Consumer Loyalty
Southwest Airlines is by far my favorite airline. Sure, there are minimal frills but they are fast, friendly and efficient, not to mention their rewards program is hassle free. You fly 8 roundtrips in a 12 month period and, without any prompting from the customer, you receive a roundtrip travel voucher that is transferable to friends and family members. Who could ask for more?
Well, I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale for my cruise only to discover that Southwest had misplaced my luggage. I had only a couple of hours to get to the ship but I really did not want to board without my beloved belongings. Southwest couldn’t locate my luggage so I had to move on. They assured me that they would find my bag and fly it to the next port of call. The also authorized me to pick up personal items and any other essentials that I needed. The next day in Key West, we get off the cruise and I see my bag at the gangway. My bag needed to be inspected and then it would be delivered to my state room. All was well.
Upon my return to the airport I was given a full refund, in cash, for the incidentals that I picked up. I was also given a travel voucher which is transferable and good for one year.
My point of this story is that businesses will make mistakes but it is the way that you treat your customers in face of a mistake that defines you. I felt like Southwest immediately acknowledged their fault, they immediately began working on finding my bag, and they made good on their promise to have my bag delivered to the next port of call. They also apologized several times during the process, refunded me immediately, and gave me a voucher for being inconvenienced. I could not have asked for a greater response. Had this gone differently, I would have vowed to never fly Southwest again and I would have told anyone who would listen about how I was royally inconvenienced. Instead, Southwest still continues to be my airline of choice. They handled their customer service the same way that they handle their daily flights…fast, friendly and efficient.
Comments
Your story is very revealing. It shows that even if a business makes a mistake they can avoid losing a customer (and even strengthen brand loyalty) by making the situation right to the best of their ability.
My wife and I recently flew Southwest to Florida to visit my grandparents. The tickets were very reasonable, about half of what we would have paid on other airlines. I actually enjoy the easygoing nature of Southwest. All of the flight attendants joke around with you and use a very informal tone over the PA, it makes for a more relaxed atmosphere and the service is on par with any other airline.
Contrast this to my experience with LaCie hard drives. My drive failed ad it cost me three months and hours of transferring and backing up. In the end I had to troubleshoot on my own and talk to a manager to get them to send me the part that needed replacing. Awful. I'll never buy from them again.
How many folks out there have a Motorola phone whose battery has pooped out on them? Of those unfortunate souls, how many have gone to their local in-store Verizon (if that is your carrier) booth, only to be met with unapologetic, glazed-over spewing of corporate 'not our problem's?
Can't get a new phone. Not even an el-cheapo. But you can buy a brand new, 50$ Motorola battery, GUARANTEED (they will tell you as much) to fail within a few months.
Both Motorola and Verizon have, for over a year, been content to limit their official positions on the matter to pointing fingers at one another and doing absolutely nothing about it. My confidence in both is in the outhouse, and I will NEVER own or use a product/service of either of these two companies again.
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