Ryanair customers service problems in 2013 Assignment

Ryanair customers service problems in 2013 - Assignment Example In the next step, the airline raised the weight limit for carry-on bags while also hiking fees for overweight checked baggage. In addition, there were hidden credit card charges, ?100 for amending a passenger name, taxes and fees to be paid with frequent delays and overall poor customer service (Hickman, 2009). Ryanair CEO is also known to call his passengers â€Å"stupid† and â€Å"idiot† if they do not print the boarding passes ahead of the flight (Independent Traveller, 2011). Apparently such remarks were prompted by a customer who complained of being charged 60 Euros for not having the boarding pass printed. The shareholders complained against the tarnished reputation of the airline after Ryanair refused to refund the fare of a dead passenger and after the CEO’s comments that he was not interested in â€Å"sob stories† when no refund came through (Bennett, 2013). The arrogance of executives is another factor that has affected service. Ineffective commu nication and poor marketing by Ryanair further aggravates the situation. Thus the issues that have severely affected customer service include hidden costs, low knowledge of the service staff, inadequate staff, and the rude and arrogant attitude of the executives. The factors that have driven the airline to undertake strategic restructuring include a warning that its profits could be lower than the lower end of its guidance. The biggest blow came when the brand was voted the worst of the 100 biggest brands in the UK (Eleftheriou-Smith, 2013). Restructuring has become essential as the airline envisages growth in its customer base from 80m to 110m over the next five years (Ryanair News, October 25, 2013). The methodology used for this report would be content analysis based on a qualitative approach which is a text analysis approach to analyse the data collected from the company website. This would enable to explore how the company intends to improve its relationship with customers. In 2013, Ryanair has decided to take certain steps towards better customer service including being â€Å"nice to customers† (Bennett, 2013). The CEO has decided to end the â€Å"macho† culture and accept the blame or responsibility for the abrupt culture in the organization that has affected customer service. These steps are geared to change the reputation of the airlines and retain customers. One of the first initiatives that Ryanair has taken is to introduce digital marketing strategy which it announced at its AGM. The airline is investing significantly in improving the website, the mobile platform and interaction with passengers using the social media (Ryanair News, September 20, 2013). Website Website would allow customers to enter their details and save them, thereby reducing booking time for all future bookings. This service known as â€Å"My Ryanair† would help them store their information and data securely on the Ryanair website for future ease of booking ( Ryanair News, October 30, 2013). However, this is expected to go live by December end. The recaptcha security feature was quite annoying which has been removed for individual customers starting October 1, 2013 (Ryanair News, September 20, 2013). It would continue to remain in place for high volume bookers, travel agents and screenscrapers. Removal of recaptcha will speed and simplify the booking process. This is aimed at deterring travel agents and other