Op-Ed: Corporate Customer Service Twist: Fees, Glorious Fees
In 1992, Congress declared the first week of October as "Customer Service Week." So we should have been feeling especially "served" this month! However, we now find an increasing number of hidden fees for travel services, and new ones being proposed daily. We need to look seriously at these fees and their effect on the negotiated value of the goods and services we purchase.
Traditionally, we listen to the well-rehearsed sales pitches of our industry (airlines, hotels, limousines and car rental suppliers, etc.), and, after serious or protracted negotiations, agree on a price in exchange for goods or services. However, now we must deal with new fees or other charges that erode our well-documented savings initiatives. In the past, these fees have been incidental ones, covering local calls at hotels, fueling surcharges for rental cars, airline headsets, Internet access, after-hour surcharges, express service and so forth. Today, we see a more insidious growth of these fees as a way for the travel service industry to generate incremental revenue.
After having celebrated Customer Service Week, how are we feeling as customers? Looking at the beleaguered airline industry, we see massive increases in fees. The list is ever-increasing, with new fees for frequent traveler programs, first checked bags and even ticket processing. We see advertisements from our hospitality or service suppliers noting new levels of distinctive service, yet the travelers I know have yet to experience most of these new and improved services.
Many major travel vendors are trying to differentiate their brands with distinctive services. To that end, our travelers have loyalties where they feel service is always first-rate, and at a fair price. However, today even the most ardent road warriors do not want to be on the road more than necessary. They are experiencing not only a toll on their bodies and minds, but also on their budgets.
The value of managed travel programs is in directing travelers to purchase from an approved supplier. Compliance, cost and productivity drive the value proposition. Good, safe and reliable service is a given, or you surely will not have a lasting relationship. Now, we need to have a greater understanding of the total value proposition to justify supplier selections.
Following the 2008 celebration of Customer Service Week, let's think about this new definition of "service:" paying baggage fees when your bags don't show up, paying for food on delayed flights or sitting on the runway burning extra fuel that you've been forced to pay for through fuel surcharges.
Buyers of travel services need to keep pressuring for improved customer service, transparency of costs and limitations around the menu of service fees we will accept. When asking for the price, we need to ensure we have a complete list of fees and conditions that apply.
It seems that a "service" fee may truly be a fee to obtain service!