Excuse me, I have a compliant!

Companies tend to forget how easy it is to lose customers in this competitive market. The situation can vary across industries but customer loss is mostly a threat, assuming that there are sufficient substitutes available.

Some time back I travelled outside my country. It was my first trip abroad and though I was going on a business trip, there was that tinge of excitement. All the preparation started a few days earlier. All the packing was done a few hours in advance of when I was to leave my place. A good thing about travelling for corporate work is that everything seems to be taken care of. So, the work permit, visa, tickets etc. took lesser effort on my part. There was a car waiting for me to drop me to the airport. As it was my first visit, there was no chance of being able to convince my family not to come to the airport (I am not saying that I did not want them to come). I left the place, and within a few hours was in the airplane. And to make things even better, though I had an Economy class ticket, I was upgraded to Business class. The airlines had empty seats and considering that it was the first time I was travelling with them, they might have wanted to make me a permanent customer.

The journey went on well and after a few weeks, I was back in the country travelling with the same airline operator. However, I had a complaint that I wanted to be addressed. During my journey, I used the socks that the airline gives to its customers. These can be used in case someone feels cold. I used these and that cost me my trousers. The impression of the socks somehow was on my trouser and led to my trousers getting spoiled. I complained and followed up and repeated that a few more times, but to no avail.

One thing, which many companies need to learn, is to have a generic number on which anyone can call and get directed to the concerned person/department. Firstly, I tried to reach the office of the airline in my city. I was told that this was the airport number and I need to call the corporate office (not in my city). Fair enough! “Can you give the number to the complaints’ department?” The person did not have one and gave me a number that I could have easily found on the net. I started to try my luck there. When you call such offices, firstly you would be directed and redirected multiple times. And each new person you talk to, you would have to repeat your query. That could become intolerable after those first few times. Soon, the tradeoff between going through this and the thing you would get on making such efforts starts tilting the former side. You should consider yourself lucky, to actually be able to talk to the concerned department/person.

To cut a long story short, nothing has happened. I had sent a written application and was told that my application is being forwarded to the concerned department. I do not know the status of my complaint, whether it was actually forwarded, whether somebody else read it or it was thrown in a file or may be in a dustbin etc.

One thing I read about waiting in queues a while back is that, there are psychological factors that a company should take care when it has to make people, stand in queues (e.g. if a person is given an idea about the time he/she will have to wait, he/she would be more alright with waiting). I think similar psychological factors are also involved in addressing complaints. If there was some way in ehich I could track the status of my complaint or I got a final answer (even if that answer was that they are not responsible for my loss), I would have felt much better.

I do not have had an option to fly with that airline again, but I wonder if I would. Would their act of upgrading me to Business class, triumph over my compliant getting no heed?

P.S. I have not named the airline for I think it would be unfair on my part to let others pass judgment on it, without giving them at least one chance.