How it works in America....my brush with Continental airlines

I am catching on this blogging frenzy....

Anyway... here goes...

I was supposed to travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Monday from San Francisco. I originally purchased the return air ticket from Houston to SF, but when I know that I will be attending a training there, I made a change to the return flight from SFO to TUL. With the change, I was charged a $100 change fee, which is the norm.

As a result of extreme weather, the connecting flight from Houston to Tulsa was cancelled on Monday. Hence I was unable to make the meeting.

Since the airline cancelled the flight from IAH to Tulsa, which I paid $100 plus differences in fare for, I requested that they refund that additional payment I made back to me.

I talked to this person who claimed to be a Manager, and she told me that there was no policy. Having spent close to $5k for the previous 2 months, I thought they will sell me a little goodwill, and return that meagre sum of money to me. It appears reasonable to me to request for a refund.... but i was not hoping for too much.

The thing that boils me was that when I told her that there are other organizations that would easily have done something for me... and I cancel my existing reservations with Continental and try look for another airline that offers more for their customers. She immediately accused me of threatening the airline, and I quote "We do not tolerate threats like that. I will go ahead and cancel your reservations and mark you out. We do not need customers like you."

While my intentions were to push her further, it certainly wasnt communicated as a threat. If there's a better deal somewhere, it is only right for me to go for it.

After tens of minutes of talking about it... she refuse to bulge.... so I wrote a letter of feedback as below:

Message: I am refering to confirmation number DXXXX.

I originally had a flight from SFO to IAH. I made a change, and paid a $100 change fee plus the difference in fare, to change the flight to SFO-IAH-TUL.

Due to the weather in Tulsa, I was unable to get into Tulsa before my meeting at 9am on 12/11 as the flight that I was scheduled on was cancelled.

I called and talked to Mrs XXX, a manager from the customer care department, and requested for her to look at my situation. I made an additional payment of $100 plus difference in fare in order to get to Tulsa. Since the flight was cancelled, I requested that I be put back to my original position.

Mrs XXXexplained that Continental policy is such that the additional payment cannot be refunded in this situation. When I requested that she look at my customer profile, and note that I have been travelling on Continental extensively over the past 3 months, and have been providing good value to the company, and asked if she could make an exception. She explained that Continental do not make exceptions for customers despite their travelling profile.

When I told her that if Continental is unable to make exceptions for regular customers, I intent to bring my business to another airline that does that. I wanted to communicate clearly to her that there are companies that are willing to go the extra mile for customers that bring good value to a company, and if Continental do not value me as one, I am willing to look for others that do.

She then went on to threaten me that she will put a note on my account, and Continental do not want me as a customer. At my request, she also cancelled my air travel to New York City for the airfare of $1,090.

I am hugely disappointed with the incident on several fronts.

Firstly, I am disappointed at the lack of flexibility of Continental employee. I requested that she consider my records and noted that I have spent a reasonable amount in the range of $5000 for the past 2 months at Continental. And to lose a customer like that for a $100 does not make good business sense to me.

Secondly, I am disappointed at the threat that Mrs Davids made regarding marking me out and the airline not wanting me as a customer. It shocks me to know how little I am valued as a customer despite giving value to the company, I could be struck off and marked as a bad customer for $100.

Thirdly, I communicated clearly my thoughts on Mrs Davids' willingness to make exceptions for me, and that I will consider giving the business to other airlines. Mrs Davids raised her voice and accused me of threatening the company. I am appalled at the lack of understanding of your representatives. I chose to communicate openly to your representative rather than leaving as a grudged customer. In return, I was accused of threatening at least 15 times by Mrs Davids. That made me feel totally uncomfortable as a customer.

As I have promised, I will bring my business to other airlines as much as I could. I regret this action, but feel it is necessary given the shabby treatment I received from Mrs Davids.

And within the day, a reply came:

Dear Mr. Neo:

Thank you for contacting us. The behavior you describe as exhibited by the Customer Care manager you spoke with is not indicative of the service we provide, and I sincerely apologize for the negative impression their actions have created. Our staff is expected to provide courteous, professional service and I regret this is not what you experienced. There is never an excuse for rude behavior.

I understand your frustration when your travel plans were disrupted due to the severe winter weather conditions in Oklahoma. All of our flights to Tulsa cancelled on December 10 due to the icy conditions. As a gesture of goodwill and due to your Silver Elite OnePass status, I have authorized our Customer Refund Services to credit your MasterCard for the $100 reissue fee charged for the change to your ticket.

Mr. Neo, thank you for including Continental in your travel plans. I hope this will not deter you from traveling with us again in the future. Given the privilege of welcoming you onboard again soon I am confident we will show you the quality serivce you deserve and have come to expect from us.

Regards,
XXXX XXX
Corporate Customer Care Manager
Continental Airlines

The point I am trying to prove is not that you can get your way all the time when you complain. I wasnt expecting to get the $100 back, but I was not ready for any rude treatments from any customer service personnel.

Another thing I am trying to put accross is that, if you are willing to give feedbacks, there may be someone who will listens. And with this reply that I received from Continental, it makes me want to do business with them even more.

It is a good ending to a potentially sad episode.