| I am proud to boast that one of my previous companies – Sports Physical Therapists - was a finalist for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. And I am a big advocate of top shelf customer service. So the horrific treatment I received at the Miami International Airport one February morning goes down in the record books as one of the worse examples of customer service in the world!
Upon landing in Miami on American Airlines flight 4932 from Key West, I was the first passenger to depart the rear of the plane into the pouring rain. I hit the tarmac, grabbed my red-tagged carry-on, and hustled about 20 feet to the open doors of the first bus in line. As soon as I stepped one foot up into the bus, the bus driver closed the doors on me, wedging my right shoulder and knapsack inside the doors while my left arm and carry-on remained outside the doors. I was momentarily stunned – and stuck. But to my further amazement, the bus driver didn’t apologize. Instead, he screamed at me, “Get out of the bus!” The folding doors opened and the bus driver repeated his demand, “Get out of the bus!”
I retraced my step back into the rain with the queue of passengers quickly accumulating behind me, wondering what to do. I wasn’t sure if the bus was on fire or if I had entered the wrong bus. But then the bus driver looked down from his perch and said, “No one comes on this bus unless I tell you to.” I turned to look at the other passengers with a raised eyebrow. Finally, we were permitted to board his bus.
Needless to say, the arrogance of this man was appalling. I said as I reached him, “I can’t believe you shut the doors on me – on purpose! And then you yelled at me, your customer. For what reason?”
The belligerent bus driver stepped closer to me and said, “You didn’t have permission to come on my bus. Now keep moving.”
I responded without moving a muscle, “The stewardess gave us permission. How was I supposed to know I needed your permission?”
He then said with venom in his voice, “That’s not her job!”
And I said, “Someone should have your job!”
My seatmate had squeezed in behind me onto the bus and mentioned that there were people trying to get on the bus and out of the rain. I turned and walked toward my seatmate, and he said, “You’re not going to get anywhere with that guy.”
I shook my head thinking that no one in America should tolerate that degree of customer service without complaint. And during the short commute to the ground level of the terminal, a chill went down my spine as I thought: What if it was my daughter who was the first to board this bus, holding my new 3-week-old grandson and 2–year-old granddaughter!
I walked into the terminal entrance and approached the bus driver. No apology was forthcoming. I noticed that he had removed his nametag, and I said, “What’s your name? I want to report this incident.”
He replied, “Go ahead and report it.”
I repeated myself, “What’s your name?”
He said cynically, “What’s your name?”
And I answered. “My name is Pat Croce. Now what is your name?”
He shook his head and said, “You’re not going to get my name.”
I looked around hoping an AA executive was witnessing this bizarre exchange, and I said, “Well then, get me your manager.”
Instantly, he exited the terminal, entered his bus and closed the doors. I stood there speechless. There was no way he was going to get away with his disrespectful behavior. I exited the terminal and walked around to the front of the bus – which was closest to the terminal doors – and looked for a license plate or some bus identification. There was nothing other than the number 16 on the front grill. I walked to the back of the bus and again it was devoid of a license plate. On my return to the terminal, the bus driver came out of his bus and said, “Go back inside. You’re going to get into trouble.” I wasn’t scared of his tactics, but the situation was so surreal.
I retrieved my carry-on and knapsack, ascended the escalator, and decided to contact the airline’s chairman. If I wasn’t in such a rush to get to my hotel and change out of my jeans for a board meeting scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Bacardi regarding our super-premium cachaca brand Leblon, I would have hunted down an airport executive to report this shameful – and potentially dangerous – incident.
But now, the bearer of the American Airlines brand, Gerald Arpey, must deal with the “Bus Bully” and prevent this occurrence from ever happening again. Because I sent a letter detailing the incident to the airlines’ Chairman and copied the Director of Miami International Airport and the Chairman of the NTSB.
To date I haven’t heard from Chairman Arpey; but within a week I did receive a call from Jose Abreau, the Director of Miami International Airport. We had a healthy 15-minute conversation where Mr. Abreau began by apologizing and stating he was very embarrassed by the situation and would do everything in his power to identify the individual. In fact, he said that just two weeks prior he was almost run down by one of the taxis on his property and when he confronted the cabbie, the cab driver called him an “asshole!”
Mr. Abreau went on to say that his airport is a residual cost airport totally subsidized my customers like me, and he can’t understand how employees don’t comprehend that without satisfied passengers, they’ll be out of work. He said he fully understood he had a serious customer service problem without me even saying as much since my incident was only a one time occurrence. But after listening to this passionate man and his uphill efforts over his two-year tenure, I can appreciate why he is in the process of engaging the Disney Institute to help alter his airport’s poor results on customer service surveys.
In addition to canvassing the employee time records to locate the bus bully and conducting a personal investigation into my incident, Mr. Abreau forwarded a copy of my letter to the vice-president of American Airlines who is stationed at Miami International Airport.
It was good to know that poor customer service is not tolerated by everyone. And should not be tolerated by anyone! -- PC
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