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Poor
Customer Service at United Airlines
I
originally put
up this page to share my bag experience with United
Airlines. Since then, I've found many other
stories which make mine pale in comparison.
Now, you might think that United is nothing
special, because all airlines have some unhappy
customers. But the thing is, United consistenly
ranks at or near the bottom of customer
satisfaction surveys.
But that's not aill. United generally has
the
worst safety record of U.S. airlines.
I'll keep my original story below for posterity,
but really, what you see above is all you really
need to know.
When
a company makes a mistake it's easy to forgive
them. When they
make two, it's harder. When they make twenty, it's
impossible. Here is a classic example of poor
service from a commercial airline.
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I
can't help you with your baggage or other
airline problems
The #1 way people find my website
these days is by doing a search for
"united
airlines baggage" -- about 14
visitors a day. United must be losing a
lot of baggage if so many people are
searching the Internet for how to get
their bags back, every day!
Since I posted this page countless
fliers have written to me to tell me of
their baggage and other woes with United
and ask if I have any special phone
numbers or tips to help them. But it
should be obvious that if *I* was unable
to get proper service from United, then
how would I be able to help you?
I can't. There's nothing I can do for
you.
Amusingly, a fair number of writers
think that *I* am United Airlines and they
write demanding a resolution to their
problems. How they could draw that
conclusion after even a casual glance at
this web page is beyond me. Usually these
missives from an AOL email address.
One thing that's clear from all the
messages I've received isn't just that
United loses baggage on a frighteningly
regular basis, more importantly they
don't care. Just as with my
experience, readers haven't been upset
by their baggage loss as much as they've
been shocked at how United employees have
been unconcerned, rude, and
incompetent when the readers made
inquiries to try to get their lost bags
back. This underscores what I related in
my own experience: United doesn't
care. It's as simple as
that.
Since I started this page I discovered
a massive
site dedicated to exposing United's poor
customer service, called Untied.com.
They do have a complaint form you can fill
out which they will forward to United,
though I'm skeptical that will help much
considering that United doesn't care.
Again, I'm sorry that I can't help
you. There is no need to write me.
Good luck. -- MBJ
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Rather than make you read the whole story, let
me summarize my experience in brief.
- United lost my bag.
- The agent who took my report guessed
at some of the bag's characteristics rather than
asking me, thus describing the bag wrong, thus
making it harder for United to find it -- though
I wouldn't learn about this particular screw-up
until later.
- When I tried to call United I was subjected
to possibly the most lengthy and annoying phone
system in the world.
- The computerized system gave incomplete and
innaccurate information about my missing
bag.
- When I finally got to talk to a rep, I made
it a point to complain about the phone system,
asking that the complaint be relayed to
management, but the rep clearly didn't care and
certainly made no effort to apologize for my
frustration.
- The bag wasn't delivered when United said it
should be.
- Some of the agents I talked to were
simply...stupid. There is no other way to
describe it. The details are in the story.
- United called me at a number I specifically
told them not to call me at, rather than the one
I had insisted they use, causing me to miss
their call.
- I left my home to go to another phone to
call United again since my phone wasn't working,
and when I left I put a prominent note on my
front door written in thick, black permanent
marker telling the bag courier (if he arrived
while I was gone) that I would be back in five
minutes.
- That 5 minutes turned out to be 10 minutes
because of United's absurd telephone system.
Sure enough, the courier arrived while I was
gone, and sure enough, he somehow missed the
note. He likely knocked right on it.
- When the bag was finally delivered, I saw
that the handle was broken. There was no
apology, much less any offer at
compensation.
- I wrote to United, and a manager from my
local airport called me and said she'd be
reviewing the case and would get back to me with
some kind of offer of compensation. I told her I
was more concerned with knowing that future
United customers wouldn't be treated the way I
was, but that I would still entertain her offer.
Naturally, I never heard back from her.
- I tried to call United to speak to this
manager, but they refused to put me through. I
explained that she had contacted me first, and
that I never heard back from her as she'd
promised, but they didn't care.
Naturally, I haven't flown United
since.
After I first wrote this page in 2004 I lost
a bag on another carrier. My experience that
time was completely different. The customer
service agent I dealt with was friendly, helpful,
and competent. Airlines lose baggage, that happens,
and it's forgivable. What matters is how the
airline handles it when it happens.
