josephina

Well, I couldn't believe it. The lost luggage, well yeah. Since USAirways now uses Philadelphia as one of its international hubs, baggage handling is a disaster. But sending a complaint department overseas? It's like a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch.

I don't usually check luggage, but the recent no-liquids-allowed stuff forced me into the situation. In retrospect, I should have just tossed on my facial washes, hair stuff, red wine, etc.

But back to the outsourcing. I retrieved the luggage at the carousel in Phila(where it was totally covered in some sort of bright yellow chalk/paint stuff which I had to wash off)and then carried it to the reloading area. An acquaintance who was traveling the same route did the same.

When we landed at our home airport, both of our bags didn't show. By the way, what WAS on the carousel was a veritable mountain of luggage that wasn't picked up.

We waited in line for an hour and were treated very nicely by two USAirways reps. We were told our luggage was still in Phil and would be arriving around midnight that night. We were told it would be delivered to our houses by noon the next day and given a slip of paper with a six-letter file reference and an 800 number "just in case."

Noon came and went. No luggage for the acquaintance either. I called and got one of those automated responses (the robot voice is named "Alex&quot. "Alex" told me that he had NO INFORMATION about my luggage.

I called the 800 number again and went for the "other inquiries" option and got India, I think. The connection was very poor, and I had to repeat the six letter file reference six times, but the person on the other end was able to determine that they had found my bag, that it was at my airport, and that they would be contacting me immediately to deliver it.

Five hours came and went. No contact. I tried for the next two hours to get through on the contact line. No luck. Some wierd music on a bad connection played continuously.

When I finally got through (India once more on an even poorer connection), I once again played "Can you understand six letters?" I was told that my luggage would be arriving at my airport at 10 pm.

OK. Let me review this: It was there in the morning, then it wasn't, now it was going to arrive, then...

I give up.

I am going to take off work tomorrow morning so that I can physically drive to the airport to speak to someone in English.

Cato

Many people from India speak better English then many Americans, and they are very polite.

francophile03

To me, Josephina didn't say the Indians didn't speak good English. She said that the connection was poor.

Cato

I would agree if she had stopped after the word "someone" and not added "in english".

MarkvonKramer

Cato,

I'm certain that the fact that many people in India speak English better than most Americans and that those same people are very polite will result in OP's luggage arriving expeditiously and without them having to take a day from work to sort this out.

Thank you for your help.

MvK

tuscanlifeedit

I think that if more people show up at the airport with complaints, outsourcing may not seem like such a good idea to the airlines.

I have gone to the airport to change a ticket, because the outsourced exchange support was unable to do it.

It is a pain, but if it is the only way to get good service, then I'll do it.

I am hoping that if the desk agents at the airport are bothered enough with business that should have been taken care of by outsourced customer service, well, maybe someone will get the message that outsourcing isn't working.

MarkvonKramer

Right you are Girlspytravel.

My most recent flights were on USAir through Philly (not international). The line at OIA looked to be hours long but took no more than 10 minutes to get through and BP issued.

Not a USAir issue but the TSA lines at OIA moved far more quickly than I would ever have imagined.

I was pleasantly surprised at my experience with USAir. Even the transfer from concourse B to F in Philly was efficiently handled. If USAir is competitive with their international flights next May, I may just choose them because of this experience.

MvK

josephina

Tuscanfeededit and Francophile: I got my luggage! My two liters of Burgundy (Pommard) are safe! Heck with the clothes--

I made one more desperate call to the 800 number around midnight last night and again, got the same poor connection and another sweet soul (I think) trying her best. I truly do not know if she said my bag was going to another airport or if she said my friend's bag was going to another airport.

She then repeated my bag number several times and said that they were still looking for it.

I decided to go back to square one. The airport agent Saturday night seemed pretty saavy about my bag's location and eventual destination. I drove out at five a.m.this morning, dashed into the baggage area, and in the corner were BOTH pieces of luggage--my friend's and mine. Together! Plus, I am happy to report, a delivery serviceman was just getting ready to load mine to send it my way and he was pleased as punch to hand it over. I almost kissed him (but I didn't offer to share the wine).

Anyway, I asked the delivery guy about the outsource business. "Isn't it the dumbest thing you ever heard of," he said. "It's like going out of your way just to make people angry for nothing. It just doesn't work. And when I deliver the luggage, they're mad at me, like I made the tom-fool decision to have someone in another country handling lost luggage in this one."

Like you, Tuscanfeededit, when the USAirways phone agent system changed, the only thing I figured out to do was start driving out to the airport to visit Mark, ace ticket agent. Hmm, I probably SHOULD offer to share the Burgundy with Mark.

I digress. Anyway, he was just coming on duty as I left. He laughed I told him the reason for my quick visit and then very seriously added that he just can't understand why any person could justify that business decision.

I never did ask him if it was just outsourced on weekends. Now that's something I should check on before I write a letter, although if weekend travelers are the "checked luggage" people, then it still doesn't make sense, does it?

