lcpteck

Wow, what an attitude on the male flight attendant.

Adam1222

Smaller bags go under the seat in front of you, and should only be placed in overhead bins after all passengers luggage is stowed.

tom911

You can complain via the UA website. I don't think they handle customer service by phone any longer.
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...r/default.aspx

Was your item in the overhead replaced with something larger such as a 22 inch rollaboard? I've seen many a flight attendant move smaller items around to accommodate larger items, and sometimes they do ask the passengers to put those smaller items under the seat in front of them. Doesn't excuse the attitude, though.

beckoa

As this is a UA specific thread, we'll move your post to that forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

aacharya

The attitude is hard to imagine from a FA. I am not saying it is not possible, but I am struggling to understand how any FA would have said that without any context of any back and forth.

Was this something like SYD-SFO-IAH-MIA? Where did the exchange with the attendant occur?

RandomBaritone

I concur. I'm trying to imagine a FA "throwing" a piece of hand luggage at an elderly, disabled passenger, then threatening the passenger for good measure. One imagines it would elicit gasps and shock from all nearby passengers, at the very least!

Silver Fox

I have flown enough miles with United to believe that this is more than a possibility. In fact, insert any airline name you want.

RandomBaritone

Certainly anything is possible. But I hope OP comes back to fill in the details. As it stands, it sounds a bit like that scene in Blazing Saddles....

aussieinsf

I had a recent problem with an award booking for my wife (flight cancelled, flew in coach instead of ticketed business award on one leg, wanted to ask about getting some mileage back for the economy leg).

1. Only supervisors at UA Premier desk can see reservations that have been flown (so it took me half an hour to get anyone that could even identify the record locator I was giving them).

2. Premier desk no longer has the ability to provide compensation or deal with problems like this

3. United Customer Care is online only - there is no-one you can call to discuss your issue and have it resolved. Submit your issue and the response tells you they will probably get back to you within 7-10 days.

I realize from reading this thread that these changes have been around for a while but this is the first time I am realizing the impact.

I think this is an unacceptable level of service to provide to your customers.

Will it cause me to switch airlines - no. However, it destroys a significant value I appreciated in flying united for 1.4MM and maintaining status - that I could call someone with a problem and they would be able to work with me to address it.

There is value in maintaining good will with your customers. Other major US airlines have real people you can really talk to.

I posted my Case ID number on UA's facebook site responding to some post about what books people are reading during their flights hoping for a more personalized and timely response than I'll likely receive via the customer care online submission form.

Aussieinsf: United here's what I'm reading this evening - the portion of your website that says you no longer have a customer care line that you can call to discuss and resolve a problem with a flight! I've been flying with United for 15 years and always appreciated that the premier desk or your mileage plus agents could resolve problems with flights.
Here's the details from the automated response I received when I submitted my issue online. This level of communication and customer care is so retro, feels like the late 90s before VoIP and modern call centers meant companies could easily and cheaply provide good customer service over the phone. Hoping you will provide options other than social for timely and responsive resolution of customer care issues in future. *** This is an automated response confirming the receipt of your email. Please do not reply ***
Please use this Case ID number if you need to contact us regarding this inquiry: 9905978
Thank you for contacting United Airlines. Our Customer Care team is currently responding to most inquiries within 7-10 business days.

BearX220

Well, that's why nothing will improve.

diburning

Although I think that's ridiculous that United no longer has a customer care line, AA has been doing without one for a long time. No line for the refunds department there either, and they don't respond to their customers. On the bright side, if I ever need to file a chargeback against AA for their screw-up, I'll win every time since their refunds department doesn't respond to the chargeback either.

At least I can handle more than just booking with an agent at UA. Bookings are pretty much all that AA agents do.

skidooman

So, this may not be representative, but here is a good example of some proactive work by the customer service department. An example to follow.

I was supposed to fly Swiss/Lufthansa with my wife and kids - reward tickets. Reserved this in December.

Comes April, then the mother in law becomes sick. No way for my wife to come. Call to MileagePlus. They tell me - tentatively - don't cancel the ticket, just go on vacation with your two kids, and ask Swiss and Lufthansa to "document". And then call us back.

Did exactly this. I did not call back immediately - I thought it may take time before the dust settles.

I call MileagePlus yesterday. Got a pretty pleasant agent on the other side of the phone, with a heartfelt "thank you" for my million miles. No problem, she says, she can take care of this, I will get my 100K miles back. Oops, turns out, she cannot, the ticket was not split or whatever.

What I thought: oh no, here we go...

But it turned on not to be. She transferred me to reservation (1K desk). Lady on the other end of the phone very polite, apologizes this was not done automatically (news to me: it should have been?!?), and then... well, it was listed as "reimbursed". I confirmed to her, nope, did not see the money back to Amex, nor miles to MP. Then, she said: I won't make you wait, I will send you an email indicating to you everything is fixed tonight.

I told myself: hummm....

Well, I was wrong to doubt her, she did PRECISELY what she said she would. Sent my request for reimbursement to the appropriate department... which wrote me at 2AM in the morning (they have an operation in India now?) to tell me it was approved.

So, this morning, I sit richer of 100K miles and eventually $129 will show up on my credit card. They did their job so well and so flawlessly that I don't doubt this will happen.

The only thing that wasn't entirely perfect was the email spoke of 40K miles (but they reimbursed 100K anyway) and then the reimbursement was sent with my wife's name on it (but the credit card belongs to me). Minor details if you are asking me.

I don't have a problem highlighting when they let me down. But this time, they didn't. And it is appreciated.

There are some flashes of great service in this company. Some very good crews, some very good agents on the phone, in the lounge, at checking... I met many of them. It is simply too bad that this is not the rule.

GloballyServiced

HKG to SFO
12 hours flight
No wifi
No in flight entertainment
Got to "sleep," space out, and watch whatever reruns they played on the main screen in economy plus

Syzygies

United broke my brother's connection this morning, ITH EWR SFO. I had waitlisted miles+copay for an upgrade EWR SFO for him. At ITH they failed to successfully move him to waitlist on his new flight. At EWR they told him anything they can to get him to go away. The new flight was 12/16 upgrades, full, with 25 on waitlist. I have over a million miles experience on this route, reading the tea leaves: These could all be complimentary, in which case he would have been #1 using an instrument, with a good chance of clearing.

I've done well as 1K but over half the benefits I realize require pulling teeth. When a family member flies United, I'm embarrassed by my airline.

It's amazing how we just accept how the system actually works, as if we're standing in a Soviet bread line, just happy there are crumbs on the floor. He should have been moved automatically to the new list by United computers, with no operator assistance needed. In a dream world where United's computer programmers aren't overwhelmed by their archaic system.

blackllotus

On that note, I fly SFO - EWR - ITH 2-3 times a year and I'm just happy when ITH <-> EWR isn't delayed by so much as to either (a) ruin a significant part of my time in Ithaca or (b) miss my connecting flight back to SFO.

I don't think I've seen a slower check-in line than at ITH.