The purpose of this letter is to complain of a humiliating experience caused by your employee "Ayse 82403" at Dulles Airport on the evening of March 24, 1995.
I was traveling with my infant niece on your 4:45PM flight from Atlanta and was met at the airport by my wife. While standing in the baggage area with my wife and the child in arms, a skycap asked if he could assist us. I told him we were still waiting for bags and he led me toward and into your baggage claim room. As he and I scanned the floor for my bags, your employee who I later learned was "Ayse 82403", rudely told me to leave the room. I told her I was looking for my luggage. She told me to leave the room. I did so through the open doorway at my left with the skycap and she left through a different door without any further comment or explanation.
Some time later, I returned to the immediate area of the claim room and there were many people waiting, some grumbling things as "what's going on?", and "isn't there anyone working here?" Since the claim room was not in plain sight through the open door just left of the counter, these passengers could not see that Ayse 82403 was in there. I walked to where she was and asked her what was going on with our luggage. She got up in a very agitated manner and told me I was in a restricted area and that she was "working". I told her I was unaware the area was restricted and suggested she ought to be working out by her customers. This woman appeared extremely aggravated that I was asking her about my luggage more than once, and when I reminded her that I was her customer, she replied, "and I'm your agent", as she slapped the counter three times with her open palm. She pointed out a mimeographed sheet taped to the counter, and stated it was a notice that the area behind it was restricted. She then went on to explain to all of us that our bags may be on another plane that left Atlanta about the same time as ours. The explanation was appreciated by all, and I thought nothing more of the encounter other than I had been exposed to a poorly trained employee, or one in a particularly foul mood.
Later again, I returned to the counter to see if the bags had arrived. After standing there a few minutes I noticed two police officers, one just behind the counter. I asked the officer why she was there and to my astonishment she replied that she was there on my account, having apparently been called there by Ayse 82403. I was then asked to prove my identity. I asked the officer if she was representing ValuJet Airlines as I would like to inquire about my luggage. I was told to wait without making any attempt to discuss my business with your company. Shortly, another passenger came to the counter and asked the officer how to find out about her luggage. The officer also told her to wait without disturbing your agent. Everyone who came to this area was sternly advised not to attempt to communicate with whomever may or may not be behind the door to the left of your counter. One woman asked if there was a bell on the counter. One asked if she could whistle or yell. The officer told all to wait quietly. Since I had a carseat and baby supplies that were necessary for me to leave the airport, I had no choice but to wait. I was embarrassed and humiliated that I had been ordered to show my identification to the officer in this very public setting.
Ayse 82403 emerged from the claim room and announced the bags were here. I asked for her name and employee number and was told them to be Ayse and 82403. She also added, "don't worry, I've already filed a report to cover myself". I said thank you for the information, and in the most sarcastic way, she replied "and thank you for flying ValuJet".
There is little doubt our perspectives on this encounter differ. Ayse 82403 seemed intent on demonstrating she was right, and she sure did, even to the point of calling the police to keep from being interrupted from duties that she thought more important than telling her customers what was going on.
Perhaps the room behind and to the left of the counter is a restricted area. I don't know and never did read the entire mimeographed paper taped to your counter. I've been traveling for many years and have lost a few bags, occasionally causing me to be in the area where one makes a claim. It is a common practice to nose around these places which always seem to have a lot of bags laying around, and thankfully in most cases, the errant bag is found somewhere on the premises. When the skycap took me to your office with his carrier, I thought nothing of being in a restricted area. I had no trouble detecting that I was an unwelcome visitor by Ayse 82403, but I attributed that to an employee in a bad mood. For her to tell me she was "working" is a rather stupid thing to tell a customer. Customers tend to think they are the object of an employee's work, especially if they conduct their duties in a customer service area.
It is very likely that my demeanor was somewhat short. I had been traveling with an infant for several hours and needed the bags to get home and care for the baby. Whatever the circumstances, I cannot bring myself to believe that your training procedures would not include the information that any customer who comes to the lost baggage department after a flight, is likely to be impatient.
If the area where Ayse 82403 hid from your customers (and ultimately called the police to keep people from disturbing her) is restricted, then I suggest you try a sign that simply says "no entry", or perhaps a little rope or cord between the counters would demonstrate the area as off limits. A buzzer or bell for customers to ring to get the attention of those in the claim room, would prevent the more curious from peaking around the counter or going on back to have a personal look. At one point in my discussions with Ayse 82403, when I tried to tell her that I had been escorted back to the room, she rather snidely pointed out that luggage handlers were not ValuJet representatives, as if your customers are expected to be trained to identify various employees in the airport.
This matter could have been avoided. When I first came into the baggage room, Ayse could have asked me to leave and then instead of walking off in the other direction, she could have led me out to where I belonged and asked how she might help me. I would have told her I had come in from Atlanta, the belt had stopped and I had no luggage. She could have either told me what was going on, or if she didn't know, she could have said so, that she was working to find out what was going on, and that I could check back shortly. When there were 20 of us out there in the dark, it shouldn't have taken a brave (or now it appears stupid) customer to walk back and get her to tell us what was happening. Incidentally, after I got her out to explain where our bags might be, we all felt better. We (passengers) know you don't lose bags on purpose and know you have to figure out why they aren't where they belong.
Of course her next action of calling the police was completely out of bounds and you will have to ask her of her thinking in that regard. She certainly has a right to do what she feels necessary to protect herself and I am the first to advocate high levels of security in an airport environment. Nevertheless, I could have hardly appeared threatening with my wife and a 10 month old baby in tow. I know that my behavior was rather curt. I felt I was getting poor service and expected more from your company. But mine was behavior that a lost baggage agent ought to be used to seeing everyday.
The police outside your door prevented me from further interaction with Ayse 82403 and kept others who came looking for bags from disturbing her as well. I was afraid to say anything, wondering if I was about to frisked or arrested in front of my wife and other onlookers, not knowing what Ayse 82403 had claimed had happened.
I cannot imagine any circumstances that would cause me to want to fly ValuJet again. I will likely tell this story hundreds of times over the years to my family and fellow travelers. It is a bit amusing, now that it is over, but I assure you there was nothing funny at the time. I was humiliated by my encounter with the police. Their presence was completely unwarranted. If you want to keep your customers out of your baggage room, then you should put a simpler sign outside the door, restrict access with a little rope, put out a bell or something for people to ring or at least hang a mirror, so customers can see if someone is back there.
This is a lengthy letter, but I wanted to relate this incident clearly and completely. Ayse 82403 made a point of only providing her first name and employee number when I asked, presumably as an additional security measure. Should you choose to allow Ayse 82403 to read this letter (and I think she should), please omit my name and address from the correspondence as well.
