A Little Help Please!

It is amazing that in a time when many companies are on the brink of bankruptcy and almost everyone has to work harder to close business, some organizations are unwilling to lift a finger to earn your dollars.

This past week I was in New York City with my wife. This was our first pleasure trip to the city and we had a fantastic experience. Prior to flying to NYC, some good friends gave us the name of a transportation company that was an alternative to the taxi cab. We called ahead and made our reservation for a driver to meet us at the airport upon our arrival.

The car was clean, comfortable, and on time. The driver was very nice and took us to our hotel on Times Square. After spending the weekend seeing the sights and shows, we reluctantly made the call on Sunday afternoon to the same car company to arrange for our pickup later that evening. We would be spending the final night at a hotel a few miles from LaGuardia Airport.

When I called the reservation number for the NYC company, they asked for the address of our hotel. (It was a Fairfield by Marriott – three miles from the airport.) At the time, I was walking down Broadway heading to lunch and did not have the address with me. I told them the name of the hotel.

They responded that they would need to have the street address to make the reservation. I was surprised that a transportation company would not have a list readily available of airport hotels. I asked if they could look up the address, and they responded that they could not. I asked to speak to the manager and got the same response.

If I was running this business and trying to generate revenue in a down economy, I would have found a way to find the address. I can’t believe that I was the first person to make such a request. This company should create a quick reference document for their reservation agents to quickly find the address for the main hotels that surround their two main airports.

I don’t know if these employees were lazy or just lacked common sense, but if they want to stay in business, they should realize that customer expectations are increasing and they need to do what it takes to respond to the customer needs.