Waited in line for 7 hours to get rebooked after cancellation. Compensation?
Jun 26, 2012, 12:36 am
#91
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP,2MM, DL Gold,Starwood PLT
Posts: 3,876
That's absurd. After 1 hr I would not have been sane. After 2 I would have been postal.
Aside from many here having the knowledge to go other places that doesn't mean the normal individual is aware of their options. That UA didn't tell the line there were other option is inexcusable. Yet at the same time for such an inexperienced traveler "compensation" is in the title. Hmm.
I would do both actually... without any delay between the two.
And finally, welcome to FT lisau04
Jun 26, 2012, 12:51 am
#92
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Yes, you do have to be an experienced traveler to figure such things out, particularly (as the OP has noted) if you don't have a phone handy and don't want to lose your place in line, if you don't know about the Club or how accessing it can help out (by cutting a wait from seven hours to, at least in my experience, three), and, most of all, if you take UA at its word and (along with dozens of other passengers indulging in what you call absurd conduct) do as it instructs you to do.
Jun 26, 2012, 1:24 am
#93
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP,2MM, DL Gold,Starwood PLT
Posts: 3,876
Talk about blaming the victim.
Yes, you do have to be an experienced traveler to figure such things out, particularly (as the OP has noted) if you don't have a phone handy and don't want to lose your place in line, if you don't know about the Club or how accessing it can help out (by cutting a wait from seven hours to, at least in my experience, three), and, most of all, if you take UA at its word and (along with dozens of other passengers indulging in what you call absurd conduct) do as it instructs you to do.
Yes, you do have to be an experienced traveler to figure such things out, particularly (as the OP has noted) if you don't have a phone handy and don't want to lose your place in line, if you don't know about the Club or how accessing it can help out (by cutting a wait from seven hours to, at least in my experience, three), and, most of all, if you take UA at its word and (along with dozens of other passengers indulging in what you call absurd conduct) do as it instructs you to do.
Jun 26, 2012, 4:23 pm
#95
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: burlington, north carolina,usa
Posts: 252
I question anyone's sanity for taking a path of most resistance and not using what many would say is common sense. If it did in fact take 7 hours I'm sure there are many aspects of your life that aren't in order either. There were numerous other things that you could and should have thought of. If the line was 7 hours long there must have been 500 plus people in it. If you are counting time since you landed till you got a resolution then perhaps 3-4 hours from when you landed till you got in line.
I don't know, but I share all others view that common sense should have told you to act differently and be more assertive. Sorry.
I don't know, but I share all others view that common sense should have told you to act differently and be more assertive. Sorry.
I agree with poster #22, this was mean spirited, no matter what.
Jul 1, 2012, 6:14 am
#96
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: too far from the airport
Posts: 3,298
lisau4, I completely sympathize with your situation and have no hard time believing in it.
I was in a similar predicament a little while ago at DCA. Our 757 went mechanical, we were off-loaded, and we had to wait 3.5 hrs in line first for a part that was supposed to come from IAD, then to get re-booked. Mr. honu tried repeatedly to call UA while I stood in line. He actually managed to reach UA on the phone after holding for more than 1 hr, and they told him that, since the flight wasn't cancelled yet on their computer (we had to wait about 3 hrs for that to happen), they wouldn't re-book us just yet.
Note that we're vanilla flyers with UA, and we were traveling on cheap Y tickets, but I saw several people on their phones, while standing in line, who were probably mid- to high- tier struggle with UA agents at the other end to be re-booked via IAD.
When we finally reached one of the two agents who was doing the re-booking, we were told that we had been moved to the same flights 24 hrs later (ours was a connecting domestic itinerary). We told them that it was unacceptable, and to please fly us on somebody else, so we ended up on DL and arrived at our destination 10 hrs later than scheduled, but on the same day. The UA agent gave us each a $10 voucher to use at one of the airport's restaurants.
We wrote to UA regarding the delay, and we were offered either 3000 MP miles or a $150 e-certificate (I think it may be valid for domestic travel only). I thought UA was rather stingy in this case (especially the 3000 miles), but I didn't feel like keeping this saga going for longer than it had already been, so I left it at that.
