Originally Posted by
GBadger
To be fair, I think it's safe to assume that Shannon is the messenger and that this was not her idea... As much as I hate, hate, hate this change, I still appreciate the advanced notice that came along with it.
Agreed. I give her credit for "facing the music" when she delivers bad news.
Originally Posted by
exerda
But to be equally fair, the "advanced" notice was so meager so as to have been little better than having simply posted the next morning, "Oh, as many of you have already noticed, we removed the ability to see fare buckets--'Expert Mode' some of you knew it by--last night."
We're talking a few hours' notice at best. If this were such an issue, UA could have put it through the preview site and let us know that way--and could have implemented the "promised" workaround to allow us some degree of the prior functionality, too. The timing was deliberate: spring this on folks at the end of the week and at the end of the day.
That she is only the messenger is underscored by the fact she told us that when the fare buckets were pulled down, there would at least one new feature added - which to this point, hasn't been identified, AFAIK.
She's just the messenger.
Originally Posted by
eegulleye
Sadly, what I at first assumed was a weekend "glitch" to do a systems update turns out to be a purposeful change so bizarre and frustrating it's hard to believe it has been implemented. Echoing the sentiments of the majority, I strongly feel that MORE information in the hands of the customer makes the system MORE efficient. Now there will be an overload of callers who have to wade and weave their way through an already opaque system in the dark = high frustration and less satisfaction. Let's hope the incredible outpouring of negative feedback on FT leads to a reversal. UA - you still haven't learned (and maybe never will learn) one of the cardinal rules of the service industry: don't take something away from a customer once you have given it. That is far worse than never haven given it at all.
And if you've decided that you need to take something back, have whatever alternative you intend to offer in place and ready to go.