Ode to Doug

I have worked in Customer Service, and I wasn't very good at it. I never felt like people were nice enough to deserve a never-ceasing niceness and 'the customer is always right' attitude from me. I only like it when people are nice. But, when people were nice to me, I was ALWAYS nice back.

So I hit a speed bump in my Europe trip today (which I'm sure will be the first of many), and I put 'Chrissy' on my United Airlines ticket and 'Christine' on my passport. A bit of a problem. Realizing this was my mistake entirely, I approached the problem with a very desperate attitude and with nothing but niceness in my heart. The first guy I talked to: No help, and not even nice about it. All he said was, if you are going to cancel the ticket you better do it in the next 20 minutes because the $25 cancellation fee will go up to $300. To which I replied that I had been on hold just to get him on the phone for 45 minutes, so it would be nearly impossible to make that happen. "There is nothing I can do", he said, without any compassion or desire to help. Another thing I learned from customer service; I had connections. I could make things happen that people have NO idea can go on. So I KNOW there was something he could do, but he was absolutely apathetic about it.

So I call United Airlines and get pretty much the same response. "The name on your ticket does not match the name on your passport. You need to call your travel agent and have them change the name." I asked if I can bring in documentation that shows the ticket is issued to me under both names. "Even if I tell you that is okay, it is ultimately up to the discretion of the security employee of United working at the time of your flight" (mind you both in the US AND Britain). Again, I KNOW there is something he can do. He is just lazy and is enjoying his game of minesweep WAY to much to take a second from his desk and ask a supervisor what options I have.

So I call my travel agent back, but this time request a certain "Doug" who helped Jackie the day before with her ticket. I had asked for Doug in my previous attempt to call them, but I got the run around and ended up with the loooovely man mentioned before. But I was bound and determined to get Doug.

Then the joyous event comes some 30 minutes later, and Doug answers the phone. He immediately remembers Jackie, asked if I was 'Chrissy' and started typing away on the other end of the line. Long story short, he gave me the $25 cancellation fee, got me back on the flight with Jackie, and even in a seat right next to her, and put CHRISTINE on my ticket for United. The kicker, all of this was done with a GOOD ATTITUDE!!!

Three cheers for DOUG!