I was in a similar predicament a little while ago at DCA. Our 757 went mechanical, we were off-loaded, and we had to wait 3.5 hrs in line first for a part that was supposed to come from IAD, then to get re-booked. Mr. honu tried repeatedly to call UA while I stood in line. He actually managed to reach UA on the phone after holding for more than 1 hr, and they told him that, since the flight wasn't cancelled yet on their computer (we had to wait about 3 hrs for that to happen), they wouldn't re-book us just yet.
Note that we're vanilla flyers with UA, and we were traveling on cheap Y tickets, but I saw several people on their phones, while standing in line, who were probably mid- to high- tier struggle with UA agents at the other end to be re-booked via IAD.
When we finally reached one of the two agents who was doing the re-booking, we were told that we had been moved to the same flights 24 hrs later (ours was a connecting domestic itinerary). We told them that it was unacceptable, and to please fly us on somebody else, so we ended up on DL and arrived at our destination 10 hrs later than scheduled, but on the same day. The UA agent gave us each a $10 voucher to use at one of the airport's restaurants.
We wrote to UA regarding the delay, and we were offered either 3000 MP miles or a $150 e-certificate (I think it may be valid for domestic travel only). I thought UA was rather stingy in this case (especially the 3000 miles), but I didn't feel like keeping this saga going for longer than it had already been, so I left it at that.
Jul 1, 2012, 1:10 pm
#97
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: 1P, AA EXP, SPG Gold
Posts: 1,491
I question anyone's sanity for taking a path of most resistance and not using what many would say is common sense. If it did in fact take 7 hours I'm sure there are many aspects of your life that aren't in order either. There were numerous other things that you could and should have thought of. If the line was 7 hours long there must have been 500 plus people in it. If you are counting time since you landed till you got a resolution then perhaps 3-4 hours from when you landed till you got in line.
I don't know, but I share all others view that common sense should have told you to act differently and be more assertive. Sorry.
I don't know, but I share all others view that common sense should have told you to act differently and be more assertive. Sorry.
In reality, I bet there were maybe 20-30 people in the line at most. I've seen that line in CS LAX post 3/3, and with only a dozen people waiting and 2-3 reps, that could easily be a couple hours.
Jul 1, 2012, 2:26 pm
#98
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Honolulu
Programs: UA 1K, HiltonHonors Diamond
Posts: 87
Sorry to hear about your delay. But I see how it can happen, even with only a few people in line. Recently, it took 3 out of 5 available united customer service agents 2 hours to rebook us.
We recently had to rebook because a mechanical issue delayed our flight. Not because the fix took long but because we were scheduled to depart an hour before maintenance started working.
We had 3 of 5 agents helping us try to rebook because we would not make our connection. They could not get us on a flight leaving that day. After an hour of being told there were no flights on any airline that could get us there we got on our Iphones and showed the agent that we could purchase a ticket on Delta leaving in 3 hours and get there only 2 hours late. The ticket agents tried, even called Delta and said there were no seats on that flight. At this point we were ready to just buy a 1 way ticket, get where we needed to go and deal with everything later. We called Delta reservations, explained the situation, they took our United e-ticket number over the phone and booked us on Delta with a confirmation number in less than 5 minutes!
The 3 agents then took all of our paperwork and our confirmation number and kept us there for another hour trying to transfer our bags and get us "something for our troubles" even though we kept saying we didn't need compensation we just wanted to get going as we were tired of standing there. All together we were at the desk for 2 hours taking up more than half of staff while they all tried to figure out how to use their system, couldn't get the printers working, rebooted several times, called in a supervisor..
And then, they refused to let us have our bags back, we could see them sitting out by the plane... so we could check them into Delta ourselves. We were assured, promised, that our bags would be tranfered to Delta, there was still 2+ hours to get our bags transfered. And guess what, when we arrived at our destination we were told United still had our bags and that they would be coming in on the next united flight which wasn't until the following evening.
So as your were asking about compensation. We received 2 $200 dollar e-certs for this problem. Before we knew they had also delayed our bags.
Also had recieved previously a $300 e-cert after a 22 hour mechanical delay ( no food or hotel voucher was offered).
While they do not have to provide you with compensation, they will usually offer it. But we are both Platinum members so that might have something to do with the level of compensation offered.