The
story
On Nov. 13, 2004 I flew from Chicago to my
home in Austin on United Airlines. My bag did
not arrive with me. I went to the United baggage
office at the airport and informed the clerk
("JR"). She immediately started asking me several
questions and filling out a form. During this
uncomfortable time I had no idea what was going to
happen. It would have been better had she started
by saying something both reassuring and helpful
such as, "Okay, I'm going to get some information
from you so I can locate your bag. It's unusual
that a bag is ever lost for good -- probably it's
still just at the last airport because it didn't
make it on the plane somehow. Once it gets here to
Austin we'll send a courier to deliver it to your
home, probably either later tonight or
tomorrow...." But instead she just asked a bunch of
questions, wrote the answers down and fiddled with
the computer while I wondered what was going on and
what would happen. She finally told me that the bag
was in Chicago because it had been retained by the
Transportation Administration for some reason, that
they could get it on that evening's last flight to
Austin, and that it could probably be delivered to
me by midnight. She said they would call first.
- Mistake #1: Agent did not brief me with
helpful or reassuring information when I made my
missing bag clam.
Upon arriving home I realized that United would
not be able to call me because my telephone
equipment was in my bag. I went to a neighbor's
house to call United to inform them of that, and
was disappointed to be greeted with a
voice-activated menu system. Such systems are slow,
cumbersome, and annoying -- they often hinder
rather than help you. In this case, it was of
course impossible for me to describe my problem to
a computer and so I needed to talk to a real
person, but in their infinite wisdom United decided
to force customers to talk to the useless
computerized agent instead. There was no way to
bypass it. I hit the zero key several times but the
computerized agent kept telling me it didn't
understand my selection. I had to tell the computer
"delayed bag", and then "Austin, Texas", and then
my last name, and then confirm that it had gotten
my last name right, and then listen to the computer
tell me it had no idea where my bag was but that it
had the bag on a "priority trace". This directly
conflicts with what JR told me at the airport,
which was that the bag was in Chicago. Finally the
computer said I could talk to a real person by
saying "agent", though when I did so it toyed with
me further by saying, "I think you said 'agent'. Is
that correct? If yes, then say 'yes'..."
- Mistake #2: United forces customers to
use a slow, cumbersome, annoying computerized
phone agent, and provides no way to bypass
it.
- Mistake #3: Computerized agent gives
incomplete, inaccurate information about the
status of missing bags.
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Preventing
problems with lost baggage
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1.
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Carry on anything that's
important. Don't put cash, credit
cards, jewelry, medicine, business
documents, etc. in your checked baggage.
Carry it on with you.
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2.
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Put your name & contact info
INSIDE the bag. Write it with a
Sharpie on a piece of cardboard at least
as large as a sheet of paper. If the tag
gets ripped off the outside of your bag
then there's still ID inside.
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3.
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Take a picture of your bag and carry
it with you. If your bag is lost then
have the agent staple it to the form. That
might help if they put the wrong
description on the form, like they did
with me.
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4.
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Don't fly United. Not only are
they more likely to lose your bag, they
don't care if they do.
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5.
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Don't write to me. Don't write
to me for help of any kind with
your lost baggage. I'm not an ombudsman or
a help desk, and I already have over 5000
messages in my In Box. I can't help you.
Don't write.
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After being on hold for a while I finally got an
agent on the line. The very first thing I did was
to tell her that I found the computerized agent to
be annoying and unhelpful, and to ask that she
relay that information to management. She
halfheartedly acknowledged my request without
apologizing for my poor experience. This is a
classic customer service mistake, because ignoring
a customer's complaint just makes them angrier,
which I know from my years of working in customer
support and training support reps. But this is
typical for United -- through the many, many calls
I would make United agents never once acknowledged
my complaints about poor service even once.
- Mistake #4: Agent didn't acknowledge my
stated frustration with the computerized phone
agent.
I then explained that I was calling because
United wouldn't be able to contact me about
delivery since my phone equipment was in my bag.
The agent then asked me for all the information I
had just given the computerized agent. Their system
is so lame that it doesn't even relay the
information I already gave.
- Mistake #5: Voice-activated computer
agent doesn't do something as basic as relaying
customer-provided information to the human
agents.
