1. What Andrea Told Me
I was stranded in Dallas.
It was Friday on a three day weekend. I had just arrived at Love Field to catch a connecting flight to Chicago Midway, but that flight was cancelled due to a winter storm.
At the customer service desk, I spoke to a woman named Andrea. She summarized the options. They could get me to Chicago two days later (So many flights had been cancelled, it would take that long.), or I could return home in two hours. There were 23 seats on the return flight, so I had some time to make up my mind. I told her I’d be right back. She smiled.
The terminal was busy. I found a quiet-is corner and consulted with my brother and the fair and industrious Trudy. I decided to fly home.
When I returned to the service desk, Andrea was no longer there.
“My friend Andrea is gone,” I joked, pointing to her now-vacant computer. The rep behind the desk looked over at the empty computer and smiled.
2. What Deborah Couldn’t Do
This woman’s name was Deborah. I explained my situation and and summarized what Andrea had told me.
“I think I’m going to fly back home.”
“Ok,” Deborah said. She stared at her computer, punched a few keys, and was staring some more.
“By the way,” I said.
She looked up.
“You guys are awesome!” I said, smiling.
You must understand that this isn’t like me. My mother called me Eeyore when I was very young. But this business of “It’s All Good” as part of teaching, has had some kind of transformative effect on the neural pathways in my brain. More myelin. More dopamine. Less cortisol. Less lizard brain. I am more cheerful. I am happier. Eeyore makes fewer appearances. And so it was as I spoke to Deborah.
“You guys are awesome!” I held up my hand. She smiled, and we did a high-five.
After a few minutes, Deborah had booked me on the return flight. I asked if I could apply the fare from the (cancelled) connecting flight to my flight back home. And I asked about Monday’s (now abandoned) return flights from Chicago?
“From here, I can’t give you a credit. I don’t have the permissions,” she explained. “You’ll have to call customer service next week.”
“Ok, that’s fine,” I said. “Let’s just get me home. I’ll handle the return flight myself.”
3. What Deborah Did, Anyway
I might was well said, No worries. It’s all good.
Just as I was about to walk away, Deborah said, “Wait. Let me call my help desk and see what they can do.”
She picked up the phone and had a conversation with someone in some office in some city likely far away. When she hung up, she pushed a few keys, stared at her screen, pushed a few more keys, stared again, typed for a while longer, printed something out, and then looked up.
“Here is your boarding pass for your flight home,” she said. Then she turned it over. On the back, she wrote an 800 number.
“Keep this boarding pass,” she said. “On Monday during working hours, call this number and tell them that there are some notes in your record. They will help you.”
4. What Thelma Saw and Did
This morning I followed Deborah’s instructions. I called and spoke to Thelma.
I gave her the background. I asked if she could see a note, which she could. She put me on hold, and when she came back, Thelma said everything had been taken care of.
“Do I need to do anything else?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I’ve refunded the cost of your full itinerary to your credit card, since we didn’t get you to your destination. You should see the refund in seven to ten days.”
Not a flight credit, mind you. A full refund.
Thank you, Andrea. Thank you Deborah. Thank you Thelma. What customer service! It is indeed all good.