United Airlines brand may go for a spin as customer feedback line is terminated

In a startling revelation today, United Airlines announced that it’s closed down it’s sole customer service call center in India. This means that customers will no longer be able to call in to send feedback (positive or negative), as all comments have now got to go through the post (whoever writes those today!?) or in an email.

“Along with the decision to end its association with a third-party contractor in India, United will shut down its current customer relations telephone line and advise customers to write or e-mail feedback about their travel experience.” – BusinessWeek

The only positive I see coming out of this is some consulting offers for Oliver Beale, of the Virgin Atlantic fame, to help write some letters that have an impact. Cutting 165 jobs in India might save some money for United, but the long term damage of not giving customers a way to interact Live with a person from the airline will be extremely detrimental to the brand.

Moving back in time!

As the world moves forward, United Airlines seems to be moving back in time. They now expect us to write in a letter to them, put a stamp on it and post it when we have a complaint about their service. I can’t help but feel pity for a passenger who actually does that, to get a response like “Thanks for your letter. We’ll get back to you” in four weeks, if he hears back at all. Or get a “Mailbox is full” reply when an email is sent. I’m not saying that is the case. But given how long United Airlines’ call center takes to get me to speak to a rep, that might very well be the case with my letters! And just by the way, isn’t this feedback for the airline’s benefit, so others can avoid the displeasure? Customers these days want to TALK to someone, and not engage in slow-moving (often one-way conversations).

Airlines need to speak more with the customers, not less

It is an understood fact that customers preferences change very fast in a downturn. So in these times, shouldn’t an airline be getting its feelers out and taking note of changing sentiments as soon as possible? And a letter is certainly not a fast way to do that. Moreover, a customer is much more likely to pick up the phone than write a 1000 word email about his experience. As United “speaks” less to the customer, not only is it going to lose important market research about them, but also lose the chance to showcase its personality to the customer.

Recently, when Rohit Bhargava, the author of the very popular Influential Marketing Blog was asked “what is one brand desperately in need of personality?”, his answer (unsurprisingly) was United Airlines. And I’ve written in the past of the importance of having a personality, specifically for United Airlines. Simply put, it’s much easier to hate a faceless corporate, than a company where you can speak to its people and relate to them. United Airlines has just lost that chance too.

All marketers are liars – Seth Godin

United Airlines proves Seth Godin right, literally. “This streamlined approach enables us to carefully research our guests’ feedback and most importantly, respond thoughtfully with an e-mail, letter or phone call,” the company said in an internal release. Who’s going to believe that? United is no Virgin Atlantic, to hire people who criticize its food!

The other lie is that the jobs are being moved back to the US. Interestingly, that’d only be true if United was cutting 165 people in India and adding 165 in the US. But that’s not the case. It’s the existing reservations staff that will now have the extra task of replying to these letters and emails!

Well tried, United. Try harder next time. I don’t think it’s so easy to fool the educated consumer these days. All things said, even if United saves $100,000 per year by chopping down this call center, the amount of brand equity lost due to lack of customer contact is immesurable. And as the MasterCard advertisement goes, “there’re some things in life money can’t buy”. Brand value is one of them.

What do you think? Do you think it’s the right decision by United Airlines to shut down the only phone line they had for customers to call in to? I’m sure we’ll have a lively discussion here. Feel free to share this article with your friends, andsubscribe to the blog by email or RSS as well.

P.S: Due to this news, I couldn’t help but digress from the Indian Aviation Special edition, running all Feb on SimpliFlying. In-depth analysis of the Indian airline industry resumes on Friday. Promise!