I have been keeping a pretty close eye on weather-related travel news this week as I prepare to head to New Orleans on Friday, and obviously, the news this week has been misery heaped upon misery for travelers delayed by perpetual storms across the country.  Obviously, there’s not much anyone can do when Mother Nature decides to throw a temper tantrum, but articles like this one, about people stranded overnight at an unheated Amtrak station, make me crazy.

The lack of customer service (or even basic human decency) in the travel industry in this country is appalling.  Why is it so hard for these businesses to realize that providing for their customers’ basic needs during times of distress like this is the very least they can do?  According to the article, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari has said Amtrak wants to hear feedback from customers so they can “develop a better response next time.”  My God, you’d think they’d never had to deal with a weather delay before.  They’ve never considered what they could do for their customers if they were stranded by weather?  Seriously?  How is it they’re still in business?

Dear Travel Companies (Amtrak, airlines, airports, etc.),

Since it’s obvious none of you have taken a seminar on customer service, let me give you a few pointers.  The number one rule of customer service is that you put your customer’s needs first.  I know this is a radical shift in thought for businesses that only care about the bottom line, but please try very hard to wrap your brains around this.  It’s about making your customers so happy they’ll keep coming back with their business, thus making you money.  See how win-win that is?  When your customers are stranded overnight in a waiting area so cold they can see their breath, you need to provide the basic necessities to them–go get some space heaters, some blankets and pillows, some hot food and beverages to hand out.  Think like a homeless shelter or the Red Cross.  Or a human being for that matter.

Very sincerely,

SoloFriendly.com

The other thing that makes me crazy is when hundreds of people are stranded overnight in airports, and all the restaurants close up for the night.  Would it be so hard to do the decent thing and stay open so people can get something to eat and drink?  It’s not like we’re asking them to give it away for free.  Or when passengers are trapped on an airplane for ten hours on the tarmac–the very least the airline can do is make sure everyone has plenty of food and water and access to the bathrooms.  At the very least.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out, people.

Of course Amtrak and Greyhound and the airlines and airports aren’t responsible for the weather, but it’s how they respond to situations like this that people remember.  That’s where customer service and basic human decency–or the lack thereof–comes into play.  Companies want customers to be brand loyal, but how can they expect that when they don’t treat us like human beings?  Especially in today’s poor economy, people are not as quick as they once were to part with the few dollars they have left, so any business that wants to stay in business had better learn how to be customer-service oriented if they hope to get and keep customers over the long-term.

One final thought:  It would be a much more pleasant world for all of us to live in if all companies subscribed to this kind of customer service.