Scrappy

First time poster here, but had to sign up because I was so frustrated with my experience yesterday. On 5/8, my friend and I flew flight 512 EWR-POP. I put him on the standby list as my companion, and had no issues getting the upgrade. We flew back yesterday on flight 712 POP-EWR. Upon check in, I asked to put him on the companion upgrade list. The check in agent was confused and did not understand what I was referring to. I explained to her how as a Gold Elite member, I am allowed to put one companion on the upgrade standby list and he would be given a seat pending availability. She told me that the only way I could get him upgraded was if I used my own points. I knew this was completely false, and I explained to her again what the companion upgrade was for Gold and Platinum Elite members. She told me once again that I had to use miles. I gave one last attempt to explain the policy to her and gave up as I saw I was getting nowhere and decided instead to give it another attempt at the gate.

Upon arrival at the gate, there was no agent. About 30 minutes before boarding an agent shows up, however it was the same woman who checked me in. She shook her head immediately before I said a word and said “No, can’t do it”. I called the Elite Line on my OnePass card hoping for assistance. The person explained to me on the line that he understood my situation, knew they were in the wrong, but there was nothing he could do because it was only the reservation line. I asked him for another number to call, but said they could not do anything over the phone. I had to try to take care of it at the gate. Knowing this was no longer possible, I boarded the flight hoping that a flight attendant may possibly be able to help, but sure enough she said there was nothing she could do. The plane finished boarding and as expected, first class was not filled up.

I called up the WeCare line today. The first agent I spoke to took down my whole scenario as I explained it to him. Upon completion he told me that my complaint had been filed and Continental would make sure they would take the appropriate actions to retrain the personnel in Puerto Plata. I asked if I would get any sort of compensation for their mistake. He put me on hold for a few minutes. A different agent came back on the line and told me I would not be getting any sort of compensation because “the upgrade is complimentary”. I was more or less expecting a gesture of good faith from Continental to their most valued customers. I know there is no guarantee of an upgrade but there is an informally worded guarantee that there would be an upgrade pending availability. He told me that the workers at the airport messed up, but reiterated once again that since the upgrades are complimentary there would be no compensation. He gave me my complaint number and told me again that Continental would make sure that the Puerto Plata employees were properly trained. By the way, at no point did he nor the first agent even say “sorry for the inconvenience, but” or any sort of apology. I am also pretty disturbed that both the Elite Line phone and We Care agents I called pretty much said it was the employee’s fault at the airport and that she made an error. The employee was obviously untrained, however that is Continental’s responsibility, and the blame falls on the shoulders of the company as a whole.

I’ve already put together a complaint letter that I am going to send to corporate headquarters. Does anyone know the best address to send it to in order to have the most likely chance of a response?