Originally Posted by
factory81
...I see others have taken it seriously, and believe I am in fact trying to bend the rules. It disappoints myself even that I feel I am breaking the rules. I may even feel misled at this point. I had an understanding that my MileagePlus Explorer MasterCard allowed me more trip cancellation,insurance, disruption, and other protections. I clearly overestimated how much was really available for me there. I had more expectations in that. I felt protected and even secured by all these lofty promises....with too much fine print. My fault for not studying this, but instead trying to finish my senior year in college.
Sure my promotional $100 voucher (recived with a Chase credit card bill for my MP Explorer card) is now lost, United cannot refund it to me they say. The $100 credit should never have been applied in the first place, and it seems UA feels no responsibility to reimburse that. I also have a $363 credit..........with the additional expense of $150 to use it. "sure it isn't all that bad". I still get $363! I just need to pay to use it right? Well bummer, but these aren't Wal-Mart gift cards. I don't fly United....every week or every year even.
So now I have to be attentive to expiration dates of this credit and so on. I just wish that like so many other things in society you could return it with ease. What can I say? I want to go to Europe instead in a few months and this $363 will be much more useful to me then because have you SEEN.....the EUR and CHF lately?
Sacrebleu!
Bolding mine to emphasize point
I think the OP should consider this a life lesson... pay attention to the details! You are getting a relative bargain by learning that there are T&C's that you need to understand before signing up or going through with just about everything. Many of us have paid a far higher price before understanding the costs of not reading the fine print.
I recall being a college student, I also recall having to be careful with all the credit cards that they would throw at us, and never discuss fully the fees and T&C's. Don't rely on others, rely on yourself. The onus is on you, no one else, to understand it.
Just because the OP doesn't fly UA much doesn't mean that UA should have a generous return policy; all airlines operate under this model. Don't confuse the retail industry for the airline industry. Different business model, product pricing, and terms that doesn't directly translate.
I think the OP (and US society as a whole) has also been "spoiled" by the retail industry in the States with some very consumer friendly policies. If you lived in most parts of Asia and Europe, you can't just return something back to the store if you don't like it. You bought it, you keep it, that's the general approach. We've grown accustomed to the Costco's and Nordstrom's in our retail purchase experience. While it would be nice if all industries are like that, the reality is that they are not.
Originally Posted by
factory81
...
You all speak of high morals and such, meanwhile you have a whole forum dedicated to fraud, manufactured spending, exploitation of loopholes and other civil crimes. Flyertalk of all places, knows how to bend/break/disobey the rules. It is a shame you think you are above this, because you are guilty by association. Flyertalk is the place that will exploit companies until the rules/processes/etc are changed...
This is a public forum... you will have all sorts of questions and answers, and a lot will be of personal opinion and judgement. While you may not feel that your actions are fraudulent or negative, many have pointed out that you have already gotten an undeserved advantage.
FT is a great place for exchange of news, ideas, and thoughts. Those who choose to break or bend the rules are still allowed to post here; again, it's an open forum and exploiting a loophole may or may not be morally/ethically correct, but everyone can choose whether or not to participate, and members freely comment on the moral issue of it.
The kind of help you are expecting appears to be beyond the level of appropriateness based upon the responses. Perhaps you can take this as a cue, and not try to find a higher moral ground to try and justify your actions or calling out the action of others.
If you take the time to read through the postings, you will quickly realize that FT is a great place for legitimate questions that other members are eager to help with. For those questions that are in the "questionable ethics", you will certainly see members calling it out; again, it is a public forum, and take a hint at what members have already told you, and try understand this is the internet, you are open to criticism from everyone and if you can't take it, don't post a questionable tactic on a public forum if you don't like being called out for it.
Perhaps you are expecting too much customer friendly policies from UA; but if you go into a retail store and tell them you took a $100 discount from their product, and they clearly have a restocking fee, and you want to make a return, do you expect them to also waive the restocking fee?