Originally Posted by channa
Are you using the HOLD feature to hold before you buy?
If so, it's a known issue that seats get lost.
I have never once been able to buy a United ticket without some sort of human intervention. CO, AS, NW, US, etc. no problem, but not UA because of these sorts of bugs. Imagine if they had their ops side of the house in order, they'd be able to save a lot of effort which translates into money.
I only reserved a seat when I bought the tkt.
I don't think this is just a mistake. For some reason, OLCI (which I don't use since I have no access to a printer while travelling and have checked in bags in any case) is showing my reserved seat as available to others checking in online.