Professionalism - McD and AirAsia
I stop short of calling this a case study. However I must denote that my comments on comparing these two famous corporations are based on my experience on February 15th & 16th, for McDonald’s and AirAsia respectively.
The McDonald’s Restaurant located at Section 3 Shah Alam has impressed me with an excellent show of professionalism while AirAsia’s cabin crew on board
AK5258 was “amazing”.
On February 15th, I went to McDonald’s for my dinner. I ordered my usual Set No. 4, Large with vanilla coke which cost me RM8.10 or so. When paying, I gave RM50.10 but when the crew member serving me asked, I said I gave an RM10. So he gave me the change for the later and I promptly went to grab a seat and enjoy my meal. After my meal, I headed back to Section 2 and half-way through I realised my mistake. This was about 40 minutes after I paid. I rushed to McD and approached the counter. I explained the situation to him and told his superiors. They tried to calm me down and after verifying my story, the returned the remaining RM40. During the ordeal, I was kept calm by the staff and I got a free refill! Hehehe… Nonetheless, they retained a very loyal (and grateful) customer. I wrote a letter to the manager, commending on the excellent show of professionalism and expressing my gratitude. My regrets are that I was panicking and I never knew the name of the supervisor - who turned out to be the manager! I will continue to give my patronage to McD Section 3. I knew I selected a winner! Keep up the good job guys!
On February 16th (i.e. yesterday), I took AK5258 to Miri from the LCCT / KLIA. A first time returning to my home State with AirAsia. I agree that AirAsia deserved the “the Best Budget Carrier Award”. Not only the fare was “budget”, so were the services. When I got on board, I was scared out of my skin by the cabin crew stationed at the rear door. I sympathise her as she couldn’t smile. Such a pity, I’d say. After we started cruising, the meals were sold. One was blunt deaf! Their common courtesy & etiquette is at an amazing level, I guess, like their budget thinking! Sheesh! As we were descending, the crew collected trash, as they deserve to, and ignored me. My decision was simple. Leave the tray table down. When the crew-who-can’t-smile tried to ask me to “return my tray table o its original position”, I shoved the rubbish to her without waiting for her to say a word. I reasoned thay AirAsia worked hard to get the Best Low-Cost/Budget Carrier Award, but a few rotten apples costed them the Best Cabin Crew Award.
And, while at the airport, I couldn’t help laugh at the flight delay. It was a term of contract based on previous transactions… Hahaha… Hence, I wasn’t surprised or angry - it was expected. AirAsia, truly Asia…
