wherin I share in Gravekeeper's pain

[smileyeagle1021]

Actually, as far as distressed passengers go... I have more pain than him... he has a mute button.

For those who don't watch the news or read GK's posts, air travel is NOT happening right now... and I'll give you 3 guesses where all those SCs are going... but you will only need 1. To give credit, we haven't had that many sucky customers... but they start to wear on you awfully fast.

A common trend
Yes, I know it is taking forever for the shuttle to get there... guess what, you aren't the only stranded passenger... our shuttle can hold 8 people at a time and Delta just canceled a flight with over 100 on it. Not only that but there is a bus of stranded people at Greyhound, they too need to be picked up... we are alternating back and forth as quickly as possible. Oh and if you didn't notice all that white stuff falling... yeah, that is slowing down the shuttle... I'm assuming you want to make it to the hotel alive.

And calling GK (or his coworkers) to complain about how they booked you into a hotel with a slow shuttle isn't going to change the laws of physics to allow any hotel's shuttle to move faster in the snow (sorry GK, but I know at least one claimed to have complained to you).

another common trend
OK, telling me you can't believe you're paying for that crappy location room doesn't really endure me to you when I look up your reservation and see Delta is paying for it. Do you want to know why we put you in a crappy location... because Delta pays us crappy rates. Oh, and I'm now looking at the voucher... it says reason for issuance "misc"... that means that Delta didn't have to provide you a room but felt nice... next time rather than complaining about a room that you shouldn't have been given anyway, be grateful for what you've got.

I will seriously maim the next person who calls to ask about this
Yes, I know our heaters are weird and most places you turn the thermostat to the right to make it hotter... ours you turn to the left. I know that having to read where on the left side it says "warmer" and on the right side it says "cooler" and the pretty red and blue colors make it difficult still... but this aint rocket science people. When I'm nice enough to go up to your room and explain how it works to you, please don't get all condescending about how easy that was... if it was easy why did you have to call me

I still attract naked people
That was very kind of you guest to go into the room first to make sure everyone was dressed... apparently though everyone lying around in their underwear counts as dressed. I do appreciate that you were the only guest having problems with the heater that was a legit problem with the heater... but please, don't give me death glares like you think I'm ogling your wife... first off, I'm not into women, second, if I were, I don't think I'd find her attractive, third, I'm here to do a job... and right now I value my job and wouldn't risk it on something so stupid as risking a glance at a guest's wife... though out of curiosity... if you didn't want for me to look at her... why didn't you, oh I don't know, ASK HER TO PUT SOME FARKING CLOTHES ON!

we'll throw in a morons in management moment
Did you guys not look at the weather report? How could you not know we were going to be busy? Why then is it a surprise to you when tonight I tell you, fearless leader, that our paper supply is down to what is left in the printer... next you'll be surprised when I inform you we are almost out of toner. Come to think of it... this is the same reaction I got last time we ran out of paper and toner... and the time before that too... yes, we use paper and toner... if you don't want us to use any paper or toner then we'll have to stop selling rooms.

and a cursing out coworkers
how, oh how, does one have a walk in that shows up on the "due to arrive" list... I should not be doing a bucket check and find reg cards that show the person is a walk in and already in house and still be on the computer as "due to arrive". Also, please be sure to charge people for their rooms... I know that one shouldn't have to be said... but I found two rooms tonight that were never charged.


Yes... I wish I remembered some specific conversations... but last week has been busy beyond belief... and I'm trying to block some of those memories.
Anyway... as always, hugs and booze are appreciated.

[Gravekeeper]

Bah, they all complain to me anyhow. Shuttles are always a point of contention. Shuttles and price / room quality.

Are you getting the sob stories too? We have time limits on our calls because of the volume yet 90% of callers ignore the initial "Do you want a hotel room?" and plow right into their woe is me story. Than they get pissy when you repeat the question rather then letting them finish or don't acknowledge their misery and lavish them with attention and 'there there"s.

As for that guy and his wife. Hell, I am into women and I still would have licked my lips at and shot the guy a wink just to fark with him. -.-

At least Air Canada and Delta will cover a room though. US Airways / American just throw you off, tell you tough shiat. Than their staff hide.

[friendofjimmyk]

yes, we use paper and toner... if you don't want us to use any paper or toner then we'll have to stop selling rooms.

.

Be careful...this may backfire on you and they may go to paper and carbon invoices that you have to fill out by hand.

[friendofjimmyk]

Are you getting the sob stories too? .

