While waiting for some official response, and apologize frankly, just need to write few words. So stupid, really unbelievable stupid experience last week in Finland, that makes me to think whether problems in the airline business are all based just on huge level of stupidity?

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has outsourced their airport operations in Finland to company called ISS, major Scandinavian company so basically whomever you face before your SAS flight works for ISS, not SAS. Obviously for customer this should not have any role and frankly, I could not care less as long as my customer experience is what I expect. To cut a long story short let me create a quick list of mistakes;

#1 My family waited for boarding passes while SAS customer representative – so actually a ISS guy - was helping another customer not making the flight in question anyway. ISS customer representative behaved impolitely and didn’t have any eye for the game. Result? My family members missed the plane. Who’s fault? Naturally, we shall blame SAS. Mistake? When you outsource please make sure they will deliver the brand message you want them to deliver. Otherwise they will destroy your business and you don’t have a clue what happened.

#2 As being very surprised and disappointed I asked supervisor to call me and explain what the heck happened and find out how I can get my family members to Sweden. She called and presented herself from ISS, not SAS. Mistake? Again, I don’t have anything to ask from ISS – my Gold Card is from SAS, not ISS. I am flying on SAS, not ISS.

#3 I asked her to give me some explanation why in earth the customer representative at the check-in desk, supervised by her, didn’t just give my family the boarding passes my wife asked for three times. She said that she couldn’t comment because she was not there. But how about “I’m sorry” ? Mistake? Outsourced stuff made us to think that SAS staff doesn’t care whether their most loyal customers faced stupid customer service that made us to miss the whole flight. But you know, they don’t work for SAS after all so why should they care, right?

#4 I asked her to call another airport that my family members could still make with car for another flight. She refused because her work shift was over. Can you believe it?? I can’t. Mistake? She just destroyed the expectation of customer service of SAS, not ISS, in couple of minutes. SAS staff is not willing to make one call their loyal customer asked just because of the work shift ended like 6 minutes before? Oh’yeah, sorry I forgot again; they work for another company so why should they?

#5 It was 07:06 am so a call to CEO or CMO for an disappointed customer response might have been slightly too much to do so I booked new flight online and asked my wife to drive as fast as she can to another airport. I did the bookings, not the SAS customer service supervisor at the airport. Oh’ sorry, she is not working for SAS so of course I needed to do this by myself.

#6 Family drove 160 kilometers (!!) to another airport, I took a taxi to the same airport, organized them the boarding passes and waited them to arrive directly to the terminal that they can literally run through the security and make their flights. And took their car as there was no time for searching the parking place. My early morning schedule was destroyed and why? Because of unprofessional operation that SAS has bought from its outsourced partner. Mistake? The “I’m sorry. I shall find out what I can do for you” –phrase was missing. Maybe it was not mentioned in the outsourcing contract? Or maybe the local ISS manager doesn’t, sorry for the language, give a shit about the image or experience of SAS customer service as she is not working for them?

#7 I drove back to the same airport later in the evening to pick-up my family from this one-day trip to Stockholm. While waiting, I went to ask who is the ISS-supervisor at the airport. Accidently the very same supervisor was working and now she totally outsourced herself out from the whole case arguing, “I don’t know anything because I was not here”. And even facing me in person not sorry or apologize words, nothing. She also said that I can talk with her manager but why I should do that? Again, it’s SAS’s problem if their outsourced partner is acting unprofessionally, not mine. Even after being SAS/Star Alliance gold customer for 15+ years I can always jump into another alliance for my flights. Mistake? From 6:30 am to 9:00 pm they couldn’t get this but just continued the story. And who is they? Again, sorry to say but from customers point of view it is SAS; I have simply nothing to do with ISS. Not now, not in the past and definitely not in the future.

Dear SAS/BLUE1 Executives; I would be very worried if my company’s reputation is on hands of unprofessional outsourced partner who is really acting as outsourced outsider, not as messenger of your brand image. At least this is a very quick way to destroy it. Under unprofessional local manager “your staff” i.e. outsourced work force is only loyal to the company that pays their salary; take a look on the salary slip - loyalty goes to company whos logo stands on the corner. And you realize you made a mistake.