Dude, Where’s My Dog?

I know I should stop writing about airline follies in this space, before this turns into the Airlines Being Stupid blog. After all, it’s not like we’re not seeing idiotic behavior from oil companies, automobile makers, movie studios and food makers, just to name a few. But if I’m going to write about developments in the world of business as culled from various news stories and personal observations, then I’m going to be writing about current events, and the last few years have seen more silly, self-destructive behavior in the airline industry than a diabetic having a shopping spree in a candy factory. The race for the bottom in that industry continues, with a new low point arriving last month when Delta Airlines managed to lose a passenger’s dog…

According to the story, which you can pick up on the Consumerist website, a passenger had adopted a dog in Mexico and was flying back to the States when his dog failed to turn up in baggage claim. He called the airline and was told that the animal was being cared for at the Mexico City airport, and would be delivered the next day, but when no dog ever showed up he called back and was told that no one at Delta had any idea what had become of his new pet or its carrier. The airline offered him a coupon good for $200 off his next Delta flight, which didn’t really help since the passenger had already decided he won’t be flying Delta again in the future, but would not compensate him for the animal’s medical care, the time and effort spent cleaning it and getting it ready to travel, or even for the cost of the carrier. It wasn’t until the Consumerist people got involved and dozens of derisive emails began piling in from all over the globe that the airline changed its tune…

Now, I’m not going to start ragging on Delta for these decisions; I think the Consumerist people have already done a fine job of that. I’m also not going to comment on the airline’s claim that the dog somehow got out of his carrier and escaped, which was apparently their fallback position when saying “what dog? What are you talking about? We don’t know anything about any dogs” didn’t work. In its particulars, this story isn’t really any different from the one a month or so earlier, when a passenger’s missing luggage was found abandoned in a flood control basin 20 miles from the airport: somebody wanted either the dog or its carrier or both and stole them. Or, for that matter, several hundred similar events each year, when light-fingered (or unusually stupid) airport personnel make off with something they think will be easy to sell, something that they think will be easy to trade for drugs, or something that they think will look really good in their living quarters. Instead, I’m going to ask you to consider how Delta should have handled this incident…

First off, the airline’s people should already know that losing someone’s pet isn’t the same as losing something easily replaceable, like typical luggage items. Second, they’ve got to realize that losing anything you’ve been paid to transport is going to annoy your customers, and losing something that you’ve paid hefty fees to have shipped is going to result in a major outcry. Third, they’ve got to realize that lying to get the customer off the telephone or away from the counter is just going to explode in your face if you can’t, in fact, produce the article promised the following day. And fourth, they’ve got to realize that this isn’t just a few hundred dollars worth of clothing, accessories, or pets they’re taking so lightly; it’s their entire relationship with the customer and anyone who will listen to that customer if he or she complains – which, in the Internet Age, means anyone with access to a computer…

I’m not saying that every lost bag and carrier should be treated like a major disaster that could potentially destroy your entire company; I’m just saying that sooner or later one might be – and when that day comes, you’re going to wish that you had a better policy in place than “Lie, blow off the customer, and then offer them something of no effective value to make them go away…”