Originally Posted by
fastair
I'll have to disagree, and I'm kewl with that.
It isn't in fine print, it isn't displayed only once, you don't need to search for it. It is plain as day, just like everything else on the screen, centrally located.
Open up a Sunday newspaper. The "seats are limited, based on roundtrip purchase, only valid on Tuesays..." is in small print, and it is separated, yet every ad is the exact same out there...it isn't considered deceptive or even remotly fradulant. Fraud is not the standard. I don't see any correlation.
People onthis board are KNOWN for looking for loopholes. It isn't bad, it's what we do. If a person can't even read what is put in front of them, plain as day, yet they look in all nicehes for exceptions that they can utilize for their own advantage, I say that they concentrate too much on the marginal stuff. READ WHAT IS IN FRONT OF YOU, especially before purchasing a product. To imply that this is deceptive in any way implies that people are either a) too dumb to read, or b) too lazy to read. I don't assume anyone is dumb or lazy, and that UA is activly exploiting these weaknesses.
You want it in red? Send the request in to UA. I am not against that, I just think that anyone who implies it is deceptive needs to look at it again. There is no decept. WHat I do think would make it more accurate is the search terminology. Instead of looking for lowest F cabin, it should say "lowest F FARE" An F fare has many possible booking classes, and that, I believe is what it searches for, not the actual cabin.
You don't think UA should provide a special warning that the customer is going to be seated in a cabin other than the one they selected? When the average customer buys something, they expect to be warned if they're not going to get the product they asked for.
Seriously, I'm not trying to argue, but I can't understand how you don't see this as even mildly deceptive, or at least inappropriate on UA's part.
Let's say I'm buying a computer on dell.com. Let's say I select a 16" screen for my laptop, among many other options. Dell.com doesn't have any 16" laptops left, so it puts a 15" one in my online shopping cart. When I go to check out, it lists all the specs on my laptop.
Should I carefully scan these to make sure what I selected is there? Sure, of course. However, don't you feel that Dell should use a special alert to indicate to me that this one option (one of numerous that I've chosen) is not what I selected? Doesn't that strike you as an appropriate way to interact with a customer? If you disagree, that's the way of the world. But I'm sorry you don't see that what United does in this case is really poor customer service. Fraud? Maybe not. But certainly not the right way to treat people.
