# Employees with Attitude: It's not just Amtrak



## MARC Rider (Jul 23, 2014)

Everyone has their favorite story of the fascist-in-training Amtrak Employee. Well, here's one who works for Southwest Airlines:

https://gma.yahoo.com/family-booted-off-southwest-airlines-dad-tweeted-rude-233427897--abc-news-travel.html

Now, I will say that this Dad isn't blameless: From what I can read, he was apparently bending the rules on preboarding. But in his defense, I would say(1) the rule is stupid, and (2) the rule wasn't clear, because the rude gate agent allowed him to board the plane early with his kids, and (3) I generally think that in **most** cases bending these sort of rules is perfectly OK. The problem started when he tweeted the incident before takeoff, specifically naming the gate agent. (But first name only, which means this won't follow her through life in google.) That was stupid, he should have waited until after he was on the ground at the end of the flight. However, the airline made it worse by condoning this obvious case of petty personal payback on the part of the rude gate agent. And this was on Southwest Airlines, which, in my opinion, usually has decent quality service and help, at least as compared to the other discount airlines.

The closest I've seen to such a performance on Amtrak was on a very crowded Silver Star a couple of years ago, when a conductor with a bad attitude got into an altercation with a passenger with a bad attitude over the fact that the diner space for coach passengers was filled up, so the passenger and his family were out of luck regarding dinner. (I got screwed that way, too, I happened to be in the cafe car for a drink, so I added a pizza to my order when I heard the announcement, which wasn't heard in our coach because the PA wasn't working.) Anyway, at least Southwest let the guy and his kids fly; the guy on the Silver Star, and his family were put off the train at and unscheduled stop in southside Virginia, and the "taxi" that met them has flashing red and blue lights. I didn't hear the words that were spoken between the conductor and this passenger, so I can't judge whether what the conductor did was justified.

I personally think this is an unpleasant spinoff from 9/11. The first time in decades of traveling that I encountered employees on a power trip was in October 2001 waiting in an endless line in SFO waiting for a flight home with my family (including a cranky 10 year old). Some folks in the line started complaining to an airline employee who was moving people ahead in some sort of arcane system that appeared to give some people an advantage over others. The airline employee then threatened the complainers with arrest. That really made me feel warm and fuzzy bout United Airlines. (The argument we had with the gate agent about our reservations didn't help, either, but in the end, they let us all on the plane, so I guess at least at that point, gate agents hadn't yet gotten the idea they could intimidate the cattle, I mean passengers, with fearmongering about "safety." I tell you, it's getting to the point that you risk arrest by showing the least little bit of anger.

Anyway, this is what Amtrak is competing with.


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## SarahZ (Jul 23, 2014)

The rest of the article aside, I have to agree with the gate agent on this one:



> “She told me: ‘You don’t need my last name for anything,’” Watson said. “I told her: ‘Real nice way to treat an A-list member.’”


It doesn't matter if you are a super-speshul A-list member. Most people in customer service will not give out their last name, especially if it's an uncommon last name. I never, ever give someone mine, as it's way too easy to find me online, and if someone really wanted to, find where I live, my family members, etc. There are only two people in the U.S. with my name that I've found so far, and I'm the only one in Michigan.

So, yeah. I'm going to side with her on that point. You do not deserve to know someone's full name. If you want to complain, you can say, "I spoke with Sarah about this on this date at this time." From there, they can see who was staffed at that particular counter/gate/whatever or whoever worked that customer's file/order/claim.


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## MARC Rider (Jul 23, 2014)

SarahZ said:


> The rest of the article aside, I have to agree with the gate agent on this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


While I agree with you on that, I should note that part of my government job involves something akin to "customer service," and I always give my full name. Of course, the people I deal with are in industry, and I know most of them personally (well, over-the-phone and email "personally"), and even if I upset them because I don't approve their applications in a reasonable time (usually because it's sitting on the boss's desk or the boss' boss's desk for a signature), they tend not to abuse me. The worst they do is threaten to call their congressman, then I tell them that the approval will take even longer because if we get a letter from the congressman, I'll have to drop my work on their application and respond to the congressperson.


