Thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone.

I think I will file a complaint with the DOT and BBB, just so it's on the record. I dont expect anything to come of it. If I were to send a letter to someone within CO, what address should I use?

Traveling to the airport would just be too much time and effort.

One extra night out of town is not going to break the bank. Ive already spent more time than its worth. At this point all I'm hoping for is some gesture from CO that tells me they care. Something that might allow me to tell people "CO made it right, in the end."

I knew better when I got off the phone that night and charged the hotel on my CC. I knew in the back of my mind that something like this would happen. But, I was reassured that everything would be taken care of by Customer Care. And really, what choice did I have at that point? I just hope somebody reads this and avoids being put in the same situation.

Thanks again.

Not only do they need to make it right with you, but they need to reprimand the TA that took you off your CONFIRMED seat.

This will be a difficult one to make right. They have to reimburse expenses obviously (hotel + meals). But he was also removed from a full, presumably oversold flights, likely in a shady attempt to avoid DB compensation. So they'd need to give him denied boarding compensation (cash)

Then there's the mishandling and related runaround. That's worth a voucher in and of itself.

So hotel, food, plus 2x his one-way ticket price in cash, and a goodwill voucher of some sort. Plus an apology. The apology being the most difficult to get out of CO.

There's one thing missing from the OP's timeline, what exactly happened when he went back to the airport the next day.

I would be interested to know if he had any interaction with the staff there and if so, what was done.

Yea, UA always gets it right, eh? Give it a freakin' rest.

July 3rd was relatively uneventful. The same people were working the ticket counter as the day before. The woman that re-checked my bags was the one that removed me from my flight. I let her know that the local Marriott doesn't accept CO vouchers. She didn't say a word. I didn't press the issue because the CSR from the night before advised me not to.

My flight was delayed but I made my connection.

Any updates? Please let us know of any updates forthcoming.

I never said that. I said that when there are screwups, CO is more likely to trip over their feet to compound that screwup.

I don't think UA CS would drop the ball on the poster's email like CO did. Then on repeated follow-ups either ignore him or say "Sorry it's been closed," and do nothing, eliciting a DOT and BBB complaint.

That's where CO blows big time in comparison to its peers. Sorry you can't see it. Many of us have experienced it.

In fairness to CO (and UA and AA and US), this sort of thing is pretty common in ELP. My company has a satellite facility near the airport, so the test team travels through ELP regularly and we collectively have all sorts of horror stories. GAs hitting the plane with the jetway (when they were supposed to be retracting it) hard enough that the plane had to be taken out of service. TAs informing someone flying ELP to DFW that they couldn't check a bag at T-1 hour because you need to check in 2 hours before an international flight. GAs telling one of our execs that he had to gate check his laptop because it wouldn't fit in the overhead, then threatening to deny him boarding when he said he would just put the bag (no wheels, just a laptop bag) under his seat. In non-airline stories, it also seems particularly prone to running out of rental cars.
In any airport, you get some employees who are great and some who are just ok. In some airports you can also throw in two extra groups: those who simply do not care at all and those who are simply dreadful. ELP seems to have more than it's share of the indifferent and dreadful. Having limited experience (thus far all good) with CO, I can't speak to how they handle IRROPs, but I know of at least a half dozen people who have shared your experience of being given a hotel voucher they couldn't actually use by ELP staff and CO wasn't one or our preferred carriers before this year, so I know they weren't responsible for all of those.

I PM'd COinsider, pointing him to this thread. So far no response, but I do understand he is a very busy person with bigger things on his plate.

I wanted to allow a couple days before I file the complaint with the DOT and BBB. That is my next step, I think.

don't wait, just do it! GL

I'm with MoxJR, you can always say the case is resolved if COInsider is able to direct this to the person(s) whom need to see it.
I'm currently 18 minutes on hold waiting to talk to a manager about a problem I've been going through for almost a month now. I wonder what would happen if I start the conversation with "RAHHHH CO is the best"

Wirelessly posted (goingaway\'s phone: BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.231 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Third the advice ... There is no upside for you to wait to move this onto/up any chain you can latch onto for some response and action

Advice taken. I filed DOT and BBB complaints today.

Wife also had problems with her ELP flight two days ago, then yesterday, then almost today if I hadn't browbeat the elite desk for 3+ hours to get her there yesterday through Denver (from Louisiana, an unusual routing...)

My irrops experience was similarly horrific. Getting lost on hold, not coming up with solutions, not even considering offering partner flights much less compensation. My wife wasn't even offered a hotel when they first told her she'd need to stay in Houston overnight (and no, it wasn't because of weather - I know the rules). It's just unbelievable to me how poorly CO takes care of their elites in these situations, especially when, with Colgan and completely filled planes, they always happen.

I'm a lifetime CO-flyer and plat, like my father before me, but I'm likely dropping CO entirely after all this and following TWA FAN to become a free agent. It's just not worth it, especially when the value of elite status has been so degraded anyway. I'm sure they're saving money, but I have the feeling they're just spending the goodwill they've accumulated over the past years and the revenue hit will catch up with them in the end. That's the case with me anyways. I hope the bean counter who told them to use Colgan, fill domestic planes so there's no slack in the system, and to cut the elite desk and benefits considered that there's no reason for us to stay with them for our high dollar international business if we're just going to get screwed domestically. Especially by Colgan. Awful, awful Colgan.