Wednesday, September 21, 2005
...I Laugh
America loves positive reinforcement. You know, encouraging behavior by providing a reward after somebody performs a certain action. With this in mind, I've learned to take my travel disruptions in stride. After all, I've managed to make them quite profitable. My last flight into NY was slightly delayed, and my baggage arrived even slightly more delayed. I dashed off a two and a half page letter to United Airlines, and 6 weeks later, voila, a letter arrives in the mail. Basically, it said, we are sorry that we don't have time to read your letter or to respond in person, but please accept the enclosed $100 travel voucher for your inconvenience. Accept? I was giddy with excitement! It was even more than the $25 I had anticipated cashing in. Even better, two weeks later I receive another letter from the airlines, with a check for $13.26. They reimbursed me, based on their policy, for my cost of expenses while my luggage was delayed. However, as requested in my letter, they reimbursed me for 100% of my costs, unlike the maximum of 50% provided in their policy.
With that background in mind, you can see why I'm not upset over my latest travel woes. American Airlines and Dollar Rent a Car will make it worth my while.
With that background in mind, you can see why I'm not upset over my latest travel woes. American Airlines and Dollar Rent a Car will make it worth my while.
# posted by Josh : Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Comments:
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A slightly different perspective from the "whoa! you got free stuff for free, it doesn't get much better than that" outlook, sometimes it pays to think about multiple perspectives before acting.
It might be an issur to coax money out of someone, be it a salesman or multi-billion-dollar organization, if they didn't want to give you the money originally. if you weren't entitled to that money it's tantamount to g'zeilah. Though I do agree that poor-quality service is unjustifiable, I'm not sure that your course of action was correct: Does it say anywhere that they have to reimburse you 100% if your luggage is late? Especially if you convinced them to go against company policy, and even if you only hinted to it in some way (e.g. to threaten not using them anymore) and they decided to throw money at the "problem", you might be chayav to pay it back. Food for thought and possibly a question for your local Orthodox rabbi. And of course material to which you can respond.
It might be an issur to coax money out of someone, be it a salesman or multi-billion-dollar organization, if they didn't want to give you the money originally. if you weren't entitled to that money it's tantamount to g'zeilah. Though I do agree that poor-quality service is unjustifiable, I'm not sure that your course of action was correct: Does it say anywhere that they have to reimburse you 100% if your luggage is late? Especially if you convinced them to go against company policy, and even if you only hinted to it in some way (e.g. to threaten not using them anymore) and they decided to throw money at the "problem", you might be chayav to pay it back. Food for thought and possibly a question for your local Orthodox rabbi. And of course material to which you can respond.
# posted by 
: September 22, 2005 8:17 PM
: September 22, 2005 8:17 PM
Anon - Good points as usual. Definitely stuff to think about it. You can also question my behvior from an economics standpoint. Every person who does what I did sucks off the economy. It's similar to somebody who sues a corporation because of some small perceived damage. They are only following the recourse that society allows, but they still drain the company's resources, which other customers are forced to pay for.
But as far as the specifics, I made no threats or implications. I merely stated my true disatisfaction with their service, and stated the direct costs incurred by me as a result. If a waiter spills on your shirt at a restaurant, is it an issur to ask for the cleaning bill to be paid? For example, in my trip last weekend, I paid $35 to take a taxi to the airport for a flight that had been cancelled hours before. Is it Gezeila to ask for reimbursement?
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But as far as the specifics, I made no threats or implications. I merely stated my true disatisfaction with their service, and stated the direct costs incurred by me as a result. If a waiter spills on your shirt at a restaurant, is it an issur to ask for the cleaning bill to be paid? For example, in my trip last weekend, I paid $35 to take a taxi to the airport for a flight that had been cancelled hours before. Is it Gezeila to ask for reimbursement?
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