How to avoid a customer-service nightmare

3. Ignorance is bliss

When you encounter bad service, as Jenni Brand did on a recent flight from Philadelphia to Chicago, it’s easy for the situation to spiral out of control. It began when a flight attendant spilled water on her. As she tried to dry herself with a handful of napkins, the crewmember snapped, “it’s only water.” Brand held her tongue.

“I chose to politely ignore her, because these days, the flight attendants hold all the power,” she told me.

“Had I responded, I could have been deemed combative and had to deal with the authorities, or who knows what!” Then the attendant skipped her aisle for beverage service.

That prompted Brand to shake her head. “Are you shaking your head at that?” the attendant demanded. At which point she realized how fortunate she had been. Openly challenging a flight attendant in a bad mood could have indeed gotten her into more trouble than she expected.

4. Try a smile

A charm offense can be the best defense against an unhelpful ticket agent. At a time like this, everyone expects the complaints. But going positive can have shocking results. When Lori Lenz and her friend, Lisa, wrapped up a convention in Tampa, Fla., recently and tried to get home early, they were stopped by a ticket agent who demanded they pay $385 to board an early flight.

Instead of whining, they tried a little nice. “She could see our disappointment,” Lenz remembers. Then the agent began typing on her terminal, and in a few moments, handed them two tickets on the next flight. “I have great friends who are named Lori and Lisa,” the agent said. “Great people with great names.” The fee to change tickets? Zero.

5. Document everything

So you’ve tried being nice, you’ve backed down and you’ve ignored their inappropriate behavior. What if they persist? Unfortunately, that can happen. I’ve personally had to deal with vindictive employees who were hell-bent on making my trip a living hell. Elisse Goldstein-Clark has, too.

She told me a chilling story about what she called the “worst airline experience of my life” that involved “perhaps the nastiest, most unhelpful, spiteful human being I have ever dealt with,” and her takeaway from the ordeal is interesting.

“Control yourself, and take really good notes,” she says. Sometimes, asking for names will result in better service, but often you have to wait until getting home before drafting a brief, polite letter to the company. “That often works,” she says.