Chris Elliott argues that airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies have gone too far with their kiosks and web-check-in.
Over-automating the travel business is bad news for people, though. Removing the personal touch forces us to work harder when we’re on the road. That’s exasperating, infuriating and sometimes embarrassing. And over the long term, it’s likely to drive us away from these companies that have poured money into technology at the expense of customer service. It’s time these airline, hotel and car rental companies realize there are still some things a machine can’t replace.
I’m not entirely in agreement. Sure, I like the personal touch as much as the next guy, and there’s lost opportunity to interact with our fellow humanity when kiosks are made ubiquitous, but does “removing the personal touch” really “force us to work harder when we’re on the road” ?? If anything, the opposite may sometimes be true.
I’m a big fan of some kiosk transactions (that is, when you can’t do it online…) Simple check-in for flights? Reprinting a boarding pass when I bone-headedly leave my online check-in printouts at my desk? (Like I did last week.) Love the kiosk.
I’m even a fan of the kiosk for the rental car transaction. I just used a kiosk a week ago at National Car Rental. It was quick, simple, and intuitive.
For hotels, I’m less of a booster. I’ve used the kiosk before, and it has spit out crappy rooms next to the elevator or the ice machine. The human may be better here.
But where kiosks aren’t available, and human help is the only option, it’s often far more time-consuming and tedious. Without a kiosk option, you have to wait for everyone in front of you to finish their business before you can conduct yours. The couple who’s never flown before, with the excess baggage? Enjoy your wait! What’s worse, pulling your own boarding pass, or waiting for others to be served?
I know that the travel companies, like banks, only put in the kiosks to cut their own costs. Especially their labor costs. And, especially in light of Monday’s Labor Day holiday, I recognize that there are people who lost their jobs to the machine. But in my opinion, throwing the kiosks out is not the answer, either. I’d argue that segmenting the market into those who need the human touch and those who don’t is good for customers — as long as those who need the human touch have the option.
So I put it to you: What’s your view of the kiosk? Vote in the poll below, or hit the comments with your kiosk tales…
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August 31st, 2007 at 8:14 pm
All excellent points and I agree completely. I’m waiting for the ability to weigh your own bag on a scale attached to the kiosk (similar to self-checkouts at grocery stores), print the tag, and drop it off at security, rather than waiting for an agent to hand you the printed baggage tag.
September 1st, 2007 at 12:24 am
So here’s my issue, newer businesses where you can do 95%+ of your transactions online/kiosk, great.
However, too many legacies have, well legacy stuff that doesn’t show up nicely on the kiosk so then you need the person.
My objection is being funneled to a kiosk that won’t help me when I know it won’t help me. I’ve had United try that to me repeatedly and pisses me off.
September 1st, 2007 at 7:41 am
Hi Mark – I would add a 4th option to the survey – kiosks should be part of the mix.
When banks started cutting branch hours or closing them altogether when ATMs came onto the scene in the late 80′s, this bit them in the butt, and they instead used ATMs as part of the mix of services.
What irks me is when you have a bank of kiosks at airports like Logan or O’Hare and only one agent working a couple of dozen, and you can guess how their wits are!
I’ll say it again, I will pay more to be treated like a human!
mp/m
September 1st, 2007 at 9:05 am
I guess it depends..
Take an ATM for example, very straightforward and simple to use. Many airline automated systems aren’t that easy and often they still require you to interact with a human with your luggage, for example — in other words, they’ve added automation but the whole process is still flawed.
Other issue is how people interact with the humans at the counter. Especially when travelling in the US, I just cannot understand what many people are doing on the counter and spending so much time. Why do they start planning their itienary at the check-in? Why do they ask all the silly questions, reconfirm everything, ask their plants at home to be watered? When I get to the counter myself, I’ll just show my ticket, give the luggage and I’m out in less than a minute with my boarding pass. The same happens at the gates, in US there’s always a queue to the gate agent, in Europe, you don’t see anyone talking to the gate agents and often there isn’t one.
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:39 am
I love them… when they work. A few times I’ve shown up to the Zurich airport, tried to use the kiosks, and found out they weren’t working (for anyone, not just me). When the alternative is a long, long line, broken kiosks bite.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
I like kiosks, but not in all situations. If I’ve already locked in good seating or am confident the kiosk will give option to improve then great. Sure beats waiting in a long line.
Sometimes can get better seats using the counter though – and advice on whether those middle seats are taken or blocked, which the kiosk shows simply as unable to select.
In irregular ops though, I prefer the personal touch.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Kiosks are great, most of the time. Especially when I can walk right up to them. But when I know there’s going to be an issue? Or worse yet, when I’m at the kiosk and there’s suddenly an issue? And they now only have one person working a line of ten kiosks, because people should be able to do it themselves? So that person is crazy busy, and the line for a person rather than a kiosk stretches on for hours because there is only one or two people working it, and even if your problem isn’t terribly complex, the people in front of you probably do have a ridiculous situation? Yeah, then they’re terrible.
(I had an annoyance the other day trying to use my miles to upgrade at a kiosk–it gave me the option, but apparently can’t handle that, so freaked out and wouldn’t let me check in. So I had to go wait in line for someone to manually check me in. Ridiculous!)
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 am
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