mesadler

It's bad enough on US Air that I'm avoiding gaining more miles on them. Whereas, the delightful AA reps make me want to only earn on AA

ClueByFour

I could have sworn I got an offshore center on a routine call to the Gold number the other night. Hung up and called back the next day.

Are they sending Gold and Silver calls offshore? If so, I won't give US a freaking dime next year, as I'm not going to be making CP again anytime soon, and I'm also not going to deal with folks who cannot speak english.

longing4piedmont

cx4

You may have been routed to the outsourced call center in FL. I seem to remember that silver and gold calls were being sent there, instead of San Salvador or Manila.

jcooke

There's almost always a way to get out of the contract. My bet is if that they are underperforming enough where they are not meeting contracted service/revenue levels they can pull the plug on the outsourcing.

-JC

jaymay

One can only hope. Perhaps it is my entrenched trenched tendencies, but not much in the world makes me happier than calling a customer service number and getting someone who just speaks English well.

It's no knock against the people in the other countries, btw. I'd imagine if I had to learn to book airline tickets in, say, French, I'd have a heck of time knowing what was going on, too. Just doesn't make it a good business idea.

Seat1A

not a regular US flyer, so i have no status here, but i just spent 45 minutes changing an existing reservation. then i went and had a few drinks -- i needed them after this experience!!

the phone system itself is incompetent, and hung up on me several times. after seven minutes on hold, the first agent asked for my record locator, then transferred me to a dial tone. another ten minutes on hold, and the first agent that actually talked to me didn't understand that a 757 has 34 rows, and there are some non-middle seats open at the back. 11E is all she understood. so, i called again. and again. and again. ten minutes on hold each time, and when i finally got to a person, i had to once again explain that a 757 goes to 34 rows, and she was literally taking my requests, keying in the seat changes, and seeing if they'd take. i'd say "31F is open. i'm looking at it in sabre. just try it." (yay expertflyer!!!)

wow.

if i have to book US again, expedia. they have actual customer service if i need to make a change.....

(i tried changing online, but somehow the HP merger killed that option!)

dirkman

[QUOTE=J-

Where are US phone calls handled?[/QUOTE]



After hours, my calls go to the Phillipines - I asked. I have also had to ask to be connected to another operator. Takes longer, but we could reasonably understand each other. Anyway, it's a lot like talking to the wall at CCY if you ask me.

planeluvr

You shouldn't have become an US Peon.

jan_az

Oh geez - and here I was blaming India last nite

Spent 25 minutes ( and numerous times getting hung on) to NOT be able to effect a seat change.

All these companies need to fix their websites if they are going to keep sending out CS ( or customer diservice is how I now think of it )

JanePond

>"US Airways addresses call complaints: US Airways is planning to hire 30 new reservations agents to handle the company's elite-level fliers, according to The Charlotte Observer (free registration). The workers will be based at the airline's call center Winston-Salem, N.C., and the paper reports the move follows complaints from elite-level US Airways passengers about consistently getting non-native English speakers when calling the airline's reservations number. US Airways has increasingly been outsourcing reservations calls to centers in El Salvador and the Philippines. The airline says the new workers will begin training by Nov. 7, and will handle calls from US Airways' Silver, Gold and Chairman's Preferred Dividend Miles members. Even without the 30 new workers, however, US Airways customers could find fewer calls headed overseas as the US Airways-America West merger progresses. America West's reservations call centers are located in Reno and Tempe, Ariz. Posted 9:05 a.m. ET"

twa777

Ha! I'm afraid my recent dealings with Expedia's customer service haven't been so great either. In my case, I canceled two full-fare, business-class tickets bought through Expedia on Thai Airways. They were paper-ticketed (Expedia said they had to be), but two months after sending the paper tickets back to Expedia I'm still waiting for about $2000 in refund to my credit card as both Thai and Expedia. It seems the process (and my ticket) has been going back and forth between the two as they try to work out who needs to process the refund.

Some of the problem may be at Thai, and the people at Expedia have been pleasant and do speak English. However, they've continued to make me be the go-between in getting the refund processed, rather than getting on the phone with Thai directly to get me a resolution. I again get to "wait for several days" to see if the process has moved any father.