Service Encounter Diary and Service strategy

Development.
ANINDA MUKHOPADHYAY, Z5023511
10/6/2015

Table Of Contents
Topic
1. Executive

Page
4

summary
2. Experiences

3. Theories
4. Analyse of
theories
5. Recommendati
on
6. Implementation

7. References

5-6

8-9
10

11

12

Executive Summary
In this article I will talk about my experiences in Air India flight, during my journey from Kolkata
to Tanzania. It started with poor customer service where I had to go through huge stress when I
noticed that my flight ticket was not booked. Then during our journey, we had to wait for 45 minutes
due to technical failure .Goingforward, I found bread and chicken falling over in my seat when I
was boarding the second flight from Dubai to Tanzania, followed by delay in Air India staff to clean
the mess. On the top of that, I was treated rudely by the airhostess, when asked for 1 glass of water.
In this report, I have analysed several loopholes of Air India in their delivery of their services. First
point I came across is the Air Indias uninformative responses to my call when I asked them about
my flight booking. Second, I found the inattentive and unprofessional staff, when I came to know
that They confused my name with another name. Third, I found the technical service failure where We
had to wait for 45 minutes for take off. Fourth is the poor service quality when I found bread and
chicken falling over in my seat. Fifth, is the delay in service recovery, when the Air India staff took
10 minutes to arrive and clean the mess. And lastly, I found the unprofessional and poor employee
communication and behaviour from the staff, when Air India hostess took 30 minutes to bring 1 glass
of water and also behaved rudely with me.
Hence I came out with my suggestion in order to improve customer service and service delivery for
Air India. First is the proper training of staff and ensure that the employees is really learningfrom it.
Second I came up with training of staff through workshop programs that teaches staff how to
maintain strong communication and relationship with customers. Third, is using customer reviews,
feedback and testimonials in order to empower customers and improves service failure. Last, I came
across with recruiting only the best and the authentic engineers in the company and provide them
with good salaries in order to retain them in the companies and also incorporate proper checking of
flight parts on a day-today basis.

Experience
In this report,I am going to discuss about the services that I experienced from Air India flight
starting from Netaji Subhash Chandra Airport, Kolkata to Tanzania, when I was selected among 40
young students to go to TANZANIA for a community project. It started with after I booked the flight
2 months earlier , I came to notice 2 days before my journey that My flight is not booked. It was
showing Pending. I was devastated. I called the Air India customer care, and they told me that due
to some technical problem, many passengers were having the same problem. But they assured me not
to worry. However, 1 hour after my call, they sent me a email that I have to rebook the flight as they
could not find my booking . I was shocked. I went to the airport and after loads of checking, they
found that got confused with similar name. I felt really disgusted with that. Next, the flight was
supposed to start at 8.10 pm, however due to technical difficulty , we had to wait for 45 minutes before
departure. This really made many passengers pissed off. I felt so disgusted with that . Next after we
landed in Dubai, I had to take another flight from Dubai to Tanzania. Although the Flight was good
from outside, But the place where I was supposed to sit ,I saw bread and chicken falling over and it
was smelling. I felt so disrespected that I immediately shouted at the air hostess to clean those mess.
They told me that they were coming. However, they came after 10 minutes and that made me think,
why the hell had I booked Air India flight. Finally the air hostess were so rude. When I asked them
for a 1 glass of water, they came to me after 30 minutes saying that They were busy. Damn!!, I started
to wonder that after paying so much money, I never imagined such type of rubbish services from Air
India. So to conclude, If I have to give ratings, my satisfaction ratings will be 1/5. Services rating 1/5,
value for money rating 3/5 and I would probably not recommend anyone to take Air India.

