Danish Customer Service

The pic above is the Copenhagen Airport Transfer Centre, taken a few minutes ago.

I landed in Copenhagen earlier this morning, transferring en route to drupa. The flight was an hour-ish late making my connection to Düsseldorf rather tight. Waking up in a fog that Americans flying to Europe usually feel, I stumbled off the plane and walked through Danish Passport control to transfer to another terminal.

Only then did I do the traveler’s pat. Passport, left front pocket. Check. Cell phone, right front pocket. Check. Biz card case back right pocket. Check. OMG, back left pocket empty. No worries. It’s just my WALLET.

I rushed back through passport security and went to my Washington flight’s arriving gate. This is where Scandinavian efficiency caused me a problem. Not a person was in sight and the gate’s now roped off. A nearby airline agent listened to my story empathetically and told me I had to go to the Transfer Centre. Back through Passport Control and once there, another very pleasant agent told me, in as nice a way as possible, that it usually takes a few hours, up to 24, for lost items to be posted on some website. Yeah, I’m screwed. Not only will I not have a wallet in Düsseldorf, I now missed my connecting flight.

After she rebooked me on a new flight, the very pleasant Transfer Centre agent told me I could go to the Information Desk around the corner and have them look for my wallet on the lost item website for me, but don’t get my hopes up. I did that and again a third impeccably courteous Danish woman looked for my wallet online and said it hasn’t been posted yet. But she said that’s normal because it usually takes a few hours up to 24. (Wow, consistent customer service messages!)

Just as I was about to start the tedious process of cancelling credit cards and letting people in Düsseldorf know about my the delay, I heard my name being paged. I was told to go to visit the Information Desk woman.

Could it be? Yesssss!

I went back there, and she was beaming with my wallet at her side. Everything was there, including credit cards and a few hundred buckaroos in cash. Apparently, an SAS airline cleaning employee found the wallet and brought it to the Information Desk for transferring to wherever these items go. The friendly woman remembered my name and paged me rather than allowing the process to continue. I was able to give her a small token of my appreciation, but wasn’t so lucky tracking down the airplane cleaning guy. Anonymous SAS cleaning guy: I am very grateful to you! You made the next week of my life immeasurably easier.

Final thoughts about Danish Customer Service
The Pros — Very efficient. Very well-trained customer service reps who either truly care (or are really good actors).

The Cons — This is a minor nit (and I might rethink this later). The Copenhagen airport’s lost item system’s a little rigid for my tastes. (In America, you just walk back to the gate and talk to somebody.)

There are some lessons for us in the printing and healthcare industries in America.

Now on to drupa!

It’s not too late to connect at drupa: I’ll arrive in Düsseldorf at 1 p.m. today (June 3), and will be leaving on the 6th. Contact me.