Jeremy Clark OPINION
Groundhog days Is it me, or is the world going totally mad?
Correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to recall that when the mobile phone was invented, it was to replace those cumbersome desktop affairs with a chunky handset connected with a twirly wire to a box with a dial. Well prepare to enter the Time Tunnel because now, and I can scarcely believe it myself, you can buy a chunky handset attached to some twirly wire that plugs into your mobile phone, thus rendering it as per the one your grandmother threw out in 1978. They do say that what goes around,
comes around and if you hang onto those shoulder pads long enough you will again be the belle of the ball. We already see that mobile phones,
rather than being small and handy, are more like slabs of Welsh slate and just as heavy. I wonder how long it will be before we see the return of the phone box so we don’t have to carry them around at all? It’s not just fashion and technology that
is having a groundhog day. IATA’s brilliant concept of 'ticketless travel' brought us online booking and started brilliantly.
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WWW.ONBOARDHOSPITALITY.COM
Unfortunately, progress got in the way. You may recall my critique of airline
booking websites (OBH 49) detailing how the best part of a day is required to book a flight to Paris. These sites mastered 'un-bundling' and 'ancillary revenue earning' to a point where, if not careful, you could easily be surprised with the delivery of an unnecessary kitchen appliance, simply because you failed to un-tick a box somewhere whilst planning a trip to Ibiza. But lo! A miracle has happened. It seems
that easyJet in its wisdom has realised that a simple one-stop-shop approach to the booking experience is what passengers want. The recent announcement 'reveals' for the first time in its 18-year history that it will "offer some passengers the chance to pay one price and have seat selection, their bag checked in and credit card fees all included”. What a genius idea. Who would ever have thought it! I have yet to discover who 'some' passengers are, as opposed to 'all' but it’s all good news. The mindless pursuit by cost-driven
executives to unbundle things for their customers has resulted in increased blood-pressure for all of us. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend to improve Customer Service all round. If you want my money, make it easy.
I want to know how much a product is going to cost from the start and not be left confused and blinking at a myriad of complex choices. EasyJet’s decision demonstrates there
are people with some common sense working in these operations. EasyJet even says that selecting the 'all-in' option for a booking results in a cheaper price than booking all the options individually. And that’s not all . . . my goodness what else do I see? Is it true? An advert seen for Ryanair promising better customer service? Or perhaps they mean 'some' customer service. Either way it looks positive. Who knows, if we live long enough we might even see a free meal. “Gee Dad, did they really give away free food on planes?" " Yes son, they did. And if you live long enough, it may come around again”.
WWW.NICKBREMER.COM
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