Service recovery is possible!!

Yesterday, we took a Jet Airways flight to return to Chennai from Indore. It happened to be a hopping flight, so we were on the plane for nearly four hours. One of the crew members (probably the team leader) was the same person who was on the flight when we went to Indore. Things started off well, when she smiled and welcomed us back which was quite a pleasant surprise !!

We had stopped enroute to the airport at Apna Sweets and packed some goodies for ourselves to eat on the plane, so we refused the sandwich that was on offer. The crew member serving us was Zeeshan and he immediately offered us cookies or something else but we refused. I even told him that we have got goodies packed with us to munch on, so we were ok. He then offered us the Jet Airways special mouth freshener – the “saunf” mixture that I thought was off the menu.

The flight hopped to Pune first and while the changeover was happening, Zeeshan came by and checked in on us. When he realised that we were going all the way to Chennai, he immediately offered us Masala Tea, a very tempting offer that we accepted happily. The Chennai passengers started to board by the time he managed to get Krishnan his cup of tea. It was refreshing. Then I noticed that he arranged for some warm water for a baby whose mother and father were trying to mix some infant cereal. The nicest thing he did was for a passenger who was carrying a child – it was a man and still Zeeshan picked up his hand baggage and went with him till his seat to help stow it. When I told him that the tea was great, he said “I hope I made you feel special”. We then told him, that not only did he make us feel special, he had brought us back to Jet Airways.

We were a Jet Airways customer till 2008 …. and then Indigo happened. We still would have remained a Jet Airways customers had it not been for their appalling service – the crew members would not even look at you, some of the crew members at the gate were downright rude and Indigo was refreshingly cheerful. Jet Airways also was perennially never on time!!.

Zeeshan’s customer service was a great service recovery that he didn’t know about. It didn’t stop with the service….. when he asked if we could fill in a feedback form, we readily agreed. His immediate response was “thank you, but please mention my colleagues as well. They also did great service”. The quality of sharing the limelight is a rare quality. The Zeeshans of the world define customer service at its best. Some of these qualities cannot be taught … you either have it in you or not. Efficiency can be taught, processes can be taught, but that special something which makes you a great service giver is impossible to teach.

Things seem to be turning around in Jet Airways… most of the crew members are back with their smiles and their planes smell good. The only thing they do exactly like the other airlines, is switching off the air-conditioning when the plane is about to land … to save fuel. Wish they didn’t do that and found some other way to optimise costs.

This blog is to thank Zeeshan for executing a perfect service recovery and bringing us back to Jet Airways!!