On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score • Hacker News Board

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#291

Post by speby » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 2:50 AM UTC

kenneth wrote: post #57

The most obvious example of this in daily life is through airlines, where the difference is pretty transparent and you get night-and-day better service by being a loyal customer. With top status with AA and UA (EXP and 1K), you connected to U.S.-based very senior phone agents right away, who always make sure to take care of any issue that arises. 50min delay on your AA flight? No problem, sir, we are rebooking you on…

Makes sense. Limited $ to spend on staff and staff have limited time so you want to allocate your best people and talent to your top-producing customers.

Although, what's interesting about this, is that they might do themselves a favor if they target customers who have the most potential to bring them more of their business if they give them even better treatment, as opposed to giving the best treatment to only your already-existing top customers. Attraction v. Retention

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#292

Post by CPLX » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:11 AM UTC

kenneth wrote: post #153

CrackpotGonzo wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was lucky enough to fly Global Services on United through my old boss' account at my old company. Flew internationally a couple of times and the level of attention was insane. Get to airport and they walk you to the lounge, past security, and then come grab you when you're ready to pre-board (before everyone including military). My connecting flight was delayed by 20 minutes, cutting down my connection time to 50 m…

Global Services is insane. Qualification requirements are insane, too. It's invite-only, based on unpublished criteria. It's speculated that when based at a hub airport like SFO, it takes about $75k in annual spend on full-fare United first of business tickets. There are a few other ways to qualify: fly 4 million miles with United, marry a million-miler who has GS, pre-pay $250k towards airfare for your company, or $…

> pre-pay $250k towards airfare for your company, or $50k personally

I’ve never heard of the prepayment for GS option, and those numbers seem low. Do you have a source for that?

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#293

Post by TylerE » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:11 AM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #197

TylerE wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does change the drag, actually. More weight = need more lift. The way to generate more lift is by increasing the wing's angle of attack on the wing (i.e. point the nose up). In addition to increased lift this also increases drag. Actual numbers are hard to find, but considering the weight of a commercial aircraft can vary by as much as 50% between empty weight and maximum weight, I'd wager it is well over 1%.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/urban-expedit... Says that a 737 flies on average 4300 miles per day, and that 7lb digital entertainment console costs $216 to carry per year. That's .000019 dollars per lb-mile. JFK-SFO is 2586 miles. That's $10 in fuel for carrying an extra 200lbs. But less passengers could mean more cargo...

$10/flight * thousands of flights per day * 365 days per year = real money. Airline margins can be ruthless.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#294

Post by uiri » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:16 AM UTC

stiglitz wrote: post #269

wpietri wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangent: Are there other people here who just refuse to sign up for any of these programs? I have family members who are super into frequent flyer programs, credit card points, etc, etc. But I don't like the cognitive load they introduce, and I don't like having to figure out how much I'm being manipulated in any given interaction. I get that I'm missing out on goodies, but they're paying for those goodies somehow, s…

I refuse all such games. It’s like Thoreau said: you judge your wealth based on what you can afford not to worry about. It means giving up money, but on principle these “points” are disgusting to me. Especially credit cards, which are also frequently rationalized based on their security benefits over debit cards- security benefits which IMO there is no reason debit cards shouldn’t also have.

The essential difference is in the name! A debit card creates a debit from your account. It is your money that is used to complete the transaction. A credit card creates a credit to a revolving loan account. It is the bank's money that is used to complete the transaction (and you repay the bank separately). The bank cares a hell of a lot more about its money than it does about your money. Sure, regulations come into play as well but they're not enough to bridge that essential difference.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#295

Post by CPLX » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:17 AM UTC

rconti wrote: post #228

kenneth wrote: post #57

The most obvious example of this in daily life is through airlines, where the difference is pretty transparent and you get night-and-day better service by being a loyal customer. With top status with AA and UA (EXP and 1K), you connected to U.S.-based very senior phone agents right away, who always make sure to take care of any issue that arises. 50min delay on your AA flight? No problem, sir, we are rebooking you on…

You're not wrong, but I feel like they're chasing diminishing returns. Every other segment of the economy has shown us that people are willing to pay a premium (20%? 50%?) to be treated like a human and get a better service/product. On airlines, you have to pay 100% more just to get a refundable fare. 300% for premium economy (a slightly wider seat with slightly more legroom). 500% for business class. It's insane, an…

This just isn’t true. In the modern era, and presumably thanks to computers and revenue modeling and so on, business is often quite reasonable in comparison.

