so instead, i'll just outline a conversation i had with the guy at the check in counter on wednesday evening and let you be the judge.
accig (air canada check-in guy): hello
me: hi. how are you doing tonight?
accig: good thanks, you?
me: not bad (places photo id on the counter and luggage on the thing)
accig: ok... your flight to montreal is running about an hour late.
me: oh? so how does that affect my connection to ottawa?
accig: you'll miss it.
me: ok. so what are my options?
accig: (as though i'm putting him out) i'm looking. give me a second.
me: umm... ok. no rush. i've got at least an hour.
accig: i can get you there in the morning. leave at 6:30 from moncton and arrive in ottawa at 9:05.
me: is that through montreal or toronto?
accig: i said it was through montreal!
me: (no you didn't you fucking retard. if you would have said it, i would have heard it and it would have appeared in my transcript). oh. and what are my options from montreal to ottawa tomorrow morning?
accig: they leave hourly. there's a 7:05 and an 8:05 and so on.
me: ok... well, can you hold on a second. i need to make a call.
accig: sure.
me: ok. get me to montreal tonight and book me on the 8:05 in the morning.
accig: uhhh, why? why would you do that?
me: i'm sorry?
accig: why would you go to montreal tonight?
me: (how exactly did you get this job?) because there are more flight options in montreal if something goes wrong in the morning.
accig: but you just said to book you on the 8:05 flight. if you leave from moncton tomorrow morning, you'll be getting on the same flight. why don't you just go in the morning?
me: (becoming increasingly frustrated) i'd like to go tonight please. the morning flight from moncton doesn't have the greatest track record for leaving on time or at all some days. so at least if i'm in montreal, i have a better chance of getting to ottawa.
accig: (getting defensive) we have the best record in the country for on-time departures. so i find it hard to believe that you're worried about leaving in the morning.
me: (now i've had enough of this prick) what a sad statement that is. what a sad state the canadian airline industry must be in that you can say with a straight face that air canada has the best record for on-time departures in the country.
accig: (with a look of smugness on his face) it's true.
me: if by "true" you mean "complete bullshit" then i'd agree with you. i've been booked on the 6:30 am flight to montreal three times and the 6:00 am flight to toronto twice from this airport in the last year. three of those times, the flights were either so delayed that i would miss my connection or cancelled all together. the last time, in fact, you had to pay a taxi to drive me 2.5 hours to halifax to catch a flight. so excuse me if i find 40% on-time departure as the benchmark in canada. especially when i rarely experience delays with your competitors.
accig: i find that all very difficult to believe.
me: yeah? well, that's fantastic. it's wonderful that you feel the need to argue with a customer that you've just told his flight will be delayed that your airline is the best at leaving on time and then to have the nerve to accuse that customer of lying about his previous experiences.
accig: well, i'm just telling you what i think.
me: i appreciate that. thank you. you're a fantastic person. can i get to montreal tonight?
accig: if you want.
me: i want.
7 comments:
Okay, so I'm gonna go with ACCIG is marginally smarter than chewing gum. Maybe. I am being generous.
You see, you have to understand something about these ACCIGs. Your anger fuels their stupidity. When you get angry, they lose what little intelligence they had. To deal with them, you have to try hard to stay calm, difficult as that may be.
Hope that helps for next time.
t - i won't disagree with your assessment. i'd say it's quite accurate actually. but i'm not only questioning his intelligence. i'm questioning his tact. his perceptions of reality. his ability to perform his job as a "customer service agent" adequately. his role as a human being.
m - i tried really hard to stay calm. and i'm a really, really calm person. no, no... i mean really calm - almost uninterested. and even when i was angered, i still spoke in a very controlled (albeit pointed) voice. but he still persisted to be an idiot. i appreciate the advice. maybe i'll try to be even more calm next time.
maybe i was just tired.
These little Canadian anecdotes are too cute...these things never happen in America.
No they don't!
t - i think you're right.
k2 - wow! what a fantastic place america must be to live.
Of course I'm right. I'm always right.
I read this again and it frustrated me all over again. Arrrgh!
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