cough Service, what is it? Your thoughts and experiences...

[munitalP]

cough airline service - what exactly is it?

Is it because something that is the norm does not meet your expectation? Or is it delays have caused your cough service - at least perceived cough service?

I am very interested in hearing what cough service is. I make no bones about it, I don't like DJ as they remind me of a wannabe airline trying to keep up with a premium product but unable to offer a premium service because of original LCC roots, but at the end of the day, the service from the airline is still moderate to OK (not cough) in my opinion - and I don't need flaming here because of my opinion please!

So looking at posts, I see a number of people who repeatability mention cough service from Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar (I'll leave Tiger out of this one for a sanity check!) and I am wondering what it is?

I have noted that meals seem to play a part in cough service, delays due to aircraft running repairs are part of cough service, delays caused by weather form part of cough service, not enough ABC type beer on board is cough service, erupting volcanoes... the list goes on

I'll get the ball rolling and start the list...

cough service:
FA's who take their mood out on PAX, I have seen this on QF and DJ
FA's who fart cough around making jokes during safety announcements - only seen this on DJ :!:

I will add to the list as I think of more, because frankly, IMHO, the DOM service we get in Australia is what we pay for. You want a premium seat, with food and drinks, you fly J on QF, you want above average service you can rely on being the same time and time again (with little change for good or bad) , you fly QF, you want a holiday airline who as previous mentioned wants to compete with the big boys, but you pay for every conceivable extra on board, fly DJ, and if you want a low cost carrier who IMHO offers a comparable service to DJ on the routes I fly them, fly Jetstar.

Oh, one more point, I am also guilty of calling the cough service call in the past as well, but I think that is behind me now, it happened somewhere near the second rounding of the moon...

munitalP

 

[anat0l]

Simple scientific definition would be:

expectations(customer) << experiences(customer)

But that is far too general

 

[munitalP]

Simple scientific definition would be:

expectations(customer) << experiences(customer)

But that is far too general

Yes but isn't expectation a personal thing with more variables than Grahams Law of Effusion?

munitalP

 

[notzac]

There is a bunch of research out there in what makes customer service "good" vs. "bad" - it's actually quite an interesting topic!

For me, good airline service is:

• A reasonable product delivered reasonably consistently
• For where benefits exist, they should be offered consistently
• Customer-facing staff that are polite and friendly
• Getting from A to B in a safe and timely fashion
• Decent service recovery procedures for when something doesn't work out

..and frankly, none of the airlines in Australia manage all of that. The only airline that I've flown a reasonable amount on that comes close is AA(!) Maybe I've had a miracle run, but for me - all of their staff have been at least polite, most of their flights have run on time and the one time I misconnected it was handled flawlessly. The best airline for consistent product that I've flown is MX, though it's hard to make a judgement based on 3 sectors.

 

[docjames]

..and frankly, none of the airlines in Australia manage all of that. The only airline that I've flown a reasonable amount on that comes close is AA(!) Maybe I've had a miracle run, but for me - all of their staff have been at least polite, most of their flights have run on time and the one time I misconnected it was handled flawlessly. The best airline for consistent product that I've flown is MX, though it's hard to make a judgement based on 3 sectors.

MX is very consistent. I would fly them any time and am really happy they are now officially part of OW.

I suspect you have had a "miracle run" if you think AA wins.....

 

[ejb_nz]

Hi all,

For me it is very simple, tell me clearly what I am purchasing and then deliver that with a smile, and if you can not please explain to me why and I may understand.

I would list "cough service" as anything less than the above. A smile takes very little effort, and if I am being polite you should be equally polite back. If the pax in 3C is being a prick do not take it out on me in 4C.

However I find that using the above standard I find that most flights are good. If the IFE is not working but it has been explained I can live with that. My food choice not available but a friendly sorry is given I can move on.

It is when service drops and FA's get the s*&ts that I find the flight goes into the cough file.

ejb

 

[notzac]

I suspect you have had a "miracle run" if you think AA wins.....

I was slightly amazed when I came to the conclusion that it was probably my best set of airline experiences as well!

In fairness, 90%+ of my AA flights have been up the front of the bus, and my expectations are probably lower than what I'd expect from other carriers - but product aside, their staff are generally quite good (I couldn't think of a single time where an AA staff member had been unpleasant to me) and that's probably the most important thing in my own view.

