Customer Experience Improvement Lead | Account and CX strategy creator | Extensive experience in Stakeholder Management | Passionate about Strategic CX Initiatives and Team Development
I was recently lucky enough to fly to Italy for a holiday. Unfortunately there were issues with the flights there (cancellation) and back (different airport and delay) and they warranted requesting compensation from the airline. When making the request I was pointed towards an online portal, not unusual when interacting with a Customer Service team. However, this is where the level of frustration running through my story grows. The compensation route through the portal was very prescriptive and my situation didn’t fit with the answer options, which made it impossible for me to request compensation as the airline wanted me to. The complaint route was less prescriptive, so I used that route to make a complaint and request compensation. We are now 6 weeks down the line and I’ve heard nothing. Why do I share this story with you? When it comes to customer experience improvement, making it easy for the customer to interact with your brand is important. As a brand, being able to process complaints and compensation claims efficiently is also important. However, when creating tools like online portals for customers to use, brands must consider that some experiences might not fit perfectly within their pre-set routes and they should manage customer expectations and provide signposts out of the prescribed route if it’s not allowing the customer to complete their task. Signed one frustrated traveller/customer.
It's pretty clear that for certain brands/ industries frustrating the customers by stalling and preventing where possible legally required refunds is less important than the money they save by stopping this process - *cough* UK train companies *cough*
I was in a similar predicament last year. I eventually reached out to the Head of Customer Services via LinkedIn and they escalated my case to a satisfactory conclusion.
VP, Insights and Consultancy at InMoment
1yMakes you wonder if dark patterns are at play here Caroline Lovelace In 2020 we had planned a trip to Italy as a family, which of course due to the pandemic did not happen. The hotels, trains, and one airline paid up swiftly. Nice. One made it sooo difficult to do, with offers of vouchers etc. Took 9 months to get the money back. I vowed never to use them again. Something I managed to stick to until 2 weeks ago when convenience and price blew my resolve. Stick in there.