Customer Service Story – Singapore Airlines

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On cxservice360, we focus on sharing only positive and uplifting customer service stories because we aim to inspire service professionals all over the world and encourage them to see themselves as ambassadors whose (seemingly small) actions can lead to a lot of goodwill.

Travel & Food Blogger, Leyla Kazim shared this incredible customer service story on her blog following an interview with an Award-winning customer service rep from Singapore Airlines whom she met during her first flight with the airline.

The Best Airline Customer Service Story You’ll Hear

“A family needed to be in Southampton to catch their cruise but found themselves stuck in Manchester. The family of 12 had planned a cruise leaving from Southampton port in the UK on 14 June 2017 at 16:30.

Due to an inbound delay of their flight from Jakarta, the family missed their connecting flight to London and found themselves stuck in Manchester. Anna and her colleagues decided to organise a private coach to get them down to Southampton in order for them to make their cruise departure. Everything was booked and seemingly going well.

But then they found out the coach was running late. And one piece of luggage never made it to the UK. While the family were on the way to Southampton on the coach, it became apparent that there was no way they were going to make the cruise boarding time.

The Singapore Airlines Customer Service team called the cruise company and crossed all their fingers. Miraculously, they managed to persuade them to delay the departure of the ship by a whole hour, so the family could make it on. This is most definitely not standard practice for a cruise company; Anna and her colleagues really worked some magic.

But there was still the problem of the lost luggage…How does an airline deliver a bag to a ship in the middle of the sea?

The ship would be making a stop in Copenhagen for 3 days, so the team got the bag on a flight from Singapore to Copenhagen. Once the flight arrived, staff in Copenhagen delivered the bag to the Copenhagen ferry port. And all was well!

As Anna put it, “It was hairy but we managed to deal with the coach company, the coach driver and the cruise company. So it all came together and worked out in the end. When we knew they got on the cruise and made it, everyone was so relieved.”

Image: thecutlerychronicles.com (Leyla & Anna)

This story won Anna and her colleagues the Singapore Airlines CEO Service Excellence Awards that year. The accolade recognizes staff going the extra mile in creating delightful experiences for Singapore Airlines customers.

There are different categories and anyone can be awarded, from ground staff to cabin crew. Two of Anna’s colleagues flew to Singapore to accept it at a big and glamorous ceremony.

A truly wonderful customer services story, and certainly not one you hear every day”

Anna & the team went out of their way to make the family’s experience a memorable one. Guess what airline would be the top choice for any member of the family when next they need to travel? You can bet they’d pick Singapore air over any other options.

See also  Bank Customer Service Story

It is also worthy of note that the action of the team earned them recognition from the employer. Do you have a plan in place to recognize and reward your employees when they go above and beyond to deliver great service? 

Kelechi Okeke
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