This is a follow-up post on the previous article related to the horrible customer experience delivered by KLM.
KLM is an european airline which is opened for almost 100 years but that is clearly not reflected in the customer support service.
Update 1 – 20-12-2017 10:52 – social media shares
- After posting the article , I started sharing on Social media and IM channels mentioned above – on WhatsApp, i was pending an answer for about 24h ; after sharing the article with the agent on WhatsApp , the answer came in 10 min
- https://www.airlinecomplaints.org/showthread.php?t=14100
- https://www.facebook.com/vatruica1/posts/1745895165483338
- https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6349148720205963264/
Check out my canceled flights experience in the Most Comprehensive Complaint ever made (screenshots included) – https://t.co/bevy4GYxcz
After being ignored for almost 1 week, KLM support sent an automated message with a customer satisfaction survey. Nice! #KLM #airlines
— Victor Truica (@VictorTruica) December 20, 2017
Update 2 – 23-12-2017 11:55 – Twitter feedback, no answers on Messenger, ‘blabla’ replies on WhatsApp
Apparently, KLM is quick to reply in visible places, such as Twitter. But not that quick on answering complaint forms. Of course, nobody actually sees the complaint forms, except for the affected passenger (me) and KLM support so why bother ?
If that were true, I would have seen a reply to my complaint form, or on any support channel or a comment on the blogpost from @KLM support management or leadership. But i'm guessing, @KLM does not stress responding in cases that aren't too visibile to the public like Twitter ?
— Victor Truica (@VictorTruica) December 23, 2017
Almost 2 weeks have passed and
- still no answer on Facebook Messenger
Instead of having some useful categories of things to use in the Messenger bot, KLM added a ‘Fun stuff’ category instead of including a ‘Support‘ category. The conclusion here is that ‘fun stuff’ is more important than proper customer service.
Who would actually need ‘The Emoji serivce‘ ? What was the reasoning behind this ?
- ‘will get back to you‘ and ‘blabla apologies‘ answers on WhatsApp but no clear answer on a complaint status
Update 3 – 23-12-2017 13:30 – KLM does not even read my Tweets properly or my blogpost, even though they say ‘KLM values your feedback. Serious consideration will be given to this.’
KLM is asking me for to open a Customer Care file online, which I already did and mentioned it several times.
Once you've created a Customer Care file online, you'll receive an email with a reference number. Could you please send us your reference number via DM so we can check the status of your file? >>
— Royal Dutch Airlines (@KLM) December 23, 2017
This makes me think that they are actually not reading what I’m writing and are just typing from a script.
I have already sent DMs to KLM but i have received no answer. I have forwarded my reference number on WhatsApp and I'm now waiting for your reply on the DM on Twitter to see if you are actually reading those messages before I send a reference number.
— Victor Truica (@VictorTruica) December 23, 2017
On Twitter DM, KLM is used to automated messages only, as I haven’t received any human reply so far.
Update 4 – KLM support management finally replied.
Not directly, no name mentioned but maybe it’s true.
Update 5 – 08-01-2018 and onowards, clear answers and the refund
08-01-2018 – first real response, on email, to the Customer Care ticket opened in 19-12-2018. I intentionally didn’t attach any receipts to the initial email, so that I can see at which stage of the conversation i will be asked for them
The receipts were already scanned, they just needed to be attached. Which was done pretty quick
13-01-2018 – KLM acknowledged that they have received the receipts and informed that a refund will be done within 3-4 weeks. The only issue was that the total amount refunded wasn’t the total amount from the receipts, which led to another email asking why.
17-01-2018 – KLM acknowledged that it was a mistake and the remaining amount will be refunded accordingly.
22-01-2018 – the first part of the refund got into my account. Much faster than initially mentioned, but I’m guessing it’s better to under-promise and then to over-deliver and not the other way around.
31-01-2018 – the 2nd part of the refund reached my account. Again, faster than initially mentioned.
In conclusion
1. Airlines are always overwhelmed by requests – KLM and maybe all other airlines, will always ‘ regret that due to an unusually high volume of incoming requests at the moment, we will not be able to reply within our usual timeframe. ‘
2. 7,5 weeks is the time it took from the cancelation of the flight until the refund.
3. Twitter is the way to go. Even if they have multiple support channels, Twitter is the place where they are the most responsive, probably because of the level of public exposure.