The customer doesn't care who's fault it is
37signals.com
37signals.com
Kind thanks!
EDIT: I now see the URL of the 37signals post betrays the fact the original title did in fact contain "who's". Of course it is not your fault then, but as I said, it would still show greater care if one checked something like that before posting.
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html
(point 4)
To which I say, "Why weren't you doing that in the first place?"
So in today's "Ready, Fire, Aim" world, we give kudos for fixing what never would have been broken if proper planning had been used.
The Travelocity example sounds like a case of outsourcing our responsibility until something goes wrong (and it will), then fixing it. Instead of saying "congratulations", maybe we should say "shame on you".