Unbelievable Incompetency - Choices Not Working - Customers Working For IT
For whatever reason, this was my UA see the light moment, I know many have had it already... but this was what I needed to see to make all the problems real. Since 3/3 customers have been part of the IT department! Are they really that overwhelmed that they need customers to do their IT?
ISSUE: So for the past few days Choices have not been working. When you paste the transaction number from the Chase bill into the redemption page you get a "invalid transaction number" error and it won't even try to submit. I happened to notice that Chase transaction numbers always used to start with 24 and now they start with the year (2012). So I'm thinking someone just didn't change the field limitations and it's still expecting to see a 24 at the beginning.
I call Chase (mistake). On phone for 30 minutes... they finally tell me that since the domain is securemileageplus.com they can't do anything. So I call MP. On hold 20 minutes... finally agent helps, tries to do it manually and she gets the same error! Speaks with supervisor who says she needs to transfer me to web support. Been on phone 45 minutes... and get disconnected when she transfers me of course. Call again, on hold 20 minutes... get another agent who, after listening to my situation, agrees to transfer me right to web support. Web support guy looks into issue... After 20 minutes he comes back and said he talked with supervisors and they have gotten a bunch of calls that Choices are not working and it appears I'm correct... that the field limitations were not updated. He says he's going to elevate the issue to IT and it should be changed within 48 hours. We'll see about that.
I have not complained much about UA since 3/3 and I've rolled with the punches. But for some reason this REALLY puts me at my wits' end. The idea that UA could drop the ball like this is just insane! Don't they have systems in place to stay on top of these things?? For the first time last night I truly had an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach about UA... that I didn't feel completely safe. This is so unprofessional I can't believe it... or maybe I can.
For the first time last night I truly had an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach about UA... that I didn't feel completely safe. This is so unprofessional I can't believe it... or maybe I can.
This looks like a simple web programming issue. Not justifying it, but putting it in perspective. I see dozens of these every week in every industry - this doesn't actually seem particularly egregious. How does this even remotely relate to "didn't feel completely safe"?
I just love it when I log into my UA account and notice when SHARES has "inadvertently" switched my flights around (without notifying me) so that I go from having a regular 3 hour layover in HNL to an 18 hour one.
So logical.
Even more outstanding when it takes three successive calls to the Premier desk to get the issue sorted out (each call lasting no less than 20 mins apiece) and being told "your originally scheduled flight no longer exists" (when it clearly was still appearing in the GDS) on the first try, to being disconnected on the second try, to finally getting it right on the 3rd time (how charming).
The problem with UA/Chase asside, perhaps the real problem is that you are letting this get to you so much. Is this issue really worth so much anger? Is any issue?
This looks like a simple web programming issue. Not justifying it, but putting it in perspective. I see dozens of these every week in every industry - this doesn't actually seem particularly egregious. How does this even remotely relate to "didn't feel completely safe"?
I'm missing the correlation here...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Indelaware
The problem with UA/Chase asside, perhaps the real problem is that you are letting this get to you so much. Is this issue really worth so much anger? Is any issue?
Sorry, I should have been more clear.... I was reading all of the threads this weekend about the unusually high cancellation rates, the maintenance issues, and the scares at EWR... and that together with this got me feeling uneasy.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by star_world
This looks like a simple web programming issue. Not justifying it, but putting it in perspective. I see dozens of these every week in every industry - this doesn't actually seem particularly egregious.
The lack of QA over at COdbaUA IT is what's egregious.
Any of these little hiccups, bugs, glitches, or whatever you want to call them is no big deal in isolation. In aggregate, it's a mess.
After all, planes aren't falling out of the sky. Yet.
__________________ The world's leading airline should have the world's leading change fee.
Unfortunately, you should be uneasy. UA is just a bad airline now. Name any facet and there are issues.
Isn't that true of all major US airlines? I'm not aware of any without significant issues.
I know, I know, there's an agenda to maintain but that is an odd comment nonetheless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by channa
The lack of QA over at COdbaUA IT is what's egregious.
Any of these little hiccups, bugs, glitches, or whatever you want to call them is no big deal in isolation. In aggregate, it's a mess.
After all, planes aren't falling out of the sky. Yet.
Isn't this particular issue related to a legacy UA program? Are you suggesting that is now run by ex-CO IT? (I presume that's what you mean by "COdbaUA") How do you know?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by star_world
Isn't that true of all major US airlines? I'm not aware of any without significant issues.
I know, I know, there's an agenda to maintain but that is an odd comment
You're honestly serious? UA no better or worse than anyone else right now? At a time when the industry just had its best first half ever operationally, UA is crumbling. Financials suggest desired customers are leaving. No labor peace yet. The regressive computer system continues to make traveling and dealing with UA miserable for many of us.
