Three years ago I sent a letter to Aeroplan president, Vince Timpano.If you do this with most well-run companies, you’ll eventually hear back from someone. Not with Mr. Timpano or Aeroplan. It’s been just over 4 years now, and I still check the mail faithfully for the response. Nuthin.
This is an organization that is fortunate to have a captive market, and sees this as a license to abuse their customers. At some point in time, however, something will happen that will free their hostaged customers, and it will be too late for them to respond. We reap what we sow. Here’s an excerpt from my letter:
Dear Mr. Timpano:
I’ve had an experience with your company which I really think you should be aware of… I’ve seen a lot over the years, and it really takes something special to get under my skin. Aeroplan did it.
Rather than write you a lengthy letter describing the experience, you can see most of it on the blog entryon our company’s website. Suffice it to say that, from a customer’s perspective, Aeroplan has some serious systemic issues preventing it from delivering anything close to an acceptable level of customer service.
Awkward processes, including the IVR, untenable policies and uninterested people are combining to create memorably bad experiences. Mine was absolutely unacceptable by any standard. it is a textbook example of a company which needs to seriously look how they treat their customers. I’m not writing this as a business who is trying to sell you on our services, I am writing as an educated customer who is profoundly disappointed… Aeroplan made me lose my temper for the first time in many years. Not an accomplishment to be proud of…
How many letters does Mr. Timpano get that he can’t get around to responding after 4 years? But, in all fairness, he and his organization really just don’t care – so my expectation is probably a little unreasonable. But I’ll keep checking the mail- just in case.
