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Do you think the executives care about your letter? Stop going to the place that treats you badly, and if possible write an honest critical review of them. Thi

Do you think the executives care about your letter? Stop going to the place that treats you badly, and if possible write an honest critical review of them. This is not perfect, but it has more hope of getting attention than a letter to an executive who almost certainly won't even see it. For better or worse, people vote with their wallets. There are lots of low cost versions of things I would never even consider (and any experience would have me running to write an unfavorable review) but there are lots of people who care most about cost. It's the reason why southwest exists in the first place.

throwawaysleep 4y ago
Anecdotal, but they have cared enough to get back to me and it mattered enough to employees I have written letters for to track me down.
Eisenstein 4y ago
I do think that some do. A well written, polite, short letter expressing a issue and how it is detrimental to an organization and how it impacts customers would be welcome by any competent executive or manager. If they don't want that knowledge, then I am sure that is common, but it is not ubiquitous.
- wahnfrieden 4y ago
  Oh please
  - Eisenstein 4y ago
    Instead of dismissing things off-hand because they don't fit your assumptions, you may find it useful to spend a few minutes coming up with a thoughtful and critical response. Doing so might not only contribute meaningfully to discussion but it might let you work through how some of those assumptions may not hold up to real scrutiny.
    - wahnfrieden 4y ago
      I’ll think about it
- richbell 4y ago
  One of the most soulless companies in Canada has a special department you can contact for any complaints or questions and they will do everything in their power to make things right or answer your questions in a timely manner. The trick is that it's not well-known and not accessible through their normal abysmal customer service channels. There are absolutely people that care in many organizations, if you can find them. Usually searching for "ombudsman" or "corporate secretary" will lead you in the right direction.
RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 4y ago
> Do you think the executives care about your letter? Some do. A few years ago I flew with $EAST_ASIAN_AIRLINE and had some complications with my checked baggage. The gate agent was courteous and patient in understanding and resolving my issues. After everything's sorted out, she gave me the typical "if you're satisfied with my service, please write or call ..." As the interaction was positive, and I've got nothing else to do on the flight, I wrote a brief e-mail expressing my satisfaction with the earlier service. Maybe a week later, I received a reply stating that they were pleased that I had good service, and said gate agent would be commended. Of course I have no way of telling for sure, I don't believe that it's a canned automated response, given that it was sent days later, the reply's formatting's simple, and that the reply's grammatically correct but stilted. In contrast, I flew with $US_AIRLINE last year, in first class. I went to the airport early and requested if I could be re-booked for an earlier flight. The agent "helpfully" re-booked me, but in economy. It was clear that the agent had overlooked that I was flying first class. It couldn't be re-booked and I got a look of "well it's not my fault and you shoulda told me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" Fine, I thought, but at least I still get express security lane and lounge access, right? I was assured that they'll call ahead so there shouldn't be any problem. That turned out to be a lie. The security agent didn't know what I was talking about when I got there. Same deal when I try to enter the lounge, but I guess the lounge agent took pity on me and "did me a favor" -- not "I apologize for the errors so far, and this is the least I could do" -- and let me into the lounge at least. I should emphasize that at no point did I raise my voice nor disrespect the agents I'd spoken to, though by the time I was at the lounge I probably did sound slightly upset. There was no WiFi on that flight, but you bet I wrote a lengthy complaint when I got home. I didn't even get an automated response back. > Stop going to the place that treats you badly [...] I agree that's likely the most effective approach. I no longer fly with $US_AIRLINE unless I absolutely have to. I've not had a bad interaction with SWA thus far, and was in fact planning on flying with them sometime in February. Perhaps I should reconsider, but the alternative would be $$$ more expensive (and I may have to fly $US_AIRLINE), so I might still risk it. That's the rub, isn't it: when it comes down to it airline passengers, including myself, are quite price sensitive, so it's totally rational for airlines to optimize that over everything else.

throwawaysleep 4y ago

Anecdotal, but they have cared enough to get back to me and it mattered enough to employees I have written letters for to track me down.

Eisenstein 4y ago

I do think that some do. A well written, polite, short letter expressing a issue and how it is detrimental to an organization and how it impacts customers would be welcome by any competent executive or manager. If they don't want that knowledge, then I am sure that is common, but it is not ubiquitous.

wahnfrieden 4y ago
Oh please
- Eisenstein 4y ago
  Instead of dismissing things off-hand because they don't fit your assumptions, you may find it useful to spend a few minutes coming up with a thoughtful and critical response. Doing so might not only contribute meaningfully to discussion but it might let you work through how some of those assumptions may not hold up to real scrutiny.
  - wahnfrieden 4y ago
    I’ll think about it
richbell 4y ago
One of the most soulless companies in Canada has a special department you can contact for any complaints or questions and they will do everything in their power to make things right or answer your questions in a timely manner. The trick is that it's not well-known and not accessible through their normal abysmal customer service channels. There are absolutely people that care in many organizations, if you can find them. Usually searching for "ombudsman" or "corporate secretary" will lead you in the right direction.

RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 4y ago

> Do you think the executives care about your letter? Some do. A few years ago I flew with $EAST_ASIAN_AIRLINE and had some complications with my checked baggage. The gate agent was courteous and patient in understanding and resolving my issues. After everything's sorted out, she gave me the typical "if you're satisfied with my service, please write or call ..." As the interaction was positive, and I've got nothing else to do on the flight, I wrote a brief e-mail expressing my satisfaction with the earlier service. Maybe a week later, I received a reply stating that they were pleased that I had good service, and said gate agent would be commended. Of course I have no way of telling for sure, I don't believe that it's a canned automated response, given that it was sent days later, the reply's formatting's simple, and that the reply's grammatically correct but stilted. In contrast, I flew with $US_AIRLINE last year, in first class. I went to the airport early and requested if I could be re-booked for an earlier flight. The agent "helpfully" re-booked me, but in economy. It was clear that the agent had overlooked that I was flying first class. It couldn't be re-booked and I got a look of "well it's not my fault and you shoulda told me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" Fine, I thought, but at least I still get express security lane and lounge access, right? I was assured that they'll call ahead so there shouldn't be any problem. That turned out to be a lie. The security agent didn't know what I was talking about when I got there. Same deal when I try to enter the lounge, but I guess the lounge agent took pity on me and "did me a favor" -- not "I apologize for the errors so far, and this is the least I could do" -- and let me into the lounge at least. I should emphasize that at no point did I raise my voice nor disrespect the agents I'd spoken to, though by the time I was at the lounge I probably did sound slightly upset. There was no WiFi on that flight, but you bet I wrote a lengthy complaint when I got home. I didn't even get an automated response back. > Stop going to the place that treats you badly [...] I agree that's likely the most effective approach. I no longer fly with $US_AIRLINE unless I absolutely have to. I've not had a bad interaction with SWA thus far, and was in fact planning on flying with them sometime in February. Perhaps I should reconsider, but the alternative would be $$$ more expensive (and I may have to fly $US_AIRLINE), so I might still risk it. That's the rub, isn't it: when it comes down to it airline passengers, including myself, are quite price sensitive, so it's totally rational for airlines to optimize that over everything else.