1. Service Failures and Recovery in Tourism and Hospitality: A Practical Manual
Erdogan Koc

2. Chapter 8 Self-Service Technologies: Service Failures and Recovery

3. Learning Outcomes
Self-service technologies (SSTs) in tourism (definition and classifications)
Benefits/drawbacks of SSTs
SST failures (definition and types)
SST recovery strategies
Customer participation in SST recovery
Evaluation of the effectiveness of SST recovery activities

4. Self-service Technologies (SSTs)
Definition: Self-service technologies are technological interfaces which allow consumers to deliver services independent of direct service employee involvement (Meuter et al., 2000). Another term used interchangeably: ‘Technology-based self-service’ (TBSS) introduced by Dabholkar (1994).

5. Examples of SSTs Kiosk train/bus ticketing Kiosk retail check-outs
Kiosk for tourist information
Kiosk airport check-in
Kiosk at car park
ATM
Interactive telephone menu
Online shopping
Online insurance
Online information
Online visa application
Online hotel booking
Online flight booking
Online train booking
Online parking booking
Online education
Online check-in
Online banking
Mobile GPS maps
Mobile banking
Mobile bookings and e-commerce
Mobile travel planner apps
Mobile bar code scanning
Mobile check-in
Mobile restaurant apps
Mobile games apps
Mobile recommender apps
Source: Kelly, P., Lawlor, J. and Mulvey, M. (2011) A Review of Key Factors Affecting Consumers' Adoption and Usage of Self-Service Technologies in the Tourism Sector, in O'Connell, K., Palma Fahey, M., Ruane, S.T., Horan, K., (Eds.) Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland: Current Challenges and Future Opportunities, NUI Galway and Shannon College of Hotel Management.

6. Examples of SSTs in Tourism
Company
SST Application
Links to Video Content
Dublin Airport
Express self-service bag drop kiosks
Geneva Airport
Self-service bag drop robot
Hen-na Hotels, Japan
Using robots for customer service
Omena Hotels, Denmark and Netherlands
Online check-in and self-service in hotel
Inamo Restaurants, UK
Interactive table top for ordering and entertainment
CitizenM Hotels, worldwide
Check-in kiosks
McDonald’s Restaurants, worldwide
Self-service create your taste burger kiosks
Louvre Museum, France
Nintendo 3DS XL system for audio-visual guides
AR Works
Beacon technology and augmented reality application for museums

7. Useful Links for Tourism SST Updates

8. Classifications of SSTs
Authors
Dimensions of SST classifications
Dabholkar (1994)
Anselmsson (2001)
Where is the service delivered
(at service site, at customer’s home or work)?
How is the service delivered (direct, indirect)?
Meuter et al. (2000)
Purpose (customer service, transactions, self-help)
Interface (telephone/interactive voice response, online/internet, interactive kiosk, video/CD)
Forbes (2008), Forbes et al. (2005)
Medium (internet, non-internet)
Castro et al. (2010)
Interface (electronic kiosks, internet applications, mobile devices, telephone applications)
Schumann et al. (2012)
Ownership of the technology
(provider-based, customer-based)
Collier et al. (2014); Gelbrich and Sattler (2014)
Presence of other customers (private, public)

9. Meuter et al. (2000) Classification
Interface
Purpose
Telephone/Interactive Voice Response
Online/Internet
Interactive Kiosks
Video/CD
Customer Service
Telephone banking
Flight information
Order status
Package tracking
Account information
ATMs
Hotel checkout
Transactions
Prescription refills
Retail purchasing
Financial transactions
Pay at the pump
Car rental
Self-Help
Information telephone lines
Internet information search
Distance learning
Blood pressure machines
Tourist information
Tax preparation software
Television/CD-based training
Source: Meuter, M., Ostrom, A., Roundtree, R and Bitner, M. (2000) Self-service technologies: understanding customer satisfaction with technology-based service encounters, Journal of Marketing, 64(3),

10. Benefits from SST Usage include
For the company
Reduces labour costs
Provides access to new markets
For customers
Greater control over the service, convenience, and price and time savings
Greater customization and satisfaction with the service

11. Drawbacks from SST Usage include
For the company
Reduces points of personal contact with the customer
Customer resistance to SST adoption and usage
Company image may be affected negatively
Potential loss of customers due to SST failures
For customers
Technological anxiety and embarrassment
Lack of personal contact perceived as lower quality service
Financial, privacy and security risks

12. SST Failure - Definition
SST failure is the situation when consumers’ perceived quality expectations of a service do not match the actual service quality delivered. (Dabholkar and Spaid, 2012)

13. SST Failure Uniqueness
How are SST failures different from failures in traditional personal service?
Reduced customer-employee contact – less employees to monitor the delivery process and help recovery failures in a timely manner.
Active delivery of the core service offering by the SST user – more customer involvement introduces greater rick of service failures due to customer mistakes.