Theories:
Organizational responses are the initial reactions by a company in response to a complaint (Davidow
2003a, p. 232. They represent the actual action itself taken by the organization. Employee
behaviour is described as empathic, friendly, responsible, careful, and informative behaviour of the
service person (Estelami 2000). Promptness is described as an immediate and easy handling of
complaint (Estelami 2000). This description encompasses facilitation and timeliness, both of which
refer to the ability of organizations to control complaint-handling processes in an efficient and
straightforward manner. A service experience is defined as the service encounter and/or service
process that creates the customers cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses which result in a
mental mark, a memory (in line with Johnston and Clark (2001)). From the customers perspective,
relationships with service providers can reduce the perceived risk of evaluating services which are
primarily intangible (Berry, 1995) and provide customers with valued benefits (Czepiel, 1990; Dagger
et al., 2011). Firms are interested in relationships with customers because of their benefits to the
bottom line, but the nature of the relationships matters. In the same way, relationships between
employees and customers may not extend to the firm or organization the employees represent..
Service failures and failed recoveries are found to be the main causes of customer switching
behaviour (Keaveney, 1995). Accordingly, firms should provide immediate recovery to customers
after a service failure (Kim and Ulgado, 2012; Tax et al., 1998; Smith et al., 1999). However, not all
service problems are quickly solvable ). Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons (2001) explains that
the creation of customer satisfaction for a service can be identified through a
comparison between service perceptions with service expectation.. Consumer
satisfaction refers to the positive assessment of a result associated with the consumption of a product
or service (Westbrook, 1980). Researchers perceive service-related customer satisfaction differently.
For example, Cronin and Taylor (1994) indicated that customer satisfaction is a collective assessment.
Customer satisfaction is strongly influenced by the interaction between
customers and employees (Boshoff & Tait, 1996), examining employee behaviour
is critical. Employee behaviour, though, is strongly influenced by the operating
organizational culture (Chow et al., 2002; Ferris et al., 1998; Pratt & Beaulieu,
1992; Schein, 1996). From their perspective, customer satisfaction denotes a comprehensive
assessment rather than a transaction-specific result. For this research, satisfaction is operationalized
in a manner that indicates the level of gratification associated with an experience. When travellers are
satisfied, they are most likely to show an intention to repeat the experience and to repeat the purchase
(Beeho& Prentice, 1997; Hallowell, 1996).For a service organisation to be successful, it must move
past simply satisfying customers: it should build relationships that will result in customer retention
(Kurtz &Clow, 1998: 380-381;403). A framework for customer retention management should include
relationship marketing efforts, compatibility management, defection management, service failure
management, and service recovery efforts (Petzer, 2005:308). Hoffman, Kelley and Chung (2003:339340) identify three main types of service failure points occurring in the physical environment in which
services are delivered: cleanliness issues, mechanical problems, and facility-design issues (listed in
order of their frequency of occurrence).

Analysis
So lets share my experiences in the light of theories discussed above. So starting from the time
when I got an email that my flight was not booked , It shows how pathetic the customer service of Air
India is. After getting a complaint previously, they were supposed to respond after careful analysis
of the customers problem as has been stated that Organizational responses are the initial reactions by
a company in response to a complaint. . So based on this theory, It is quite clear the response The
Air India made initially after hearing the complaint was not informative and careful. After hearing
my response their first reaction was supposed to check properly what had happened and not jump
into conclusion . Going forward, when I went to theairport , Air India told me that they got confused
with similar name and my booking was already made. This shows how inattentive they were while
responding to customers problems . As Davidow (2000, 2003a) framework said that , favourable
employee behaviour covers the interpersonal aspect of complaint handling by embracing
attentiveness (i.e., listening carefully) and credibility (i.e., explaining the problem). Hence, the Air
India did not make any attempt to carefully analyse my problem, and instead made a caricature of my
complain . They lacked credibility and inattentiveness to their responses , while making me harassed
and stresses out.
Next, The flight was supposed to start at a particular time, however they were delayed. After 30
minutes ,they mentioned that they were facing technical difficulty and we will be taking off within
15 minutes. Now, If we analyse in the light of theories that Service failures and failed recoveries are
found to be the main causes of customer switching behaviour (Keaveney, 1995) most scholars
suggest that firms should provide immediate recovery to customers after a service failure (Kim and
Ulgado, 2012; Tax et al., 1998; Smith et al., 1999). Now with this service failure and delay, Air India
not only harassed me , but even the other passengers who were sitting there were pissed off with the
services. Air India should have informed the passengers immediately when they found the technical
problems .Air India has not only impacted the minds of the passengers negatively, but also the family
members who were waiting for their loved ones to arrive At a particular time. On the other hand,
Regarding service recovery, Air India did not make any attempts to cover up the lost time while
flying. So If we analyse in the light of theories discussed above, their service recovery was also poor
as they did not make any attempt to recover their services even after their services failures.
Next, When I entered the flight from Dubai to Tanzania, I saw chicken and bread falling over in my
place. This can be analysed using Hoffman, Kelley and Chung (2003:339-340) identify three main
types of service failure points occurring in the physical environment in which services are delivered:
cleanliness issues, mechanical problems, and facility-design issues (listed in order of their frequency
of occurrence). Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons (2001) explains that the creation of
customer satisfaction for a service can be identified through a comparison
between service perceptions with service expectation.. Now Imagine I paid so much
money for the flight and I expected excellent quality services from Air India and seeing the bread
and chicken falling over, my expectation of services and the perceived service is totally different.
(ES>PS). Based on the theory discussed above, cleanliness is a critical part of any services.
However, Air India did not fulfil the basic requirements and that really upset me . Additionally after
calling them to clean the mess, they came after 10 minutes .From the theory, that says If service
providers are unable to implement immediate recovery actions, customers might perceive lower
procedural justice and negatively impacting customer responses.(Westbrook, 1980). Thats what
happened to me. It is very important for an organisation to try to recover service failure in order to
prevent customer disappointment. But Air India instead of doing that, came after 10 minutes and
told me that they were busy. A service experience is defined as the service encounter and/or service
process that creates the customers cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses which result in a