I'm dealing with sob stories too. When I call our members to inform them of the arrival time of their service, it can't just be a wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and then jump off the phone. Oh no! Most of the time, they have to give me great details about what is going wrong with their car. OR they are giving me sob stories about how long they've had to wait for service. OR their giving me exact, precise directions from every possible direction in town describing each major landmark the driver could possibly pass on his way.

[smileyeagle1021]

Are you getting the sob stories too? .

yes, I have gotten some sob stories. And the truly sucky part is the people aren't being sucky about it... some of them are legit sob stories (one guy was on shore leave and was trying to get back to see his girlfriend to propose and now had just enough time to go back to report for duty and had to wait to propose).

Be careful...this may backfire on you and they may go to paper and carbon invoices that you have to fill out by hand.

but, those cost more money than paper and toner... they'd never do that

[Slytovhand]

The building I work in also houses another call centre, for a dirt cheap airline down here. I love talking to the TL's who have to take escalations (usually cos a flight's delayed or cancelled - or they want to change the booking and they can't - as per OMG the terms and conditions!!).

Anyway, said TL's will happily (and I do mean 'happily') tell said suckies that they aren't there to give customer service

(this is an airline that says if you're 1 minute over arrival time, you miss out on your flight! I've spoken to a few who have been in that situation - including still standing in line - after they moved the flight forward by 5 minutes)

[Kirkygirl]

Warning: VERY long post (sorry)

Oh man...people and their sob stories....
Most of the sob stories I hear are about the price of groceries and how they only came in for "just the ONE thing".
I had a Horizon airlines lady come in through my till Christmas Eve. I gave her my sympathies for having to deal with sucky customers. I told her I not only understood where her passengers were coming from, but also that where she was coming from.

To the SC's:
Look folks. There is a ton of white stuff on the ground. It's called snow. When it gets squished together, it makes ice. Ice also happens when water freezes on anything and everything and it doesn't warm up. It takes lots of time to unfreeze everything. Everything includes all the planes and all the runways.
It takes a lot of time for employees to get into work too. Yes, even the person who wipes your ass lives somewhere, and they have to shovel the car out of their driveway too.
And there is someone who supercedes all of these people. The US has special people called the Federal Aviation Association. The Canadian people here have the Transport Canada offices. Depending on which country you may be headed to/from, if one or both of them say "nay", you're stuck. And so are the rest of the passengers on your plane. No one in the airport deserves to be yelled at, so siddown and chill out.
[Quiet, rage filled voice]
All the hotel people and all the airport people are doing their damndest to make sure you get to wherever you are trying to go. So give them your full and undivided attention, your patience, the utmost respect, and some courtesy for measure. You WILL get to where it says on your ticket. It just will take some time. Capiche?

Sorry for the long post. I just want to rip a new one for all those entitlement whores who have hats on their asses. My sympathies to all those in the travel and hotel industries right now in North America.

[otakuneko]

What is this "snow" stuff you guys keep talking about?

first off, I'm not into women, second, if I were, I don't think I'd find her attractive

Burrrnnn....

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Be careful...this may backfire on you and they may go to paper and carbon invoices that you have to fill out by hand.

And the TPS reports will change cover sheets and you'll have 8 bosses droning on about mission statements.

*sends virtual bottle of wine*

I think you can use this.

[Akasa]

You may not be into women, but hugs make the world a better place.
/hugs

[Sliceanddice]

its snowing arizona

[Wenchie]

Flying fun

Heh. I flew out of DTW on Christmas Eve... just going to ORD to spend Christmas with my boyfriend, but my plane went AWOL... they seriously had no idea when my flight was getting in to Detroit so we could start boarding. I waited patiently in line, was polite to the United Rep at the counter, and he very nicely moved me onto the first flight that was leaving DTW.

Why don't SCs understand that being polite gives you a much better chance of getting help?

[Chromatix]

Hold on - they can move the departure time *forward* when there are people still waiting? That doesn't make any sense.

In Britain, there's a rule that the railways follow. If you have a valid ticket for your journey, and you show up in time for a reasonable timetabled connection, they *must* get you there. Somehow.

Once, I was on a train that got blocked by a gas leak near the line. And I had a bike with me. The railway hired a coach to get everyone along the line, although only to the next junction that had trains running from it - the bike fitted in the coach's luggage bay. From there I was able to squeeze onto another train for the short hop to the main junction.

But by the time I got there, the last train on the final leg had left. So the railway hired taxis for everyone who had missed it, and found an estate taxi for me so that I didn't have to leave the bike behind. The taxi actually dropped me off at the front door rather than at the station, so it worked out well - I didn't have to cycle through the rain!

I'm shocked that such a rule doesn't apply to the airline industry.