Imagine this… you are on a flight from Paris to Tokyo and have settled in well in your plush buiness class arrangement dozing away without a care in the world… only to have a rude awakening – Your money’s gone missing!

This is exactly what happened on board an Air France Boeing 777 flight, business class travelers found that the premium they have paid to have their belongings watched while they slept was all in vain! 5 passengers discovered they have lost to the tune of €4,000 when a lady reported that she had lost her money. The thief went throught the wallets and purses and made away with a handsome amount in mid-air.

This is a reputation management nightmare for Air France and it will be interesting to see if they will compensate their customers and appease future travelers who make overnight flights in their jets. Though the rule says the Airline is only responsible for lost baggage and not personal belongings this incident could unnerve a lot of passengers who carry cash on them.

Investigation is underway and unless the thief is caught and all ends well this could lead to something more.

It’s funny how the simplest lack of customers service or badly run service can get round the Internet.  There are some people you just want to avoid offering bad service to like Matt Cutts, check out his U.S Airways Frequent Flyers Programme post.

In todays world of instant communication, it does not take long to get word out and if you have a massive following like Matt Cutts or Stephen Fry even quicker!!!

Hopefully U.S Airways will pick up on Matt’s post and respond accordingly.  The airlines seem to really suffer when it comes to customer service, British Airways is great at loosing bags, Delta Airways serves pizza and lands at the scruffiest terminal in JFK.  I think the airlines need to work harder on their reputation both on and off-line.

Reputation management and customer service run hand in hand, It’s simply because customers are turning their backs to businesses that do not deliver value and good customer service adds value. There’s no way around it. It’s not about being cheap or their would not be business and first class, it’s about looking after your customer.

Here are some Do’s

1. If you promise something to a customer make sure you come through, if you can’t take the time and effort to explain why and offer an alternative or full refund.
2. Keep customers informed and make it personal

Here are some don’t s

1. Avoid not communicating with customers, even if just to say sorry no update
2. Don’t give bogus reasons, be honest
3. If a refund is due, don’t drag it out, just pay it

By no means is this an exhaustive list of costumer service points, just the ones that really annoy me.