Be transparent

This question was posed on Reddit earlier this year, and it’s a striking example of why transparency is a good policy.

The commentator seemed to think that this flight school was sketchy, because it would not accept cash or a debit card—only a credit card—to pay for an introductory flight.

Other commentators provided a different viewpoint. “My flight school runs 99 percent on credit cards,” one said. “I really don’t want checks or cash to have to drag to the bank for a morning deposit.”

Another theorized that it was so the flight school could “charge you extra if something happens, like if you barf. Happens on intro flights.” And another thought it was to help the flight school keep better records.

A wise commentator wondered, “You didn’t think to ask them why?” The pilot didn’t respond to that.

The pilot came to Reddit looking for validation of his suspicions—and that’s not a bad thing. We all know about flight schools that have closed their doors and left customers in the lurch. And we also know pilots are happy to share their opinion on aviation-related topics.

Surprisingly, the pilot did not get the validation he was looking for—that this was a flight school he should avoid because they did not accept cash or a debit card for an introductory flight. Most of the responses were willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, the original commentator decided to take his business to the flight school next door. “They will take any payment,” he said.

We know that there are two sides to every story, and I’d love to know what the flight school’s story is. It seems they had a policy in place, but it wasn’t properly communicated to this potential customer—and it made him suspicious. He did not spend money with the flight school.

All businesses are entitled to incorporate procedures that work best for them, within the confines of federal, state, and local laws. And it’s up to you as to whether you want to get into the weeds with customers as to why you do things.

But in this case, I think it would have benefited the flight school to have a simple explanation for the credit-card-only policy. “We like to keep a record.” “In case there are additional charges after the flight.” The time to offer this explanation was when the customer tried to offer an alternate means of payment, but was refused. This type of transparency would have assuaged the customer’s concerns, kept his business, and kept him from complaining on the internet.