16. Speak The Voice You Want to Hear

I ordered my plane ticket to Accra, Ghana for a study abroad program this summer through the School of Journalism of Communication at the University of Oregon. I used fly.com to scan through the hundreds of airlines leaving from Sacramento, San Francisco, or Redding, CA to Accra, Ghana only to have the cheapest flight through American Airlines and British Airways request we call in to make a payment.

Odd.

I have never had a problem paying for a flight online, but there has been a surplus of fraud coming from travelers to that part of the world.

Why?

So I call British Airways and the representative on the phone is nothing but rude, telling me I HAVE to come into an airport and pay for the flight at a counter. Uhh, what? My thoughts: "Okay, so I won't pay you $2,300 for a round trip ticket; jerk."

I cancel my flight with British Airways and book a flight through American Airlines. I call to make the reservation and the representative on the phone is nothing but kind, helpful, and eager to get my travel plans going.

Over the past two summers I managed a small boat company and rented out small boats, jet skiis, and various towables to avid lake goers. I know good customer service in the reservation world goes a long way and the manner that man on British Airways treated me was unacceptable. I will not travel with them in the future; period. I will always think the voice of British Airways as a snarky man barking at me to drive to Sacramento from my home in Redding to pay face-to-face for a flight.

After our lecture about JetBlue's amazing customer service fueling brand loyalty, I see how customer service is key, especially when my only interaction with the company is via the phone. If a representative has a happy, helpful attitude, I will associate the brand to that.