The Flower of Service concept by Lovelock et al.

is used to display the two types of supplementary

services that surround the core product – facilitating supplementary services and enhancing
supplementary services (2009).

KEY:

The two types of supplementary services are outlined as follows:

Facilitating Services Enhancing Services

 Information  Consultation
 Order-taking  Hospitality
 Billing  Safekeeping
 Payment  Exceptions
(Lovelock et al. 2009)

The core product of Aeroline’s and Konsortium’s is the Coach service from Singapore to Kuala
Lumpur. Supplementing the core product are value-added service enhancements that augment the
core product. These are the facilitating and enhancing supplementary services as suggested by
Lovelock et al. (2009).

Facilitating Supplementary Services

Facilitating supplementary services are the services that are needed for service delivery and/or
assisting to add value. The elements of facilitating supplementary services comprise Information,
Order-taking, Billing and Payment. (Lovelock et al. 2009) These elements and its relevance to
Aeroline and Konsortium are detailed in <Table xx>.

FACILITATING SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES

AEROLINE KONSORTIUM
Information <Pending Gabe’s research>  Konsortium provides online
How reservations delievered via its
Information is online partner Easibook.com
communicated Pte Ltd.
to customers  Terms and Conditions of
Carriage are also detailed on
the booking site.
 The online booking site also
provides a tutorial on making
online bookings in English and
Chinese.
 Updates on Konsortium’s
products and/or services are
sent to the customer via
Mailing Lists <insert ref>, Blogs
<insert ref>, and Facebook
<insert ref>.
Order Taking  Offers online booking engine  Offers online booking engine
The mediums specific to country of specific to country of
 available for departure.
making a  Has a dedicated reservations
reservation hotline offered to both
Singapore and Malaysia
customers.
Billing  Online Booking:
Reservation o Immediate payment is
methods necessary.
available o Confirmation email
regarding booking is
sent to customer once
payment is approved.
o Registered online
customers may check
itinerary online.
 Payment on-site:
o Immediate issuance of
coach ticket serves as
proof of payment.
Payment  NETS
Methods  Cash
available for  Aeroline stored value card
payment
Enhancing Supplementary Services
Enhancing Supplementary Services are the services that assist in adding value to the core product.
These elements exist as Consultation, Hospitality, Safekeeping, and Exceptions. (Lovelock et al. 2009)
These are detailed in <Table xx>.
ENHANCING SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES
AEROLINE KONSORTIUM
Consultation  Frequent Asked Questions are
Providing available on its website
advice to  Hotline is available to answer
customer’s any other query, manned from
enquiries. 7.30 am to 7.30 pm daily in
Singapore and Malaysia.
 Customers may approach
service centres located in
departure.
 Has a dedicated reservations
hotline offered to Singapore
customers only.
 Online Booking:
o Immediate payment by
internet banking of
Singapore banks UOB,
OCBC and DBS/POSB.
o Transaction receipt is
shown once payment
has been approved.
Customer prints out
transaction receipt on
his own accord.
 Payment on-site:
o Immediate issuance of
coach ticket serves as
proof of payment.
 Payment available via:
o Internet banking of
local banks UOB, OCBC,
DBS/POSB (for online
payments)
o Credit Card (customer
incurs administrative
charge)
o NETS
o Cheque
o Cash
 Dedicated customer service
direct inward dial (DID)
numbers posted on website
 Email addresses corresponding
to enquiries, ticketing and
online booking technical
support are posted on its
website.
 Singapore and Malaysia.
 For any other updates, they are
posted on the website and
service centres
Hospitality  Service with a smile from point  Poor customer service <see
Treatment of of ticketing, to point of Youtube video in CD>
customers boarding, to point of  Bus ride:
disembarking from bus. o Variable fleet of buses
 Bus ride: comprising single-deck
o Uniform fleet of Super VIP 26-seater
double-deck buses and double-deck
boasting a lounge on snoozer coach.
the lower deck.
o Custom bus suspension
allows for a smooth
ride and a quiet cabin
o Cabin service.
o Food and Beverage
service – enroute
catering offering
Subway and Caffe
1920.
o Climate controlled
cabin air-conditioning
system.
o Blanket supplied for
extra comfort.
o Lavatory available on
board but primarily for
short relief. Provision
will be made should
heavy relief be needed.
 Before journey:
o Waiting lounge access
with complimentary
beverages.
Safekeeping  Luggage may be checked-in on  Self-service luggage loading
day of travel. into coach’s luggage
 Baggage lockers available at compartment
waiting lounge should need  Overhead lockers available in
arise. the cabin
 Overhead lockers available in
the cabin
 Lost and found service as and
when necessary.
Exceptions  Travel dates may be changed to  Cancellation policy as per terms
earlier dates, subject to and conditions of carriage.
administrative charge. Change
to dates later than travel dates
are not permitted.
 Special dietary requests has to
 be made at least a day before
travel date.

Key Issues:

Konsortium has frequently been the topic of discussion regarding bad coach operators. Not only
were their fleet of buses grounded at one point in time (ref), it was also the subject of scrutiny when
it comes to customer service. As logged by a TripAdvisor member, she was less than satisfied with
the service provided by Konsortium from the start of the decision-making process till the end (ref,
year). Konsortium should therefore place greater emphasis on providing better customer service
through its staff and brand image.