Airline / cust service stories

[Perry]

MOD NOTE: the content below, and subsequent posts have been moved out of the Flatfee thread.

For all who have to work with rude customers, isn't it a
shame WE (LLs?) can't actually do this!

An award should go to the Virgin Airlines desk attendant in
Sydney some months ago for being smart and funny, while
making her point, when confronted with a passenger who
probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded Virgin flight was cancelled after Virgin's 767s
had been withdrawn from service. A single attendant was re-
booking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly
an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped
his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on
this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS."

The attendant replied, "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to
help you, but I've got to help these people first, and I'm sure
we'll be able to work something out."

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that
the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE
ANY IDEA WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her
public address microphone: "May I have your attention
please," she began - her voice heard clearly throughout the
terminal.

"We have a passenger here at Desk 14 WHO DOES NOT
KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help identify him,
please come to Desk 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the
man glared at the Virgin attendant, gritted his teeth and
said something very rude, like ". . . . you!"

Without flinching, she smiled sweetly and said, "I'm sorry,
sir, but you'll have to stand in line for that, too."

The veracity of that item may be questionable, of course.
.

[Choc]

Re: The Virgin Atlantic tale. I experienced Virgin Airlines once and they do give new meaning to cattle class. We got to the airport allowing 2 hours to check in and it took 2 hours as they processed the huge number of people with one staff member.

[eri]

i was working in an airport check-in area once and due to an earlier flight being cancelled the check-in staff were furiously trying to squeeze extra people on to this flight

typically they would see a roughly dressed young back packers or couples and as they checked in ask them if they really needed to fly on this flight? was it possible to fly tomorrow and the airline would put them up in a 5star hotel, pay all their meals and give them $50 spending money?

many said yes, so they were slowly bumping people off this flight and slotting in the "angrys" from the cancelled flight

but they weren't finding enough seats and something like panic was setting in

the 1st class check in was at 1 end of the counters and just past that, blocked off by velvet ropes and some potted palms was a scruffy, bare standby/staff check-in.

1 average looking guy rocked up to that and before he even got to the counter the check-in girl sneered at him

"no use on this flight mate, it's chocka"

"but i don't understand" he said "when i confirmed, nothing was said..."

"oh, there's been a big screw-up, other flight cancelled, it's been hell..anyway no standby or staff on this one, not today!"

"standby?" he said "but my ticket's for first class"

suddenly the check-in girl straightened up from her slouch, her face went white and she said "i'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding sir, of course you will be on this flight. would you please follow me to the 1st class check-in and i will ensure that you're everything is done"

[Perry]

Isn't that what was paid for?
.

[Perry]

OK - guilty. Really, it was a distraction.
However . . .

[kyotolaw]

That Virgin story may be an urban myth, but I will tell you a true story about them.

We had a managing director when I worked for a bulge bracket investment bank who misbehaved on a Virgin flight. Late for check in, boarded after throwing his "Don't you know who I am" line at staff, boorish onboard. The CEO of our firm received a personal call from Richard Branson about the managing director in question.

The MD was in charge of a rapidly growing $100m+ business, and would have been expected to go far. He was never promoted again. (If it had been anyone else, I can only assume he would have been goneburger - this MD was responsible for a large chunk of the Tokyo office revenue).

[CaptainLoo]

BTW...the Virgin story is, as you intimated, an urban myth.
Still a goodie though.

An Air NZ flight attendant told me it was William Shatner, and it was as the flight was trying to load he was being demanding. All this time I thought it was true.

[speights boy]

An Air NZ flight attendant told me it was William Shatner, and it was as the flight was trying to load he was being demanding. All this time I thought it was true.

It was actually Denny, Denny Crane.

[Choc]

It was actually Denny, Denny Crane.

Now that I could believe!