Thats nothing. I did that three times this week. I could not get through at all. The computer did not like my reservation at all had to call.
Simple Change return booked Wednesday evening
Fort Wayne / DEN (ORD / DEN leg in F)
Change return Thursday South Bend to DEN (Pray to go that I can still get a F seat ORD / DEN - even willing to pay for it)
-1:30 on the phone on Sunday only to be disconnected
-1:30 on the phone on Monday only for reservations to say they are having lots of trouble with my res. and I should check at the airport.
-2 minutes at United Club before Monday flight so my favorite Carolyn could look at me and say previous person was crazy, I can only do this through reservations. Thanks for the free wine by the way.
-1:45 on Tuesday before IAH /IND flight to get rebooked. Drove from my meeting, gassed up the car, returned it, took the bus to terminal, went through security, got a glass of wine at the UC, boarded, and the doors were about to close...Result New reservations left Fort Wayne to Denver on Wednesday and added a new South bend to Denver on Thursday. I am not even going to get into how bad that geography is, but I did clear F upgrade..Sweet!!!
-1:25 on the phone after I land Tuesday night into Wednesday morning driving IND to Fort Wayne with Raj, it may have been Rob or possible Rod, but I going with Raj. Problem solved...Rebooked for only $475.
Skip to Wednesday morning when I look at my confirmation and noticed Raj had actually charged me $1500 for basic economy fare, when 1st was only $1600 more.
Here we go again...
-Call maybe 20 times only to hear that United has been experiencing excessive call volume for the last couple days, and I need to call back later. ( on a personal note, when I ask to speak to an agent, I am not confused, and hearing the automated system say "lets try again", has become a rather big slap in the face) - This went on for about two hours.
Anywhoo I finally get Seema right as I leave Fort Wayne and head up to South Bend...Semma is a very nice young lady with slightly worse English than my 4 year old. I am pretty sure she was trained by one of those insurance agencies that reject all claims like in the movie the Rainmaker. Anyways, Seema was great at reaffirming that no one in India has any idea what they are doing, two that it is a brilliant move by United to put people on the other end of the phone so confused that your eventual choice to just hang up, and three that all questions seem to go through the same supervisor somewhere, not in India.
Make it to my hotel. Turn the computer on right at the 24 hour check in mark. See that I can now indeed check in, proceed to do so. Computer likes my reservation again. Offered $89 for the last F seat, Go to take it. Spend 10 more minutes getting rejected. Bang my head on the wall. Pass out. Wake up still on hold. Okay maybe the last part is a stretch, but I was on hold 2:09 , drove about 120 miles, and was able to check in on the other end of the call, before they could help me. I finally hung up once I confirmed the E+ seat.
However, fun things to do on hold that long, over several days.
1 Memorize the on hold language. Yes I can now actually recite it verbatim. I had a very bad dream about being there, and there, and there, and THERE!!! Not to mention I don't ever want to hear about United unique blend of organic fuel.
2 Change the entire on hold language to something much more condescending and acceptable to your personal pallet, in my case more a glutton for punishment thing.
3 Take other calls from clients and come back just to see if your still on hold.
4 Plan my proper level of griping to customer care for my $1000 refund.
Anyways, I am still on the road this week, and if I do not clear standby tomorrow there is a good chance I am going to take out several passengers in line.