It all depends on the route and situation but it’s common for business to be only 25% more than coach on many routes where it’s very much worth it.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#296

Post by chrsstrm » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:23 AM UTC

dddw wrote: post #236

chrsstrm wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. My one wish for Focus is that I could open another tab. Even just one more tab during an active session would make life easier.

you can, hold the link and click open in a new tab

TIL that yes, that's true, but only on Android. iOS only lets you Open, which uses the same window.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#297

Post by rpedela » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:30 AM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #257

OkGoDoIt wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand if you’re flying with another person and you want to sit together, you’re more or less forced to pay for a seat upgrade. I’ve flown on Southwest with my girlfriend 5 times this year and only 1 time did we get to sit together even when I checked in exactly 24 hours beforehand. It’s infuriating. I imagine if you’re traveling with children it’s completely unacceptable. There’s a lot of things I like ab…

i honestly have a hard time believing this. i've flown southwest multiple times a year with my family for over a decade. we never pay for early check-in and we're always able to sit together in pairs, often no more than a couple rows apart. i can't remember the last time i checked in within an hour of check-in being unlocked and didn't get a B or even a high A. maybe it depends on the route?

Definitely depends on the route. I used to live in Indiana and flying out of Indy was as you described. I now live in Denver and I always need to upgrade if I want to guarantee sitting next to my wife.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#298

Post by LanceH » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:38 AM UTC

jimmaswell wrote: post #49

LanceH wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have every right to individual privacy. Once you yield it you don't have a right to make other people pretend they don't remember you.

Unless you live in the EU apparently. Not that I think it's right.

It's not really a right. It's a law that someone "can't". There really is a big difference.

I'm not saying it's wrong, but the deliberate abuse of terminology undermines the discussion of real rights.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#299

Post by BenjiWiebe » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:38 AM UTC

gowld wrote: post #207

sandworm101 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And those legitimate questions can be answered elsewhere. The elderly person wanting to chat is looking for an excuse so to do. They take one issue that justifies calling customer support and then once they have someone on the line throw in every other little detail. Younger people, who don't like talking to customer support, seek to limit their call to as narrow an issue as possible. Elderly callers enjoy expanding…

Where can they be answered elsewhere, for someone who is computer illiterate and has poor eyesight?

That's where I make a few dollars. I'll do any computer work for my neighbors, no matter how small, for a minimum flat rate if it's one hour or less. Its commonly only a few minutes of work, but the (usually elderly) neighbor also wants to talk, and I'm paid for one hour, so sure, I talk. Win-win.

Re: On Hold for 45 Minutes? It Might Be Your Secret Customer Score

#300

Post by azernik » Fri, Nov 02, 2018, 3:42 AM UTC

arebop wrote: post #108

wpietri wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangent: Are there other people here who just refuse to sign up for any of these programs? I have family members who are super into frequent flyer programs, credit card points, etc, etc. But I don't like the cognitive load they introduce, and I don't like having to figure out how much I'm being manipulated in any given interaction. I get that I'm missing out on goodies, but they're paying for those goodies somehow, s…

Also: does anyone see these programs and think wow, this airline UX is so awful I want to show them my loyalty so that eventually they'll stop trying so hard to make me unhappy? I'm pretty convinced this all boils down to a sort of low-grade white collar corruption: people who travel a lot for business sometimes can get away with favoring one airline over another, where this decision costs the shareholders a little b…

Yup! The dead giveaway - airline miles follow the passenger, not the purchaser.

My mom used to travel constantly for a Sales Engineer job, and in her telling the opportunity to arrange your air travel for optimal frequent flyer miles was an acknowledged piece of compensation for the hellish travel schedule.