It is very sad though that I had to do the ticket agents job... and the ticket agent was frustrated also, they honestly felt they had done everything they could to find us a seat and were frustrated that we were able to do ourselves what they had been unable to do.
We recently had to rebook because a mechanical issue delayed our flight. Not because the fix took long but because we were scheduled to depart an hour before maintenance started working.
We had 3 of 5 agents helping us try to rebook because we would not make our connection. They could not get us on a flight leaving that day. After an hour of being told there were no flights on any airline that could get us there we got on our Iphones and showed the agent that we could purchase a ticket on Delta leaving in 3 hours and get there only 2 hours late. The ticket agents tried, even called Delta and said there were no seats on that flight. At this point we were ready to just buy a 1 way ticket, get where we needed to go and deal with everything later. We called Delta reservations, explained the situation, they took our United e-ticket number over the phone and booked us on Delta with a confirmation number in less than 5 minutes!
The 3 agents then took all of our paperwork and our confirmation number and kept us there for another hour trying to transfer our bags and get us "something for our troubles" even though we kept saying we didn't need compensation we just wanted to get going as we were tired of standing there. All together we were at the desk for 2 hours taking up more than half of staff while they all tried to figure out how to use their system, couldn't get the printers working, rebooted several times, called in a supervisor..
And then, they refused to let us have our bags back, we could see them sitting out by the plane... so we could check them into Delta ourselves. We were assured, promised, that our bags would be tranfered to Delta, there was still 2+ hours to get our bags transfered. And guess what, when we arrived at our destination we were told United still had our bags and that they would be coming in on the next united flight which wasn't until the following evening.
So as your were asking about compensation. We received 2 $200 dollar e-certs for this problem. Before we knew they had also delayed our bags.
Also had recieved previously a $300 e-cert after a 22 hour mechanical delay ( no food or hotel voucher was offered).
While they do not have to provide you with compensation, they will usually offer it. But we are both Platinum members so that might have something to do with the level of compensation offered.
It is very sad though that I had to do the ticket agents job... and the ticket agent was frustrated also, they honestly felt they had done everything they could to find us a seat and were frustrated that we were able to do ourselves what they had been unable to do.
Jul 5, 2012, 6:13 pm
#99
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 7
Update- Recieved $150.00 e-travel voucher
Hi everyone,
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
While the merger of United and Continental Airlines has been a
successful one, there have certainly been challenges resulting in higher
than normal mail volume and more calls to our contact centers than
expected, making it harder for us to resolve some issues and provide
assistance in real time. Our key technology migration, in which we
combined reservations systems and websites on March 3, went well—but it
was not without difficulties, ones we are working very hard to correct.
Whatever factors contributed to the concerns you shared, I do apologize
for the inconvenience we’ve caused you and, again, for the delay in
responding.
While my reply is brief and not as detailed as I would like, please be
assured that we do understand your concerns. They have been documented
for review and appropriate internal action.
In appreciation for your feedback and patience, please enjoy the
electronic travel certificate, which will be emailed to you under
separate cover, on your next United Airlines flight. Please allow 3
business days for delivery.We hope your next experience with us earns a
positive review.
Again, I am sorry for the delayed and brief response. I very much
appreciate your business.
Regards,
Martin Hand
Senior Vice President – Customer Experience"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
While the merger of United and Continental Airlines has been a
successful one, there have certainly been challenges resulting in higher
than normal mail volume and more calls to our contact centers than
expected, making it harder for us to resolve some issues and provide
assistance in real time. Our key technology migration, in which we
combined reservations systems and websites on March 3, went well—but it
was not without difficulties, ones we are working very hard to correct.
Whatever factors contributed to the concerns you shared, I do apologize
for the inconvenience we’ve caused you and, again, for the delay in
responding.
While my reply is brief and not as detailed as I would like, please be
assured that we do understand your concerns. They have been documented
for review and appropriate internal action.
In appreciation for your feedback and patience, please enjoy the
electronic travel certificate, which will be emailed to you under
separate cover, on your next United Airlines flight. Please allow 3
business days for delivery.We hope your next experience with us earns a
positive review.
Again, I am sorry for the delayed and brief response. I very much
appreciate your business.
Regards,
Martin Hand
Senior Vice President – Customer Experience"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00
Jul 5, 2012, 6:16 pm
#100
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: Free checked in bag on UA & DL. Free icecream at Marriott checkin.
