I hope Angela at British Airways doesn’t get fired for this tweet

Since the advent of social media, airlines have had to put together teams to respond to customers online. Naturally one expects the usual kind of bland service messages to pass back and forth. In a recent customer reply, Angela at British Airways decided to tell it like it is.

Having worked in customer service in the past, I know the pressures these people face. Having to keep that happy perky front going when you’re being treated poorly takes some talent.

Customer Sharon Tweets

Sharon has a new Irish Passport, probably because she’s worried about Brexit. Turns out the gate agent noticed it was unsigned on a back page where it is supposed to be and stopped her from boarding.

What struck me immediately is that she had to spend five minutes practicing her signature. I hardly ever have to sign my name but I still know my own signature. Next up, she appears to be blaming British Airways for the fact she scribbled a random signature in her own Passport. The next tweet gives the final piece of the puzzle. What can I say? It sounds like Sharon is embarrassed for holding up the queue. I would feel the same way, given the same situation, especially if it was something I had neglected to do.

Angela At British Airways Keeps It Real

In a now deleted tweet, Angela at British Airways decided to be real in her response. Rather than placate Sharon with a message such as “Sorry to hear you bad a bad experience, we will try to do better next time!”, the response was as below.

Yes Angela, yes, yes and yes! People should take responsibility for their own actions and not whine unnecessarily about people doing their jobs in customer service.

Who Is Right Here?

Judging by some of the replies under the tweet, it looks like most people are a) astonished a grown woman would need five minutes to practice their signature and b) agree with British Airways.

I do wonder if Sharon is being truthful though, as it just seems outlandish that someone would need that long to practice a signature and then apparently scribble any old thing into a Passport.

Customer Sharon’s Final Word

Naturally after Angela at British Airways sent that reply, Sharon appears to be very unimpressed all round. So unimpressed that she’s decided to fly KLM on her next trip.

Sounds like good riddance to me! Hopefully she will find solace in voting with her feet, but I can almost smell the fact that she will fly British Airways again. I’d probably even bet on it!

Overall Thoughts

For some reason, I still think customer Sharon’s tweets are designed to get her some attention. It just doesn’t seem realistic for a person to spend five minutes practicing a signature and holding up a queue of people, only to then screw it up in a Passport.

Either way, I think Angela at British Airways is spot on with her reply. Not one thing there is the fault of British Airways, so the fact Sharon is taking out her embarrassment on the airline is a bit rich. Considering the tweet from BA is now deleted, I hope that was the end of the matter and nothing untoward happened to Angela.

What do you think of all of this? Is Angela at British Airways in the right or wrong here? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

To never miss a post, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All my flight and lounge reviews are indexed here so check them out!

Featured image by Rafael Luiz Canossa via Wikimedia Commons.