Here is exactly what is so puzzling and ironic: the people in baggage claims at the airport were aces. Obviously, someone at the top knew how to hire the best to staff that counter.

On Saturday night, under seige from a 25- to 30-person line, the baggage agents sweetly--at 11 pm or so-- calmed down one man with a really short temper while handing tissues to a sobbing little teenager who had lost all her trip souvenirs in the luggage, patting her on the back and giving her sips of water.

Taking one look at my glazed face--I had started the day at 6 a.m.CEST with a two-hour TGV dash to Paris and was now at 11 pm CDT time--the service agent said, "I think I better make this short and sweet. Your bag is in Philly. Their message to me is cryptic, but I'm betting bottom dollar is will be here on the next flight which is supposed to get in here in about an hour. If it's not on that one, there's an 8 a.m. flight tomorrow. If I'm right--and I usually am--a truck is going to be in your driveway around noon."

To then bookend that type of competent, reassuring service with a series of unending weak phone connections and totally incomprehensible and conflicting answers just doesn't make good business sense.

I've babbled on here enough. Work--three weeks of it--calls! Thanks, Tuscanfeed and Francophile, for being so understanding! Sante! Oh, I have to write my trip report about Coeur de France Ecole de Langues. Loved it. Will tell more later.

Jo

ira

Hi Jo,

Glad it ended well.

Since luggage is tracked by computer, and the computer requires that someone at the airport enter its location, it doesn't matter whether you call Philadelphia, New Delhi or Moscow.

If the people at the airport have messed up, your baggage is "lost".

Dukey

I'm sorry your luggage was mis-directed.
I'm also sorry that you've decided that if someone in a country other than India were contacted the luggage would have reached you sooner.

I'm sorry you didn't ask that handler guy why your luggage was sitting there so long and hadn't been delivered yet...and don't forget, HE isn't in India..he's HERE!

I think Ira has it right on this one and hopefully uou are glad your luggage and your wine eventually found you...it could have ended up IN India!!!

josephina

Ira, I understand what you're saying, but you are missing my point. I'm sure my lack of sleep has made my writing a little less than cohesive.

I have a copy of what the original bag agent entered into the system, and it jives with what I think occurred with my bag and the ton of bags that belonged in other cities mounded up on the carousel that evening.

Do you honestly think I should or would blame the baggage agent because she didn't extend her shift for another 8 hours to land my bag on my doorstep personally? You think I should or would even think of taking out frustration out on a delivery guy? He's not even a baggage handler. He's the local guy subcontracted by the airline. I'm supposed to blame him because his shift started this a.m. when I walked in and not yesterday?

No, no, no. Do you honestly think I'm blaming three telephone operators trying to make a living in India or wherever?

I am, though, laying the dead cat on the doorstep of the airline. If they are going to outsource, then they have to get their act together. They have to get their computer tracking system straight and they have to give the outsource telephone agent a clear line and an up-to-date computer feed. They can't go out of their way to set up a system that solves no problems and generates ill will.

If they want to blame Philly, well, they closed perfectly good gates in a lot of other cities. It was up to them to bring that baggage handing system up to speed.

Remember that the "automated" voice system I was first directed to? "Alex" spoke in clear English--but he had no info on my bag--not even info that it had been found in Phila, a fact that had already been established six hours before. Ira, my bag still has its tracking tag on it. If the airport agent had the info that it had been tracked in Philly, if I had a copy of that information, why didn't the robot have it? What's with the computer system? There should be a line-by-line automated history there.

Even better, there is a supposed computer tracking system for customer use on the USAirways website, by the way, that could work just like UPS, FedEx tracking for client information. The initial automated phone message at 800 number directs the client there, promising its convenience. Just enter in your 6-digit number, and hey, your problems are solved.

Well, not quite. They have it set up as another deadend--you send them your number and your email address. Off the email goes into cyberspace, and where it goes, who knows. Neither my friend nor I got a response that way.

Deadend number 3, right?

Again, let me review. I have my bags, I have my life, tonight I'll get sleep and I'm just peachy, but it's disheartening that a company just coming out of bankruptcy on the backs of severely cut wages, a massive loan from my tax dollars, and the lost jobs of thousands of people, has yet to think their end games through. I'm sure you were taught, Ira, that it was a responsibility of good management to be good managers so that not only their clients but also their workforce was served honestly and faithfully.

Cato

I'm glad it ended well. Looks like those Indian workers did a good job for you.

Sher

josephina.
I use US Airways almost exclusively since I do not fly for business and those leisure miles are hard to come by so I concentrate on this airline since I fly from Pittsburgh.

I have had relatively few baggage problems lately and have not had to deal with oursourced employees for this service.

BUT. Since US Airways has outsourced their reservations department, I have had many problems. I do not know if it is dealing with just this airline as most of my reservations are made with them.
Also, we were in Florida during Katrina, and the person on the information line was very difficult to understand. It was not their fault that they did not have current information on flights and sent us to the airport (90 miles) when all of the planes had been cancelled including ours. This was the fault of the airline, but I had to repeatedly ask them what they were saying as I just could not understand them. My husband had the same problem.

