Wx4caster

On March first I purchased two sets of one-way tickets for my wife and son, HNL-SFO, and then SFO-HNL. Total cost was $178.90 pp, so 357.80 per ticket, $715.60 total. I broke the trip into one-ways because I had two ETCs, one for $200, and one for $100. So, the total out of pocket should have been $715.6-$300 or $415.60. I initially reserved online, but the system erred when I tried to apply the ETC (for both tickets), so I called in at got what seemed like at the time a very helpful agent who processed the tickets with the ETCs - she quoted the correct prices, and then she even stayed on the line with me until ticketed completed and confirmed that she could see that the ETCs were applied. I saw the initial pair of $357.80 charges hit my card, but assumed it would be adjusted when finalized, which is exactly what happened the last time I bought a ticket using ETC.

I ended up having to cancel the tickets 2 days later and hope to use the value later in the year, but that's immaterial.

Fast forward a week, and I was surprised tonight to find on my credit card statement that I was charged 4x$178.90 - the ETCs were never credited. I called in just now and the initial wait time estimate was 15-20 minutes. One hour and fifteen minutes later I was finally connected to an agent and explained the situation. She looked up the ETCs and confirmed that they still had the original value. I told her that these certificates should have been applied, and I've now been overcharged $300, to which she replied, "you haven't been overcharged, they still have $300 in value!". She didn't seem to understand why this was a problem, but she eventually called the support desk to see what could be done.

Now an hour and a half into the call, she came back and told me the support desk said that I had booked the tickets online, which I had - except for the ticketing! But she insisted if I had called and spoken to an agent, the system would have automatically noted the record - so I couldn't have called and spoken to someone and therefore I must have not applied the ETCs online. Basically saying it was my fault and/or I am lying. The agent said the only log in the record was when I called to cancel the tickets. And the support desk advised they would not be making any modifications.

I'm not sure what to do at this point, and looking for any suggestions. If I try calling Chase to file a claim, they will undoubtedly call United who will again say it's not their fault thanks to their inept IT or possibly inept agent(s) or some combination of both. And no good could possibly come of me contacting United Customer (dis-)Service.



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