 

[thewinchester]

What I think are good examples of cough service:

1. Failing to 'smile' when dealing with pax
   Sure, you may not be happy with the job or it feels like the universe has taken a dump on your life, but you must check that at the door (and this works both ways too).
2. Sloppy service
   Sorry, but there's no excuse for barking the menu choices at pax and then thrusting their meal right in front of them. It needs to be done with grace and aplomb be they Y, J or F.
3. Not responding to call bell promptly
   Sorry, but pax should never have to get out of their seat thanks to their call bell not being promptly attended to (I consider anything longer than 5min+ wait inexcusable, excluding of course when a meal service is in progress).
4. Not knowing basic information about destination services
   Not everyone is a frequent flyer, knows how to find out information, or remembers to check this before they leave. While I don't expect FA's to have an encyclopaedic knowledge, I expect they have a decent knowledge (or know where to get it) of things such as; location of flight connections/transfer counter, customer service desk, lounge locations (and direction from arrival gate), distance to nearest city from destination port, and airport-city transport services counter location.
5. Poorly maintained equipment
   I have mentioned this in a prev. TR, but I despise carriers who can't even maintain the basic things properly. From head rests that won't stay in place, to bathrooms which make you want to bring up more than the curry you were just served.
6. Failing to respond
   If a pax makes contact, its obviously for a good reason. No enquiry should go unresponded for an inordinate length of time.

Sloppy service and poorly maintained equipment are my real bugbears.

From check in agents who are inexplicably rude to pax, checked baggage mishandled causing damage, or waiting for an age for a simple glass of water - this is all stuff which airlines can easily fix, but don't or won't.

And when pax make contact to highlight these genuine issues, with no expectation other than the carrier responding, listening to what they have to say, and trying to do something about it - they are forever left waiting, wondering if the airline to which they spend hard earned money with gives a hoot about their feedback.

After all - it is service which can make or break most airlines. With that axiom however I'm left wondering how the heck TT manages to stay in business... sorry, know the answer - profiting off pax who don't show or check in late

 

[JohnK]

Poor service happens all too often (not just in airline industry) and we have all been brainwashed to accept it and move on as life is too short to worry about it. Well not quite.

For me poor service is when the actual experience does not meet the expectation or advertised service. eg Qantas prides itself on what they aim to deliver and is proudly plastered all over their website with things like inflight service. Would be nice to have consistent service.

- rude check-in staff, flight attendants (no excuse and not good enough, just because you are having a bad day does not mean you take it out on me)
- IFE not working (it is not my fault you made the wrong choice and went with Rockwell Collins)
- delayed or lost baggage (what do you mean you don't know whether the bag got loaded onto the flight or not or where it has gone)
- meals are important to me especially on long haul flights (load more than is required and if 90% of people want muesli don't start saying sorry we have run out of eggs after the first 2 or 3 rows have been served)
- water (load enough water bottles for everyone)
- if you know the flight is going to be delayed then put it up on the monitors (It isn't hard to put 2 and 2 together to work out that the incoming aircraft is likely to be 30 minutes late therefore the flight will be delayed and not on time, lounge staff look at me in a strange way when I ask them (actually tell them) if the flight will be delayed and they say all is OK but 2 minutes later make an announcement the flight will be delayed due to late arrival of incoming aircraft)
- if cancelling flights then ensure there are sufficient customer service staff to look after people and organise alternate flights and accommodation (it helps to be on an airline with good schedules and not airlines that say come back and see us in 2 days)

 

[drron]

I was slightly amazed when I came to the conclusion that it was probably my best set of airline experiences as well!

In fairness, 90%+ of my AA flights have been up the front of the bus, and my expectations are probably lower than what I'd expect from other carriers - but product aside, their staff are generally quite good (I couldn't think of a single time where an AA staff member had been unpleasant to me) and that's probably the most important thing in my own view.

