Hi,
I wish to bring to your kind notice an embarrassing experience I have had yesterday, 15th September at theThai airways office in Bangalore.
1. I had to wait for about 10 minutes as there was no one at the reception desk and I did not know whom to call for. There were people walking around in the lobby but no one cared to ask me if I needed any help. But that was not the real issue. Read on.
2. Inside this glass cabin there was a lady[Shrilatha] attending to someone, after that "someone" left, I walked in.
Below is the conversation that went through between us.
Upon entering before I even got a chance to take a seat [note that I was not offered a seat] I was asked, "you want to book Thai airways? " with a surprised tone. her face, expression and body language all indicated that she did not believe even for a second that I could even think of travelling.
I said "Yes. do you handle anything else too here in this office? " ignoring her expression attitude etc.
She says "we do a lot of administrative work too around here."
I say " Oh I am only interested in doing a booking for Bangalore-Bangkok round trip."
She says "do you have the travel documents with you, passport? " again she has this surprised look. It was as if she could not believe I even had a passport, let alone walking in to book tickets…
I said "yes, passport copies, if that is OK! "
She asks" how will you pay? " again, her body language, facial expression indicated that she did not really think I was prepared to pay and she believed this was a total waste of time and she did not believe I can even afford a trip.
I say "credit card..why, you do accept it right? "
She says "yes" and does some typing.
I tell her my dates and passenger details. she calculates the fare cost and gives me the same written in a slip.
I ask her "why is the infant rate 6K, I was told by the official over phone that it is 10% of the adult rates and the adult rates are 14K per person! "
She says " 10% of IATA rates", literally snapped at me, it looked like she almost cursed me for my heights of ignorance!
I say "what is IATA rate? " again ignoring her attitude.
she says "rates specified by IATA", again mocking at me, with that cynical smile.
I say "I understand IATA rate is rates specified by IATA what is the price? "
she says "57, 000"
I said "OK. so any VISA rules, vaccines for children, papers, pre-requisites etc.. because I do not want to land there and get into issues"
she says "nothing" with a dismissive attitude.
I ask "is a travel insurance must for travelling to Bangkok"
she says "all that you must ask your agent I will not be able to help you." first with a hint of irritation and then a mocking smile, her body language indicating she is thinking, "god knows where these people come from, cannot even afford a ticket and they want to ask for all sort of details". This was it, her mocking was going on all the while, right from my first question and I was trying to ignore it from the very beginning and I could no longer tolerate it.
I told her "enough of mocking, if you cannot help fine, just say so and I will get my details from elsewhere. I was not interested in coming all the way to your office, waste my time and yours. But when I asked your official for some details over phone, I was told to walk in to get more details, thus I came in.
she say "I never mocked at anybody"
I said "yes, you can tell me that, but it shows.."
And I get up and go out.
Then I went back to ask her good name and was told "shrilatha". I am pretty sure quite a few customers would have walked out due to this lady's arrogance. A front desk lady who is incharge of booking tickets should not have this kind of attitude and head weight. She should not even be gauging the customers for their worth or making her assumptions and conclusions.
She is paid to help us get the flight details and travel information, and just that.
Having such an ill mannered front desk not only spoils the reputation of the airlines but will also make the potential customers go for other airlines.
Meanwhile I got the friendly travel consultants at makemytrip.com[tollfree] to book my tickets in the Thai airways flight. Bangalore to Bangkok and back.
We are 4 adults and 1 child and 1 infant travelling on 24th Septeber 2009 and returning on the 1st october.
I was deeply disappointed by this lady's attititude and treatment meted out to me.
maybe she should be given some training on Public relations and other soft skills. It is said that the front desk people are like the face of the company, their hospitality and appearance reflects the company.
Much said I leave it to the concerned to do the needful.
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