American Express fails the common sense test

 

American Express take a bow. 

AmEx joins my list of major corporations that have failed to deliver even basic customer service in 2022. 

You'd think with technology improving in leaps and bounds that these big companies would be improving their offerings. Yet customer service varies from pathetic to non-existent. 

Among the major companies that have completely failed this year are Air Canada (incompetent beyond belief), and Qantas/nib travel insurance (ridiculously slow and deliberately obstructuctive). 

Throw in the Westin Harbor Castle Hotel in Toronto with its lamentable under-staffing and the inability of AirAsia to resolve issues with its absurdly named SuperApp, and I had plenty of issues with big companies during the year. 

But American Express must take the annual award for corporate stupidity. 

My monthly statement arrived today (December 28). And it must be paid by December 30, or I face a financial penalty for late payment. As AmEx puts it: "To minimise further interest charges". Even though I am actually not in arrears. 

But I have two days to pay, which is not only absurd, but you would think is also illegal. 

What a pity their "membership benefits" do not include some common sense. 

All those highly paid operatives and high-tech computer systems and it was beyond these boffins to send out their statements before the Christmas period, or to extend the payment period. 

Or perhaps no one told them that Australia Post takes a few days off during the holiday. 

Or maybe, which I strongly suspect, they simply don't give a shit. What a bunch of arsehats. 

     

Why customers should speak up about bad service

Why are Australians so bad at complaining about poor service?

Most Australians are not known for being shy and retiring - but when it comes to speaking their mind about slackness from airlines and five-star hotels they are noticeably reticent.

Sure they might Tweet about their experience later, but the best time to call out under-delivering operators is at the time.

That means calling for the manager when you are in a 30-minute queue to check into the room for which you are paying several hundred dollars a night.

Or asking to see a supervisor when you have waited an hour for your luggage to arrive at the airport conveyor belt.

The public should not harass over-worked staff - but take their complaints to management, who are ultimately responsible.   

The way the travel industry tells it, they are keen to hear about issues that customers suffer "so we can offer a better service".

But are they really? And if customers let them get away with dismal service will it continue?

Luke Martin, head of the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania, tweeted at the weekend about his experience at the ritzy - and expensive - The Star on the Gold Coast, where he encountered a 30-strong queue to check in - at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon.

"Beyond shit" was his succinct analysis.

The general manager, or duty manager, was clearly at fault here. 

Someone should have been going along the line, explaining the reason for the delay and offering drinks vouchers or somesuch to placate the tired travellers not being shown any "hospitality".

Airlines are just as guilty of treating their passengers poorly, despite spending thousands on conducting surveys about "what our passengers want".

The Australian Frequent Flyer website reported this week that Virgin Australia discovered there were fewer seats available on a recent Boeing 737 flight from Cairns to Brisbane than the number of booked passengers.

There were passengers with onward connections that they were unable to find seats for, so they asked for volunteers to catch the next flight - three hours later.

Their offer was laughably bad: 140 Velocity Frequent Flyer points, which are worth between 70 cents and around $3, depending on how they’re spent.

Insulting really. I hope someone spoke up.

Image: Luke Martin, Twitter. 

Big-spending stores accused of misleading customers

Who would have thought that nice, cuddly Gerry Harvey would mislead his customers?

Amazing, but true.

An investigation from from consumer advocate CHOICE ahead of this year’s Black Friday (ho hum) sales has found Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys stores are misleading customers about their rights to a refund, replacement or repair.

CHOICE conducted a mystery shop of 80 Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys stores across the country and found:

# 71% of stores provided misleading information on a consumer’s rights if their product broke beyond the warranty period.
# 91% tried to sell poor-value extended warranties that often don’t provide much more cover than you already have under the Australian Consumer Law.
# Stores argued "if it's over two years, you have to pay for the repairs yourself”, “After the manufacturer's warranty there's nothing we can do, it's out of our hands” and “If something happened after one year unfortunately it's at your own cost.”

Read the full story here: www.choice.com.au/warrantymysteryshop

All three brands are known for their big spending on advertising, so don't expect to read too much about this in the mainstream media.

“We were shocked by the results of our mystery shop of Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys," says CHOICE editorial director Marg Rafferty.

"Consumer guarantees mean retailers must help customers if a product breaks within a reasonable period of time - even if the manufacturer’s warranty has expired.

“When we asked about consumer rights outside the manufacturer’s warranty period, stores tried to sell us extended warranties, which are not much more than a sneaky sales tactic designed to squeeze more money from concerned customers.

“Existing consumer rights provide all the protection you need against faulty products, so it’s incredibly disappointing to see these big retailers pushing poor-value extended warranties onto consumers during a cost of living crisis.”

While it is illegal for retailers to breach consumer guarantees, currently there are no fines for breaking this law.

