Manager hits out at poor service on airbridge

A customer service manager has hit out at Trinbagonians’ quiet acceptance of sub-standard service, citing the operations of the domestic airbridge as a fitting example. “Because we expect mediocre service, we get just that!” Jessica James, customer services manager at National Petroleum Ltd (NP), told her audience at an education seminar marking Administrative Professionals Week at Mt Irvine Hotel, Tobago, Friday. “Responding to the Challenges of Change” was the theme of the workshop hosted by the National Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals of Trinidad and Tobago. Drawing an analogy to the “piss poor service” on the domestic airbridge, which she and other members of the Trinidad contingent experienced firsthand on Thursday night on their way to Tobago for the seminar, James cited this as a perfect example of anticipating or expecting poor service and indeed receiving that.

She related how members of the 43-passenger contingent, who were simply told that their flight had been cancelled after waiting at Piarco for some time, stood their ground demanding the service for which they had paid. They never arrived in Tobago until 12.45 am Friday. “We had to call a set of different people; is a good thing we have cell phones. Thank goodness for technology!” James declared. In a refreshingly down-to-earth presentation, she asserted: “But customer service, really, for me, is a human science, and it is a science whereby we  actually give joyful service to each other, meaning the service provider and the person who is receiving the service; some of it comes naturally; some of it we have to train ourselves, we have to learn,” she added. James stressed that customer satisfaction embodied a wide spectrum and one could not really put a definition on customer service.