14. SST quality is below customer expectations (e-SERVQUAL).
SST Failure Types
SST quality is below customer expectations (e-SERVQUAL).
Unfair customer responsibilities in SST usage.
Technological and non-technological service breakdowns – internet and non-internet SSTs.

15. SST Failure Types (1) - E-SERVQUAL
Customer expectations of electronic service have been conceptualised by Zeithaml et al. (2000) in a scale called e-SERVQUAL with the following dimensions: access customisation/ personalization ease of navigation security/privacy efficiency responsiveness flexibility assurance/trust reliability price knowledge site aesthetics

16. SST Failure Types (2) - Unfair Customer Responsibility
Some examples of unfair responsibilities (Kelly et al., 2016):
Excessive customer time and effort necessary to operate the SST
Customers are asked by service providers to use SSTs when customers are not ready and willing to do so
Customer mistakes cannot be corrected or refunded.
Customers may have other perceptions of unfair responsibilities in various SST usage contexts.

17. SST Failure Types (3) Internet SST Breakdowns
Delay
Inaccessibility
Non-adaptability
Billing issues
Packaging
Inaccurate, untimely and irrelevant information
Non-navigability
Web design issues
No response to enquiries
Special orders
Payment problems
Delivery problems

18. SST Failure Types (3) - Non-internet SST Breakdowns
Unsure response – not identified in internet SSTs
Embarrassment – not identified in internet SSTs
Technology failure
Pricing errors
Packaging errors
Inefficient information
Customer mistakes
Special order failures

19. SST Recovery - Definition
Service recovery constitutes company and customer actions undertaken to restore service satisfaction.
Service satisfaction is restored through the customer perceptions of service justice.
Dimensions of service justice perceptions (Chiu et al., 2009)
Distributive justice
Procedural justice
Interactional justice

20. SST Failure Detection Employees assigned to monitor customer usage
Routine technological maintenance
Failures reporting by the technology or the customer
Customers making a complaint

21. Internet SST Recovery Activities
Refund
Apology
Product replacement either in the original channel or at an offline store
Customer repeats the transaction
Customer and service provider do nothing

22. Non-internet SST Recovery Activities
Re-purchase by customer
Customer and service provider do nothing
Immediate problem-resolution by an employee
Employee assistance
Receiving a discount
Managerial intervention unprompted by the customer

23. Customer Participation in SST Recovery
Customers not only have an active role in SST delivery, but also in SST service recovery:
Complaint Behaviour - , telephone or face-to-face. Customers are most likely to complain if it is easy to do so.
Joint Recovery - customers undertake some recovery functions specified by the company, e.g. instructions over the phone.
Self-Recovery - when SST customers avoid contacting an employee and are able to recover service failures themselves.

24. Customer Roles in SST Recovery
Kelly et al. (2016) define customer roles in SSTs which are adapted here to SST recovery.
Convenience seeker
Motivated worker
Unskilled worker
Enforced worker
Enthusiastic assistance provider
Reluctant assistance provider

25. Effectiveness of SST Recovery
Research suggests that some SST recovery activities are more effective in restoring customer satisfaction in specific service situations.
Understand which customer and provider responses contribute positively to SST recovery and enhance them.
Understand which customer and provider responses contribute negatively to SST recovery and avoid them.

26. Evaluation of Customer Responses to Failures
Positive Influence on SST Recovery
Joint and self-recovery
Repeat a transaction
Try an alternative route to solve the problem
Undertake convenience seeker, motivated worker, enthusiastic assistance provider roles
Negative Influence on SST Recovery
Re-purchase
Do nothing
Leave the company
Undertake unskilled worker, enforced worker and reluctant assistance provider roles

27. Evaluation of Provider Responses to Failures
Positive Influence on SST Recovery
Refund
Apology
Replacement
Immediate problem resolution by an employee
Less crowded environment
Match the level of co-creation in service delivery
Compensation, apology, fast recovery
Match recovery with cultural style (i.e. prior positive experiences affect relational customers, and offer a refund to utilitarian customers)
Negative Influence on SST Recovery
Do nothing

28. Conclusions
SST failures are diverse and there are numerous strategies to recover them.
SST failures may be recovered by interventions from the user, the service provider or other users.
SST failures require some unique recovery strategies different from traditional personal service recovery.
Customer participation in SST recovery has a positive influence on restoring customer satisfaction.