World Airline Response

Part II: World Airline’s Response The following is World Airline’s actual response to the customer’s letter. The first letter was written by the claims manager, and the second by the customer relations manager. September 25, 2015 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Customer: This letter confirms the settlement agreed upon during our phone conversation just concluded. Accordingly, we have prepared and enclosed (in duplicate) a General Release for $2,000. Both you and your wife should sign in the presence of a Notary Public, have your signatures notarized, and return the Original to this office, keeping the copy for your records. As soon as we receive the notarized Release, we will forward our draft for $2,000. Again, our sincerest apologies to Mrs. Customer. It will be most helpful for our Customer Relations staff if you included with the Release copies of all available travel docu-ments. Very truly yours, Claims Manager October 12, 2015 Dear Mr. Customer: Let me begin by apologizing for this delayed response and all of the unfortunate inci-dents that you described in your letter. Although we try to make our flights as enjoyable as possible, we obviously failed on this occasion. Our claims manager informs me that you have worked out a potential settlement for the matter regarding the food poisoning. We regret you were not able to enjoy the food service on the other flights on your itinerary because of it. I assure you that such incidents are a rare occurrence, and that much time and effort is expended to ensure that our catering is of the finest quality. Fewer things can be more irritating than faulty baggage handling. Only in an ideal world could we say that baggage will never again be damaged. Still, we are striving to ensure baggage is handled in such a way that if damage should occur, it will be minimized. Flight disruptions caused by weather conditions can be particularly frustrating since, despite advanced technology, accurate forecasts for resumption of full operations cannot always be obtained as rapidly as one would wish. These disruptions are, of course, beyond the airlines’ control. Safety is paramount in such situations and we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We make every reasonable effort to lessen the inconvenience to passengers who are affected by schedule changes. Our practice is, in fact, to advise passengers of such changes when we have a local contact for them and time permits. We also try to obtain satisfactory alternative reservations. We are reviewing our schedule change requirements with all personnel concerned and will take whatever corrective measures are necessary to ensure that a similar problem does not arise in the future. You made it clear in your letter that the interior of our aircraft was not attractive. We know that aircraft appearance is a reflection of our professionalism. We regret that our airplane did not measure up to our standards, since we place great emphasis on cabin maintenance and cleanliness. Please be assured that this particular matter is being investi-gated by the responsible management, and corrective action will be taken. As tangible evidence of our concern over your unpleasant trip, I have enclosed two travel vouchers, which may be exchanged for two first-class tickets anywhere that World Airlines flies. Once again, please accept our humble apology. We hope for the opportunity to restore your faith in World Airlines by providing you with completely carefree travel. Sincerely, Customer Relations Manager Part II: Discussion Questions 1. Describe the recovery strategies that were offered by the company to offset the cus-tomer’s complaint. Classify the recovery strategies based on the recovery strategy categories provided in this chapter. 2. Discuss the adequacy of the recovery strategies offered in terms of meeting the customer’s distributive, procedural, and interactional justice needs. 3. Explain what the company and its employees can learn from this complaint letter.