Why Do I Write These Letters?
I travel. A lot. Last year I spent about 300 nights in hotels.
That means I also spend a lot of time on airplanes. Airplane travel has become and incredibly de-humanizing experience. The major air carriers are in a "race to the bottom" in providing the least possible service and value to their customers.
And there's no point in complaining to the front-line staff that most passengers encounter: the airport staff and flight attendants. The system is rigged, and they're as powerless to fix anything as the customers are. You may as well not ruin their day.
When I encounter bad customer service, I'm left with frustration and no reasonable place to vent my spleen. So I write letters and mail them. I recognize that the letter will be read by a low-level staff person who is also not empowered to change anything. But the act of writing the letter helps me blow off frustration and move on.
Why This Blog?
I'm still frustrated.
Past history has shown that United Air Lines will eventually bestir itself to action if there is sufficient public embarrassment. These letters are not a creative, cheeky music video, and I doubt they'll garner many page views. But getting this content out there and indexed by the major search engines is my minimal form of protest. It's more satisfying than having the letters simply black hole in United's Customer Service department.
Why Don't I Switch Airlines?
Let me just get this question out of the way right now.
It may be hard for those of you who live in major markets to understand, but for those of us in small markets in the Western United States, United is pretty much the only game in town. That means I'm stuck with them.
On the other hand, that also means they're stuck with me. I have a blog. Hear me roar.
