September 2023 Employees of the Month: Traveler loses wallet, finds excellent customer service (and her wallet!)
Earlier this month, traveler Christina Roc was on her flight back home from MIA when she realized in horror that she had lost a bag with her wallet, credit cards, and all her identification inside. Her first thought was that she left the bag behind either at MIA’s Rental Car Center (RCC) or at the TSA checkpoint.
Upon landing at her layover airport, she immediately called the RCC and reached Pablo Gamarra, a supervisor with Harvard Maintenance, the RCC’s janitorial provider, and gave him the TSA tracking number for her bag.
Gamarra explained that he only manages lost and found at the rental car center but he would contact TSA’s lost and found office the next day. He gave Roc his direct phone number so she could call him the next day to follow up, even though it would be a Saturday and his day off. When they talked that Saturday, he notified her that he had not been able to reach the lost and found office but he would follow up again the next day when he was at work. Finally, on Monday, Gamarra had good news: TSA had identified her bag with the tracking number and it was at the lost and found office.
“I can’t believe that he was responsive to me on this matter even on his day off. That is some amazing customer service!”
Roc then called TSA’s lost and found office and spoke to TSA Officer Perry Sandoval, who confirmed that he had her bag and arranged for it to be shipped to her. On top of TSA quickly finding her lost bag, Sandoval’s customer-first attitude made an even bigger impression on Roc.
He was so informative and patient in helping me understand their process for lost items and gave me multiple options for retrieval. I can’t say enough of how grateful I am to Perry and Pablo for the care and customer service they provided. I’m not sure I would have been trusting of just submitting an online claim to lost and found, but being able to talk to Perry and Pablo gave me the reassurance and relief needed in my stressful situation. Online assistant bots or automated phone help is no comparison to the human connection and customer care I got from Perry and Pablo. It’s good to know there are good, kind people who care about helping travelers connect with their lost belongings.
Because Gamarra and Sandoval went the extra mile to help Roc reunite with her lost bag, they were named MIA’s September 2023 Employees of the Month.
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