Four hours down and six to go on the airplane for my 50th birthday tour of Great Britain and Paris. I am assuming if I turned 50 overseas, it might not possibly count back home…
When we got on the plane today, I was surprised at the lack of friendly service on Continental Airlines. Now, I’m used to that in coach but we splurged and flew everyone on this trip in First Class. Not travel bank points but good old fashioned hard earned cash. The trip over the pond was great – excellent service and smiles all around. Something I actually expect no matter what I’ve paid for a plane ticket. But not on the way back. The First Class cabin crew looked like they had been beaten soundly and were going to pass on those warm and fuzzy feelings to all. Added to that, they purposely took everyone’s orders and then asked my children what they wanted like it was a horrible burden. One attendant in particular was extremely mean to my 9 year old. Now if they had been rowdy and rude I’d understand but all three of my kids were quietly watching their TV screens and waiting patiently for any sort of attention from the attendants.
With that said, I started to think about the trip as a whole. All and all it’s been a trip for the memory books – for me, Charlie the Wonder Husband and the three boys. But, with any trip, there have been some amazing highs and a few lows. Most coming down to a passion of mine. Customer service.
When I owned The Space Store, the first thing I told new employees was that the three most important things they should always remember in their new job were:
- Customer service
- Customer service and …
- Customer service
It doesn’t matter how big or small, whether someone paid for first class or coach – a customer is still a customer. And in this economy, a customer should be treated like gold more than ever. So, I thought I would take the time between loads of trip laundry to finish this blog and point out those who did it right and those who did it terribly wrong….
And the winners are:
- Augill Castle (www.stayinacastle.com) This house, built in the 1800’s to resemble a medieval castle, had something for the entire family. Everything the website
offered was there including the wonderful, overfriendly Labrador. If a castle could hug you, this one did. The family proprietors were friendly and most accommodating. The answer to everything was “sure, no problem.” The kids, residents and guests, were in and out of the house, played hide and seek all over the grounds and tortured the kitchen staff multiple times each evening for popcorn while watching a huge selection of movies in the drawing room. This in turn, produced extremely relaxed parents with like minded individuals from around the world sharing a delicious home cooked gourmet meal around a communal table, a fully stocked ‘honor’ bar and a strong wireless signal in the conservatory. I wanted to feel like a queen on my birthday and I did. - Hilton Euston London (www.hilton.co.uk/euston) The concierge not only recommended a great Indian restaurant nearby but walked us almost all the way there so we wouldn’t get lost. We returned with an order of Tandoori Chicken for him. And Lorraine, the front desk supervisor, called our last night to make sure the Internet had worked ok and to let us know she would take it off the bill so we wouldn’t have to explain at checkout that it was supposed to be comped.
- Hilton Tower Bridge (www.Hilton.com/TowerBridge) The only Hilton Hotel on this trip that actually went out of their way to honor our status as HHonors Diamond VIPs with a dedicated floor and private lounge offering free internet access, food, drinks, newspapers – all the things a top repeat hotel customer expects. *Do note – there is no valet parking and no where to park a car. This little fact is not mentioned on their website or in your reservation confirmation. And Hilton, what’s the point of HHonors Diamond VIP if most hotels do nothing to honor it??
- Derroch Learg (www.darrochlearg.co.uk/) This small luxury guest house overlooking the massive acreage of Balmoral Castle (where Queen Elizabeth was in residence at the time) took us in at the last minute. Equipped with another great Labrador, they were quite friendly, took the time to show us how to climb to the top of Craigendarroch and never acted upset as we insisted on calling owners Nigel and Fiona – Fiona and Shrek.
Losers with a capital L:
- Edinburgh Caledonian Hilton (www.hilton.co.uk/caledonian) Considered to be one of the most famous hotels in the world, our experience started at the front desk. As a top Hilton customer, we were due an upgrade which was available but the front desk was holding on to tightly. After quietly but firmly standing our ground, we saw why. All that was available to upgrade us to was The Caledonian Suite. It was a huge 5-room suite overlooking the Edinburgh Castle. An excellent location to watch the fireworks but it still left a bad taste in your mouth when you had to fight for it. We had to pay for Internet access, the AC was broken and when we tried to put the windows down at night for some peace and quiet (quite a few trendy bars down the street), they were broken and would not close. Despite numerous calls to the front desk, help was nowhere to be found.
- Warwick Hilton (www.Hilton.com/Warwick ) As HHonors Diamond VIP we were offered a choice of free newspapers. What? Of course, since they were charging for internet access and the business center, I guess that was the only way we were going to find our headlines.
- Kildrummy Castle Hotel (www.kildrummycastle.com) This gorgeous hotel and fairy tale location is wasted on owners who don’t have the first idea of what makes a guest comfortable. From the moment we walked in, it was a strange and unpleasant experience. There was no one at what appeared to be a small reception desk. We had to go looking for someone to help us and were met with a very stern “What do you want?” (I swear it was Frau Blucher from Young Frankenstein – I could almost hear the horses neigh in the distance). The hotel is very cold, in temperature and in soul. One afternoon, with kids off with friends, we wanted to go have a small, romantic lunch somewhere nearby. When asked if there was anything around, the manager flatly said “no”. We went looking anyway. Only a mile down the road was a charming café and garden center with a warm building and warm people to greet us. When she discovered where we were staying, the proprietress said “is it as bad as other guests have said?” Don’t believe the awards, most were from the previous owner’s time.
- Continental Airlines (www.continental.com) Since I only plan to turn 50 once, this was a big splurge for the family. The treatment on the way back was probably one of the worst ways to end a trip. Just confirms why I usually fly Southwest Airlines. They get it.
It is interesting to note that the two most expensive and highest rated hotels as well as first class on a major airline were actually the worst experiences of the trip. It is a pattern that is starting to pop up in industries across the board. It’s the reason banks are failing and GM is hanging on for dear life. Companies have gotten so big and believed their own press for so long, they have forgotten the basic, most important principle of longevity and success for any business. Honest, good customer service. It just goes to show that even if you have a good quality product, if you don’t back it up with excellent and over the top customer service, you will eventually lose. There are no exceptions.
By the way, the phrase “the customer is always right” is attributed to Harry Gordon Selfridge (1857-1947) the founder of London’s Selfridges store (opened in 1909). It still holds as true today as it did then.
So decrees Queen Dayna in this year of 2009.
