I flew UA 839 LAX-SYD on Aug 31.
On arrival at LAX I discovered that the flight was listed as being 3 hours late (changed to a 01:30 am departure) due to "maintenance". Oh joy, I thought. Then, at 11 pm, the RCC closed and we were all thrown out to wait the next 2+ hours in the gate lounge (also, the flight was oversold).
As 1.30 am approached, we were told that there would be further minor delays, and we eventually boarded around 2 am, as I recall. Then the comedy of errors continued. The captain announced on the PA that the external machine that starts the engines was US, and that the mechanics were looking at it, so there would be a further delay.
Eventually, this engine starting machine (the only one at LAX, apparently) was fixed, the engines roared into life, and we got away at about 2.30 am (almost 4 hours late). Needless to say, no one was offered anything while we waited and we just had to suffer in silence.
To add insult to injury (or is it the other way round) the connecting flight SYD-MEL departed before we arrived (even though UA839 is advertised as going to MEL), thus further inconveniencing dozens of pax, who were then allegedly booked by UA to MEL on other airlines.
As far as I was concerned, I missed my pre-paid ground transportation and had to pay a considerable sum out of my own pocket to get to where I was going. Great work United!
The sooner there is more competition AUS-USA the better. United provide such awful service, but the planes are always full. I don't think this situation will last forever, though. But UA's accountants don't seem to be listening.