Tweet
Back again (I could write PAGES about the crappy passengers I speak to, especially as I only take escalation calls, which means the original agent they spoke to was not able to resolve the problem to their satisfaction.
Got a call on Sunday from a gentleman who had arrived late to the airport for check-in. He had checked in online, but had purchased our most restrictive fare, for which you can NOT access your boarding pass electronically. You *have* to pick it up at the counter when you arrive at the airport. (This is clearly stated on the itinerary when you receive it, and is a pop-up you have to click past when purchasing the ticket.) Unfortunately, once the check-in counter closes an hour before departure, there is no longer any way to obtain a boarding pass.
My dude arrived 5 minutes after check-in closed. First-level agent tells him it's too late, perhaps we can move you to tomorrow's flight. Nope, not acceptable. He wants us to drag one of the TWO people we have on staff at that airport (it's not one of our main ones, we have a skeleton staff, only two flights a day in or out) back from the gate to check him in and give him his boarding pass. He won't take no for an answer, and ends up getting escalated to yours truly. Yay!
Over the next TWENTY MINUTES (during which time the flight actually departed), he treated me to such gems as:
"ANY other airline has staff at the counter ALL THE TIME, they don't close it and tell you you're out of luck if you arrive late." Ummm yes they do. His reasoning was that he could see SIX other airlines with staff at the counters - checking people in - at the time he called in. Yeah, great, their check-in times haven't ended yet. Wait about half an hour, you'll see all six of those counters completely deserted.
"you DID NOT TELL ME that I wouldn't be able to get a boarding pass if I didn't arrive by a certain time." I assure you, sir, that it does state on your itinerary that you have to arrive by a certain amount of time prior to departure in order to check in, check any bags you're bringing on the flight, or obtain a boarding pass. In fact, it states that you should be at the airport a MINIMUM of two hours before departure, to ensure you have adequate time to do all that and get through security.
"It was YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to tell me I was about to miss check-in." I'm sorry.... what???? In what universe would that be a realistic expectation?
The kicker? He had purchased his ticket through a third party (a clearinghouse site like CheapO Air, Hopper, Expedia, etc.). Which means we can't do shit to his ticket once "no-show" appears on it. He went around in circles for over 40 minutes with the agent, and then another 25 minutes with me, completely refusing to accept that arriving LATE to the airport was what had caused the problem. Nope, apparently we're a scammy airline who are only out to cheat people out of money. Ok... sure. At this point, he wasn't even letting me get a word in edgewise without screaming over everything I said, so after about five minutes of warning him that if he didn't let me speak, I'd be ending the call, I hung up. He did not call back.
Got a call on Sunday from a gentleman who had arrived late to the airport for check-in. He had checked in online, but had purchased our most restrictive fare, for which you can NOT access your boarding pass electronically. You *have* to pick it up at the counter when you arrive at the airport. (This is clearly stated on the itinerary when you receive it, and is a pop-up you have to click past when purchasing the ticket.) Unfortunately, once the check-in counter closes an hour before departure, there is no longer any way to obtain a boarding pass.
My dude arrived 5 minutes after check-in closed. First-level agent tells him it's too late, perhaps we can move you to tomorrow's flight. Nope, not acceptable. He wants us to drag one of the TWO people we have on staff at that airport (it's not one of our main ones, we have a skeleton staff, only two flights a day in or out) back from the gate to check him in and give him his boarding pass. He won't take no for an answer, and ends up getting escalated to yours truly. Yay!
Over the next TWENTY MINUTES (during which time the flight actually departed), he treated me to such gems as:
"ANY other airline has staff at the counter ALL THE TIME, they don't close it and tell you you're out of luck if you arrive late." Ummm yes they do. His reasoning was that he could see SIX other airlines with staff at the counters - checking people in - at the time he called in. Yeah, great, their check-in times haven't ended yet. Wait about half an hour, you'll see all six of those counters completely deserted.
"you DID NOT TELL ME that I wouldn't be able to get a boarding pass if I didn't arrive by a certain time." I assure you, sir, that it does state on your itinerary that you have to arrive by a certain amount of time prior to departure in order to check in, check any bags you're bringing on the flight, or obtain a boarding pass. In fact, it states that you should be at the airport a MINIMUM of two hours before departure, to ensure you have adequate time to do all that and get through security.
"It was YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to tell me I was about to miss check-in." I'm sorry.... what???? In what universe would that be a realistic expectation?
The kicker? He had purchased his ticket through a third party (a clearinghouse site like CheapO Air, Hopper, Expedia, etc.). Which means we can't do shit to his ticket once "no-show" appears on it. He went around in circles for over 40 minutes with the agent, and then another 25 minutes with me, completely refusing to accept that arriving LATE to the airport was what had caused the problem. Nope, apparently we're a scammy airline who are only out to cheat people out of money. Ok... sure. At this point, he wasn't even letting me get a word in edgewise without screaming over everything I said, so after about five minutes of warning him that if he didn't let me speak, I'd be ending the call, I hung up. He did not call back.
Comment