Q-Country

Posted by Jeza on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 in Opinion | 0 comments

I know this isnt a motorsport or tech based article, but I know a lot of us fly around the country and around the world and a some stage we have all experienced this. So I thought I’d share my customer service experience from this morning…

I do quite a lot of flying, as alot of our veiwers / listeners already know, mostly within the Sunshine State now days.

After a year, I have come the the conclusion that the service provided on the Qantas Link flights is generally better. I put this down to the cabin staff taking that little extra time to ensure their bed and butter are looked after.

I’m currently experiencing that good service while I type this on a hopper flight from Mackay to Cairns, via Townsville before flying home to Brisvagas this afternoon.

My mood didn’t start out as good as it is now due to slightly poor service prior to getting on the plane. I have to tell that by the end of leg one, the foul mood was a distant, foggy memory.

Ground staff just don’t seem to give a rats anymore. Take the power tripping checking clerk (PTCC)  I encounter in Mackay this morning. He thought he’d have a nudge saying I was late checking in, which in turn made me rush through security, missing out on my first smoke for the day. I was told to report to…..let’s call her “Petra” to protect her identity..and advise her that I had Premium Hand Luggage, why I still don’t know! So I report to “Petra” only to be shut down after two words by a over enthusiastic male staff member…lets call him “Dick” because thats what he was…announcing that they aren’t boarding yet. Well I might have been a little cloudy from the early start and the bottle of Fifth Leg last night but I slapped him back with a “excuse me, would you like to let me finish what I was saying?”  Why do Qantas staff assume that we are all stupid? Maybe it was because I had a high vis shirt on, who know? So after a quick trip the Qantas Club, for a sugar rush of Coke and cake (no time for pancakes) but with enough time that I could have had that smoke before going through security, I boarded only to find out the PTCC had done me over in the seat department too (see below).

Being a higher teir Qantas Frequent Flyer member, there is a certian service level you come to expect and I didn’t feel it was there this morning. There a lot of cabin crew staff I have encountered in my last 50 plus flights that could learn a valuable lesson from The Crew (I’ll call the loverly ladies TC as they explained that I couldn’t  use their actual names as it may be frowned apon by Qantas and it was flight QF2304  on Wednesday 30th May 2012….did you get that Qantas so you can give them a pat on the back for there good service?) My TC today have been gems. The accomidated, then wiped out the foul mood I entered the plane with. First getting shafted on the seating (especially seeing that all 6 seats at the front where unopccupied for the whole flight) to being parked next to a rather portly gentleman. So I grabbed one of the empty rows and started punching out a not so nice article on this mornings service at Mackay Airport.

I decided to change the article to a more positive feedback mechenisim as I thought that the TC should be praised for their service.

Now Qantas, THIS is what your members want, good service ALL the time. Maybe my TC this morning should be retraining other staff in what is classed as GOOD customer service…..oh, and can you get better soup in the Qantas Club for goodness sake!

Customers and crew, prepare for landing……Jeza