Can't a brotha get some love around here?

[Sprint100]

Me and some peeps went to go see the silver dollar classic. The good parking spots were gone, I wasn't about to park in Joe's backyard for $10, so I dropped off my boys and went home.
I decided to check out an FBO in El Monte figuring they'd show me more love(respect) than the cats down in Torrance. In Torrance, nobody said nothin' to me the whole time I was there. Very strange considering there were lots of instructors around. I even looked cats in the eye and said Hi in a non-confrontational way (hands to the side and smiling). Anyways, I bounced after about 10-15 minutes of the silent treatment.
After that cold shoulder treatment, I went into the El Monte FBO and chose to engage in conversation with an instructor. After talking for about 5 minutes, another dude yelled at him that his appointment cancelled, so he bailed on me in mid convo. Then a older lady behind the counter just starts talking to me, but she is all smart and talks to me like I'm a dummy. Then while we are talking the phone rings, she answers it (even though there are two cats already there and the instructor finally came back but not to talk to me) and talks to this dummy inquiring about what rental cars they have. Chick just forgot she was talking to me and I'm standing right in front of her. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but after she was on the phone with him for a solid 7 minutes, yeah I timed it, I bounced.
Anyways, just had to vent about the lack of respect in the air LOL. I'm off to finally finish my training at Sunquest, they showed a brotha some love when I walked in.

[mtsu_av8er]

Flight schools like that don't deserve your money, man! I take pleasure in calling or writing the Manager/Chief/Assistamt Chief and explaining to them how I was treated, and why I decided to take my money elsewhere!

[jonnyb]

Yeah, that sucks. People are lame. If I was the owner of ANY business and was told that my employees were talking to and treating customers that way they would get ONE firm warning, then if it happended again I'd tell them to hit the road. That's A) not how you treat people, period. And B) not how to conduct good business.

[jrh]

FBOs are notorious for poor customer service skills when it comes to prospective students. I don't know why. It's one of those things that falls through the cracks at a lot of places.

I went in to an FBO the other day to inquire about glider training. Before the girl behind the desk had a chance to say anything to me, some resident nutcase sitting on the couch started cursing and ranting about how not everybody's cut out to be a pilot, and he wouldn't be safe towed behind half these tow pilots nowadays, and on and on. He acted like hot stuff because he'd flown some glider competitions in Hawaii (turns out he's also a special forces Vietnam vet, which might have something to do with his attitude, I learned from the desk worker later). All this before I said a word about already being a powered pilot myself. I could have been a 0 hour newbie for all they knew.

If I had owned the FBO I would've told the guy to take a hike and not come back if he was going to act that way around prospective customers.

What can you do? All I know is, if I'm ever managing an FBO someday, customers will get a lot of attention.

[Adam2006]

cc=culver city?

[AlexF]

Man, sorry you got such poor treatment! A lot of FBO's can be a challange to talk to when you're not a customer. Plus from what you said, it sounded like they weren't busy and unless there was something else going on that you didn't know about, there's really no excuse. Customer service is 50% of the reason you need an FBO (the other 50% is aircraft rental). If I were you, I think mtsu_av8er's suggustion is a great one. A lot of employees act differently when the boss is around vs when he's gone, and mistreatment of potential customers is something he/she should be alerted about.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you chose and remember, if you don't like your first instructor at that particular FBO, try another one, don't "suck it up" and assume everything will be o.k.!

[jonnyb]

(turns out he's also a special forces Vietnam vet, which might have something to do with his attitude, I learned from the desk worker later)

Yeah, what a loser. Like that's something to be proud of or something.

[Sprint100]

Originally Posted by Adam2006

cc=culver city?

CC = Chocolate City. I mention that in respect to the P-Funk/Parliament. I could go on and on about other stuff it means but that is for a different discussion . No way in reference to Mayor Nagin's remarks. I honestly think it was taken out of context because he used it at a improper time.
I did live in Culver City for about 5 years though, in Playa Pacific on the corner of Hannum and Playa.

[KLB]

Originally Posted by Sprint100

Me and some peeps went to go see the silver dollar classic. The good parking spots were gone, I wasn't about to park in Joe's backyard for $10, so I dropped off my boys and went home.

Hey! I got peeps that march in Alcorns band. I almost ended up going there myself.

Today, I spent $10 for parking and $30 for a ticket to the State Fair Classic here in Dallas......all that money and I knew who was going to win before opening kickoff.

[jrh]

Originally Posted by jonnyb

Yeah, what a loser. Like that's something to be proud of or something.

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend any vets. I should have been clearer.

A lot of Vietnam vets aren't quite right in the head. I was meaning to say that while a special forces soldier from Vietnam might be tough as nails, they also might have a hard time toning down their "macho-ness" when needed. This guy seriously had a "I'm hot #####" attitude like I've never seen before, and honestly, I found it offensive.

For the record, this guy never mentioned anything about his military record. It was the desk worker who told me about it when I asked her what his deal was, after he left.

[jtrain609]

Word. I once met this guy that was involved in overthrowing some latin American government for the United States and he was SERIOUSLY messed up. I really felt bad for the guy.