Izzy Travel Notes

One day in Phoenix, late May…

It’s time to fly back to my homeland after spending nearly a month in US to work on global projects at the corporate office of the company where I currently work. It was noon time when I was checked out from The Hyatt Place, Tempe, and Molly who was on the the shuttle service day-shift was ready to take me as usual. But the destination this time was not Cotton Center Boulevard where my corporate office was located, but the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport instead…

It was my first time trip to US. And more or less, any small differences in custom, habit, procedures, whatsoever, will cause nerves or even confusion. To make my problem even worse, I am a type of person who is too shy (or too proud? haha..) to ask question to others.

I’d rather read any manual or guidance books or googling until dawn than forcing myself to ask question…

Well, in the case of how to check-in at the airline counter in the airport, I don’t think it was ever described in the manuals or any internet site (I guess…). “It’s a common practice, even a kid can do it…” as they most probably say. When I was flying in to US, it was no problem at all. Checking-in at the airport in my own country, boarding passes for all flights were already printed-out. This time it was the return trip. Right after Molly waved her hand in her van and then dissapeared in the traffic after dropping me off in front of the Terminal-2 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, I started thinking while looking at a row of automatic check-in machines in front of me…

How the h*** am I going to use this thing…?

Automatic check-in machine was already a common thing in US airports, but not in Indonesia. Not yet.

Noticing there was a person with a blank face in front of the line of automatic check-in machines while reading the instruction, a middle-aged woman officer came over. Friendly, patient and always smiled, the lady explained – thoroughly – how to use the machine and guided me at every step, what data to enter, when to scan the passport, how to get a luggage-tag, and so on.

In short, friendly dan professional.

And I’m still proud to call myself a gadget-freak? A gadget-freak that needs an old lady to teach him how to use an automatic check-in counter…

Assisting me on operating the automatic check-in counter, the lady was very skillful and looked very competent on what she does, really mastered on how to operate the machine. I don’t know how long she was in-charge on helping people like me to use the machine, but she did not seem to lose her passion, to keep doing her job, to remain friendly to everyone who needs her help. Not only that, she also helped me out with the directions, which gate I should go next, where the waiting lounge area was, where the restaurant area was where I could have lunch while waiting for my flight, where the drug store was or the location of the shop where I could buy magazines…

Currently I am also involved with stuff that are related to customer service. And I am coming from an eastern nation that is well-known for its hospitality. Receiving a service like what the airport lady provided me makes me ashamed of myself. The department that I am currently supervising is not yet able to consistently provide quality service like that. Many factors influence this issue, a lot of things must be addressed, and also lots of parameters we can use and apply to improve our service to a better quality.

In short, there are still lots of things that I need to fix here…

* The bahasa Indonesia version of this note can be found at http://www.ismawanismail.com/blog/customer-service-3/