mental mark, a memory (in line with Johnston and Clark (2001). So Doing this , they made me
create bad impression on Air India services and convinced me that I should not board Air India flight
again. Finally, When I asked for 1 glass of water, they delayed and came after 30 minutes saying that
they were busy and also behaved rudely. From the customers perspective, relationships with service
providers can reduce the perceived risk of evaluating services which are primarily intangible (Berry,
1995) and provide customers with valued. So behaving rudely, they created bad relationship with me
and hence made me believe that Air India services is awful. When travellers are satisfied, they
are most likely to show an intention to repeat the experience and to repeat the purchase (Beeho&
Prentice, 1997; Hallowell, 1996). If I have to evaluate their whole services , I would say they are not
upto the mark and what I expected from a company like Air India. Based on theory discussed, I
wont be making repeat purchases from Air INDIA, because their services did not satisfy me Thats
why I gave 1/5 in services rating .
So based on Consumer satisfaction, I have given them 1/5 because Customer satisfaction refers to the
positive assessment of a result associated with the consumption of a producer service . My overall
assessment of the services offered by Air India is negative .First of all, I had few positive satisfaction
except for the fact that the food quality was good given the price they take and the flight journey
was enjoyable hence I gave them 3/5 in terms of value for money rating ,however If Air India wants
to retain their customers, they need to improve the quality of services and should understand
customers feelings and needs and provide superior customer values while at the same time build
relationship with them to enhance loyalty.

Recommendation
1. Air India customer care services should be careful while they are answering to passenger
questions or complaints. For example, when I called the customer care, they told me that due
to technical difficulty ,every passenger was facing the same problem. However, after 1 hour
they replied me saying that My flight was not booked. This was totally the fault of the Air
India services. They should have checked properly and then explained me what had happened
rather than giving false information.
2.

Air India should be more prompt while informing passengers about their service
failure. For example ,When they announced about the technical difficulty, it was already
30 minutes late. In that situation, they should have informed the passengers earlier rather
than waiting for 30 minutes,. That could have saved us suffering from anxiety.
3. Air India should be more professional with the services and make sure that the quality of
services they are providing are be high , at the same time making sure that they maintain
good relationship with the customers. For example, they should have cleaned the
mess(bread and chicken falling over), before a passenger enter into the flight , and should
have immediately cleaned the mess rather than waiting for 10 minutes .That could have
prevented me from having awful impression on Air India Services delivery. Also , When I
asked for 1 glass of water, instead of behaving rudely, the Air hostess should have
delivered the water earlier and even if they had any problem, they should not have been
rude while talking to me.

Implementation:
To improve customer service programs, Air India needs to employ effective customer service training
program. First they need to make sure what are the types of customer interaction they face which
includes email, telephone, face to face, understand needs, and desires and then make sure customer
is treated with friendly and without any stress. They should design a training matrix, where they
should include all the trainings they need to offer and allocate each employee to a particular training
programs , based on the function they had to deal with. So for example, if the employee deals with
telephone , emails, customer complaints handling delivery, they should be placed to that particular
type of training. They should administer the trainings using employee feedback and proper testing
procedure and should inform employees that the information contained in the trainings are the best
policy or the best practices. They should inform the employees to make sure that they handle every
customer needs carefully. The trainings should also be done either individually or in group setting in
web based, or 3D or in any platform so that employees get engaged with the instruction and can
imagine themselves in the situation. In terms of cost, there is no extra cost as Air Indi has been doing
tht for a long time, Just they need to do that properly. So, It is quite feasible.
In terms of maintaining good relationship, Air India Should understand customers problems .Hence
important for them to train staff to have good communication. They should not argue with clients,
maintain proper disclosure ,ask for feedback such as filling up of forms, website reviews, maintain
honest communication with them.
Regarding service delivery, Air India should make sure that they implement what has been taught to
them while training. Taking customers feedback through website reviews, testimonials, phone call,
email asking for feedback can greatly achieve this. If an employee is not performing as per rule, warn
them about the possible consequences or resend them to the training centre. In that way, Air India
can make sure that the staffs are well equipped. In terms of cost, If they have resend the employee to
the training again, they need to make sure that they have backup ready in that position so that they
dont need to hire another staff again. This can be done by recruiting in bulk and train them so that if
anyone fell, another can quickly take the place.
Air India should recruit intelligent quality engineers rather than large number of average engineers ,
train them properly and pay them well in order to retain them in companies. In this way they can
compensate cost while maintaining excellent service delivery. Additionally they should ensure
regular maintenance of flight parts in order to prevent technical failure and prevent customers from
having bad impression

References:
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