“Without fines for doing the wrong thing, too many businesses are getting away with telling consumers they’ll be denied their right to a repair, replacement or refund when something goes wrong with a product or service,” says Rafferty.

Booking through AirAsia an exercise in futility

You need a lot of time and a lot of patience if you are planning to book travel through AirAsia online. Even then you might end up baffled and frustrated.

I've travelled several times with AirAsia and always been satisfied with the quality of the flights, the food and the value for money. Using their app to book fights, however, is a whole new experience in fruitless endeavour.

AirAsia boasts it can take multiple bookings across various providers.   

Needing a cheap one-way flight, I went to the app and booked what I thought was a satisfactory deal.

Sure enough. An email arrived, saying:

"We've received your payment and are now processing your booking with the airline. This usually takes a few minutes but may take up to 24 hours. We’ll send you the travel itinerary with the airline’s booking number once it’s confirmed. If we can’t confirm your booking, we’ll refund the full amount that was charged to your original payment method."

And that was nine days ago. Since then, silence.

The email contained a reference number, but no booking number.

After a couple of days of radio silence I tried responding to the email. It bounced back.

I went back online, but the app does not recognise the reference number.

So I'm not sure if I have a booking or not. If not, I need to book another one.

In frustration, I sent an email to AirAsia's Group Communications person: Vanessa Jane Regan, asking how someone with this issue should proceed.

She sends me emails all the time, but is rather less adept at responding. Zero communication.

I tried again. Still radio silence.

So I have no idea whether I have a booking or not, And if I do then I have no idea of the booking number.

Next step, AirAsia's online customer support line, which is apparently manned by an AI creature rather than a human being.

"I'm AVA, AirAsia Virtual Allstar"

I asked my question: "I tried to make a booking several days ago. Reference 1XXXXX. Was told it would be confirmed within 24 hours. But have heard nothing. Has this been cancelled? Have I been charged?

The response less than helpful: "Hmm.. I can help to give you a more accurate answer if you can use one or two simple keywords like "baggage" OR "change flight". Can you please try again?

I did. Silence.

Tried again later. "We are experiencing a high volume of guests reaching us at the moment with an estimated 1 hour wait time. If your flight booking is not within the next 24 hours, we request that you contact us later. I am of course here to help you in the meantime! Thanks for your patience."

My flight is not, of course, within 24 hours but I do need to know my status.

Tough. AirAsia apparently doesn't care about customer service. Buyer beware.

UPDATE: I finally got a totally unsatisfactory response via email - without any explanation.

It said: "We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. The booking under XXXXXXXX has been cancelled due to a failed booking. As such, we would like to process the refund to your original payment method.

They then listed 11 pieces of information they needed for a refund to be issued. 

Never again incompetents. Never again.    

When the customer is wrong even if he is right

Remember the old adage: The customer is always right? 

I do most of my shopping nowadays in small, family-operated businesses, where nothing is too much trouble. 

Today I ventured into a massive Big W store where the opposite applies; Here the customer is wrong, even if he or she is right. 

And he or she can expect to treated with disdain, as well. 

My consumer experience went like this: I picked up up a few items and then headed for the only check-out actually manned by a human being. Big W, you see, prefers you to self check-out so it can employ fewer staff. 

On the way to the checkout I spotted a packet of crisps for $1.60 - a great deal. So I picked up a packet. 

When I was given my receipt, I thought it was a couple of dollars higher than I had expected.

I checked, and found I had been charged $4.15 for my packet of crisps, rather than the clearly advertised $1.60. 

I pointed this out to the check-in lady, expecting a reimbursement. 

But this is Big W, where "policy" is more important than politeness. 

It is, apparently, "policy" that a customer cannot be given his or her money back directly, even when the scanning system has failed.

The customer must walk to the other side of the store and then queue at a "service" desk, to get back his or her $2.65. 

The check-in lady, however, had not advised the "service" operatives of the issue, despite me showing her the price sign and her being aware of the mistake. So the "service" operatives had to make phone call (to whom I have no idea) to check out my story.

"We can't believe what every customer tells us," they said. Policy, of course.

Eventually, $2.65 was credited back to my card. 

I then sought out the store manager to let her know that their scanning system was faulty and that their customer service polices suck. 

"We are so sorry our policies caused you inconvenience today," she said, dripping in insincerity and sarcasm; clearly seeing me as an annoyance. 

If I had not had a few minutes to kill I would probably have not checked my receipt, or maybe have written the $2.65 off if I was in a hurry. 

How many customers do that, I wonder? How many $2.65s in favour of Big W?.

My wife tells me that Woolworths supermarkets give you the item for free if the wrong price is scanned. Which is both a polite way of saying "sorry" and decent customer service. 

Maybe Big W, which is owned by Woolworths, should examine both its systems and policies. Or maybe it just doesn't give a damn.