There are those who start at the bottom of a company with the aspiration to rise to the top, and there are those for whom the words upwardly mobile do not apply.
I encountered Mr. Latter attending to the United Skycap station in LAX today.
My associates and I bring our bags to the guy and we go through the regular procedure. "What is your destination?", "Show me your identification" and "How many bags will you be checking?"
The major airlines now charge $2 handling fee for each bag checked at the curb and I'm fine with that. I am also accustomed to tipping the Skycap guy for handling my bags, aware that they don't get any of the $2 fee collected by United.
Before I get further in my story, let me just say that I dislike the attendants who remind me that they don't get a piece of the $2 fee. It makes me feel like they are begging for tips. I know, not everyone knows that they don't get a piece of the pie, but I think there are enough people who recognize good service that it doesn't need to be said.
Anyhow, we were checking three bags for this flight, so I pulled out $10 from my wallet. That was $6 for the bags and $4 for the tip I anticipated giving to Skyguy.
The cash was placed on the counter in plain site when I asked our attendant if he would make sure that our bags had an orange tag, indicating priority handling. Since I am Premier on United, I often get the orange tag without asking. In those cases where the attendant doesn't think of it, a few dollars usually does the trick.
Skyguy refuses to put the orange tag on my bags, indicating that I didn't have Premier for this flight. Well, my ticket said I was Premier, but I didn't bother arguing that point. I was more surprised that he didn't take the hint of the money on the counter.
I pocket the $4 tip I was going to give to him at this point, amazed that he didn't pick up on the fact that I was going to take care of him. The remaining $6 was left on the counter to cover the fee.
He tells me that policy had changed and that he couldn't put the orange tag on my luggage. Five seconds earlier, he had torn the tag from the inbound flight off one of the bags. I point out that we had just done the very same thing when we arrived a few days ago and it wasn't a problem.
He repeats that policy had changed several months ago.
I tell him that he didn't understand. I fly regularly and this is done all the time.
He repeats AGAIN that policy had changed and that it wasn't done any more.
Essentially, he was telling me that I was merely fantasizing about the one dozen times I had orange tags placed on my bags this year.
At this point, I'm engaged in the conversation merely because I wanted this downwardly mobile individual to see that he was being an idiot, without calling him a name.
I look him in the eye and said, "You aren't listening to me. I travel a LOT and ALWAYS have the orange tag place on my luggage."
His reply?
"No, you aren't listening to ME. Policy has changed and we don't do that anymore!"
I recognize that there's no way I am ever going to get through to Skyguy, so I thank him for handling the bags.
He asks me for the $6 and I told him it was sitting on the counter.
He picks up the money and says to the other skyguy at the station, "And he wanted a tag for six dollars? Hahahaha!" The guy breaks into over-the-top laughter created to tell me that I was a stupid idiot for even suggesting that he do something special for me. The laughter continued long after we are inside the doors of the airport. He wanted to make sure he had made his point.
This made it clear that he certainly would have placed orange tags on my bag had he been paying attention. Policy, schmolicy. He could have been bought.
Myself and my associates are left shaking our heads, marveling at the absolute ignorance of Skyguy. Here was an opportunity to provide customer service for a frequent United traveler AND get a $4 tip for two minutes of work.
He was he incorrect about my status with United.
He was incorrect about his ability to tag my bag properly.
And he was a fool for passing up an easy tip.
I have nothing personal against Skyguy and thanked him for handling my bags. I'm sure if I visit the airport in twenty years, he'll probably still be doing the same thing.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
April 1, 2008 08:35 AM
Thanks
April 2, 2008 11:29 AM
I thought for sure this was going to be a story about a Skycap who loved his job so much he was just where he wanted to be. Someone who had served you well. Unfortunately, these days, many of the people who serve the public act like we're bothering them.
Giving excellent customer service is something that's always been important to me, even when I'm dealing with a difficult customer. Granted, there are some who are difficult to deal with (as I'm sure Mr Skycap can attest to) but I have a feeling people like him are the cause of many people becoming difficult.