Well I am another who considers that AA has given me the best overall experience.I can remember 1 occasion when a FA was less than pleasant-a Y FA who told me off for coming into the Y cabin from J(on a CUR-MIA service).I had told the J FA that I was going to visit the grandkids down the back and when i came back quickly and told her what had happened she took complimentary wine down the back for their parents so situation rescued.
Of my top 5 incidences of great service 4 have been AA,1 QF.2 occasions JAL came close.
I can only think of 1 occasion when the experience could have been termed cough-CAAC in 1984.However even at the time I thought it was so bad it was funny-and it gets funnier every time I recount it over a glass or 6 of a good Rutherglen Tokay/Muscat.
I really dont mind the DJ service-but out of MCY it is JQ,TT or DJ.However they have often exceeded my expectations and get an exit row >50% of the times I am flying by myself.On the DJ flights i have been on the humour has not been over the top,usually after landing and I often enjoy it.
My worst GA/FA(and he was both) was on JQ last year-a fellow who certainly needed retraining and psychological assessment.Even with that I would still not call that a cough experience
Never have and never will fly TT-personally witnessed incidents where people bumped of overbooked flight and next flight in 2 days-could not risk that.
My overwhelming experience is if you treat people with respect and a smile you get that back with interest.

 

[dajop]

cough service is being told off for not having the meal tray (on the empty seat next me) up on final approach, when the reason is that no one has been around to collect the empty can of drink and empty glass that is sitting on the meal tray for the last 45 mins. And then having to find somewhere to shove the can and glass because they FA couldn't be bothered collecting it.

 

[harvyk]

I guess it's the customer expectation. When I flew DJ I was pleasantly surprised, I was expecting a seat and absolutely nothing more. (the way an LCC flyer should be).

Unfortunately for DJ, the lack of a free meal, and nothing bigger than a B737 on dom and most int routes does put me off them a little. (I don't like narrowbodies)

That said what I like to see (in order) is

#1. Friendly FA's - They don't need to be my best friend, just polite, and nice to be around. If the airline fails on this point, then the flight is a cough flight, no two ways about it.

#2. Attentive FA - I don't expect to see an FA magically appear as soon as I press the bell, but it would be nice if I don't feel I need to press it a second time because no FA heard it the first.

#3. Good ground staff - The checkin staff are the first point of contact with the airline, especially when we have internet bookings and 3rd parties TA's booking. A checkin agent that appears distracted, or couldn't care less about any reasonable requests just means everyone else then needs to work harder to keep the airline in the good books.

#4. Seats - Shouldn't be broken at all. I have been on a couple of flights where I have needed to change seats half way through because the first seat was broken. Furthermore the airlines need to realise we are not dead sardines. We need space between pax. Whilst the idea of cramming extra people in Y may seem appealing to an airline, I am willing to spend the extra $5 on my ticket so they don't have to. Bonus points if the airline places me in a J seat or gives me a Y seat with no one next to me.

#5. Meals - Should exist and be edible.

#6. Entertainment - Should work as expected, extra points for AVOD

It's not difficult... The most important thing is the staff and how they treat the pax... You can have the best airline systems in the world, if the frontline staff don't want to be there then you have a problem.

As a side note, my 3 worst flights ever where on AA (also my only 3 AA flights ever). The FA's basically didn't want to be there, and they made no attempt to hide their contempt for the airline.

 

[N860CR]

When I flew DJ I was pleasantly surprised, I was expecting a seat and absolutely nothing more.

I think this may be one of the reasons DJ consistantly ranks better than QF, they are honest about what they are.

QF on the other hand constantly go on with their premium airline BS (I believe every single letter that comes out of customer care has the term premium carrier on it somewhere), yet they rarely live up to that. They set very high expectations, charge the passengers accordingly, yet cannot consistantly deliver on it.

My pet hate is failure to address issues raised by a passenger/customer. In large companies, there will always be people who slip through and do damage to the image of the company. A good company resolves it.

Good example, I had a number of issues about 18 months ago with a tour company after a group tour of China. They sent me a quick email saying they're investigating and to sit tight. 3 weeks later, I received a multiple page response that covered every single issue I raised, along with outcomes of the investigation, and a number of confessions and apologies for stuff-ups, along with very fair and reasonable (cash) compensation, as well as a large discount for future bookings to give them a chance to "redeem themselves".

QF on the other hand work on the "no action, minimal compensation" rule, which in my view is worse than the original incident.

