Small checkered rip-offs
Striking a blow: If you fool (customer) kings, you play poker and lose big: CS can learn this from SBB.
Column Those who fool (customer) kings play poker and lose big: CS can learn this from SBB On November 2, 2002, I became a better person. Back then, I mutated from "Homo sapiens" to "Homo sapiens platinensis". In other words: American Express informed me that, in view of my annual five to six-figure earnings from their commission business, they had "upgraded" me from a plebeian gold cardholder to an exalted platinum cardholder. I confess that this favor from the world's most renowned credit card company made me emotional. And after I was assured in the enclosed brochure that the Platinum card would also insure me against almost any kind of adversity, I was also overcome by a feeling of security I had rarely felt before.
Well, for the past month I have been plagued by existential fears again. In mid-December, I felt compelled to send the following e-mail to the Amex insurance company Axa Assistance in Munich: "I waive the refund of CHF 165.50. Please transfer the amount to a Swiss children's charity in my name. Thank you for your very accommodating and competent service. Your new Visa customer S. W." What had happened?
Quite simply, Amex did the worst thing a brand can do: break its promise. After I canceled a trip because my father had to have emergency surgery, I dared to ask Swisscard AECS, a joint venture between Credit Suisse and American Express, to refund the ticket cost of 550 francs.
This was followed by three months of back and forth with the people in charge, who asked for a doctor's certificate, then demanded to see my father's medical history, finally asked him to release his doctor from his duty of confidentiality and then reimbursed 165 francs on the basis of his second certificate. This was on the grounds that my partner's flight ticket was not insured - even though it was also paid for with my Platinum card - because she herself was only a Gold cardholder. I was also charged a deductible of 120 francs for claiming travel insurance.
In the hope that an amicable solution could be found, I even contacted the AECS CEO I knew, Urs Baumann. He wrote back politely and gave me 40000 air miles with Swiss. However, the effect of this gesture was
that he sent me the terms and conditions and drew my attention to subsection 10.3.2 "Travel insurance" with a red sticker.
I was already inclined to write this off as typical Swiss "Bünzli" service mentality when I had a completely different experience with another ticket. This time it was an SBB ticket for the Zurich-Winterthur route, and one that I hadn't bought.
I had rushed onto the S-Bahn in Winterthur with a colleague late at night after a meeting - but without a ticket. Of course we were caught. But instead of fining us both 80 francs each, as the regulations would have required, the train attendant listened to our apologies, looked at the thick briefcases and said: "I believe you and will therefore only charge you the 80 francs once." This SBB official suddenly restored my confidence in our country.
I would therefore make the following recommendation to CS boss Oswald Grübel: "Avoid products like American Express in your product range. Because their brand promise is based on individual customer treatment, not the recitation of small print. Or even better: ask SBB boss Benedikt Weibel to lend you a couple of train attendants. They can certainly teach your staff what customer service is. And if I know Mr. Weibel, he won't charge you McKinsey hourly rates for it."
> Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency
Contract Media.
Well, for the past month I have been plagued by existential fears again. In mid-December, I felt compelled to send the following e-mail to the Amex insurance company Axa Assistance in Munich: "I waive the refund of CHF 165.50. Please transfer the amount to a Swiss children's charity in my name. Thank you for your very accommodating and competent service. Your new Visa customer S. W." What had happened?
Quite simply, Amex did the worst thing a brand can do: break its promise. After I canceled a trip because my father had to have emergency surgery, I dared to ask Swisscard AECS, a joint venture between Credit Suisse and American Express, to refund the ticket cost of 550 francs.
This was followed by three months of back and forth with the people in charge, who asked for a doctor's certificate, then demanded to see my father's medical history, finally asked him to release his doctor from his duty of confidentiality and then reimbursed 165 francs on the basis of his second certificate. This was on the grounds that my partner's flight ticket was not insured - even though it was also paid for with my Platinum card - because she herself was only a Gold cardholder. I was also charged a deductible of 120 francs for claiming travel insurance.
In the hope that an amicable solution could be found, I even contacted the AECS CEO I knew, Urs Baumann. He wrote back politely and gave me 40000 air miles with Swiss. However, the effect of this gesture was
that he sent me the terms and conditions and drew my attention to subsection 10.3.2 "Travel insurance" with a red sticker.
I was already inclined to write this off as typical Swiss "Bünzli" service mentality when I had a completely different experience with another ticket. This time it was an SBB ticket for the Zurich-Winterthur route, and one that I hadn't bought.
I had rushed onto the S-Bahn in Winterthur with a colleague late at night after a meeting - but without a ticket. Of course we were caught. But instead of fining us both 80 francs each, as the regulations would have required, the train attendant listened to our apologies, looked at the thick briefcases and said: "I believe you and will therefore only charge you the 80 francs once." This SBB official suddenly restored my confidence in our country.
I would therefore make the following recommendation to CS boss Oswald Grübel: "Avoid products like American Express in your product range. Because their brand promise is based on individual customer treatment, not the recitation of small print. Or even better: ask SBB boss Benedikt Weibel to lend you a couple of train attendants. They can certainly teach your staff what customer service is. And if I know Mr. Weibel, he won't charge you McKinsey hourly rates for it."
> Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency
Contract Media.
