antonym: even-tempered, good-natured.

Well yesterday I was irascible to the point of incandescence facing the prospect of being marooned (I choose my words wisely) in one of two Afrikaans speaking cities (Jo’burg and Perth) for an indeterminate length of time, with a 15 year old son stranded without his holiday in California: Monterey (sea kayak), Yosemite (hiking), San Francisco (Charmed) and Grand Canyon (rafting) on the list so far, any other recommendations appreciated.

However at Perth airport today antonyms are all the rage and I am a happy, if not yet fluffy bunny. The reason for this transformation? I found that rare example in the modern airline industry, someone who actually thinks about customer service. Faced with a mess of two tickets from different agents and different airlines and a partially completed journey, he just said: We caused the problem mate, it’s down to us to fix it. Ten minutes later I am routed to London via Singapore landing an hour earlier than planned on the original schedule. Its a delight when someone simply takes responsibility and removes stress. It also means that I will go out of my way to fly Qantas for my next trip to Australia in a couple of months time. A short while later I checked in and my baggage could not be found (I sort of expected this), but instead of the normal indifference someone has been allocated full time to try and track it down before I leave the airport. He refused to accept my It’s OK, it will turn up I am just happy to be on the flight statements and was genuinely angry that a mistake had been made and took it on himself to solve it.

So if any reader of this blog knows anyone high up in Qantas, tell them the supervisor and staff of the Perth international airport ticket counter on duty at 1115 this morning, Sunday the 29th of July 2007, are stars, a credit to their airline and a model of customer service. Not only that the blond headed guy on checkout is outstanding as well. So if something has to go wrong, pray it happens in Perth not Dallas or Chicago.