I asked the agent to replace the phone number
they had on file for me with my neighbor's phone
number. The agent then said she felt my bag would
still arrive later that evening.
It didn't. I went to my neighbor's house
after the flight was to have arrived to call United
again and I went through the same ordeal as
earlier: The computerized agent again forced me to
talk to IT rather than to a real person, it told me
again that my bag had not been located, I again had
to tell it a couple of times that I wanted to talk
to a real agent, and it again didn't relay my
information to the real agent.
When I got the agent on the line she put me on
hold so she could call the Chicago airport. After
several minutes she came back and said that Chicago
didn't answer. She tried again. When she came back
she said she thinks they located the bag but that
the tag had been ripped off, and said that Chicago
described the contents as including "dress shirts
and casual shirts". (Duh.) That the Chicago office
would think that that is actually a helpful
description rather than a patently retarded
description is disappointing.
- Mistake #6: Chicago office gave an
inadequate description of the bag and its
contents.
I informed the agent that I did indeed have
casual shirts and dress shirts though I had no idea
how that would differentiate my bag from every
other bag on the planet. I described the contents
in better detail and also the distinctive features
on the outside of the bag. I asked what information
they had about the description so I could verify it
was correct. The agent said that it was listed as a
wheelable bag with a retractable handle. This is
wrong, and I never described the bag as such. I
then looked at the report filled out by the agent
in Austin and saw that she took it upon herself to
list the bag as having a retractable handle, though
she never asked me whether it had a retractable
handle and I never volunteered that it did.
- Mistake #7: Austin agent failed to get a
proper description of the bag and pulled an
incorrect description out of her own head,
making it harder for my bag to actually be
located.
I told the agent that my bag didn't have a
retractable handle and that the Austin agent must
have assumed so when she filled out the report,
since she never asked me. The phone agent corrected
the information in the system but completely failed
to apologize for the fact that the original agent
entered the wrong information. This is the First
Rule of Customer Service: Apologize for Mistakes,
especially when the customer brings it to
your attention. But United consistently failed
to do this.
Let's separate United's mistakes from the bag
being detained in the first place. The fact
that my bag was initially delayed might have been
out of United's control. They did apologize for the
fact that my bag was delayed on my first call,
though that doesn't concern me because I presume
the initial delay was not caused by United's
incompetence. However, when I ran into problems
because of United's mishandling of the
inquiry, it simply added insult to injury when the
fact I received poor service was ignored.
- Mistake #8: Agent did not apologize for
previous agent's screwing up the missing bag
report.
At this point something else became clear:
Despite the computerized phone agent's assurance
that they had the bag on a "priority trace", it was
clear that nobody was taking an active role in
trying to locate the bag. Rather, Austin just felt
that the bag was in Chicago somewhere and that it
would turn up in Austin when Chicago was done with
it. I thus consider the phone agent's assurance as
outright deception.
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A reader
writes:
Great website. My husband is a
janitor at the airport here in
Portland, Oregon, and he says that he
sees tons of people there who have lost
their baggage, most of whom flew
United.. He never thought much about it
until I mentioned it. --
Maria
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Mistake #9: United lies when its phone
system say that the bag is on a "priority
trace".
The agent said the next flight would hit Austin
around 1:00pm the next day and that my bag would
likely be located and arrive on that flight.
The next morning I again went to my
neighbor's to call United, and was again subjected
to the computerized agent which would not let me
bypass it, slowly demanded information, falsely
told me that my bag had not been located, finally
let me talk to a human agent. I spoke with an
Indian agent who told me that the bag had been
located in Chicago, would arrive on the afternoon
flight, and should be delivered to my home by about
2:00pm. She tried to confirm that they should call
the phone number they had listed before delivery,
and I said no, because that was my neighbor's
phone, since I had to call United from my
neighbor's house since my telephone equipment was
in my bag. The agent asked, "So you want to change
the delivery address?" I said, "NO! Please deliver
to the same address you have down for me. You just
can't call me there because my phone is in my
missing bag."
She then asked me to call back about the time
the bag was supposed to be delivered. I replied, "I
can't do that, because I have to leave my home in
order to call you, and I might miss the courier."
She said, "I don't understand what you mean. Why
would you have to leave your home in order to
call?" I paused for several seconds because I was
stumped at trying to think of a simpler way to
repeat myself, but then she chimed in with, "Oh,
you can't call because your phone is in your bag."
