WHOA did I have to deal with some serious rudeness on
my trip back from Charleston this week. So after doing the whole 6 am flight thing, I'm a little tired and, truly, I just want my traveling to be done. Ok that's a lie ? I just want to be back at the beach and not traveling home at all! Back to the story: I sleepily get off the plane in Atlanta to catch my flight to Burlington. Sure enough, the announcement at gate A-5 in Atlanta goes something like this: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to say that our flight is over its weight capacity so any volunteers who give up their seats will receive a free roundtrip ticket to any of the 48 states." People don't look too happy. The United Airlines employee was definitely tightly wound that morning. She was trying but you could see she was on short fuse.
So they start boarding our flight and I hand the other United employee my ticket. "You don't have a seat. Go over there" ? she points to Miss Short Fuse ? "and she'll let you know if there's room."
"What? I paid for my ticket, what d'ya mean I don't have a seat?" The woman behind me (about 70 years old) was shocked when she had the same thing happen to her. Meanwhile, four skate kids were trying to explain to Short Fuse that the only way they could give up their seats was if they could all be guaranteed to travel together. Then they noticed she only gave them one receipt instead of four, and they were trying to figure that out. All the while Short Fuse is yelling at everyone. The elderly lady next to me was starting to shake in fury. I explained that while the plane might have enough seats, the baggage might be too heavy, which Short Fuse had explained to me a moment earlier. Only she didn't really explain it she just screamed "Too much weight we legally can't fly!" Want to know the right response to rude behavior? STAY CALM.
I told Short Fuse she didn't need to scream, I just wanted to understand. I tried to calm my elderly friend down, but she was going on a rant which got her nowhere. All of a sudden Short Fuse screams at me, "Post ? GO, GO GET IN THAT LINE!" and she points to the woman taking tickets who ushered me over to Short Fuse in the first place. I go and this United employee won't take my ticket. "She has to give you a seat assignment," she says. Now I was getting annoyed. "She just sent me over to you and said I could get on," I replied. The woman ignored me. The elderly lady was also sent over and was told the same thing. Now Short Fuse is sending over the four skate kids who were trying to give up their seats. (Trust me that really confused things.) The kids couldn't understand how the heck they made the flight.
"Excuse me!" I say loudly over all the commotion to Short Fuse. "She won't let us on without a seat assignment. What's going on here!?" I turn to the employee in front of me and say, "She sent me over here, now let me on this plane!"
Then Short Fuse screams at the top of her lungs, "EVERYBODY, SHUT UP! I HAVE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS!" I took a deep breath praying that my name was on the seat assignment list. "Post ? 7A." I look at the woman who keeps refusing to let me go, and she just laughs and takes other people's tickets. Now I was really pissed. But I calmly said to her, "You just heard my seat assignment, please let me on the plane!" Finally Short Fuse rips my ticket from my hand, writes '7A' on it, and the other employee lets me on the plane.
WHOA. And that was just my story; there were twenty other people at that counter trying to get the same thing accomplished.
Now, obviously Short Fuse was having a stressful day and chose not to handle it the right way. But look at what happened because of it. Yes, there was a lot going on around her, but it's no excuse for rudeness. Ten bucks says that if she had treated people with a little more consideration, and explained the situation more clearly over the intercom, she would have had a much easier time of it.
So what should you do if you find yourself in this kind of a situation? Stay calm, wait your turn, and use a neutral tone of voice. Keep your requests reasonable, and your comments relevant. If you really aren't getting through, ask to speak to a supervisor. Make a note of the date, time, and employee you're having difficulty with, because this information is needed if you plan on filing a complaint with the company. And as always the old adage goes, "Don't shoot the messenger." Sometimes there is absolutely nothing this bearer of bad news can do. Focus on the problem, not the frustration and emotion surrounding it. Oh, and GOOD LUCK