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It is really beginning to look like across the board fundamental airline management capabilities are failing at UA. I am far from an alarmist but there are too many places where things are just going wrong. I fully understand bugs in IT, random mechanical delays, and all the rest. But a well running organization has the resiliency to deal with these sorts of things even when the laws of chance throw a bunch at it in short periods of time. It looks from the outside like fundamental lines of communications inside the company aren't working the way they need to. That management either wants to put its head in the sand or that somehow middle layers are sanitzing data in a way that makes upper management miss the bigger problems. For many businesses this just costs them money but for an airline this can actually have safety ramifications. A corporate culture needs to have very open lines of communications in all directions if everyone is going to be on the same page and it really looks like those aren't functioning very well at UA right now. It started with lousy communications between management and customers back in March (about which some on this board told me I was nuts for suggesting that a crisis management approach was really needed in the PR world at UA) but it seems much more widespread when the CEO can tell analysts that they have minor scheduling problems due to changing maintenance philosophies but reality is defined by an increasingly unbelievable schedule track record and increasing mechanicals and systems "glitches". If this were the military they would call a safety or operations stand down - don't know what UA's approach should be. But really this is a company in some deep trouble that needs to recognize this and begin to act to repair itself very soon.
You're honestly serious? UA no better or worse than anyone else right now? At a time when the industry just had its best first half ever operationally, UA is crumbling. Financials suggest desired customers are leaving. No labor peace yet. The regressive computer system continues to make traveling and dealing with UA miserable for many of us.
You have an incredible ability to disregard what somebody actually says and replace it with what you want it to say.
Can you point me at the part where I said UA is no better or worse than anyone else? Do you disagree with my statement above? (I presume you do, since you started yet another post with "your're honestly serious?")
There is no question that UA is experiencing a plethora of service-related issues at the moment. Does that equate to the sky falling, as you would have us believe? Do the financials indicate that people are leaving in droves? Or that the business is "crumbling"? Absolutely, categorically not. Only someone hell-bent on conveying their typical brand of hyperbole could even suggest that, and anyone with a modicum of common sense could look at the reality and realise that simply isn't the case.
Do us a favour and introduce a little perspective (and reality) into your prognoses of doom
Isn't that true of all major US airlines? I'm not aware of any without significant issues.
I know, I know, there's an agenda to maintain but that is an odd comment nonetheless.
Isn't this particular issue related to a legacy UA program? Are you suggesting that is now run by ex-CO IT? (I presume that's what you mean by "COdbaUA") How do you know?
No, this is not reflective of all major US airlines.
Put simply, there is no longer a valid excuse for denying that this has been the merger of cutting-corners. A well-managed airline does not continue to tout property, plant and equipment upgrades while allowing their customer service and employee morale to turn into sinking ships.
The lack of training for how to handle SHARES and other CS issues has become beyond unacceptable and this will continue to bite UA in the rear for a long time unless something is done soon.
SMI/J does not seem to be doing diligence in sacking people who continue to plague the airline from a PR perspective. Instead, he appears to be thanking them for "being the best in the business." What business, a business of mediocrity?
As far as the safety factor, at present the maintenance schedule is handled differently between the two subsidiaries. That makes me cringe.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by star_world
There is no question that UA is experiencing a plethora of service-related issues at the moment. Does that equate to the sky falling, as you would have us believe? Do the financials indicate that people are leaving in droves? Or that the business is "crumbling"? Absolutely, categorically not. Only someone hell-bent on conveying their typical brand of hyperbole could even suggest that, and anyone with a modicum of common sense could look at the reality and realise that simply isn't the case.
I have actually been for the most part a supporter of this merger - thought that the complementary route structures would be a real benefit. While I thought that some benefit changes that UA made were unfortunate, I have supported their right to make most (but not all) of them. I also don't care about the legacy CO/UA battle that seems to be waged here. I am trying to simply look at UA as it exists today (and you'll note I don't use the COdbaUA or whatever it is nonsense that is mostly infamatory). However, in looking at UA as it exists today - an airline I still fly regularly - I am seeing fundamental problems in its apparent ability to run its business in an acceptable manner. I don't care if folks are leaving in mass or not - that's a UA profitability issue. But as a customer I want safe, reliable, decent service and this is what seems to be very much on the rocks. Consistently late flights, stress-filled running through airport connections, erratic reservation maintence, and now higher mechanicals and possibly worse - none of these meet my "safe, reliable, decent service" request. And none of them are about elite benefits or the like. If you really don't see signs of serious trouble at the new UA then I think you need to leave the whole UA/CO nonsense behind and just look a bit closer at what is.
We'll see about that.
