Northwest’s stealth customer service initiative?

Is newly-solvent Northwest Airlines getting back into the customer service game? Maybe.

Exhibit A: The latest customer complaints numbers released by the government. For the month of April, Northwest racked up only 69 reported complaints. That’s just 1.5 gripes per 100,000 enplanements, which is a few tenths of a point below average.

Exhibit B: The case of the swiped steaks.

Last fall, Chrystal Weaver flew to Detroit to bring back a special meal for her husband’s birthday party. She checked two coolers on her flight back to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: One loaded with expensive steaks and one with drinks and pastries.

When Weaver landed in Florida, she was devastated to find about $500 worth of steaks missing. (The other cooler with the drinks and pastries was untouched.)

“Northwest says it was TSA’s fault and TSA says it had to be Northwest’s fault,” she wrote to me. “No one will take responsibility for my loss.”

I thought Northwest should consider taking another look at her case, since there’s enough wiggle room in its contract of carriage to argue for some compensation. I asked Weaver to send an appeal, and planned to contact the airline directly only after it denied her second claim.

It never did.

Today, she emailed with good news: “I was issued a reimbursement check for the full amount and received it within a week! I also got a $200 voucher for future travel on Nortwhest and 5,000 miles added to my World Perks account.”

Wow, talk about going above and beyond.

Weaver asked me to single out two Northwest employees who were particularly helpful — Andrew Holland, the manager of luggage service recovery and automation, and his colleague, Chris Talbert.

Nice work, gentlemen.

The larger question is, Has Northwest quietly reformed its customer service policies? Just a year ago it was one of the worst airlines for customer service, at least according to passengers and surveys.

If it has, then it’s done so discreetly, without any press releases announcing a new “customer service initiative” or a gimmicky bill of rights.

There’s something to be said for that.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

1 comment