Originally Posted by
jsloan
You might be correct that they would try to cut a deal. However, I don’t think United “knows they screwed up.” They attempted to push a ticket over to DL — it failed. It happens sometimes during iRROPS. This isn’t a case like a couple of others reported recently where a rogue agent said “we’ll reimburse you.” As nearly as I can tell, OP simply got frustrated and decided unilaterally to follow this course of action. And while it might cost more than $1600 to engage a local lawyer, they don’t need a lawyer. They probably have a designated employee that they send to handle cases like this — JAXPax has said that was his role earlier in his career at another carrier. Furthermore, it’s less about the $1600 than it is the precedent they’d set that anyone who felt they were wronged by UA could expect to go to small-claims court and receive a nuisance settlement. Sometimes you need to stand up for yourself to avoid being marked as an easy target.
While I understand the frustration of the OP, if I were the Small Claims Court judge listening to his recitation of the events, I’d probably lose most of my sympathy for his ordeal at the point he told the supervisor he would make his own plans and hung up. I definitely wouldn’t want to listen to allegations about the airline industry being in monopoly, or claims about the contract of carriage.
I’ve spent hours on the phone waiting to talk to a CSR after a flight cancellation. I know how frustrating it is. And the difference is, when I’m in that situation, I come prepared with an alternative flight in mind, and above all, I am as nice as I can be under the circumstances to the person on the other end of the line. That approach has never failed me.