The easyJet Philosophy "You Screwed Up, You Trusted Us"

I posted recently on a really spectacularly bad customer service experience I had at the hands of easyJet.  It’s just two posts down if you want some detail, but essentially I paid for priority boarding and didn’t get it.  I complained and asked for a refund.

I finally heard back from them with regard to my complaint. Their answer: No.

My interpretation/summary “You Screwed Up, You Trusted Us.”

I find the letter (see below) almost comical, and will post it here for your comments.  Am I crazy or what?  Are they really saying they are not able to guarantee a service that I PAID FOR? I understand taking a risk in Vegas…I don’t quite get it here.  I’ll take a risk now and then — but I like to know it’s a risk.  I’ve looked all over the fine print and I don’t see them mention anything like this possibility.  They say “Speedy Boarding passengers get the best choice of seats.” Where does it say sometimes?

And am I right in understanding they charge a lower amount if there is a risk involved?

And, I love the bit that says I can’t get a refund because, “easyJet is a non-refundable airline.”  It’s almost as good as the title of the customer service representative Customer Experience Champion.

Alright, I’d really like to hear from my readers here.  Am I on one of my crazy things, or is this just Wrong?  Where is the creativity in giving me a better experience?  In handling my complaint? I don’t see any where it is sorely needed.

Here’s the response to my complaint:

Dear Mr Fraley,

Thank you for contacting us.

I am sorry that you have been disappointed with the service received when travelling with easyJet recently and I can understand your frustration. I also understand your query regarding of refund of flight and speedy boarding charges and I regret that we have been unable to respond to your e-mail as quickly as we would like.

I would like to inform you that easyJet must rely on the departure gates assigned by the airport in question and sometimes a bus will be required to transport passengers to the aircraft. Further, when passengers are bussed to the aircraft we are unable to guarantee that Speedy Boarders will be first off the bus. Where the use of buses is frequent on a route, this is reflected in the price paid for Speedy Boarding.

Also I can confirm that we are unable to offer you refund for your inbound flight and speedy boarding fee as easyJet is a non-refundable airline and all charges including fare are non refundable.

I apologise for the inconvenience caused and I do hope this will not stop you from flying with easyJet again.

I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully, if I have not, please click here and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

Yours sincerely,

(leaving the man’s name out…my edit here)
Customer Experience Champion

    8 responses to “The easyJet Philosophy "You Screwed Up, You Trusted Us"”

    1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by greggfraley and greggfraley, greggfraley. greggfraley said: easyJet — "You Screwed Up — You Trusted Us" –no refund for a service not delivered… http://www.greggfraley.com/blog/?p=348 #innovation […]

    2. Mark Tamis says:

      This is all about setting and meeting expectations.

      The “normal” for Easyjet is low-cost low-service. People will accept this because they get exactly what they are paying for, and Easyjet does not need to go to any extra effort because the expectations are met.

      Now when they decide to change their positioning by setting new expectations, they should meet these. If not, I hope this post of yours goes viral and they never get anyone else to pay a premium for something they are not organized to live up to. They should realize that you are not only an individual that they can ignore easily without consequence, but also that you are part of the ‘community’ or ‘tribe’ of easyjet fliers and that when they diss you, they diss all the others at the same time.

      This is a message their marketing department will need to incorporate…don’t mess with the members of my tribe!

    3. GREGG FRALEY says:

      Thanks for your comment Mark.

      Yes, it is about meeting expectations. And yes, I am one of a large tribe of frequent business travelers who, generally, like easyJet because of the low cost service they provide. And…I expect to get what I pay for. If I pay for early boarding — which they promise — I should get it. If they can’t get organized to make it work, then don’t make the option available.

      I got another offline comment about the relationship of this to creativity and innovation. Let me address that: Innovation happens at companies that foster a culture that has employees creating things and putting them into play. Customers, like me, can “smell” whether a company is truly innovating, or, nickel dime-ing you with lots of charges and no extra benefits. Companies that have win-lose relationships with customers eventually die. They lose the is survival game because they don’t truly innovate — they pretend to. That’s the link to my topic!

    4. claire says:

      there is worst than easyJet! Ryanair! believe me! check out some of the very bad experience with this is airline!
      http://airobserver.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/worst-of-low-cost-airlines/

    5. MDTaz says:

      I have a similar story with my ISP provider here. How easy it would be for someone to say, “Gee, that was inconvenient. We’ll refund you 10 quid or give you a (small incentive/discount here).” It would just build brand good-will.

      In the ’80s I lived in Connecticut where there was (still is?) a grocery store called Stu Leonard’s. He posted a big sign at the store for both customers and employees to read:

      Rules of Customer Service:

      1) The customer is always right.
      2) If the customer is wrong, refer to rule #1.

      He made money hand over fist, even though he was extremely generous to people who complained, sometimes he even knew they were stretching the truth. But it was an investment in their loyalty, and it paid off.

    6. John Bryden says:

      Easyjet is the worst airline in the world. I had a flight cancelled by them and it took 3 weeks to approve the refund. Now 5 weeks after approval I still do not have the money.

    7. Miguel says:

      With Easyjet I’m still waiting after a month for a refund of cancelled flight (canceled by Easyjet fault).
      It has been a painful experience with long waits on the phone, and still no sign of the money

      Might be cheaper than other company but not trustable at all.

    8. […] had my own challenges with bargain airlines, and for the same basic reason as the Ryanair revolt, they treat you like a cow, not like a human […]

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