Posts: 2,862
Hi everyone,
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00
Jul 5, 2012, 6:33 pm
#101
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 7
$150 takes a bit of the sting out of the whole experience. Although the experience was frustrating, it is compensation, and something United didn't have to lawfully do, so thanks to Martin Hand. Perhaps he should read these forums once in a while. I guess another United flight will be on the horizon soon... 
And a big thanks to everyone who more than willingly shared their travel knowledge and know how of United. In the future, I definitely will not be repeating the same mistakes as I did that day. No offenses taken to the more scathing replies...
I'm sorry many of you also had to go through a similar experience. I was just glad I could speak the language. The plane I ended up taking was almost filled with passengers of Asian decent, so I would guess that that day, there would have been families unfamiliar with English...
Anyway, thank you again.
Sigh... yeah... but I don't think I would have expected any more...
And a big thanks to everyone who more than willingly shared their travel knowledge and know how of United. In the future, I definitely will not be repeating the same mistakes as I did that day. No offenses taken to the more scathing replies...
I'm sorry many of you also had to go through a similar experience. I was just glad I could speak the language. The plane I ended up taking was almost filled with passengers of Asian decent, so I would guess that that day, there would have been families unfamiliar with English...
Anyway, thank you again.
Sigh... yeah... but I don't think I would have expected any more...
Last edited by iluv2fly; Jul 5, 2012 at 8:17 pm Reason: merge
Jul 5, 2012, 6:43 pm
#102
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,816
Jul 5, 2012, 7:21 pm
#103
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
Jul 5, 2012, 8:15 pm
#104
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,393
So United basically paid you $20 per hour to wait in line....
You should write back and tell them that the going rate, according to this, is $40!
You should write back and tell them that the going rate, according to this, is $40!
Jul 5, 2012, 8:54 pm
#105
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: 2012 Plat-2013 Plat-2014 Silver-2015 GM
Posts: 818
Hi everyone,
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
While the merger of United and Continental Airlines has been a
successful one, there have certainly been challenges resulting in higher
than normal mail volume and more calls to our contact centers than
expected, making it harder for us to resolve some issues and provide
assistance in real time. Our key technology migration, in which we
combined reservations systems and websites on March 3, went well—but it
was not without difficulties, ones we are working very hard to correct.
Whatever factors contributed to the concerns you shared, I do apologize
for the inconvenience we’ve caused you and, again, for the delay in
responding.
While my reply is brief and not as detailed as I would like, please be
assured that we do understand your concerns. They have been documented
for review and appropriate internal action.
In appreciation for your feedback and patience, please enjoy the
electronic travel certificate, which will be emailed to you under
separate cover, on your next United Airlines flight. Please allow 3
business days for delivery.We hope your next experience with us earns a
positive review.
Again, I am sorry for the delayed and brief response. I very much
appreciate your business.
Regards,
Martin Hand
Senior Vice President – Customer Experience"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00
Wanted to say thanks for all the in depth discussion and deliberation regarding my situation. Very grateful for the kind words of sympathy and sharing my frustrations with United and its constituents. After filling out United's feedback form, I received this reply:
"Thank you for contacting United Airlines. I regret we have taken so long
to answer your correspondence.
While the merger of United and Continental Airlines has been a
successful one, there have certainly been challenges resulting in higher
than normal mail volume and more calls to our contact centers than
expected, making it harder for us to resolve some issues and provide
assistance in real time. Our key technology migration, in which we
combined reservations systems and websites on March 3, went well—but it
was not without difficulties, ones we are working very hard to correct.
Whatever factors contributed to the concerns you shared, I do apologize
for the inconvenience we’ve caused you and, again, for the delay in
responding.
While my reply is brief and not as detailed as I would like, please be
assured that we do understand your concerns. They have been documented
for review and appropriate internal action.
In appreciation for your feedback and patience, please enjoy the
electronic travel certificate, which will be emailed to you under
separate cover, on your next United Airlines flight. Please allow 3
business days for delivery.We hope your next experience with us earns a
positive review.
Again, I am sorry for the delayed and brief response. I very much
appreciate your business.
Regards,
Martin Hand
Senior Vice President – Customer Experience"
A few days later, I received the travel certificate for $150.00