Airline Complaint Letter Goes Viral With Dry Sarcasm, Boost from Richard Branson
A complaint letter to an airline company has gone viral today, and its stinging, dry humor has many people singing its praises. Perhaps most notably, the writer of the letter has gained an admirer in the owner of Virgin Airlines, Sir Richard Branson.
"How to write a complaint letter -- read this hilarious note from a frustrated airline passenger," tweeted Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, which got its start with music and later, cell phones.
Branson has almost 3 million people who follow his Twitter, and as soon as he posted a link to the complaint letter, it quickly spread around the internet. He notes that the airline at fault, a small Caribbean company known as LIAT, was guilty of violating one of the most important components of a successful business.
"Making customer service key to your company will keep your employees motivated and your customers happy. This in turn ensures enduring loyalty, business success and a better experience for everyone."
Below is the infamous letter which was written by London native Arthur Hicks. He titled it, "An Open Letter to LIAT." What do you think, was it funny enough to gain instantaneous acclaim?
Dear LIAT,
May I say how considerate it is of you to enable your passengers such an in-depth and thorough tour of the Caribbean.
Most other airlines I have travelled on would simply wish to take me from point A to B in rather a hurry. I was intrigued that we were allowed to stop at not a lowly one or two but a magnificent six airports yesterday. And who wants to fly on the same airplane the entire time? We got to change and refuel every step of the way!
I particularly enjoyed sampling the security scanners at each and every airport. I find it preposterous that people imagine them all to be the same. And as for being patted down by a variety of islanders, well, I feel as if I've been hugged by most of the Caribbean already. I also found it unique that this was all done on "island time," because I do like to have time to absorb the atmosphere of the various departure lounges. As for our arrival, well, who wants to have to take a ferry at the end of all that flying anyway? I'm glad the boat was long gone by the time we arrived into Tortola last night -- and that all those noisy bars and restaurants were closed.
So thank you, LIAT. I now truly understand why you are "The Caribbean Airline."
P.S. Keep the bag. I never liked it anyway.