Bingo! She said they would have the courier deliver
it without calling first.
- Mistake #10: Some United agents are
incompetent.
By 3:00pm my bag had still not arrived. My
neighbor was not home so I walked to a public
telephone to call United. Before I left I put a
bright green note on my front door that said,
"Luggage Courier: I will return in five minutes. --
M. Bluejay". When I got to the store and called
United I was again subjected to the computerized
agent which would not let me bypass it, slowly
demanded information, falsely told me that my bag
had not been located, finally let me talk to a
human agent only after a multi-step process, and
did not relay the information I had given it to the
human agent.
I told the agent that I had expected my bag to
arrive an hour ago. She replied that there was a
four-hour window for delivery. This was news to me,
since no previous agent had mentioned that. I told
her that if that was the case then previous agents
failed to mention that important fact. Typically,
the agent did not even acknowledge my concern.
- Mistake #11: No United agents except the
last one mentioned that there was a four-hour
delivery window. In fact, a couple of them
suggested specific delivery times.
- Mistake #12: The final agent did not even
acknowledge my concern that no previous agents
bothered to mention the four-hour delivery
window.
I returned home and waited
When someone leaves me a voicemail message the
message is emailed to me so I'm able to hear
messages even without a phone. At 4:30pm I received
a voicemail message from the courier, John, asking
me to call him. This tells me that United did not
change my number to my neighbor's number as I
asked, since they would have no way to reach me at
my home number.
My neighbor was still not home so I walked back
to the public telephone to call the courier.
Thankfully I did not have to go through a
computerized agent. The courier said that he had
been at my house but no one answered the door. The
only time I was away was when I had gone to the
public telephone earlier for a few minutes to call
United, and that must have been when he had been
there. Had United's phone system and
representatives handled calls quicker then I
wouldn't have been at the pay phone for so long and
I likely would not have missed the courier.
I asked the courier if he had not seen the
bright green note on the door that said I
would return in five minutes? He said he had not. I
would count this as another, blatant mistake but
the courier is independent and not employed
directly by United.
I knew United had given him a number I told them
not to use, but did they at least give him my
neighbor's number too, which I said I wanted to be
the contact number? They did not, they gave him
only the bad number.
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A reader
writes:
Great story. Wish I would have known
before I flew United. At least you made it
through to an individual on the phone. I'm
still waiting on luggage from a connecting
flight in Chicago to Dallas. I was told it
would arrive yesterday between 1:30 p.m.
and 12 a.m. What a window! Either way I
keep playing with Simon their voice
activated crap for brains computer. Maybe
my luggage will arrive by Christmas, when
I get to head back to Dallas to be with
family.
...
...
... ...
Well, after trying to talk to a live
human being all day and being hung up on
repeatedly because no one was available to
talk to me, I was finally transferred to
their operator system (I guess). I waited
on hold for 30 min. before I talked to
someone, who finally informed me that my
luggage had been sitting somewhere in the
Killeen airport since 2 p.m.
yesterday.
I was quite upset. Not only because it
was now almost 48 hours since my plane
arrived, but also because it had been
sitting 20-30 minutes away and no one
bothered to update the computer or to give
me a simple phone call.
The operator tried to contact the
Killeen airport but could get no answer.
She suggested the airport might have
closed at 6 p.m. She offered me $50 in
travel certificates and I asked if that
was supposed to make me trust them with my
luggage again. She seemed a bit flustered
and asked me what I wanted her to do. I
told her I just wanted my luggage, like I
was promised Sunday night at DFW.
Secondly, I added that a free flight might
be nice, only if I ever decided to trust
her company again after losing my
luggage.
She told me she couldn't give me a free
flight and added that the airline had not
lost my luggage. I pointed out to her that
indeed it had been lost. Their computer
reported to me that it was being delivered
to my house (which by the way they had the
address wrong) and all along it was
sitting in Killeen. Also as of our phone
conversation, she couldn't contact anyone
to confirm my bag was even anywhere near
where her computer now said it was. I told
her to do what she could and I thanked her
for her time.
Luckily the Killeen airport answered
when I called, and was still open when I
went to pick up the bag. The bag and
contents were just as they were when I
left Roanoke Sunday afternoon..
