When did customer service disappear?

Has anyone else noticed how crappy customer service has become? In the last few weeks, I've had a handful of experiences that have led me to believe that companies just don't care anymore about how their customers feel about them. You'd think it was cheap to get new customers, but we all know that that is not true.

I had two crazy experiences with airlines in January, two different airlines, both of which I've always thought were pretty good at what they do. First, American Airlines. Has anyone attempted to fly out of Miami International lately? Via American? And checked your luggage? What a crazy disorganized scene it was. Like a third world airport. Sunday morning, late January and the airport is packed with cruise ship passengers who have disembarked, each with more luggage than they probably really needed (ok, me included). I walked into the terminal to absolute craziness. There were lines to check in, lines to check your bags if you'd already checked in and then lines to drop your bags off, once tagged, to go through security clearance. And, as it turns it out, there is little signage to direct passengers through the process and the lines intersect and criss-cross... so it's super-easy to end up standing in the wrong line without even knowing it, tick tock tick tock. Once I ended up finding my way to the "security screening" guys, they were so busy talking to each other that the customer line grew faster than they were able to process the checked bags. So, a pile of checked luggage grew in the midst of a seating area for passengers waiting to depart, and families waiting to pick up arriving passengers. A pile of unwatched checked luggage. Easy for something to grow legs and walk away. I stood there, and waited and watched until my bags were safely on a cart to go through the scanners and get loaded onto my flight. But the process took about 3 times as long as it should have, increased people's blood pressure (so much for the relaxation attained on vacation!) and made most of us in the area question whether our luggage would end up at its correct final destination. When speaking to American personnel on site, they agreed that the situation could use some improvement. Hey, I understand that terrorism and security needs have forced the airports and airlines to adapt to new screening requirements, and that it's been hard to keep up and modify existing airport layouts and procedures, but come on, it's been six and a half years since September 11th. You'd think they would have figured out a better process by now.

The second experience was on United. I travel on United for business enough to have earned the status of "Premier Executive" - the second tier of United's elite frequent flier program. As it turns it out, it was just a day after my Miami experience. This time, a business trip. Although a short enough trip to consider carrying on my bag, I decided to check it rather than contend with the baggie situation while clearing security. Big mistake. Despite having checked in with ample time for my nonstop direct flight to California and my bag being tagged "priority" (courtesy of my elite status), the bag did not accompany me on the flight. United assured me it was still at my originating airport and had somehow not ended up on my 9:30am flight. It would come on the next flight, and they would deliver it to me at the meeting I was attending about 20 minutes away. I was told it would arrive in town between 5:30 and 6pm and that I would have it by 8pm. Well, 10pm, no bag. United's website indicated my bag had arrived at the airport nearby, and had been sitting there for 4 and a half hours. So, I called United, and spoke with a very empathetic and well trained rep, likely Indian, in an offshore call center. She expressed her apologies and put me on hold to call the local office to find out why I was still waiting for my luggage. Turns out United's deal with its delivery services gives them a four hour window to get bags delivered once they've been picked up at the destination airport, and since the delivery service just picked up the bag at 9pm, they had until 1am to get it to me, more than 12 hours after I arrived myself. No explanation as to why the bag sat at the airport untouched for 3 and a half hours. As it turns out, the bag was delivered to the hotel and made it to my room by 12:15am., slightly before the "deadline" United and delivery company had agreed upon. So, I didn't have to wear the same clothes two days in a row to my business meetings, which was a relief, and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep once I was able to relax.

Still, I was quite surprised about the way my bag had been treated, and the lack of speed behind getting the situation resolved on United's part. What if I weren't a Premier Executive? Would it have been WORSE?

Well, I'm nothing if not a squeaky wheel. I sent email to both American and United complaining about these situations. Two surprises - no response from American, not even a thank you for sharing your opinion that we need to improve things at Miami. But United got back to me quickly, very apologetic and sent me a voucher for my trouble. More than I expected. It did go a long way to making me feel like a valued customer. Yes they fumbled the situation, but they responded when I pointed it out. I appreciated that and will keep that in mind when I have a choice about which airline to fly.