Edgar Perez is an Atlanta Elite Sales and Service Assist Specialist for Delta Air Lines Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Edgar was awarded the Gold Stevie Award for Front-Line Customer Service Professional of the Year in the customer service awards categories of the 2013 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, and sales professionals. The early-bird entry deadline (with discounted fees) for the 2014 edition of the awards is this Wednesday, October 9. Get your entry kit today.
Edgar Perez is one of those employees who embraces change and the importance of customer service every day. He always remains positive and ready for a challenge, and never loses his focus on the customer.
Internal Support
Edgar supports many internal departments, assisting with booking, ticketing, research, and service-recovery decisions for Delta customers. He’s received the highest Delta honor, the “Chairman’s Club” award, which is given by his peers, largely because he is so supportive of those around him. One of Edgar’s supervisors commented: “Edgar exudes such positive enthusiasm that you can feel the electricity when he’s in the room.”
Edgar has received numerous customer compliments and has turned many customers’ perspectives around. One customer wrote: “Edgar, you renewed my confidence in my favorite airline and gave me trust that you are really taking this gloried airline back up where she belongs.” Another customer wrote, “What an asset to the company. Thank you for hiring Edgar—his dedication to Delta and its customers is commendable.”
But none of these compliments adequately capture the passion Edgar has for Delta and for its customers. The following touching story is a better example:
Helping a Special Family Member
Recently, a family with two small children and their dog Chechito was relocating from Honduras to Missouri. They all checked in with Chechito in a hard-sided pet carrier, but the container wouldn’t fit under any seat. Because of the summer heat, the dog could not travel in the cargo hold, and the family was not able to postpone the trip, so they were forced to leave Chechito behind with a family friend in Honduras. The plane departed with Chechito still in his pet carrier on the tarmac and distressed parents and crying children staring out the airplane window knowing they might never see their special family member again.
Edgar made strenuous efforts to resolve the issue, working with the family in Missouri and the friend who had kept Chechito in Honduras. He worked with other divisions of Delta to have the health certificates returned to Honduras so the dog could be reunited with its family.
Finally, to make sure that everything went smoothly, Edgar decided to personally travel to Honduras and bring the dog back with him to the U.S. It took him 72 hours and a 4,000-mile journey to do so, but ultimately he reunited Chechito with his family.
Making A Difference
This is just one story of many where Edgar has made the difference for Delta’s customers. Allison Ausband, VP-Reservation Sales and Customer Care, commented: “Edgar, there are unsung heroes, and you certainly are one of them. What you did for this family was so representative of who you are as a person and so representative of the best we see in Delta employees. I can’t thank you enough for having this customer’s back and going way above the call of duty.”
Edgar truly pours his heart and soul into his work, which echoes through the words of thanks from his many satisfied customers.
About Edgar Perez:
Edgar Perez is currently a member of Delta’s Elite Sales and Service Assist desk, providing support to many internal departments and assisting with booking, ticketing, research, and service-recovery decisions in support of Delta’s external and internal customers. He joined Delta in February 1994 as a General Sales Agent and has held positions in International Sales and International Customer Service, and on the Customer Service Coordinator Desk and Elite/Executive Desk. Along the way, Edgar’s expertise and knowledge of processes and policies, together with his exceptional service, have made him a highly sought-after resource, especially by Delta’s Board of Directors and executive team.
About Delta
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline-industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 317 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta and Facebook.com/delta
