Originally Posted by JohnnyP
Check-in at RDU: What a mess! The environment was loud and crowded. The staff was flustered and clearly enjoyed no aspect of their job. At several points one woman would come out from behind the counter and announce in a very paternalistic tone: "I have an announcement to make. If you are not checking bags, come up here and use the machines." (No one moved.) "I said (louder now) if you are not checking bags, please come use the machines." No one moved. She rolled her eyes and went back to her check-in location. The person behind me remarked to his family, "I'm never flying United again. This is incredible!"
The problem is, many people still do not 'get' the concept of a check-in kiosk, despite the fact that nearly every airline uses them now. One reason for this may be that you'd seemingly have to deal with a person to check bags, so those passengers feel they "can't" use Mr. Chicken. There needs to be a better way to convey that they can indeed use the kiosks!
I have stood at many an airport with a huge crowd blocking the Mr. Chickens, with NO ONE using them. Usually I manage to "excuse me" and squeeze through the crowd to get to the machines--although more than once I have had someone complain verbally about "skipping line" despite the fact no one is using the machines. In these times, I think it's a GOOD idea for the agent to announce that people need to use the kiosks... yes, she needs a better approach, but for people to swear UA off like the family behind the OP because they were asked to use a kiosk is crazy.
Originally Posted by JohnnyP
Me: "Oh. But he's on a United ticket."
Her: "So? I said we don't do that."
Me: "That's strange. I've done it many times before. Is there maybe someone we could call that could help us figure out this situation?"
Her: (very aggresively) "Are you telling me I don't know how to do my job?!"
Me: "No, thank you for your help."
Definitely better attitude needed from the TA here.
Originally Posted by JohnnyP
CONCLUSION: The level of poor, inept service I witnessed (and received) this weekend was scary; and IME atypical of United. I don't typically fly in/out of UX-only stations, but if RDU is any example, United had better come down hard on UX to set higher standards for their staff; sooner or later, the tail will start wagging the dog.
I have to say that in my experience, UX-only stations are handled better than those with mainline staff. Whether this is because the UX employees haven't had pension cuts, pay cuts, etc. (unlike their mainline compatriots) or something else altogether, I don't know... but I tend to get more help from the agents at UX-only stations, have friendlier experiences from check-in to the flight itself, and overall feel the UX employees are "better" than UA mainline.
This comes from my dealings with UX staff at ROA, CRW, ORF, TUL, and a handful of other stations... those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head where the staff has been extra-helpful in cases of irregular ops, lost & found, standing by, re-routing, etc.