32 FABRICARE FE ATURE BOARDING PASS I am in one of the highest levels of the United Airlines loyalty program. I love it. I get free checked luggage, I always sit in the same place, often the same seat. They know me by name. I can change my flight with little or no hassle. I usually eat for free. I am made to feel important, every single time. Other airlines may not know it, but I am their dream customer. Every airline in the country wants a customer that buys tickets not by price, but by schedule. That’s me. But every now and then, I need to fly a different airline. If flying to Philadelphia, USAir is the obvious choice. If going to Atlanta, it's Delta. United goes to these cities, but the routing is tedious. It makes a lot more sense to go to Atlanta via Delta, so I do it, reluctantly. Recently, I bought a ticket for this trip online (as I usually do) and paid a minimal amount, probably $350. Here is what happened: I was done teaching my management Boot Camp class and I had the opportunity to return home early. I tried to get on an earlier flight. The agent told me that I had a certain class of ticket that did not allow me to change my flight, apparently for any reason. I thought she was rude. I went to the Delta customer service desk, (aha - service the customer!)) and asked if I could go on standby for an earlier flight. She said “that’ll be $75. We don’t do standby. And the flight that you want to get on is oversold.” I responded; “So you want $75 for a slim chance of getting on?” I responded. This is idiotic and borders on larceny. She looked at my ticket and said she wouldn’t be able to do it anyway, because of my class of ticket. She said, “You can’t change that class of ticket because it is a ‘basic economy ticket.'” I told her I had no way of knowing this. I just bought a low price ticket, which just happened to fit my schedule perfectly. There was no mention of me being treated like a third-class citizen by buying this ticket. GROUNDED Now, before I go on, just think about how you could do something similar in the drycleaning business. If you offered a lower price for a two-piece suit, could you, or would you, give the customer less? You would clean and press the suit, after all. Delta did what was basically expected. They did fly me from Atlanta to Providence. But, if the customer wanted the suit a day earlier, you would abruptly deny their request and explain how they did not pay enough. Free minor repairs or stain removal are merely a pipe dream, so forget it. The customer, like me with Delta, would never understand that they paid for sub-par service. No one said, “If you pay $100 we will treat you like a customer.” They took the money and exploited the opportunity by giving poor service. It is almost like they wanted to show me how bad they could be. I asked the Delta agent, “Do you mean that if there was a vacant seat in the airplane, you would take off with the empty seat rather than give it to me?” She said, “Yes. Because of your class of ticket.” I was appalled, no doubt, but I’m not even sure I can assimilate such a policy or such a situation in our business. How about this: The delivery driver goes by your house and notices a suit that wasn’t supposed to be delivered until the next scheduled delivery day. The suit is ready to go and hanging in the truck. He or she doesn’t apologize. When you ask for the suit, the driver might say, “Can’t do it. That is to be delivered next week.” You’d be shocked and hard-pressed to make sense of it. WASTED TIME Back at the airport, because I couldn’t get on an earlier flight, I had a three-and-a-half-hour layover. As I waited, the gate changed four times. That is like someone going to your drive through and being told to park their car and pick up their order at the counter. They’re puzzled, but they comply. They really don’t understand, though, when it happens two more times! I asked the Delta agent if I could just fly out tomorrow. Nope! I would still be on Delta’s version of standby tomorrow and it would cost $75 to possibly be denied boarding. How about asking a customer to pay more only to (maybe) get their suit later! Geez. Now my flight was delayed two hours. I went to the gate that had an earlier flight nearly ready to depart. I waited two hours. I was on standby (sort of), and seventh in line. No seats. Then there was another flight. I was on the wait list, fourth in line. But then I kept dropping down in the line! All because I “didn’t pay enough” (their words). I was eventually seventh in line. I was a last- class citizen. Then, just before departure, they cleared six passengers to board. I was left standing, punished continued from page 16 continued on page 34