When I was a kid, I often saw Mom writing letters to companies when she had a problem with one of their products. They weren’t nasty-grams; they were just friendly “thought you should know” letters. There never seemed to be any expectation of compensation or “making good.” This was evidenced by the entire family’s stunned reaction to a huge box arriving one day after Mom sent a concerned “thought you should know about the rusty safety pin I found in a container of your bay leaves” letter to McCormick. The box contained a huge wooden spice rack and a jar of every single spice McCormick made. Mom wasn’t the litigious type; McCormick was obviously grateful.
Learning at Mom’s typewriter, when I was about 8 years old I wrote my very first “thought you should know” letter to a nice puzzle company. I had spent quite a few hours proudly assembling a new 500 piece puzzle of stuffed animals and discovered there was one piece missing. I had a hobby of gluing puzzles together and hanging them on my bedroom walls, so I really wanted that missing piece. I smartly traced the missing piece onto the corner of my letter and naively asked the nice puzzle company to mail me that grand finale piece. I was filled with the warm satisfaction of consumer fightback when the company sent me a WHOLE NEW PUZZLE!! Yes, that meant I had to put it together all over again, but that was ok by me. I love puzzles.
So, over the years, I have continued in Mom’s tradition by occasionally sending companies letters – some of them nasty-grams and some of them full of praise. I mailed my most recent one shortly after Thanksgiving and did not expect the company's reaction I got just a few days ago.
Rob and I are huge Southwest Airlines fans. We became very loyal to them after we used up all our United frequent flier miles and got disillusioned by the not-quite-so-friendly-now-that-we’re-bankrupt skies. We fly Southwest probably 4 or 5 times a year, so we are pretty familiar with how they work. But, they recently made some changes to how they handle boarding procedures. A Thanksgiving trip to California provided us our first glimpse at the new way of shuffling onto the plane. We mostly liked it – a lot. But there was one part we didn’t like and didn’t quite understand. A breezy chat with a flight attendant suggested the VIPs might like some feedback, so I wrote a letter when we got home. It was mostly a “LUV what you are doing” letter with one plea to please reinstitute pre-boarding for families with small kids. I felt dutiful for having passed along my thoughts but didn’t expect any sort of response, save for perhaps a “thank you for sharing” form letter.
So it totally blew me away a couple of days ago when the phone rang and it was a very nice woman from Southwest’s Customer Relations. She said she had read my letter, that it would be reviewed with their Vice President in a weekly meeting, and that they really appreciated my taking the time to write to them. She also explained the thinking behind the change in family boarding – and heck if it didn’t make sense! I told her I was stunned to hear from her. She said that Southwest makes a point to personally address each letter it receives. I said, “Yeah, sure, I’ve heard that but I didn’t really believe it until now.” I was even more surprised when I realized afterwards that she had had to do some research to get our phone number since I hadn’t included that in the letter.
It wasn't a spice rack or a puzzle, but just being acknowledged was actually pretty cool.
10 comments:
So what's the argument against the new family boarding procedure? I know several people who say they love it.
We just flew Southwest to Vegas, and our experience was less than stellar. On our return flight, they decided not to staff the podium at our gate. If you had a question, you had to walk to another gate. They gave my wife a hassle about preboarding (she has hurt her back), made contradictory announcements over the PA, were late to board (each way), and had all the preboards line up a full ten minutes before actually allowing them to preboard. Sheesh!
I've never been a fan of Southwest. C'mon, they won't even give you a frequent flier account unless you tell them your Social Security number. Yeah, right, that's gonna happen!
We LOVE flying United.
It's interesting -- affection for Southwest seems to be a black or white issue. People seem to either luv 'em or hate 'em. We've always had great experiences flying them. Only once did we have a problem -- some damaged luggage -- and they made it right even though they didn't have to by giving us a new, bigger suitcase.
