As reported yesterday by Joshua Freed, AP Airlines Writer, United Airlines "told workers on Tuesday that it would stop publishing its customer relations phone number, which will be turned off altogether at the end of April." United Airlines spokesperson, Robin Urbanski said "the Chicago-based airline is able to respond better to customers who write, since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response." That may be true, but would it be a timely response?
Talk about flying the unfriendly skys, so much for High Tech, High Touch.
I believe United Airlines has defined access to a live human voice to be a premium service. At a time where Internet technology is focused on interactivity and user engagement, United has chosen to send customer service to the discount rack. It will surely reduce expenses, but can they afford the price?
When it comes to making technology work, there are two kinds of organizations, those who view the Internet as a tool, and those who see it as a weapon. The tool people use technology to provide infinite channels of communication. They use it to create a dialog on the customers turf, whichever channel they choose to use. The second group use technology as a weapon to hijack the customer experience.
I suspect the new system will use a support ticket architecture. Customers will submit a complaint ticket, receive confirmation via email then await a response. The challenge with this type of system is the initial response will either miss the mark prompting a follow up to clarify or request additional information. By phone this is handled by a simple question and immediate answer, by email this process often drags on for days.
I believe United Airlines is betting this arms length approach will provide a built-in cooling off period. I suspect customers who already come to this process at a low boil will quickly blow their stack. Once customers perceive United Airlines has turned a deaf ear to their concerns, they will turn to alternate sites like Untied.com in an attempt to air their grievance.
I believe technology can be used to create an effective customer service experience, but using technology to deflect or ignore is not the answer. What's your opinion? I invite you to post a comment to share your ideas or positive examples of customer service technology. I doubt United Airlines will be listening, but maybe we can use the power of the Internet as a tool to solve the problem ourselves.
