'd expect to be treated like a pet cow, at the least, not like soon-to-be hamburger.

If you do get stuck flying United, allow no less than three hours before your next flight (I'd recommend four or five hours because so many United flights are delayed or cancelled). Then, collect your bags at your destination and check them in for your next flight yourself (to be safe, even if it's United). It'll take a couple hours in line, but that's better than having United lose your bags.

There you have it, from best to worst, along with suggestions. I recommended one (with caveats) and the other two I wouldn't recommend, and one of those—United—I'd urge people to run away from as fast as they can.

When I was standing in the line-from-hell at O'Hare, I kept wondering why Americans put up with such awful service. Many told me that “they're all bad” or “what can you do?” Well, there's a lot that can be done: File complaints wherever possible, boycott the worst offenders and choose the ones that are best in their category (retail, air travel, whatever). Companies will not change their ways until their bad service affects their bottom line. Make them feel some of the pain they cause and they'll improve. Accept bad service, and you'll only get more of the same.

The irony is that the modern concept of customer service was born in America, and now that country's businesses are doing everything they can to destroy it. Fortunately, there are places in the world—and companies within the US—who are bucking the trend toward appallingly bad service. We consumers need to reward that and punish bad service. Without us, businesses will fail. The choice over whether to provide good or bad service is each company's, but ultimately the power is ours.

Update 14/01/08: Today I received the quote from Allied. It came from New Zealand, two weeks after I spoke with the rep in Chicago.