Richard Kaban · Jan 6, 2026 ยท 11:57 PM
Inbound · 04:40 · Planner: Susan Bender · +19177713461
“It got to 98 percent complete and then it stopped and it wouldn't finish.”
Susan should call Viking directly within the next few hours to confirm the flight change from JFK to LAX, lock in the premium economy seats (rows 14G, 15G outbound; 14H, 14K return), and document the final price. Call Richard back today with confirmation and any revised itinerary details.
Full analysis
What happened
Richard called to report that he and his wife Arlene are booked on a Viking River Cruise with flights from JFK to Amsterdam, but want to change their departure to LAX since they're staying longer in California. He found cheaper flights ($4,098.06 for KLM premium economy) and attempted to modify the booking online through the Viking Journey portal, but the system froze at 98% completion and wouldn't process. The agent (Susan) acknowledged the issue and committed to calling Viking directly to make the airport change from JFK to LAX on their behalf, with a callback promised.
Emotional read
Richard started frustrated with a technical problem that derailed his afternoon ('okay, until till this afternoon') but maintained a calm, matter-of-fact tone throughout. He was methodical in explaining the issue and collaborative with Susan, though there's a subtle undertone of mild irritation that he had to call in rather than complete the transaction himself online.
Emotional arc through the call
Remained steady and measured throughout; frustration with the technical failure was present from the start and did not escalate or improve during the call.
How customer sees Pavlus
- neutral · customer did not comment directly on Pavlus or Susan's service; engaged cooperatively with the agent but the issue originated with Viking's system, not Pavlus
Process friction
- customer attempted self-service flight modification online but system hung at 98% completion and did not process
- customer was not informed upfront that flight changes required calling Viking directly rather than using online portal
Value perception
Not explicitly stated. Richard was willing to work through Pavlus (via Susan) to resolve the issue, but the underlying friction suggests he expected to self-serve online; no commentary on Pavlus's value vs. direct booking or competitors.
Customer behaviors
self-service troubleshooting (tried to modify booking online independently)price-sensitive shopping (compared LAX vs JFK flight costs)detailed documentation (provided specific seat numbers, flight times, and final cost)deferring to agent for manual resolution after technology failed
Topics & signals
| Topics | flight change requestdeparture airport change (JFK to LAX)premium economy seatingtechnical issue with online booking systempricing comparisonViking River Cruises package modification |
|---|---|
| Destinations | New York (JFK)Los Angeles (LAX)AmsterdamCalifornia |
| Cruise lines | Viking River Cruises |
| Buying signals | already booked river cruise and initial flights with KLM premium economyproactively researched new flight pricing from LAXprovided specific seat numbers and total cost of $4,098.06 |
| Objections | online booking system froze at 98% completion, preventing flight change submissiontold to contact Viking directly instead of completing change onlineoriginal flights already booked from JFK, need to change to LAX departure |
Analyzed 2026-05-27 02:36:26 by claude-haiku-4-5-20251001. Confidence 0.78.
Transcript (4,374 chars)
Customer: Yeah. Agent (Susan Bender): I have travel, this is Susan. Customer: Yeah, hi, Susan, Richard can, how are you? Agent (Susan Bender): Oh, hi. Hi rich. I'm good. How are you doing? Happy New Year. Customer: Happy New Year to you. I'm doing. Agent (Susan Bender): Thank you. Customer: I was doing okay, until till this afternoon, I, yeah, you know, we, we got yesterday I was looking at that my Vican journey and it showed that we, had our flights were already set up, they set it up, I guess this week and it was leaving from New York JFK and going to Amsterdam. But since Arlene and I are here in LA and you know, in, in California, we were thinking we would stay a little bit longer and instead of leaving from New York, we'd leave from California and see what the difference in price was and missing that. So, we kinda like, figured out the pricing, we looked at it and we said, look for us to go back and forth. Cause we have an affair to go to here after the, after the trip we have to book another flight going back. It doesn't it request us like one half of the price which. Agent (Susan Bender): Oh. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Agent (Susan Bender): Uh-huh. Agent (Susan Bender): Oh. Agent (Susan Bender): Uh-huh. Customer: Because we wouldn't, we wouldn't be spending the back and forth going with so I went on to my bike in journey, I went to my air and they there's a way that you can make changes to your flights and so I filled it out, I changed it to on and instead of to L-A-X leaving that a direct flight and all that and when I get there I when it gets done we put it in the credit card and it says you know, doing it working on it don't, don't go away, don't close the page, they were 98 percent complete and then it stopped and it and it wouldn't finish. So then this morning, I was looking and it still said the same thing and when I got back I a little while ago, I. Agent (Susan Bender): Yeah. Agent (Susan Bender): Mm-hmm. Agent (Susan Bender): Yeah, right. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Agent (Susan Bender): Oh. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Agent (Susan Bender): You tried again. Customer: She, even though you were able, able to make all the changes it didn't go through. You have to call you, you're traveling and do it through. So, I thought that would tell me that initially. I would have quote you right away. Yeah, I can tell you the. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay, no, that's fine. Agent (Susan Bender): Yeah, yeah, that's okay, I'll call Viking now and have some airport changed to L-A-X now, you said you just got, you just got your air scheduled this week, right? Customer: Yesterday, and it was, we booked. We had I, it was a KLM flight from, on the, at 1:50 PM it left and there was a KLM coming back at 9:50 AM from Amsterdam back to LA. We had premium economy seats. The first leg was fourteen and fifteen, fourteen G., fifteen G. And coming back it was fourteen. Yeah, I paid for it. I, yeah, so we call it call, I did I raised it up to premium Meany. We found two seats there fourteen G. And fifteen G. On the way over and on the way back fourteen H. And fourteen K. And the, it was going to be $4,098 with everything, you know, with the extra charges and all that they put in. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay, good. Agent (Susan Bender): Uh-huh. Agent (Susan Bender): Mm-hmm. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Agent (Susan Bender): You have premium economy? Did you say premium? Oh, okay. Customer: But, and I said took it and then it went and it kept circling and circling and I got 98 percent of the way finished. So that's what I'd like possible maybe those Pia. Agent (Susan Bender): Yeah. Agent (Susan Bender): Well, they might be but you've already changed it to L-A-X or do I still need to do that. I think I should just call Vican and see what they show. Customer: Cause she told me, I, you're still, you have the original. Nothing has changed, didn't want it would take. The. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay. Okay, premium economy and you said it gave you a price of how much. Customer: It was, 409806. Agent (Susan Bender): 409806 okay, I will call Viking now and then I'll give you a callback. You're going to be there for a little while. Customer: Okay, thank you. Yeah, I'll be here bye-bye, okay, thanks. Bye-bye. Agent (Susan Bender): Okay, I will call you back shortly. Thank you, bye-bye, uh-huh, bye.