Posted on 12/17/2002 11:56:19 AM PST by GeneD
What do beleaguered United Airlines and McDonald's have in common? Lousy service. It drives customers away and it makes advertising a total waste of money. Nobody will pay attention to clever ad blandishments after they are yelled at by flight attendants (as my daughter and her family were) or had to wait 15 minutes for a Quarter-Pounder with Cheese (as I had to).
It's nice to know our family publishing company made more money this year than the U.S. airlines combined. What that shows is the big airlines' costs are too high and their revenue can't support them. Their only solution: Pare down operations, lower overhead and compete with the no-frills airlines.
It's not about price
However, price alone is not the sole reason to fly the cut-rate carriers. Though they don't offer amenities to speak of, I'm convinced people are flocking to the new lines because they're treated with respect there. As the head of JetBlue said on CBS's 60 Minutes a while ago, the major airlines "treat people like they're an annoyance....We won't scowl at you if you try to put something in the overhead bin."
When my daughter Heather and her family flew to Orlando from Chicago recently, there was a whole lot of scowling going on. Heather and her husband, Steven, have five children, including 8-month-old twin boys. It's a major expedition when they travel. United didn't make it any easier, beginning with the boarding process. When they handed the agent their tickets and IDs, the agent said each person had to carry their own. "But our boys are only 8 months old," Heather said. "Sorry, but you have to do that," the agent insisted.
When they finally got aboard, the flight attendant hurried them to buckle the twins' car seats. She said to Steven, "Sit. You have to sit down. We have to take off."
Berated over the loudspeaker
As the plane pulled away from the gate, both boys started to wail and Steven stood to get bottles from the diaper bag in the overhead bin. Over the loud speaker, the flight attendant said, "Sir, if you don't sit down we are going to have to stop the plane." A woman in front of Heather said, "Those stewardesses are not cutting you a break." As it turned out, the flight attendants were irritated and unhelpful the whole trip.
Chapter 11 won't help that much, I'm afraid. United will jettison costs and maybe even cut fares to compete with Southwest and JetBlue. But then they'll be an airline with cheaper fares that still treats passengers like they're a nuisance -- hardly a reason for passengers to abandon the cheap and friendly carriers.
McDonald's: Something they're not
McDonald's big problem? They tried to be something they're not, and in the process they became slow and unresponsive. People don't go to McDonald's for great-tasting food; they go for (duh) fast food. The last time I went to McDonald's the person taking my order also put my meal together. The guy in front of me said the same thing happens every Sunday. (Maybe he keeps coming back for the great taste).
At least McDonald's, under new management, can go back to doing what it does best: pumping out assembly-line food. (And forget the $1 value meals; few people go there for low prices.)
United, I'm afraid, has more serious problems. Its snarly employees won't suddenly start winning medals in the Miss Congeniality contest.
Amen!
I was purchasing cigars at the drug store (go ahead, condescension on) and the 20 y/o twit remarked "that's an expensive habit!".
My reply: "I can afford it. I'm not a drug store cashier". The rib was appalled. The twit didn't realize she'd been insulted.
In France they call it a "Royale with cheese."
Airlines, on the other hand, see themselves as dispensing what you need. They believe themselves to be in a position of power. With the constant threat of being charged with a crime hanging over your head from the minute you set foot in an airport until you leave, absurd security measures, and hostile flight attendents, flying has become the most miserable way to travel.
Now the airlines are reaping the consequences of that position. People are not traveling by air anymore. The airlines will have to start treating passengers as customers who don't have to fly rather than cattle herded aboard against their will.
Similarly, McDonalds takes the position that their food and restaurants are an unassailable icon of American life. They believe their own commercials depicting people and children eager for the McDonalds experience. Increasingly, their staff is rude and incompetent. Their restaurants seem to be more dirty and even smelly every time I set foot in one.
Other fast food chains have earned my business by being all that McDonalds is not: fresh, clean, courteous and different.
In Mexico, they call it "El Heartstoppero".
Wow... I can't decide what I find more apalling about your story-- the fact that the idiot behind the counter felt entitled to moralize on your smoking (because every good pc-clone knows smoking is bad) or that she was too stupid to understand that she was being insulted...
Who was it that said there is nothing more dangerous than the stupid and energetic?
Keep the faith,
Repogirl
Lowe's Home Improvement - twenty checkout lanes and only two open, one being the service desk. Even then, they serve you at their convenience (like the post office).
Subway - depends on the location and the manager. Closer to the college is awful.
I was once eating in a Pizza Hut and I waved to my waiter to bring the check. He saw me nodded his head. He then proceeded to go around the dining area re-filling tea glasses for the other diners. Then, he finally brought me my check. I paid up, without leaving a tip. I also don't patronize the location. Also while I was there, he was walking around the dining room and a customer was returning to his seat. They were walking towards each other and the waiter didn't let up. He walked on through so that the customer had to step aside so that he could pass before taking his seat.
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