Treat Your Customer Right

“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.”  a quote by Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways.

How can a company or a service-providing organization jeopardize its reputation for a small amount of money, and treat at least one customer in a way that he will be lost forever?! This is really strange, and can’t be absorbed by anyone, from simple one in streets up to an executive in an elite organization.

Surprisingly, I happen to come cross a strange story about the well-known “Holiday Travel & Tourism” company here in Amman. One of my close friends decided to go with them, since they have strongly advertised about their EID offers for various destinations. Istanbul – Turkey was his choice.

Despite the fact that the booking process went smooth and quick, it lacked the real sense of professionalism that such Agency should have. All what mattered for them is he pays the amount and charges ASAP to confirm his reservation. The rest of the procedure was neglected by the agent and the management. There was no checking for the needed documents of travel, although my friend questioned if they need to have copies of the passports or at least have a look at them to ensure that the spelling of the reserved names are correct and he won’t face any troubles while he is in Istanbul. The reply was that “THERE IS NO NEED!”

You might be asking about the consequences of such little mistake, and yes I call it a “mistake” and both, my friend and the Agency, have done. Unfortunately, the passport expired one day before the travelling day, and to have the story quite complicated, this was during the EID holiday. The Department of Civil Status and Passports was closed.

My friend visited the Agency on Saturday night to inform them about this incident and asked for the flight and the booking to be rescheduled till the very next Monday, where he could have the time to renew the expired passport. He also submitted a letter for the Management of “Holiday Travel & Tourism” appealing for the reschedule. We had good presumption that they will surely cooperate and deal with this rare case with extreme care. We kept into this spirit until we came to the fact that they do not really CARE about their customers. Oops!

They insisted that he shall be held accountable for this mistake, and the fees will be forfeited because he did not pay attention to the expiry date, and he did pay the full amounts. A question then popped up: “what if a misfortunate event occurred in one’s life, a sudden death among a family member, a car accident while going to the airport, or any other matter that will definitely prevent anyone from travelling even to Dead Sea. How would you – Holiday Travel & Tourism Office – deal with this specific, and yet unusual, circumstances?”

The reply was – and to our surprise in confident – from the Agency: we will forfeit the fees. We are not responsible for this!!!!

We know that there are a clause in the contract, where customers should advice prior the cancellation or rescheduling of any booking 3 days prior the travel date; but come on, there are times when you really have nothing to do, and he needs a good sanctuary to people who can support him. Who is better that the Agency he trusted to ask for their help?!

What would have happened if they approved to reschedule the flight one day, one week, or even one month, and he should pay the 50-JD-fine as per the contract. It will be a win-win situation: they will prove they care about their customers, and my friend will have his vacation and has not lost his money.

All they had done and proved that they need to learn a lot about the meaning of a “customer”, and that customer is the one who pays their salaries and bills at the end.

For me, I am sure I will not deal with them for any future bookings, and hope that you find your selves another more trustworthy Agency. One that will treat well while you are in Jordan, to feel safe and secured while you are outside using their name in case anything happens.

You have illustrated that you walk the talk of your slogan "Lifetime Memories". Yes, this customer will never forget that he lost his money and you treated him badly.

First Day In Ramadan 2011

It is now 16:23 as I start writing "What comes to my mind" about the first day in Ramadan. Actually I thought it would be more difficult! Yes, I am very thirsty, and really want to to eat :( However; I usually tend to get grumpy and in a very bad mood. This is sure because of "Coffee" and "Cigarettes".

I have been following a little secret I learned from an old colleague in my previous company, where she advised to have "Cup of Coffee" and "two pills of Panadol" just before the "Imsak". I'm trying this solution for four years now, and it is really working :D

It is almost three hours till "Iftar", and the very next step, which is not a secret at all. It is now time to sleep and wake up exactly at "Maghreb" to EAT, DRINK, and SMOKE ....

(I'm confident that I will laugh a lot when I revisit the way I wrote this tiny post :D)

Does the “Maid” replace the “Mom”?

A new trend is appearing in the Jordanian Family Culture; where "Maids" are started to be seen accompanying most of the families in the Malls, Vacations, and even Restaurants. You see the "Maid" hugging the "Child", feeding him and taking care of him, and his "Mom" is sitting or shopping not even caring a bit about her own "Child." The "Maid" is running after the "Child" to ensure that he or she is not going to get hurt, and if the "Child" accidently fell on the ground (and who doesn't?!), it is a "click" for the "Mom" to start her motherhood role: scream at the "Maid" to pay better attention at the "Child". What a fantastic role she is holding!

I remember "Mom" at the past, where she spent almost 95% of her time dedicated for her "Child", making sure that the lunch is ready when he comes home after school, or his clothes are tidy and clean, or even the smell of a Cake is taking over the whole home. Nowadays, the "Maid" is preparing the sandwiches for school, waiting for the "Child" to come from school, serving him the lunch, giving him a bath, and plays with him, and maybe the "Child" sleeps before his "Mom" gets to see him before.

I'm not against the concept of the "Maid" if used properly. Maids can be of great assistance to the "Mom" especially if she is a working one. The "Maid" can spare the "Mom" the time of cleaning the house for example, while the "Mom" is spending the Quality Time the "Child" needs. Unfortunately, this concept is comprehended somehow wrongly by some "Mom", where they allowed the "Maid" to perform all the tasks associated with the most sacred full-time job anyone have: being a "Mom."

Seeing this a lot lately, made me call it a trend, and most importantly, made ask myself and in loud: Does the "Maid" replace the "Mom"?

My Kids Hate to Sleep

I don't know why Kids nowadays hate to sleep. My wife and I spend almost one to two hours on daily basis just trying to getting them sleep. My daughter - Jude, turned to be the MASTER in making up excuses before going to bed. "Mummy, I need to drink", "Mummy, why is it so dark outside? I don't like to sleep now, let's make it till it is sun again", Can you believe it?!

Three months ago, Allah has blessed us with a new family member to complete the variety of the group; a baby boy we named Mutaz. Mutaz started his life like any baby, drinks milk and sleeps. This trend lasted for almost two and a half months. However, everything has an end! He takes his bath, gets milk, laughs and plays, and gets his diaper changed. The whole preparation for any baby is complete now. What is left then. The answer is to go to sleep. But NO! He like to stay awake! He learned the full lesson from his sister and tries his best to beat her out.

Guess what, a three-month-old baby refuses to sleep outside his home, and insists to sleep on his very own crib. Sometimes we feel he is going to talk and order us to get back home and place him in his bed.



The issue is; that just right after they go to sleep, I miss them so much and start kissing them trying to spend the lovely time they have while they are asleep. I'm going crazy, ain't I? What can I say; there is something strange about kids that pulls the sanity out of you: it keeps crazy about them and crazy from them.

But what Can I say, we love them so much that we have to go through this cycle EVERY day.