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## Acela150 (Jul 23, 2014)

I'm trying to figure out how she found out about the tweet.. Did he tweet it in front of her?


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## Ispolkom (Jul 24, 2014)

MARC Rider said:


> Now, I will say that this Dad isn't blameless: From what I can read, he was apparently bending the rules on preboarding. But in his defense, I would say(1) the rule is stupid, and (2) the rule wasn't clear,


No. He was breaking the rules. If he's an A-Lister, he's traveled Southwest dozens of times a year, and knows how the rules work. If he wants to board early with his kids, he pays for EBCI. If he's too cheap to do that, he boards when the kids' numbers are. Why should he get special rules-breaking treatment and board before me for free, when I've paid my early-bird fee and played by the rules, just because he whines and threatens to send a tweet?

The rule is clear:



> Can groups assigned to different boarding positions board together?
> 
> Yes. However, in order to maintain the integrity of the boarding process, we ask that earlier boarding positions board with the later positions. For example, if a passenger is assigned position A16 and wants to board with a passenger assigned position A45, the passenger holding the A16 boarding pass should board with the A45 passenger.


He just thought that it didn't apply to him because of his STATUS (and he's not even A+). If he doesn't like how Southwest runs things, there are other airlines flying out of Denver.

I travel a lot on Southwest (hey, I'm cheap), and almost never encounter rude customer service. I do encounter a lot of rude passengers, though, who think that the rules are for others. You'd think that they'd learn that you rarely get better customer service by being nasty, but they don't seem to.


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## rickycourtney (Jul 24, 2014)

Pssh. You're not "cheap" for flying Southwest. IMHO, Southwest is providing a better experience these days than the "big guys" (American, Delta, United). Southwest still does free checked bags and free snacks. They also offer free TV and cheap drinks. That's pretty generous by my book.

This guy sounds totally entitled.

Here's my recent Southwest customer service experience:

I was on a slightly delayed flight (35 minutes) and once we were up in the air, I ordered an adult drink. The flight attendant refused my credit card and said it was "on the house" due to the delay. Well when my plane landed for what was supposed to be a brief stop in Oakland before continuing to Seattle... we blew a tire and we were forced off the plane. When we finally got a replacement plane the chief flight attendant made sure the all the "thru" passengers boarded first. Once back up in the air (now over 2 hours late) ordered a couple of adult drinks and was never asked for my card. When we landed in Seattle the light rail trains had stopped running forcing me to take a black car home. I called Southwest Customer Relations and explained that I spent $50 getting home... the agent apologized profusely and issued me a $75 voucher (more than this jerk got).

That all being said... I've always been a little uncomfortable that in this post-9/11 world that any airline employee can get you kicked off a flight by simply calling you a "security threat". This guy wasn't a threat... just a jerk and the Southwest agent didn't feel threatened... they just wanted to get back at the guy for calling them out on twitter (which is the most direct route customers have to senior members of the customer relations team).


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## Anderson (Jul 24, 2014)

(1) While the guy comes off as a jerk, pulling him off the plane was almost assuredly uncalled-for.

(2) In keeping with (1), this isn't the first issue of an airline employee going on a bit of a power trip...but the previous stories I've heard have been with flight attendants, not gate agents.


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 24, 2014)

"Sticks and stones will break my bones,

But Tweets will never hurt me!"

Updated for the 21st Century!!!


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 24, 2014)

Tweets hurt me. Terribly. Don't people understand that Dr. Samuel Johnson defined the English language and all changes are a heinous crime?

It is not rite 2 tlk lik dis u no wut I mn? @ubergrammarfuhrerSS #stupid


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 24, 2014)

I agree with your point Lion and I also question youngsters building their life around " tweets" from some ignorant singer, athlete or movie star!!!

I was just pointing out that the airline dragon overacted big time! Wonder if they were from Chicago??


