avek00
Feb 22, 00, 8:52 am
The following is a letter that I sent to United Airlines via www.passengerrights.com (http://www.passengerrights.com) concerning my awful experiences on Feb.18 in trying to get from EWR to JAX.
To Whom It May Concern:
On February 18, a massive snowstorm had affected airline
service into and out of Northeastern and Midwestern
airports, including EWR. Each airline had to accomodate
their customers one way or another. However, the treatment
that I received from United Airlines during this difficult
time was unprofessional and approached inhumane levels.
When I checked in for UA7537 on Feb. 18, I was told by the
agents that it was currently experiencing a 20-minute
delay. Regrettable, but understandable, given the weather
situation. However, at 1:50 P.M., 20 minutes after the
scheduled departure time, there was no further information
available as to the status of the flight. In fact, the
flight info. for UA7537 had disappeared from the gate area,
and the airline screens displayed no further information.
Thus, the passengers were left without any information on
how to proceed with their travel plans. Only after waiting
in line for nearly 1 1/2 hours at the customer service
center did I receive notice that UA 7537 was cancelled, and
I would need to find alternate plans.
The customer service agent then rebooked me on the 4:15
P.M. flight to Chicago to ultimately reach my final
destination, Jacksonville, FL. Again, this flight was
delayed without updates as to flight status. Ultimately, UA
did not cancel the flight until after 6:00 P.M., even
though the Chicago headquarters had advised the Newark
station by 4:30 P.M. that ORD was unable to handle any more
flights due to the weather. Therefore, I lost valuable time
in trying to find alternate arrangements to travel that
evening.
Surprisingly, I found a Continental Airlines flight from
EWR-JAX which had seats available. I was told by the CO
agents that I would need to get an endorsement by UA for CO
to take the ticket. I thought that this would be a painless
procedure, since UA would obviously be trying to accomodate
its customers the best way it could. However, the UA
customer service and ticket office personnel steadfastly
refused to endorse the ticket, preferring that I rather
spend the night at EWR hoping the BP05 (standby) list for
the 6:15 A.M. flight to Chicago and Jacksonville would
ultimately clear.
Once it became obvious that I would not make it out of EWR
that evening, I asked UA for a hotel discount voucher, NOT
a complimentary hotel room. However, the UA agents again
refused to oblige me, even though their failure to do so
was contrary to UA's policies concerning weather
cancellations. Therefore, I, a 17-year-old who was low on
funds, had to sleep near the UA check-in area, as the gate
areas were soon closed.
During that entire sequence of events, UA agents blatantly
violated various elements of their own Our United
Commitment. The strength of a commitment is measured by how
well it is enacted during the times when it is most needed.
In particular, the language of Article Two was openly
disregarded. I and the other UA passengers at EWR were not
kept informed in a timely manner, and liitle effort was
made to reaccomodate passengers as best as UA could, even
if it involved endorsing passengers onto other carriers.
Even though endorsements are not normally made for weather,
surely good judgement should be used by the carrier in
order to do the best thing for all parties involved. And
finally, UA denied me the hotel discount voucher that they
had always promised to their customers who were stuck
overnight, regardless of the reason for the cancellation.
As a UA frequent-flier and shareholder, I am extremely
disappointed in the activities of the UA agents on February
18. UA personnel did not even adhere to company policies,
let alone the levels of service that customers should
expect during such a difficult time. I sincerely hope that
UA would perform some sort of strong and meaningful
goodwill gesture that accurately reflects the Company's
level of resolve towards adhering to its commitments.
Sincerely,
xxxx xxxxxx
To Whom It May Concern:
On February 18, a massive snowstorm had affected airline
service into and out of Northeastern and Midwestern
airports, including EWR. Each airline had to accomodate
their customers one way or another. However, the treatment
that I received from United Airlines during this difficult
time was unprofessional and approached inhumane levels.
When I checked in for UA7537 on Feb. 18, I was told by the
agents that it was currently experiencing a 20-minute
delay. Regrettable, but understandable, given the weather
situation. However, at 1:50 P.M., 20 minutes after the
scheduled departure time, there was no further information
available as to the status of the flight. In fact, the
flight info. for UA7537 had disappeared from the gate area,
and the airline screens displayed no further information.
Thus, the passengers were left without any information on
how to proceed with their travel plans. Only after waiting
in line for nearly 1 1/2 hours at the customer service
center did I receive notice that UA 7537 was cancelled, and
I would need to find alternate plans.
The customer service agent then rebooked me on the 4:15
P.M. flight to Chicago to ultimately reach my final
destination, Jacksonville, FL. Again, this flight was
delayed without updates as to flight status. Ultimately, UA
did not cancel the flight until after 6:00 P.M., even
though the Chicago headquarters had advised the Newark
station by 4:30 P.M. that ORD was unable to handle any more
flights due to the weather. Therefore, I lost valuable time
in trying to find alternate arrangements to travel that
evening.
Surprisingly, I found a Continental Airlines flight from
EWR-JAX which had seats available. I was told by the CO
agents that I would need to get an endorsement by UA for CO
to take the ticket. I thought that this would be a painless
procedure, since UA would obviously be trying to accomodate
its customers the best way it could. However, the UA
customer service and ticket office personnel steadfastly
refused to endorse the ticket, preferring that I rather
spend the night at EWR hoping the BP05 (standby) list for
the 6:15 A.M. flight to Chicago and Jacksonville would
ultimately clear.
Once it became obvious that I would not make it out of EWR
that evening, I asked UA for a hotel discount voucher, NOT
a complimentary hotel room. However, the UA agents again
refused to oblige me, even though their failure to do so
was contrary to UA's policies concerning weather
cancellations. Therefore, I, a 17-year-old who was low on
funds, had to sleep near the UA check-in area, as the gate
areas were soon closed.
During that entire sequence of events, UA agents blatantly
violated various elements of their own Our United
Commitment. The strength of a commitment is measured by how
well it is enacted during the times when it is most needed.
In particular, the language of Article Two was openly
disregarded. I and the other UA passengers at EWR were not
kept informed in a timely manner, and liitle effort was
made to reaccomodate passengers as best as UA could, even
if it involved endorsing passengers onto other carriers.
Even though endorsements are not normally made for weather,
surely good judgement should be used by the carrier in
order to do the best thing for all parties involved. And
finally, UA denied me the hotel discount voucher that they
had always promised to their customers who were stuck
overnight, regardless of the reason for the cancellation.
As a UA frequent-flier and shareholder, I am extremely
disappointed in the activities of the UA agents on February
18. UA personnel did not even adhere to company policies,
let alone the levels of service that customers should
expect during such a difficult time. I sincerely hope that
UA would perform some sort of strong and meaningful
goodwill gesture that accurately reflects the Company's
level of resolve towards adhering to its commitments.
Sincerely,
xxxx xxxxxx