Feedback to airlines - does it work?

I think most on here will have given feedback to an airline at some juncture - either positive or negative.

But, does anyone have concrete evidence of it making a difference?

For my own part:-
- I gave positive feedback to a member of VS ground staff at MCO and received a standard acknowledgement from VS. The next time I was in MCO, I saw that same member of staff who had never found out about it at all.

I have written with other positive feedback, but have never had the chance to verify whether it reached "the right ears".

I have sent negative feedback to VS in the past, along with constructive suggestions on how things might be improved.
Yes, I received a standard "thank you for your feedback" messages, and some FC miles etc. What I wanted though, was for VS management to take this and other feedback and make positive moves to improve things - I received no indication that this was the case.

I have also sent positive feedback to BA and Delta without a response.

Ok, so management would need to look for trends rather than acting on specific and potentially one-off experiences, but I think most of us would give feedback, not for any form of compensation, but to provide constructive feedback in order for some aspect of a service to be improved - wouldn't we?

So, my open question - does feedback really make a difference and have you seen any concrete evidence of it?

I emailed Craig Kreeger to compliment two VS staff members last year and I know for a fact it was passed on to both of them - one even emailed me out of the blue to thank me (so my email was clearly just forwarded on which I thought was a bit questionable).

So yes, in my case it worked although I guess as with any large organisation it may depend on how many layers of management it gets cascaded down through, and whether individual managers do their job and give their staff feedback.

I've sent two bits of positive feedback to VS recently; one about a call centre staff member which was replied to promptly with a fairly standard "thanks for the feedback" message, and another about my first UC experience last Christmas. I didn't receive a direct reply to it, until a Virgin Atlantic keyring (with a little plane on it) appeared in the mail the day after my birthday! No note attached, so it was either a birthday gift or a reply to my feedback!

I received confirmatory feedback from VS Customer Service after emailing a positive experience, from a particularly helpful member of staff, in the JFK ClubHouse in October.

Lauren received a satisfactory response from VS Customer Service regarding a technical issue arising on VS900 29 Jan 15, and a helpful series of emails on another issue for the same flight.

Generally speaking, VS appear to reply with an immediate automated email and will then send an initial reply within 1 or 2 working days.

Other Airlnes are available, customer experience is not guaranteed. Terms and Conditions apply.

Yes it works in that any good business will collate it and try identify trends but no one should expect their comment / suggestion to lead to any sort of change either immediate or future - at the end of the day it is their business and they can run it as they like.

Lots of comments about a particular dish would more likely lead to it not being on future menu rotations but they aren't going to change a catering contract on the basis of it.

But often feedback can be contradictory with some people complaining and some people loving the same feature / service. Whats any organisation to do in that situation?

Tonty - you're right of course...

But, I was particularly focused on the positive feedback that I gave to a particular member of staff, that hadn't heard anything about it when I saw her again 3 months later...

And, given recent threads where people have been asked to send feedback on bad experiences, got me to wondering whether it really made a difference?

As I had said in my original post, I fully expect businesses to do trend analyses etc, and that any specific issue may not be dealt with...

Was really wondering outloud as to whether anyone had seen evidence that feedback made a difference?

Glad to see reports on here that good feedback was delivered in some cases to the individual concerned - that's good to know.

I think to some degree it also depends on the culture within the organisation as to what is given attention.

To give 2 non-airline related examples a friend of mine was working as a trainer at a private establishment with lots of international students. For some reason there was a change of programme and she was left with a group of 40 people to work with whilst the course organiser and other trainers did something else. Two people complained about the training session, content and performance of my friend. Conversely 38 people seemed happy, with a good few giving positive feedback. The establishment took it upon themselves to not only take the 2 complaints on board, but to reprimand my friend and completely ignore the positive feedback. Not a particularly rounded approach to performance feedback, but hey, she doesn't work there anymore (and neither do I).

I've recently booked to go to my first geekfest (SciFi/TV convention) and have spent a considerable amount of money up front on tickets and bookings for photos. One day I noticed that the link to book a photo with a guest had disappeared but with no reference to said guest having cancelled. I emailed, twice, with feedback and to ask for confirmation of cancellation etc. No reply. I checked facebook, where it was stated the guest had cancelled. The website was later updated and all references to the guest removed and a notice on the cancellation page posted. Result, sort of. I posted a question to their Facebook page about something else and got an almost instant reply.

Later whilst on Facebook someone posted they'd tried emailing the organiser over something and not had a reply, so I chipped in with my experience that emails go unanswered but for some reason facebook posts get a response. Within minutes I got a reply saying that my 2 emails were not considered important enough to reply to especially when said information had been "plastered all over social media AND the website" (which of course it wasn't until I'd sent an email!).

The result is I now know my emails were received and acted upon, but I also know that I'm not a valued customer, in spite of the fact I've spent a couple of hundred quid already, and will probably not return to this event next year.

Sorry the long post, but I hope my point is clear.

Yes. Both Mr D and I received a Virgin Atlantic aeroplane key rings recently and a note thanking us for our kind words and the comments praising the member of staff had been passed on to them.

Pretty poor when a Company doesn't pass on positive feedback to staff. May explain why the staff of certain companies don't appear to be happy in their job. Just strange.

Pretty poor when a Company doesn't pass on positive feedback to staff. May explain why the staff of certain companies don't appear to be happy in their job. Just strange.

Totally agree with you, morale and job satisfaction are key to productivity.

I can confirm that feedback does - sometimes - get back to staff. On a flight back from Boston last year there was a particularly delightful member of cabin crew who went above and beyond to deliver superlative, charming service. I wrote to compliment her via the feedback form on the website.

When I went to New York a few months later, coincidentally, she happened to be on my flight again and recognised me and asked if I was the person who wrote the nice letter about her. She said she was extremely grateful, not least as she got called in by her manager and received a big pat on the back.

Concorde:

I gave feedback to VS (in person and by e-mail) a couple of times about the lack of gluten-free options in Revivals ("I'll have smoked salmon with a side of smoked salmon please, oh and maybe just a little smoked salmon as a starter.")

Anyway, now there is also GF bread to go with your breakfast. It's a bit like the champagne: it's not mentioned anywhere, and they won't offer it to you, but just ask for it.

I presume others had also mentioned it, hence their acting upon the suggestion.

Well done, VS!

Now to get VS to offer any other food known to humankind other than chicken as their in-flight GF option...

Did I mention the smoked salmon? And the chicken? Right, I'll get my coat...

NYLON