I was flying to Sydney from JFK as a 1k on a revenue ticket in business class and United refused to check me in.

My friend from Europe who was traveling on an award ticket with me on my miles in business class checked in without a problem Go figure

Seems there was a double booking.I paid for an electronic ticket yet somehow in the system it brought up a canceled paper ticket and the electronic could not be found
When I gave the designator number to try and help the meanest agent I ever met at United over the years he replied
"One more word out of you sir and I will refuse you check in (sigh)"

My good friend a journalist was astonished after I told him how great United was.I said you are seeing a side of them I have never experienced.
My friend said at the time I would welcome the normal punishment at KLM

At that point I was close to a panic as boarding was getting close
I ran up to the Red Carpet Club on the verge of a nervous breakdown as we were about to miss our flights and got my Red Carpet posse(good folks) who knew me to be a very good guy.
Two agents came down and got a supervisor and stood by me until the supervisor got me checked in.
They kept apologizing for the experience.
United canceled a flight coming and going too
I forgave UA but they p***ed me off enough eventually and I ended up elsewhere down the road after a reasonably great 8 years.About the same legnth of time I last waited for my luggage in JFK

Recently they asked me back and offered to meet me current status but I had purchased to many tickets on other carriers so I couldn't hold up my end and take them up on the offer.
Had Consumer Relations not been in Mexico they could have had the lions share of my revenue these past years.You don't save money with lower quality & productivity you lose customers. And that goes for the rocket scientist agent in Uniteds call center in India who put me on hold for 40 minutes recently where I almost purchased a ticket.I hung up and booked my trip elsewhere. In Honolulu the res agents are still first class all the way the last time I spoke with them.
Agents like that are Uniteds Past and its hopeful future.
Educated,helpful and friendly ^ That is a good example of the culture of this once great company.Hopefully they can recapture it.
Chicago may be the one that needs to be outsourced
That would have saved a billion dollars down the drain right there