jetstar check in staff too busy gossiping to help elderly lady

[misstam]

Yesterday I was at Melbourne airport, checking in for my flight. They were announcing any pax for the soon-departing Sydney flight to make their way up the front to the counters.

I noticed an elderly lady,with her suitcase on a trolley, making her way to the counters. She stood infront of a counter for sometime, without the female staff member acknowledging her.
Behind the next counter was a young woman, busy gossiping (loudly - about their weekend party plans) with another jetstar employee.
Standing right next to them, was the male staff member who had been calling for passengers on the Sydney flight, along with another female employee - both of whom joined in the gossip session at times.

The elderly lady was looking confused and visibly distressed by this stage. I was just about to jump out of line & ask if anyone was going to look after her, when the woman behind the counter asked for her boarding ticket.

Lo and behold - she was one of the Sydney flight pax. She was struggling to get her suitcase off the trolley... all the Jetstar staff just stood metres away, watching. The woman behind the counter just looked at her impatiently.

Myself and another woman broke out of the check in line to go help her with her bag.

I was really disgusted.
1) that no less than 4 Jetstar staff members only metres away from from an obviously distressed older lady, chose to ignore her.
2) that with 100+ pax in line, check in staff can sit behind the counter and gossip to friends for at least 20mins...instead of checking people in!

I hope she didn't miss her flight.
Jetstar could really do with some training for check in staff so they don't have to subject passengers to their banal gossip sessions when there's work to be done... and prioritising helping elderly & distressed passengers, over making weekend party plans.

 

[munitalP]

if what you have said is factual, I agree with you that it is disgraceful service, however, not just some JQ staff need instruction, I would venture to say that some QF, DJ and others need instruction. I have found recently, especially since the advent of self check in, that customer service has been lost on more than one staff member of the Australian airlines...


Mr!

 

[drron]

if what you have said is factual, I agree with you that it is disgraceful service, however, not just some JQ staff need instruction, I would venture to say that some QF, DJ and others need instruction. I have found recently, especially since the advent of self check in, that customer service has been lost on more than one staff member of the Australian airlines...


Mr!

And you could add hotels,stores,hospitals and virtually any other business in australia.

 

[Intrusivefever]

And you could add hotels,stores,hospitals and virtually any other business in australia.

I must say that I totally agree. So many places from need to pull their socks up in this country as far as customer service is concerned. To some business' you're just an inconvenience.

 

[munitalP]

I often think to myself, especially when travelling in SE Asia, how nice it would be to have Australian hospitality even 3/4 as good as what I get at overseas ports. Jakarta is a classic example of absolute excellence in hospitality toward foreigners, from the airport staff, airport (inside) based taxi companies through to the hotels and their staff...

As another point, I would guess that anyone working in these industries in SE Asia would be on a quarter or less salary than their equivalent in Australia...

Mr!

 

[BlueAU]

I cannot agree more than 200% about this. My one and only jetstar return flight to Melbourne, the girls at check in were gossiping, and also on the plane, the FAs were gossiping about their shoes??? Disgusting and unprofessional IMO. I feel for the lady

 

[MrHyde]

I feel this lack of customer service is a quality that is inherent in Australian culture (unfortunately). I have travelled extensively around the world and find that service in places like SE Asia, Middle East and even the US is far far better than Australia.

Maybe one of the reasons is the minimum wage and "we deserve it" nentality. Places like US, people live on tips and if the service is not there, no tips. Unfortunately, that is changing now with people even expecting tips for no service.

 

[FL360]

Yes, services in Australia is going down the hill, as always...
you can't compare this to places such as singapore (government owned tourist venues)....

I remember several years ago when I was in Changi airport with my father, he was just looking at some tourist information brochure and immediately approached by Changi airport staff asking if he wanted any assitance ! :shock:

that's customer service to the max.....

 

[Homer]

There was an article recently in one of the travel magazines, I think T+L, which included comments by Australian tourism industry leaders to the effect that it is difficult for Australia to compete on the world tourism stage because of the lack of a good service ethos that exists in other parts of the world, namely Asia. Some of the quoted industry insiders were bemoaning the difficulty they had employing Asian staff in Australia at a reasonable salary level which they said would enable them to deliver the sort of service that many travellers expect/demand.

 

[NYCguy]

My one and only jetstar return flight to Melbourne, the girls at check in were gossiping, and also on the plane, the FAs were gossiping about their shoes??? Disgusting and unprofessional IMO.

This is slack, yes, and even disgraceful, but the word "disgusting" is bandied around far too frequently these days. "Disgust" is a very strong word that is way over the top for describing a couple of giddy goats who are talking about their shoes. Disgusting describes child-molesters, or a multinational company that exploits developing nations for the bottom line, and should be reserved for serious matters.