Jonathan Blundell
Dec. 21-22, 2004
Editor's note:
While we're sorry to hear about Mr.
Blundell's experience, we can't say we're
surprised. Yet again, this goes well
beyond the fact that his bag was delayed
-- the problem was his experience in
trying to get it back.
The proper response to a customer's
question of "Am I supposed to trust your
company again because you're offering me
$50?" is simple: "No, we're not offering
you the $50 to try to win back your trust,
we're offering it because we let you down
and this is the best way we have of saying
we're sorry. If you don't want to fly with
us again then that's your decision and I
would completely understand your feeling
that way. Nevertheless, we still want to
try to make it up to you for the bad
experience you just had."
Many middle managers would cringe at
the above statement because they think it
further pushes customers away, and those
who think that have a complete lack of
understanding about customer service and
aren't fit to be managers. Customers never
want to hear excuses or be offered bribes
and as long as they're treated that way
then they'll never trust you. The ways to
regain a customer's trust -- indeed the
only ways -- are to show that you
understand the customer's concern
and to offer a genuine apology.
Once a customer has been treated poorly,
solving the initial problem (e.g.,
returning a bag) or throwing a consolation
prize at them without explaining why
it's being offered, is
insufficient.
It's a shame that these simple
concepts are not blatantly obvious to some
companies. Maybe I should go back into
training customer service
staff....
Please don't write to share your
stories about poor experiences with
United. I'm not publishing any
more. If I did that that's all I'd do. If
you had a bad experience with United, I'm
sorry that happened to you but I don't
need to know about it.
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The courier said he would return at 9:00pm with my
bag.
- Mistake #13: United had the courier call
me at a number I told them not to call me at.
They also didn't give him the correct number
at all.
As I write this I am still waiting for my
bag.
UPDATE: At 9:20pm, the courier arrived and
delivered my bag -- with a broken handle. United
must have known the handle was broken before they
handed it to the courier, but United made no effort
to contact me to offer compensation or replacement.
Perhaps they are hoping that my bad experience in
dealing with them will discourage me from
continuing this comedy of errors by calling them to
file a claim.
- Mistake #14: United offered nothing at
all for the fact that my bag arrived
broken.
P.S. I filed a complaint on United's website,
referring them to this page since all the details
are here. If United responds to this article,
expect them to miss the point by focusing on the
fact that my bag was delayed rather than
understanding my *real* complaint, which is how
they mishandled the problem with my missing
bag.
United's
Response
On Nov. 17 I received the following email from
United:
Dear Mr. Bluejay,
Thank you for contacting us. Customer
Relations staff does not have access to other
websites, and we are not able to access the url
that you provide.
I understand, however, that your comments may
related to baggage issues. Given your situation,
you will need to contact our Baggage Services
staff by calling 1-800-221-6903. Or, you may
email them from our Home Page by clicking
"Contact United", then under "Post Travel
Services", click on "Baggage Services/Lost and
Found". Please provide your comments in text
form. We appreciate this opportunity to be of
assistance and look forward to serving your
travel needs.
Regards,
J. Esmail
United Airlines
Customer Relations
- Mistake #15: In an organization as large
as United, customer service can't find some way
to access the web to see a customer's
complaint.
- Mistake #16: Most companies would be
concerned if they had an idea that a customer
was relaying a bad experience with them to the
world via a website, and would want to check it
out. Not United.
United's Second
Response
After I received the notice above I went to
United's website and pasted the contents of this
web page into their contact form. Below is the
response I got.
Above I predicted that if United replied I
expected them to miss the point and to focus on
the fact that my bag was delayed rather than
understanding that my *real* complaint is how they
mishandled my inquiries on the matter and
how their customer service is lacking. That's
exactly what they did.
Dear Mr. Bluejay,
Thank you for your prompt response dated
November 17. Your constructive feedback is
appreciated and we welcome hearing from our
valued customers.
However, because your concern involves the
handling of your baggage, I have forwarded your
inquiry to our Central Baggage department, they
can best respond to your inquiry. A
representative will be in touch with you as soon
as possible. If you have further questions or
feedback, you may reach them by calling
1-800-221-6903 or by emailing them from our Home
Page by clicking "Contact United", then under
"Post Travel Services" click on "Baggage
Services/Lost and Found". Meanwhile, thank you
for your patience.
