No Longer A Customer, But Part Of A Process

15/10/2012

By Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones


This week I had to go on a business trip to Guernsey. Any business trip that involves flying fills me with trepidation, not because I have a fear of flying but because I know that I will go from being a valued and important customer to becoming something akin to meat being processed through a machine.

This feeling of being processed doesn’t just start at the airport but the moment I hit the airport perimeter. For this trip I was flying from Gatwick and to save a rush in the morning I decided to stay at the Hilton,...

...right next to the terminal. It is a tired looking place from the outside and could do with a facelift. At £175 a night my room could have been much better, however, my greatest criticism is aimed at the service.

Being a well-known international brand I would have expected a good service, but in this case it was appalling. If there is one thing that makes my blood boil it is when there is a long queue at reception and only one receptionist on the front desk even though there are a number of people at the back. We, the customers, are expected to stand there at the mercy of their process and procedure, which all too often seems to be navigated through by what appears to be a foreign student trying to learn English. It feels no different to queuing up at the airport check in desk to get your luggage on board.

In this case ‘process and procedure’ has taken over from customer service because of the monopoly position that this hotel holds. You can’t get any better than being right next to the terminal and have no direct competition. You get the sense that the accountants have... continued on page two >

 

 

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