Lost in the Service Quality Void
Last month I wrote about the problems I had at New York's JFK airport on my way to Dubai, United Arab Emirates ("A Crash Landing for Airline Service Quality"). I'll pick up the story from the time I arrived at Heathrow airport in London on American Airlines Flight 142.
I had to stop by the Emirates Airlines counter to pick up my boarding pass to Dubai. While there, I asked an agent to check if my luggage was being transferred to the Emirates Airlines plane. The agent strolled over to the AA counter and, after a short discussion and two phone calls, returned to assure me that my luggage had come in and was being transferred to the Emirates Airlines flight. I was glad to hear this because my bag contained material for a class I was conducting the next day. Due to earlier delays, I was scheduled to arrive in Dubai a half-hour after my class began, but I'd arranged for an associate to begin the class for me.
You've probably guessed that I arrived in Dubai only to discover that my luggage hadn't. I had to wait until all the bags had come in to verify that my bag was missing, and then trek to the other end of the airport to fill out lost-luggage forms. I arrived at the class two and one-half hours late, without the required paperwork or proper dress. (By that time I'd been in the same clothes for two days.)
The next day I had a meeting with a group of executives prior to starting a management audit of a major organization. The dress code for this meeting was white shirt and tie, but I showed up in a very casual, very wrinkled sport shirt. At least I'd been able to take a bath.
After a number of calls to Emirates Airlines' baggage service, I was happy to learn that they'd located my bag at JFK and would put it on the next flight to Dubai. Well, of course it didn't arrive as promised. When the bag hadn't shown up by June 13, I asked to speak to the baggage supervisor. He told me that he'd call Emirates Airlines' New York office personally and get to the bottom of the problem. On June 14, I was informed that my bag was being sent on the 11:30 p.m. flight and would arrive the next morning at 8:30 a.m. I was also told that if I came to the airport, I could get $120 to help pay for the additional expenses caused by the lost luggage.
June 15 came and went, but no luggage appeared. On June 18, Emirates Airlines told me American Airlines had never sent the luggage and that AA must have it someplace. Emirates Airlines also sent me a long form to complete, listing all the items in the bags as well as their purchase price, when they were purchased and their current value. I told them it looked like they were giving up the search, but they assured me the form was needed to help find the bags. Uh-huh.
I called Emirates Airlines' baggage service every day, only to find no update to the status of my missing luggage. They suggested I go to the airport and look through the lost luggage, so I made another two-hour trip there and toured through row after row of lost luggage. My bag wasn't anywhere to be seen.
During this time I talked to many people from Emirates Airlines, and three different individuals told me that Emirates Airlines employees at JFK just didn't care. They wouldn't answer e-mails or other inquir-ies. If the problem was so well-known, don't you think management would have done something about it?
About two weeks after I left on this trip, my wife called me. She'd been contacted by British Airways to find out if we'd lost a bag. They'd found one with my name on it in their baggage area in London. We confirmed that we'd lost it and asked British Airways to return it to my home because I was almost ready to leave Dubai for the United States.
I called Emirates Airlines' baggage service to tell them that my bag had been found and asked if they'd do anything to offset the cost incurred by the lost luggage. They told me that they'd done everything possible but suggested I call customer service. When I did so, I was told that I was lucky to have lost my bag on Emirates Airlines because they pay $60 per day for the first three days, which is more than what most airlines pay.
I requested a free upgrade on my flight home. The agent very sweetly explained that the airline couldn't do that. I asked if I could get the name and phone number of the quality manager for Emirates Airlines; the agent couldn't give me that information.
I didn't think I was lucky I'd lost my luggage on Emirates Airlines.
There has to be something wrong with processes that permit an airline to give out incorrect information, fail to meet a customer's basic needs and allow these types of problems to continue. It was bad enough that Emirates Airlines couldn't find the luggage, but to lie about finding it is unacceptable. This isn't a process that should be reengineered--it just needs a lot of management attention.
P.S.… I'm soon flying to Dubai on United Airlines and Lufthansa. Wish me luck.
H. James Harrington is CEO of the Harrington Institute Inc. and chairman of the board of Harrington Group. He has more than 55 years of experience as a quality professional and is the author of 22 books. Visit his Web site at www.harrington-institute.com.
|