We look forward to serving you.
Regards,
J. Esmail
United Airlines
Customer Relations
- Mistake #17: United can't understand a
written complaint even when the specific
grievances are enumerated individually in bullet
form.
United's Third
Response
A few days after this I received voicemail
message from a United manager in Austin. I called
her back a few days later and she apologized for my
experience and, appropriately, seemed to understand
that my issue was not that my bag had been delayed
so much as it was the way they handled that
problem. I had been waiting for the opportunity to
talk to United so that if they asked me what it was
I wanted, I would say, "Please see the specific
grievances listed in my complaint, and make sure
that other customers don't have the same
experience," -- which is what I did. The manager
acknowledged this and also said that she would
research my case to see what kind of compensation
she could offer me, and then get back to me on
that. I explained that I was more interested in
United's addressing its customer service problems
than in remuneration, but that I would consider any
offer they wanted to make.
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I
can't help you with your
baggage
Since I posted this page, countless
fliers have written to me to tell me of
their baggage woes with United and ask if
I have any special phone numbers or tips
to help them. But it should be obvious
that if *I* was unable to get proper
service from United, then how would I be
able to help you? I can't. There's
nothing I can do for you.
Amusingly, a fair number of writers
think that *I* am United Airlines and they
write demanding a resolution to their
problems. How they could draw that
conclusion after even a casual glance at
this web page is beyond me. Usually these
missives from an AOL email address.
One thing that's clear from all the
messages I've received isn't just that
United loses baggage on a frighteningly
regular basis, more importantly they
don't care. Just as with my
experience, readers haven't been upset by
their baggage loss as much as they've been
shocked at how United employees have been
unconcerned, rude, and incompetent when
the readers made inquiries to try to get
their lost bags back. This underscores
what I related in my own experience:
United doesn't care.
It's as simple as that.
Since I started this page I discovered
a massive
site dedicated to exposing United's poor
customer service, called Untied.com.
They do have a complaint form you can fill
out which they will forward to United,
though I'm skeptical that will help much
considering that United doesn't care.
Good luck. -- MBJ
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I never heard back from this manager.
Unfortunately I cannot call her because I neglected
to record her telephone number or name. My only
option at this point is going through United's
voicemail hell again. This whole thing is just
comical. United has failed every step of the
way. Every time they had an opportunity to do
something wrong, they took it.
- Mistake #18: The United manager never
called me back after promising to do
so.
On Dec. 28th, 2004 after over a month of waiting
I decided to try to contact the United manager to
pick up where we had left off. I thought I would
call the Austin office and ask to talk to a
manager, but when I picked up the phone book I
discovered that United didn't bother to get a
listing in the alphabetical white pages -- not even
a nationwide customer service number (unlike their
competitors, which are listed clearly). I checked
the previous year's directory and they're not in
there, either. Of course nothing surprises me about
United anymore.
- Mistake #19: United didn't bother to get
a listing in the phone book.
I found the customer service number on their
website (though inconveniently not on their home
page -- it was two clicks away from home),
877-228-1327. I dialed and waited the typical ten
minutes before I could talk to somebody. Victor
Pedroza answered, I explained that I was left
hanging by a manager in Austin, and asked for the
phone number of the Austin office. Mr. Pedroza
refused to provide it, saying my only recourse was
to write a letter to the Austin office. I
asked whether he thought that was reasonable --
after all I've been through, and after being left
hanging by United, was this really the best they
could do? If they were going to insist on being
stingy with the phone number to the Austin office,
could they not leave a message with a manager to
get back to me? Was this really the best they could
do?
Yes, this was really the best they could do.
- Mistake #20: After a United manager left
me hanging, United refused to provide a phone
number for the Austin office, refused to leave a
message about my case with a manager, and
provided no recourse for me besides having me
write a letter to the Austin office.
At this point I gave up. I could spend time
printing out and mailing a copy of this page but
there's no point. It's pretty clear that United
simply doesn't care.
- As it stands, after all of the above I have
nothing to show for my efforts -- neither any
kind of meaningful indication from United that
they will truly make any effort to improve their
customer service operations, nor any kind of
compensation for my bad experience as a
customer. Indeed, my most recent experience with
United underscores that nothing has
changed.
Last update: October
2008
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