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Unsung hero: Delta ticket agent goes above and beyond call of duty for troops

November 19, 2008

Here’s an inspiring story about a ticket agent going far above and beyond the call of duty to help American soldiers in need. It came to me by way of Sgt. Ron Hutchins, who was traveling to Germany with nine other servicemembers from the 912th Adjutant General Postal Company in Tallahassee, Fla.

Hutchins had checked with Delta Air Lines 48 hours before departure to make sure the reservations for his soldiers had been made. They had. But when they arrived at the ticket counter last month, they discovered that the tickets hadn’t been paid.

I called the national 800 number that the government provides for travel help and was told that they had not received a copy of my units orders yet. Since we were all on individual orders, a copy from each person needed to be faxed before the tickets would be paid for.

No problem, said the Delta ticket agent.

She made copies of all of our orders and personally faxed them to the number we provided. She not only faxed them, but also called to ensure that the faxes were received.

Slowly, each ticket was paid by the national travel center and boarding passes were issued.

I was the last to receive a ticket, with only three minutes to make it through security. The TSA security reps had been informed by Delta of the situation with our tickets, so they sped me quickly through the process. I made it to the gate with about 30 seconds left before they closed boarding.

Hutchins says in a day and age when customer service seems a thing of the past, “it was wonderful to have people take care of us in such an outstanding way.”

I agree.

I think this says something about Delta, too. Even with all of the customer service missteps this airline has made in recent months, I think it’s still possible to reverse course. I think its employees want to do better.

I hope they’ll try.

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.

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15 comments

  • Chicky

    Kudos to this ticket agent for her dedication! She deserves a nice Christmas bonus. It’s good to read about people who are still interested in providing good customer service.

  • Liz

    While I’m glad that it worked out ok for the troops, why do I doubt that those of us not in uniform would be afforded this type of service?

  • David

    Do the US Government not pay for the tickets at the time of making a reservation like the rest of us. Surely they would have had a copy of the travel orders to book the flights in the first place, otherwise how would they know which flights and how many seats to book.

    I agree with Liz’s pessimism though that if these guys hadn’t been in the military they’d have been SOL, though she did help them out.

    I’m guessing security cleared them quickly as the US military aren’t likely to be terrorists are they, despite of some of the 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

  • Carolyn

    I seriously doubt that ANY civilian would be given this treatment. I have personally been told to “wait my turn” in a security line at Newark airport, when other passengers have been willing to let me ahead of them, because I had very little time before my flight. I think it’s wonderful that these servicemen received excellent service. Now, it’s time to pass that on to the rest of us.

  • Carver Farrow

    Kudos all around

  • Warren

    Can I pay a $10 fee to have a caring ticket agent!? Or must I purchase a first class ticket to get this perk?

    Kudos to the caring minority of Delta. Good to hear customer service still exists somewhere!

  • Jesse

    I’d like to echo the pessimism that some of us not in cammis would not get those attentions from Counter personnel.

  • Aaron

    The real problem here is a network of systems that rely on paper-orders that get xeroxed, faxed, and phone-call-verified.

    While I applaud the agent for working with the tools she had, we also have to wonder why the funds couldn’t be electronically billed based on an electronic invoice. Fax machines and phone-calls are just way too slow, too unreliable and error-prone.

  • Joe Farrell

    HOO HAAAAAAH

  • Jake

    Just goes to show that the airline employees want to do the right thing. If only the same thing could be said of their management…

  • Pingback: Customer Service Speaker and Trainer - The Amazing Service Guy - Kevin Stirtz » Customer Service Articles » Some people just know how to serve.

  • http://www.tedsimages.com Ted

    I would be more likely to attribute this treatment to a particularly caring individual who did what was right despite airline policy and management rather than because of it. I can only hope that her management chooses to recognize her for taking her own initiative to provide excellent service (and some good publicity for a beleaguered industry) rather than punishing her for (probably) bending the strict letter of rules and policies or reducing some productivity metric. Unfortunately, the latter is probably more likely.

  • Rick Damiani

    Re: Liz

    “While I’m glad that it worked out ok for the troops, why do I doubt that those of us not in uniform would be afforded this type of service?”

    A few years back, I was flying American from San Jose to Honolulu for a training event (I was the trainer) and had two cases of notebook computers with me. I got stuck in traffic and arrived at the counter a few minutes before the flight took off. The agent got my bags checked, called the gate, and escorted me through security. The door on the plane nearly hit me in the butt as it closed. Somehow, the boxes even managed to make it onto the plane.

    Not a frequent flier on American, not a first-class ticket (cheapest fare I could find for the trip, actually). Some times, you get a good agent and good things happen.

  • Bill

    Good for the agent doing such a great job. I hope she gets recognized and encouraged for her trouble.

  • Ronda

    gaaaaaaaa! How am i supposed to hate these airlines when they do considerate things like this?! first the burned child, now this… i’m going to have to find something else to complain about :(
    Also, for those complaining that these people only got that kind of service becuase they’re part of the military, where is the problem with that?

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