As the Creative Director at MediaTrust I am often asked to participate in meetings that will define the impact of the user experience in our ads, campaigns, and interfaces. In fact, later today I have been invited to review the impact of a few changes to data acquisition screens for one of our platforms. Kudos to the engineering team for having the insight to include another perspective before coding changes begin. So often in our industry we see companies focusing on the system, and not the experience of the customer. Which brings me to the story of United Airlines Flight 7326 from Austin to Santa Barbara, connecting through Denver.

If you have been following the blog, you know that Scott and I recently went to Austin for SXSWi. Final day for us there required, of course, that we fly home. We arrived at the airport early,  bought last minute t-shirts from the Waterloo Records outpost, and some snacks and water for the flight. Boarding was typical, with no surprises. And then we sat, waiting at the gate for no apparent reason. And sat. And sat. And sat. It wasn’t until about 30 minutes into the wait that other passengers began to power back up cell phones and make changes to their Denver connections, as most of were going someplace other than the Mile High City. The man behind me loudly proclaimed “They aren’t telling us anything” as he asked his assistant to secure him a later flight back to Seattle.

Why is this important to a blog about media and advertising and community? Over the next 30-40 minutes, we learned that there was an equipment failure. The repair would take about 10 minutes and we would be underway. 15 minutes later we were told that indeed it was an equipment failure and that it would take another 10 minutes to locate the appropriate part, but that they would repair it and get us on the way. Another 10 minutes go by and another status report that the part had been fixed, but it would take another 10-15 minutes to file paperwork regarding the repair. Again, so why is this important to discuss here?

Clear and concise information delivered to the customer as soon as possible and as inclusive as possible would have driven an entirely different brand experience for United Airlines. Passengers were vocal about their complaints of the situation, and began to tell stories of similar experiences with United. That punctuated those bad stories with the good experiences from other carriers. I even overheard passengers changing their already missed connections to other airlines due to the recommendation of disgruntled passengers.

Back to the story. Scott and I landed in Denver, certain that our flight was already gone, and concerned that we would not get into Santa Barbara that night (there tends to be limited fights in and out of the airport there). Lucky for us our connecting flight was delayed due to equipment failure. A part of the landing gear system was being replaced and the plane was being test flown to insure our safety. So we breathed a sigh of relief, sat back, charged our laptops and phones, and ate a quick burrito, again listening to the incremental updates as to when we would board. And true to form United never gave us an inclusive time window for take off. Once we were on the plane, we were again delayed for paperwork reasons, instead of being allowed to wait in the lobby until paperwork was finalized and the plane then boarded. And again, the bashing of United Airlines was the primary conversation in the surrounding seats.

I am a big believer in conversational marketing, and the impact of social media on brands and the branded experience, and certainly UA was getting its share of bad press on Twitter, via email, and on overheard phone calls. We all agreed that we felt relieved that safety was a very big concern from UA, and was actually surprised that they informed us of repair status as it progressed. But their handling of the messaging and the impact of the delays to travelers left much to be desired. We were not greeted by the mythical “gate agent” to inform us as to the status of our connecting flights, instead having to dash down the terminal to find a check-in counter that was a.) manned and b.) without a line of passengers before we understood that our flight was delayed. A broadcast of connecting flight status while we taxied up to Denver would have been helpful. A clear honest evaluation of the time of delay would have also allowed us to plan our wait time much better, and given us a chance to make calls, eat without rushing, or just relax while the mechanics did their thing. Again, a simple exercise in managing the customers expectation would have gone a long way to making a return to the “friendly skies” of United Airlines.

I would love to stop here, and tell you that all was well as we landed in Santa Barbara. We were tired, but grateful that Scott would not miss another night away from his newborn daughter, and that I would be able to make the 90 mile road trip home before midnight. But, it seems that no one notified the baggage crew that our flight from DEN was delayed, and they re-directed our bags to SFO, with the intention of shipping them down to SBA on the first flight in the morning. When we approached to lost baggage counter, the CSR there already knew the status of the misdirected bags and it did not take her long to let us know that we would have the bags no later than one hour after the first plane from SFO had been serviced in SBA. Well, everyone but me of course. 

The following day, at 1 pm, the exact time that I was informed that my bags should have been delivered to my door, I spend the next 40 minutes on hold with the UA lost baggage line, being informed that they did indeed have my bags in SFO and would be sent to me on the next flight. They also told me I could track the bags online from the UA website, which by the way, never showed an update of my bag status during the next 24 hours that it took for me to get my bag to my home.

Repeated calls into the lost baggage service we answered with the same identical transcript. I was meet with the same disinterested inflection from the CSR that they have identified my bag, that it is somewhere in the system and that they are uncertain if it is being delivered by car or if it is still at the airport. Mind you that it is now my wife’s birthday, and her present is securely safe in my bag somewhere in the UA infrastructure, yet they have no way of telling me where, or when I will get to it. I ended up being the guy at the party without the gift from Austin for his wife.

I finally ended up with my bag early Saturday afternoon, the day after my wife’s birthday. I had arrived in SBA Thursday evening. During that time my experience with UA continued to rely on the “status reports” from a set of systems that never seemed to detail current data, that did not take into account my needs or concerns as a traveller, nor was able to provide a timely resolution to the problem. Never once did I demand anything from United Airlines except timely delivery of my luggage. I never once asked for free flights, apologies or drink coupons. I was only thanked for my patience, and told that I should check back in a few hours to see if there is any more information regarding my luggage. I was never offered a solution, a pair of tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. or a phone call from a department supervisor.

Managing the customer expectation of your brand is one of the most important things any company can do today. This includes what happens after the ticket is sold, at every touchpoint in the value chain of a brand’s customer experience lifecycle at every interaction, whether online, offline or on the phone.

A member of the cabin crew made an announcement shortly after we arrived in Santa Barbara. They said that they recognize that I had choices in my selection of an air travel partner and thanked me for choosing United.

Personally, I felt like I chose wrong.