My Computer Says So

jason.averbook — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:39:57 GMT

At Knowledge Infusion, we frequently discuss and implement strategies to help organizations to deal with the Milenial population. Remember, this is the population that most call "Digital Natives" and live and die by their computer.

Tonight, in the Atlanta Hartsfield airport, a true example of someone who couldn't think outside of their computer. While checking in to a flight from Bermuda to Atlanta to Richmond, the gate agent said the following:

"Mr. Averbook, my computer shows that you are in Chicago. The only way you will be able to get on this plane is if you buy a ticket from Atlanta to Richmond." As you can imagine, a first reaction might be "well, I am not in Chicago, I am right here in front of you.", which is what I said. After another glance at the computer the gate agent said:

"I am sorry, we show you flew from Bermuda to Chicago, therefore unable to use this ticket. If you have further questions, please pick up the phone behind you and dial 1122." Deep breath. As I turned around to use the phone, slowly picked it up, dialing 1122 and I heard, "we are unable to help you since we are experiencing high call volume, you may hold or call back later."

What did I do, I held. 15 minutes till flight time. Finally an answer on the phone, it was someone in India. How did I know that, they told me they were in India after I was repremanded for not telling them that Richmond was in Virginia and Virginia was in the USA. The agent on the phone said "I am in India, I don't know which Richmond you were speaking of." After we got that straightened out, the agent in India told me again that I was in Chicago and I would have to find a way to get to Chicago to get my flight.

Clearly frustrated, I hung up the phone and walked back to customer service. I was stopped by a nice woman, Jasmine, who said "you look frustrated." She looked up my record, said "wow, someone made a real mistake" and she walked me on to the plane. She was someone in her mid 50's that had clearly earned her stripes at the airline.

Why am I rambling about this - message is simple. People, process and technology - a message we discuss continually at Knowledge Infusion. The technology is only as good as the deployment and the use of it. Without the knowledge and skills around customer service and a genuine care about others, technology is nothing.

Lets hope that this upcoming generation is truly more about togetherness than the generations past. Afterall, most futurists say that the Milenials are a generation with a focus on "we" and "team". Hopefully, that can be applied to customer service into the future.

I would love to hear your stories of dealing with someone who couldn't get away from their computer screen.

Another infusion of knowledge...

Knowledge Infuser

My Computer Says So