I also had difficulty with recent frequent flyer reservations which could not be made on line. I was lucky the fifth time I called and was connected with someone in Mexico City who had lived in the US for some time.

I do not believe that this airline cannot find anyone in the US to do these jobs. I would hope that at least they could be understood and could understand me.

Tries2PakLite

My husband flies through Philly constantly-- weekly. It is the black hole of airports as far as we are concerned. His flights almost never leave on time and if they do, his luggage is lost.

We fly USAir exclusively, because of our longstanding miles program and the areas of the country where we have lived. I can't imagine anyone calling their service top-notch. They've had way too much time to convince us otherwise.

As for the outsourcing, if they have indeed done so, I think the aggravation comes more from the fact that the person you are speaking to is so very far away from the problem. I like to know that there is someone on the ground at the problem spot working on a resolution. JMO.

francophile03

I hate to say this but I will say it anyway. US Air has also outsourced customer service reps. to the Philippines. I hate talking to them as they lack any courtesy. I've never talked to any one of these reps. who understood procedures nor did they seem trained properly. First thing is they answer the phone with just their name and a bored tone. They never identify the airline they work for. Also they are impatient and are quick to tell you they are not able to assist you. In my case regarding a flight to Philly and asking about paying for an upgrade the rep. said my reservation is in the America West database but the flight is with US Air. Very confusing. But the rep. could not explain why this was nor could she do anything to help me. Yes. The two airlines merged but it's caused lots of problems with reservations. I got so fed up that I told her to transfer me to America West and spoke to a rep. based in the US and who understood what my question was about.

josephina

You all are voicing the experience I've been having, too. As you said, if you haven't had to check luggage, that problem hasn't surfaced in our daily travels, but everything else seems to be straining at the bits.

About two months ago I had to deal with an America West agent. She was so nice, so charming I thought I was talking to the wrong airline. And then I remembered I used to chat with USAirways agents not so very long ago.

I'm always on the shuttle plan, too, so I feel your pain. I'm Gold Preferred this year; was once Chairman's but I'm giving JetBlue a shot now. At least their boarding passes download within my lifetime.

For those of you in Pittsburgh--well, there was an airport I loved to fly out of. It was walkable end to end, had great shopping. I used to make sure it was my "hop, skip and jump" because even though the town is certainly no known for balmy weather, somehow the planes to NY and Chi-town seemed to get off much more on time than at Philly.

I wonder how many of you make bets with your co-workers that your plane out of Philly will be "delayed" for unspecificed reasons so much that it magically becomes consolidated with the next flight--or even the next two flights. Has happened way too much to my office gang. My one co-worker refers to PHL as the entire plot source for "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."

Oh, I forgot--Nisha is here at my elbow, and she wants everyone to know that yes, she does speak English better than most Americans but no, she is not polite. She's enjoyed the stereotyping. The other hoot is the friend who lost the luggage with me is Indian also. I forwarded her this web commentary and she wrote back,"I speak four Indian dialects and I don't know WHAT the heck those gals were speaking."

We don't think it was the Phillipines, though.

Well, thank you for commiserating. I just have to share the email from USAirways that just came regarding my lost luggage.

It has my file number--and it's blank!!!!! Way to go--at least they're consistent.

francophile03

Yep. My return flight from PHL was delayed for four hours. The original reason was because the plane was having mechanical problems in San Diego and that delayed the flight to Philly. In addition, I was further delayed because of the lightening storms at the airport. The latter was out of US Airways' control though. However, the flight that was before mine was delayed because crew members called in sick. Those passengers had to wait until the airline could contact a new set of crew members to replace the original ones. So I'm prepared to be delayed from now on at PHL flying US Airways.

But I never want to speak to another rep. from the Philippines.

BTilke

Apparently in some cases, it's only half-baked ;-)
Joesphina, our sympathies. We have had to deal with many customer service "desks" based in India. While most genuinely tried to be helpful, it became clear on occasion that when they had to deviate from the "script" and had to deal with unusual situations, they would become flustered and in some cases, their command of English slipped as well...stress made their accents become much stronger and thus it was harder for us to follow what they were saying. And it's true, that at times, they don't have all the info at hand they should. Which is not their fault, but it's not YOUR fault either.
I understand your frustration and don't worry about attackers like GirlSpyTravel, who can be one of the most aggressive posters on Fodors.

tuscanlifeedit

I am sending a copy of this thread to USAirways. My complaints to them over the years (and recently too, when I complained of the loss of the "search by fare" feature on their website) have met with little or inadequate response. I once had a customer service agent (ironic name, no?) tell me that "of course you are unhappy; you're not getting what you want," as though wanting good service for good money was an outrageous expectation.

daveesl

Ah, who remembers the old days of Eastern Airlines, when all bags went to San Juan.

Fly from LAX to Dulles, non-stop, bag went to Puerto Rico. Fly from Tampa to Miami, bag went to Puerto Rico.


dave