Point of View: LAX enters the customer abuse Hall of Fame

It’s almost seems like LAX has been watching how poorly the airlines have been treating customers and asking themselves, “How can we get in on this?”  

And what they have come up with may go straight into the Customer Abuse Hall of Fame.  It’s called “LAX-it.”  Now, people who just got off a plane, who may have already had a long day, who may have two or three bags with them, cannot be picked up curbside by a taxi or an Uber.  No.  They must drag their bags to a shuttle stop, wait for the shuttle, put their bags on the shuttle, and ride to an off-site location so they can unload their bags and wait in another ridiculously long line for their ride.   

On the LAX official website, some PR person with a cruel sense of humor actually wrote, “Catch the shuttle, or get your steps in and walk to LAX-it to meet your taxi, Lyft, or Uber.”  I’ll bet that line had them rolling on the floor in the LAX board room.

This was a bad idea from the beginning.  Anyone really in the customer service business would have known that.  This week they doubled down on this debacle by adding a few more shuttle busses, but LAX needs to change their policy completely.  

They have the clout to require Ubers and Lifts to reverse their business model at the airport.  Instead of cars searching for their passengers, have the Ubers line up like taxis, let people get in and then program their destination with a Q code rather than trying to find a specific Uber.  That might work, but the current situation certainly isn’t.

What are your thoughts?  Give us a call at 310-584-2030 or email at FOX11POV@foxtv.com and let us know.I’m Bill Lamb, and that’s my Point of View.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.