Where is Everybody? “Humanless” Customer Service is Dominating Travel. Can We Be Heard as Consumers?
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Where is Everybody? “Humanless” Customer Service is Dominating Travel. Can We Be Heard as Consumers?
Speaking to a real live person can be tedious, time-consuming, expensive, and in many cases simply impossible. Lately I’ve been feeling as isolated as Earl Holliman in that classic Twilight Zone episode. Are there any human beings to talk to—anywhere?
We’ve All Been Through It
I would argue that “customer service” is an oxymoron if the customer can’t get service from a sentient being. Consider my recent experiences with a variety of travel companies.
• HOTELS. Last year I stayed at a Sonder property in Washington, D.C. called The Quincy, which I booked via my organization’s online travel agency. Sonder and some of its most loyal patrons describe it as “short-term rental company,” but it was listed alongside other hotels when I booked a one-night stay, so clearly it is also marketed as a hotel brand. Its website speaks of “eliminating inefficiencies,” but clearly the largest inefficiency is human beings. From the time I checked in until the time I left about 18 hours later, I did not encounter a single person employed or retained by Sonder. No staff, no front desk, no security, no maintenance, no maids. The entire experience, starting with gaining access via the lobby entrance during a rainstorm, was facilitated through an app. No one was there.
• CAR RENTALS. In February I returned a rental car to the airport in Missoula for an early morning flight, and at the joint counters representing 7 separate rental companies, there was not a single employee on duty. Of course, we’re all used to the automatic key drop-off procedure, but there was no one there to confirm the car hadn’t been damaged. I was forced to leave the car unattended to catch my flight. I’d be halfway to Minneapolis before any damage charges—real or false—would be levied against me. It would be their word against mine. And then, of course, there are the common issues that only a live customer service representative could address: lost keys, toll charges, engine trouble, parking tickets, mileage, and endless other issues.
• AIRLINES. You may not have heard (although Frommer’s covered it at the time), but in 2022 Frontier Airlines quietly shut down its telephone help center. Thus it became the first U.S. airline that will not allow its passengers to telephone it for any reason—the only communication permitted is in writing (via live chat, WhatsApp, social media). There are phone exceptions for its top loyalty members or those traveling within a 48-hour window, but otherwise, Frontier customers are shut out.
In fact, all the restaurants in that particular LaGuardia terminal would only allow phone purchases, even as 5 employees stood idly nearby, unable to assist me. What’s more, the email I received for that juice transaction stated: “For your convenience [there’s that phrase again!], we have opened a tab. Your tab automatically closes in 1 hour. We will send you an itemized receipt once your tab closes.”
Put another way: “You’re in an airport, so you will probably be hundreds of miles away by the time you see your receipt, and disputing charges will be much harder then.”
What Can We Do?
William J. McGee is the Senior Fellow for Aviation & Travel at American Economic Liberties Project. An FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he spent seven years in airline flight operations management and was Editor-in-Chief of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. He is the author of Attention All Passengers and teaches at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. There is more at www.economicliberties.us/william-mcgee/.
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