reddirt14

Let me start off by saying I'm probably one of those annoying loyal United customers. I do tend to defend them quite a bit.

With that said, I've got last minute flight early next week and as it turns out, Southwest can get me there at half the cost (direct and it's a little cheaper for me to park at Midway instead of Chicago). So on their site I see they have double points running through May 26 and I decide to sign-up and I'm going to try them out. This is a big step for a "die-hard" United customer.

To shorten this up a little bit I'll cut to the chase. They had a little computer glitch with the double rewards sign-up and I called them tonight. Wow - very friendly, super helpful! They couldn't fix it then but the supervisor told the operator to get my cell number and he was going to call tech support and himself and get back to me. And their operators are as friendly as I've ever seen.

I'm impressed with my first encounter. I don't know how I'm going to like the seating, but they have just stepped up as a good alternative when I can't fly United. This is interesting - I'm starting to see why Southwest is a strong competitor on the domestic level.

United could really take a few clues in Customer service from Southwest. It's the easy stuff too - nothing too difficult. When I got off the phone, I felt great about the encounter. A very positive experience.

SFO777

I've always had good experience with WN, whether at the gate, in the air or on the phone... and have no problem flying them if convenient, price competitive and, most importantly, less than a two hour flight. It's that lack of First Class that limits their attractiveness to a lot of FTers.

FlyingNone

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United used to have twelve reservation offices in the United States*. Now they only have three - Chicago, Detroit and Honolulu.

The others were --*Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, NY/NJ area, Washington DC, Cleveland and (don't remember the 9th). They also had satellite reservation offices in IND and GRR ? Let me just say it was an entirely different "experience" than the ICCs you call today.

fastair

The RFD res pod was there as well. LoL, it goes both ways...we used to have 1 headquarters at 1200 Algonquin Rd...now some of them are at 77 Wacker, some at the Willis Tower, and some still at 1200 Algonquin. But hey, it cuts down on the commute time for those execs that live in luxurious LSD buildings with limo drivers on staff.

BlissWorld

I don't care how good WN's customer service is.

This is the reason I refuse to fly WN, ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6DdDlPT4Uc

FriendlySkies

LOL!


I have to agree, the UA ICC is not very good. I called in for FriendlySkies-mom to check on an upgrade for a flight she is on next week. When the system asked if I wanted to do the survey, I press 1 for yes. After the ICC agent finished, he did not transfer me to the survey. As of 11:35:00, I have been on the phone waiting for him to response for 35:00. For the last 35:00, he has been making strange noises, pressing all of the buttons on the phone and avoiding having to transfer me to the survey...UA

OskiBear

I fly almost exclusively on UA and SW and they are both interesting experiences. The upgraded perks are great on UA but when devoid of those, I like the efficiency of the SW operation.

I think it's kinda funny when a "perk" of being 1K on UA was access to phone agents in the US whereas any person at any time could call SW and get a super-friendly agent with a down-home drawl.

ryan182

Being a 1K for 6 years I've never got the ICC.
I fly SNA-SJC on WN once a month or so, I've probably only had to call them maybe 4 or 5 times so this admittedly isn't the largest sample size, their standard 800 number beats the pants off the 1K desk. Sorry but its ture, the ICC I hear and believe is crap, I've watched and listened as friends or coworkers have dealt with ICC I get that it sucks, but this isn't a location issue its a company culture and understanding of customer service issue.

ak99

I've flown SW a few times also, staff is super nice, but I can't stand not having assigned seats. Guess all these legacy carriers have trained me well.

Now my biggest reason for doing UA over WN would be that I really enjoy using my miles for TATL award seats, which I can't do on WN.

RodeoLinebacker

I've flown quite a bit in the past on WN, before they got really big. The customer service folks were generally friendly and helpful, but they have their share of dragons too. Some of the FAs are just a bit too informal for my taste. They are very efficient but are not immune to delays. I got burned out on WN after getting squeezed between Ma and Pa Kettle in a center seat one too many times. E+ is quite comfortable and I desperately missed it when I had to fly Cattle Class recently.

I've been spared the ordeal of the ICC since I got status, but on every UA survey I fill out, I always put "close the ICC" in the improvement suggestions box. Unless you're an elite, WN phone support beats UA hands-down.

unavaca

If you have no status (or heck, if you're a 2P), WN will beat UA any day of the week on mid-cons or shorter. The customer service is hands down better on WN than on UA and the "stampede" is anything but if you're checked in at the 24 hour mark. Double ^^ for WN for no change fees and no cancellation fees.

MrAndy1369

How come United cut so many of their call centers?

gijoe24jp

As a 1K, I used to be able to be connected immediately. But recently, I notice that all my calls require a 3~7 min wait. Did anyone else encounter the same problem?

I also agree that WN customer service beat UA hand down. No contest!

I get ticked off especially when someone on the phone addresses herself as "Mrs. XXX". What happened to the good old "this is (first name), how may I help you?"

I_Can_Fly_US_Airways

Dear BW,

Couldn't have said it better myself (-:

Oh, & to all those folks that say WN's customer service is superior to the 1K line...ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

I ONCE had a problem flying WN from HOB back to DAL years ago. The GA, would do NOTHING to help me. Got a supervisor to meet with me. Once again would do NOTHING to help. Why? Cause on Southworst your just a number to them & they don't care. Problem with a UA flight, call to the 1K line & it's usually remedied in minutes!!!

gijoe24jp

You're not comparing apple to apple. You called the "1K line". For people with no status, there's no 1K line. Their call get routed to ICC, which is 100X worse than WN. If you don't believe it, why don't you experiment yourself next time? Call UA and not input your MP# and see how far you get. There's a reason why UA ranked #13 in customer service based on the most recent Airline Quality Rating Report.

While WN customer service may not be able to solve all problems, at least they have a cheerful attitude. This alone is already than many UA agents I talked to.