As for the new family boarding procedure, it used to be that all families with small kids could pre-board. This usually resulted in all the kids sitting largely together in the front of the plane. Since Rob and I don't have kids and don't have a lot of interest in traveling right next to them, we loved that they were all already seated so we could choose our seats accordingly. The change now to board them between the A and B groups is because frequent business fliers were getting frustrated that all the front seats were taken by families with kids. This often meant the business travelers felt like they wasted time waiting on the plane for the families to get off, often making them late for meetings. So the solution for us now is to either board with group B or sit near the front of the plane instead of the back where we used to sit. The new boarding rules seem to be stacking the kids in the back now.
As for the frequent flier account, well, we're huge fans of that, too. We rack up free tickets pretty regularly. And we didn't have a problem giving them our SS#s.
I won't fly Southwest because they have the UGLIEST planes. Those colors belong in a shag-carpeted, faux wood-paneled basement rec room ca. 1972 - NOT on a plane. I mean, you're trusting these people with your life - if the plane goes down, who'd want to be caught dead among those colors?
The other airline to avoid is Delta. I had intended to send them a "much-nastier-than-'I-thought-you-should-know'" letter after my last (and I mean VERY last) time flying with them, but I never got around to it.
But be sure to write to Starbucks after any unpleasant experience there - they'll send you a coupon for a free beverage!
-Zeke
I thought it looked like A-group kids boarded before the rest of the A group, and B-group kids boarded before the B group, etc...
In other words, the kids were pre-boarded just before their own group.
Wheelchairs and minors-traveling-alone appeared to go on before group A.
Our only problem with the new boarding procedure was the kids all over the plane. We like 'em segregated. But those of you who know me probably figured I was in favor of segregation when it comes to kids.
ps - Southwest no longer requires a social security number for their frequent flier accounts. I just went through their submission process to check that.
This is all so interesting! Now I'm doubly confirmed that I should be writing more letters of complaint. :-)
I was once very angry at an airline, but now I can't even recall which one. :-)
I don't believe I've ever actually flown Southwest, though, so I have no opinion either way!
Cara
Oh, BTW, I can't find Rob's email address! I wanted to mention that Todd and I are staying with his mom in Vancouver WA the week after Christmas... Not sure if we could get together, but if we could, it would be cool!
Anyway, I'm at caraking1 at yahoo.com...
Cara
Zeke, I have long admired your dedication to aesthetics. But admit it, some of the kitsch factor draws you in.
If it makes you feel any better, Southwest IS changing its colors a bit. Instead of 1970s shades of brown and burnt orange, they are transitioning to red, yellow, and royal blue. While these are more contemporary colors, they are also coincidentally the colors of the color scheme I have on my Palm Pilot, officially called Circus. But at least that's consistent with an airline who encourages its flight attendants to sign the safety procedures to the Gilligan's Island theme song...
You're right Toni - they did change their colors. I guess enough people sent letters! Not too sure about it though - "circus" is an appropriate name for it. So is "terrycloth disco jumpsuit".
Hi Toni- Love your blog! This was my first time reading through it. This one caught my attention though. I have to say that I disagree, simply because I am a new parent that recently traveled on an airplane with a five month old. I LOVE their policy of letting families with children board after first class, for Continental anyway. It's a hassle to travel as it is, and it's even more of a hassle to travel with a diaper bag filled with baby bottles, diapers, etc. (you get the point) In addition to packing and folding a stroller and car seat while holding a 20 lb baby. On top of that, you have a long line of anxious travelers behind you annoyed at you while you are trying to fold that stroller, hold the baby, balance yourself, manage your diaper bag, and for females, your purse; all to simply board an aircraft. So, I am thankful for that policy! It makes me feel better knowing that we can board with our baby and get situated before the herd of annoyed and impatient travelers stomp over us making our travels that much more difficult and painful. = ) Love- Mary
Hi Mary -- thanks so much for reading and posting! With our new nephew, I'm sure your free time is limited and precious.
Actually, you and I are on the same page. We much preferred the policy of letting the familes pre-board. We just now have a better understanding why Southwest adjusted their procedures a bit.
When I was traveling in a backbrace, I got to pre-board several times. I, too, appreciated being able to take the time I needed without feeling rushed and pressured by less encumbered travelers.
And congratulations on surviving traveling with an infant!!
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