United Mileage Plus (Pre-Merger) - 1k voice email address appears to have become useless

I had a miserable flight in C from LHR to SFO earlier this week, mainly due to a few terrible FAs along with faulty electronics, and given how people have been reporting here that 1kvoice is back to being helpful, I emailed them with details.

Here's their reply, after several days:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us again. Now you can just call, toll-free, 800-xxx-xxxx (1k res line) and select reservations and you'll be connected on a top-priority basis directly with one of our most experienced agents - someone who can help solve any problem you may have.

If another department is more qualified to assist you for your particular need, your 1Call representative will literallly guide you to the "front of the line," describe your issue to his or her colleague, and then stay with you to provide additional service if needed. Thank you for your business and for choosing United Airlines.

United Airlines Customer Relations

So I emailed back:

This is your reply to my email? How useless! Was this generated in India by someone checking boxes on a computer? It sure looks like it.

Please READ my email and try again. I expect to hear a meaningful reply from you soon.

RichardinSF

Within minutes, I got another email identical to the first. Note that the email did NOT say they were going to get back to me. It said I should get put on hold for customer service and repeat everything I said in my email all over again, presumably to a human in India instead of a computer in India. I will wait a few days and then try email to Tilton, which should be unnecessary.

Well, maybe I was wrong. Literally within 5 minutes of receiving the second response, a human responded and said I would be sent a $300 travel certificate. They still didn't read my original email (which was more about the FA's than anything else), but at least it's a response!

I now don't know what to conclude from this episode!

That the 1K e-mail doesn't seem to address any problems. But if you complain loud enough you are given travel credits!:)

The fact that you got any response at all is better luck than I've had.

Last month I got measly 2k miles from 1k voice for a broken C seat on a 14+ hour flight. :o

My 1K thing has been very good. If it's a complaint or a compliment, they'll get back to me right away.

before i was exiled from the exalted ranks in March, i had pretty good experiences with 1K voice. even got a CR-1 out of it.

I think UA canned respond message had issues, since the out of office was not always responding. I sent an email to UA about a question on a refund and received the same message within minutes.

That is just the canned message UA sends out upon receiving of the email. Odd that you received it a few weeks after the experience, I had that happen once though.

1K voice has been enhanced to GSvoice. 1K is the new PE.

And they wonder why I pay more and fly someone else.

So the REAL question is, did I get the last (marginally helpful) response because of my email or because I posted this thread on FT?

I think the 1K Voice email office is just a small room with two people working in it and a big wheel or fortune type thing. Every email they get complaining about something they spin the wheel to see what compensation you get: $200 voucher, $300 voucher, 2 e-500's, 1 CR1, 2 CR1s, 1 SWU, 2k miles, 5k miles, etc.

:)

I think the 1K Voice email office is just a small room with two people working in it and a big wheel or fortune type thing.

Pat and Vanna's daytime job?

I just sent an email to premier executive voice and got an immediate canned reply:

" ... At PremierExecutiveVoice, our focus is on post travel customer problem resolution, as well as comments and suggestions regarding our service. E-mails are answered in the order in which they are received, and due to current volumes our response time is greater than normal. ..."

It didn't imply I should call to get service, just that a reply would take some time.

Last month I got measly 2k miles from 1k voice for a broken C seat on a 14+ hour flight. :o

Weird.

I had an exact same issue on an ORD-FRA flight and I got 10,000 miles :confused:

Is it completely useless or as usual, hit or miss?

Weird.

I had an exact same issue on an ORD-FRA flight and I got 10,000 miles :confused:

Is it completely useless or as usual, hit or miss?

yeah... your ORD-FRA flight is a lot shorter than my ORD-PVG flight :eek:

wheel of "compensation"... but 2k miles is insane.. who needs 2k miles???? :confused:

UA allows you pay $20 to get 1k miles when flying. So 2k miles is $40 in UA's book.

Your outsourced 1K CS at work. :o

Just to expand on this issue. I have often been successful, instead of directly using this e-mail address, to simply send my comments and requests online on United.com and going through contact customer service link. There is an option to enter one's elite status so I am positive that the prioritization remains effective through this junction.

I sent a message requesting a re-deposit of a CR1 to my account after two instruments were deducted on a single reservation trip yesterday. Tonight, I received an e-mail acknowledging the error and a note of re-deposit. Sure enough, the instrument is back into my account.

Just to expand on this issue. I have often been successful, instead of directly using this e-mail address, to simply send my comments and requests online on United.com and going through contact customer service link. There is an option to enter one's elite status so I am positive that the prioritization remains effective through this junction.

I sent a message requesting a re-deposit of a CR1 to my account after two instruments were deducted on a single reservation trip yesterday. Tonight, I received an e-mail acknowledging the error and a note of re-deposit. Sure enough, the instrument is back into my account.

My experience is that when there is a specific task to do they are better than a complaint when they seem just to ignore it or give out platitudes.

1Pvoice is just as bad. I had an issue on a flight in C transpac, and i emailed using the form on ual.com, i selected that i was a 1P and sent it off. I first got an email saying that i'd get a response in 2-3 days. Then i got another one saying i'd get one in 7-10 days. About 2 weeks later i got a reply from a Mr Singh. While he mentioned my issue his answers not only provided incorrect information, but they didn't answer my concern at all. I wasn't looking for compensation, but his response just got me mad. I replied to him and BCCed it to premierexecvoice but never heard back from them. Oh well...

goodo

I have recieve a number of 'good' responses from 1kVoice.. with a person's name attached. Each following time I have to write to 1kVoice about something I use the name of the most recent successful CS agent in the subject field. ie ATTN: Joe Black - Seat malfunction TransPacific or something like that. I now only ever receive responses from those people back to me.

ymmv

I think the 1K Voice email office is just a small room with two people working in it and a big wheel or fortune type thing. Every email they get complaining about something they spin the wheel to see what compensation you get: $200 voucher, $300 voucher, 2 e-500's, 1 CR1, 2 CR1s, 1 SWU, 2k miles, 5k miles, etc.


LMAO!! :):):)

Seriously, like others have stated, it helps to be VERY SPECIFIC about what you want them to do. Whenever I have written them with a specific request (redeposit a SWU, $$ voucher, or just acknowledgement of an issue) they have been speedy and done what I requested. When I leave it open ended (just complain in general) then I get the above mentioned Wheel of Compensation

I'm not even getting the autorespond message from them. My initial email was sent on 2/11 and every 2 weeks I send it again asking for a response. Still nothing.

Email sent Sunday, got a response this morning. It's my guardian United angel at work.;)

I haven't been impressed by their responses either. Seem too templated like the normal CS e-mails, and the response time is very long with certain issues.

I think the 1K Voice email office is just a small room with two people working in it and a big wheel or fortune type thing. Every email they get complaining about something they spin the wheel to see what compensation you get: $200 voucher, $300 voucher, 2 e-500's, 1 CR1, 2 CR1s, 1 SWU, 2k miles, 5k miles, etc.

:)

except that its like casino wheel of fortune, so the other 90 segments have a bunch of "you-lose" equivalents