 

[anat0l]

A few common truths about cough (w00t - uncensored word!) service and human beings:

• If we get cough service the first time we fly a carrier, there's a better than even money chance we won't fly them again. At the very least, it will bias our view of that airline for the long term, perhaps forever.
• If we get good or exceptional service the first time we fly a carrier, there's a better than even money chance that we'll not only fly them again, but tend to like and perhaps rave about them. Then future incidences of cough service tend to be small so as long as the size and frequency of such incidents is sufficiently small.
• One incident of cough service has the same weight as several instances of good or exceptional service; it's almost never the other way around. For example, you'll always hear, "This airline did blah-blah-blah which is utter cough; I'll never fly them again!" whereas you never hear, "This airline did blah-blah-blah which was beyond my expectations; bravo to them - I'll fly them forever!"
• cough service is tolerable if the recovery addresses it well.
• cough service often goes unreported, mainly because we are either too lazy or we think the action is frivolous / waste of time. Companies thrive on our laziness or fear to report (this is especially true if the market is "narrow", e.g. it's the only (or one of only a few) airline(s) that flies a particular route)
• Satisfactory service is always forgotten. Good service is easily forgotten. Exceptional service is rarely forgotten. cough service is never forgotten.

 

[hazel]

For me, good airline service is:

• A reasonable product delivered reasonably consistently
• For where benefits exist, they should be offered consistently
• Customer-facing staff that are polite and friendly
• Getting from A to B in a safe and timely fashion
• Decent service recovery procedures for when something doesn't work out

QUOTE]
All of the above - polite & friendly staff is the big one for me. On some recent JQ flights the FAs have come across as being far to 'cool' & important to actually bother with menial things like looking after customers.

 

[Happy Dude]

Expectations are moulded from previous experiences.

Pity Ralph Fiennes. Now, everytime he flys somewhere and doesn't shag the hostie, he's had cough service.

On that basis, I've never had anything but cough service.

 

[Voyages]

Very recently some check-in staff has:

- Insisted my parents be charged for their extra luggage, stating that they're only allowed 23 kgs per person, regardless of the fact that their tickets showed 30 kgs. The matter only got resolved after I talked to the supervisor;

- Asked in the most unpleasant manner why I had Dr in my title;

- Complained to a colleague that they had had a sh***y day in the presence of passengers.

*sighs*

 

[serfty]

... The only airline that I've flown a reasonable amount on that comes close is AA(!) Maybe I've had a miracle run, but for me - all of their staff have been at least polite, most of their flights have run on time and the one time I misconnected it was handled flawlessly. ...

I was slightly amazed when I came to the conclusion that it was probably my best set of airline experiences as well!

In fairness, 90%+ of my AA flights have been up the front of the bus, and my expectations are probably lower than what I'd expect from other carriers - but product aside, their staff are generally quite good (I couldn't think of a single time where an AA staff member had been unpleasant to me) and that's probably the most important thing in my own view.

Well I am another who considers that AA has given me the best overall experience. ...

In perhaps 40-60 segments on AA (albeit mainly in the pointy end) this mirrors my AA experience. I can only think of one segment were service was below the standard of the other flights, but even then it was still functional, just not pro-active like the others.

... I suspect you have had a "miracle run" if you think AA wins.....

See above ...

 

[dk4]

In perhaps 40-60 segments on AA (albeit mainly in the pointy end) this mirrors my AA experience. I can only think of one segment were service was below the standard of the other flights, but even then it was still functional, just not pro-active like the others.

My experience too. With AA Instant Upgrade great fare "value", I haven't been down the back in years either (except single class flights). And, just about always fantastic service to boot.

 

[GCC]

My "definition of cough service" experience was with AA ground staff.
Arrived SEA 40 minutes prior to a domestic flight to ORD and was berated by counter lady for "arriving late to the airport". Explained I had come straight from a meeting & pointed out it was 30 minutes before flight and was given the "sir - don't be aggressive with me" spiel they teach them in USA customer service training. She then said there were problems with my ticket and made a call which lasted around 10 minutes. When she gets off the phone it is now < 30 minutes to flight & she tells me that as I'm late my bag wont be going on that flight. When I ask if she could at least try to get it on she refuses and tags it for next flight, adding "you need to learn not to arrive late to the airport sir". I do get on the flight, which is something, arrive ORD at 4.00 pm but my bag finally arrives at my hotel at 3.00am.
This was for a OW Emerald checking in at the first counter.