Another bag claim story . . . (Settle in) Four people in line, first one - Im missing my bag. Go in the back, there it is, one down. #2 I think my bag came in on the earlier flight. Go in the back, 2 for 2. # 3 I had a really tight connection, I hope it made it. Go in the back, winning! On a roll, one bag sitting in the back, one more passenger. #4 Doesnt say anything, just hands me her claim check. I grab the last bag tag, its not hers. I come back empty handed ready to break the bad news and then . . . Tears, a river of them. She has an interview the next day, and although this may not seem that big of a deal to me, it most obviously is to her. There are many things I dont know about her, maybe shes escaping an abusive relationship, maybe she has two kids and spent her last dime on this ticket for this interview. This could very well be an all or nothing scenario for her, and since she was unlucky enough to get slated with dreaded zone 12, they took this bag, and her best suit with the promise it would get there. To me. Now Im the guy that has to deliver this news. We never think of it this way, but for some reason, this passenger, out of all the missing suits, birthday gifts, family heirlooms that I have taken claims for, this person I truly believed, needed this bag. She was not crying because she was pissed, she was crying because she was very sad. I went into customer service mode complete with silky smooth jazz radio voice, and instead of just going down the standardized list of questions (NAME, ADDRESS, etc) I created small talk with the intention, if just for a minute, of taking her mind off of the missing bag and all of the other life scenarios I had fabricated for her. I handed her the receipt, wished her luck on her interview to which I received a smile and a thanks. Will I take claims like this from now on, probably not. But for this moment, I really felt that I gave the best customer service I possibly could. And to be honest, it felt damn good.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 14:12:19 +0000