Man finds out he can eat primate food instead of real food

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bring back old gbs: Feb 28, 2007; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

On June 6, I sent the following letter to Robert Reid, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Air Canada.
Dear Mr. Reid,
I am writing with a complaint relating to a recent trip on Air Canada's connecting service to Valencia Spain. The voyage ended up being long, frustrating, expensive and demoralising.
The full trip required transit from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick Airport, a transfer that I was told could be done in 3 hours. Travelling alone with no checked baggage and being relatively fleet of foot, I felt confident that I could make it in the 3 hours and ten minutes I had scheduled. All confidence was lost however, when minutes after boarding in Ottawa the pilot announced that we would be late due to a "lack of the usual tail winds." We ended up being an hour late when we finally touched down in London, leaving me with what turned out to be the impossible task of clearing Heathrow and getting to Gatwick in 2 hours.
Despite my Ben-Johnson-like sprinting through the airport, my lack of checked baggage to wait for, and my understanding coach driver who with the pedal to the metal zipped us down the surprisingly traffic-free London roads, that one hour Air Canada delay caused me to miss my connection by 20 minutes. Star Alliance partner BA was very apologetic and kind on behalf of Air Canada, but all the agent could do was get me on the next flight - 24 hours later. I was forced to spend a night in London when I should have been sipping sangria in Spain in the arms of a lovely girl.
I am attaching my receipt for one night at the Gatwick Airport Travelodge (which I'm sure you will agree was a very frugal choice of accommodation) as well as the invoice from my hotel room in Valencia, the first night of which could not be cancelled despite my not being there to enjoy it. These are the direct costs of the late flight which are easily compensated, and I ask that you please do so.
But there was a greater loss for me that isn't as easily repaid. For those of us not in the airline business, a flight can be much more than a flight. And a lost day of holidays is much more than just a 24 hour delay. What is the price of one seventh of a European vacation? What is the cost of starting off my one relaxing week of the year with frustration and anxiety? Any accountant will tell you that such things show up in financial statements under goodwill, and the costs are very real. Goodwill is easily lost, difficultly acquired, and much more difficultly reacquired.
Beyond addressing my personal complaint, I also hope that you will consider no longer offering connecting service from Ottawa to Valencia. It's a basic tenet of business that you should not offer what you cannot provide, and given your apparent vulnerability to changing winds, the shortness of the 3 hour connection time, and the lack of a fall-back flight within 24 hours, it is apparent that you cannot offer this service. When customers pay their $1,300 it was not with the understanding that without tailwinds they will be stuck for 24 hours at the Travelodge. I'm at least thankful that the guy who fuels the plane does not rely as heavily on tailwinds as does the guy who makes your flight schedule.
I hope that you will be able to compensate the direct costs of your delay, and that you will consider making efforts to restore goodwill, and consider dropping Ottawa to Valencia from your list of connecting services.
Sincerely,
Adam Scott
The Last Angry Young Man
https://www.angryman.ca
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And did it work? You bet your sweet rear end it did. See the response from Mr. Reid.
There are so many things I like about Reid's reply that I don't know where to start:
He obviously read my letter, as each issue is addressed in the response
The response is written in a casual style that suggests Reid wrote it himself (if it wasn't, then he has an excellent staffer who I hope reads this and asks for a raise)
He gives a detailed explanation that shows he's actually looked into the complaint pretty thoroughly
He gives a nod to The Big List!
He apologises but doesn't admit any guilt. I like this. It wasn't a question of guilt, it was a question of an unhappy customer, and he addressed it perfectly.
Nice job Mr. Reid. I look forward to partaking of a tiny bag of your sesame snacks in the near future. The Last Angry Young Man, if only for a minute, is happy.