 

[Flying Fox]

Not good at all but did any other fellow passengers offer to assist?

I still like to think that I'm a bit old-fashioned and would assist. Shame on me if I didn't!

I would like to think that others still had good manners and would have helped out.

 

[BlueAU]

Not good at all but did any other fellow passengers offer to assist?

I still like to think that I'm a bit old-fashioned and would assist. Shame on me if I didn't!

I would like to think that others still had good manners and would have helped out.

I don't think that's being old fashioned ... I would help them! I'm still a baby here, well, not the youngest, (you know who you are )

 

[zig]

I often think to myself, especially when travelling in SE Asia, how nice it would be to have Australian hospitality even 3/4 as good as what I get at overseas ports.

Agree with you absolutely. Everytime I return from o/s it is a shock adjusting to Australian 'service standards'. It is like having a bucket of cold water thrown over you. I love the Australian sense of egalitarianism, but some people seem to think it is beneath them to provide good customer service.

 

[BlueAU]

Agree with you absolutely. Everytime I return from o/s it is a shock adjusting to Australian 'service standards'. It is like having a bucket of cold water thrown over you. I love the Australian sense of egalitarianism, but some people seem to think it is beneath them to provide good customer service.

OT, but today I was at supermarket (Woolies), seperated my things, e.g. cold stuff together, food together and deteergant/fly spray seperately. The wonderful check out chick thought she was doing me favours by mixing them altogether in 2 bags, mixing non edibles with edibles, OMG :shock: at least the older staff (Mums etc) know how to seperate it!!!

Back on topic. I found that when I was in HKG last week I would get rude service if I spoke chinese. If I spoke english, oh did the world change. I was like a first class person!!!! Gotta love that

 

[docjames]

To the OP - a well worded letter would be a useful thing to send to JQ management as i'm sure this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. It will be aprticularly powerful given you're writing on behalf of a witnessed event (and not about yourself / seeking compensation).

Sadly, as indicated by the posts above, many here are not surprised, but I agree this isnt a Jetstar-exclusive issue.


But if management never hears that there is a problem, then there isnt one..........

 

[UP4014]

This is slack, yes, and even disgraceful, but the word "disgusting" is bandied around far too frequently these days. "Disgust" is a very strong word that is way over the top for describing a couple of giddy goats who are talking about their shoes. Disgusting describes child-molesters, or a multinational company that exploits developing nations for the bottom line, and should be reserved for serious matters.

"Pathetic" might be appropriate.

 

[straitman]

And you could add hotels,stores,hospitals and virtually any other business in australia.

No disagreement here other than a comment.

We stayed at the new Hilton in Taupo NZ for the last few nights and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I will be posting a report here and on FT in the next few days. Brilliant service, accommodation and the best restaurant meal my wife and I can remember.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Customer service in Australia has taken a downward spiral...

The main reasons I can think that this has happened is a) non-tipping culture means staff do not have any real motivation to give superior service as no matter how they treat you they will still get their hourly wage and b) businesses that are tourism-based (airlines/hotels/restaurants/etc) have become so large, or have been bought by larger companies that employees of said businesses have no real vested interest in customer retention/word-of mouth feedback/repeat business.

These days it's amazing when you come across great customer service...a simple smile and 'how is your day going?' literally shocks me!

 

[Mal]

The main reasons I can think that this has happened is a) non-tipping culture means staff do not have any real motivation to give superior service as no matter how they treat you they will still get their hourly wage and b) businesses that are tourism-based (airlines/hotels/restaurants/etc) have become so large, or have been bought by larger companies that employees of said businesses have no real vested interest in customer retention/word-of mouth feedback/repeat business.

At the risk of getting flamed, part of this is generational. Another part is to do with the number of backpackers and temporary workers in the industry.

Of course there are both great and lazy people in every generation, but some generations have a greater proportion in one of those ends of the spectrum.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

At the risk of getting flamed, part of this is generational. Another part is to do with the number of backpackers and temporary workers in the industry.

Of course there are both great and lazy people in every generation, but some generations have a greater proportion in one of those ends of the spectrum.

No flaming at all...I agree somewhat that every generation brings with it unique, shall we say, characteristics.

Just found this rather timely blog online over at The Age;

Do you believe customer service levels in Australia deteriorated even further in 2009?

Has customer service fallen so far that you just accept bad service as the norm? Are you shocked when you get genuinely good customer service by people who care about your needs?

The 2009 Worst Customer Service Awards - The Venture - MySmallBusiness - The Age Blogs