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## SarahZ (Jul 24, 2014)

Acela150 said:


> I'm trying to figure out how she found out about the tweet.. Did he tweet it in front of her?


We're only getting the dad's side of the story. For all we know, he flaunted it in her face and told her what he'd done.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 24, 2014)

I'd bet on that.


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## SarahZ (Jul 24, 2014)

Green Maned Lion said:


> I'd bet on that.


After 20 years in customer service, I'd bet my next paycheck on it.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 24, 2014)

I didn't know you were old enough to have 20 years in customer service. Cynical enough, certainly.


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## SarahZ (Jul 24, 2014)

Green Maned Lion said:


> I didn't know you were old enough to have 20 years in customer service. Cynical enough, certainly.


I'm 37, and I've been working since I was 15-years old.

I'll take "cynical" as a compliment. ^_^


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 24, 2014)

I wouldn't say cynical, I'd say intelligent with 20 years experience! Sarah really is a Sweetheart after 20 years in Customer Service, most of us would be cynical and burnt out by now!


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## CoachSlumber (Jul 24, 2014)

MARC Rider said:


> Everyone has their favorite story of the fascist-in-training Amtrak Employee. Well, here's one who works for Southwest Airlines:
> 
> https://gma.yahoo.com/family-booted-off-southwest-airlines-dad-tweeted-rude-233427897--abc-news-travel.html
> 
> ...


The rule is not stupid. The whole Southwest boarding process is predicated on your place in the line. There was no reason to bend the rule. His children weren't infants or in distress. Southwest has a policy for boarding families with kids; it just wasn't when he wanted to board.


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## City of Miami (Jul 24, 2014)

Rarely anymore is SWA the cheapest option to go where I want to go when I want to go there. Plus they generally take quite a bit longer to get me there.


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## tp49 (Jul 24, 2014)

Not a fan of the DYKWIA types at the airport. The biggest issue I have at the airport though is inconsistent enforcement of airline policies not just from airport to airport but from gate to gate. Seems to me in this case the passenger was wrong but it could have been handled better all around.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 24, 2014)

tp49 said:


> Not a fan of the DYKWIA types at the airport. The biggest issue I have at the airport though is inconsistent enforcement of airline policies not just from airport to airport but from gate to gate. Seems to me in this case the passenger was wrong but it could have been handled better all around.


Do you like them anywhere? :s


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 24, 2014)

SarahZ said:


> Green Maned Lion said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't know you were old enough to have 20 years in customer service. Cynical enough, certainly.
> ...


As was intended.


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## fillyjonk (Jul 25, 2014)

As someone pointed out, we're getting dad's side of the story. I've seen a few cases in my life of people with kids who think the presence of a pre-adolescent (or even an adolescent) entitles them to jump every line.

Then again, almost every bureaucracy I've dealt with (Amtrak, city employees, university bureaucracy, DMV, IRS, health insurer) has got their share of people on power trips who are the tinpot dictator of their little office and will make the lives of everyone who crosses their path miserable. Even if it's their job to, say, stamp a piece of paper for someone, they make it feel like they are bestowing a great benison on your and that they expect your fawning gratitude in return. Or they make it as hard as possible for you to GET that stamp, even though it's their job to give it out and you've got all the necessary receipts, etc.

So probably BOTH people in this situation are wrong.

I have seen cases of Amtrak threatening to put people off and call the cops but in the majority of the cases the people were being pretty disorderly and in at least one case the person was intoxicated or high.


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## JayPea (Jul 26, 2014)

I once asked a Southwest gate attendant if I acted like a child would I be able to board with families traveling with children. For some reason she said no. :lol:

I don't know about this story. On the one hand people who act like they are so much better than anyone else and think they deserve special treatment irk me. It's a good thing I rarely deal with customer service at the retail establishment I work for because frankly I'm not a people person, especially when it comes to jerks. On the other, I've had to deal with customer service agents who shouldn't be in customer service either. It goes both ways and I suspect the blame here is like manure.....there's a lot to be spread around.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jul 26, 2014)

Like Elton John, it goes both ways.


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