that's the other nice thing about that day, the AC was off on the plane when they boarded it and it 100 degress on that canoe. I would rather forget about it. It was hot at gate 88, and if I told my wife I was looking at Swedish girls on the way to getting a bowl of WonTon from my favorite Chinese restaurant near gate 90, she would have killed me.

You know everyone is mentioning being nice in an email - NWA gave me 10K pts just for losing my bags a year ago, and I was really nice in an email to them but compained about it being the last flight that night in BOS. The lady at the bag claim was really nice to me, since it was 10 below zero and I had no clothes, jacket, etc in Boston. She gave me blankets and toiletries. I got her name and told NWA - also saying that losing my bag with a 7am meeting the next day didn't help me.

I've flown 10 segments the last 2 months with NO EUA, only battlefield.

Nothing...
 

I have heard nothing from CO either through the onepass customer service or the regular customer service (just "we will get back to you emails"), they should be ashamed of themselves.

I used all my miles (170K) this weekend for two FC ticks to KOA, and I will never fly CO again after that trip in Jan, NEVER!.

I also called and talk to a Platinum Phone rep, who told me the supervisor was too busy with Katrina calls? I said, that was three months ago, and she they had a "long" backlog. I told her that smoking pot was bad for her's and her supervisor's health and hung up the phone.

Delta screwed me 9 years ago on a berevment(sp) fare and I started flying CO, now CO screwed me and I'll start flying NW, AA or UA, probably NW since I can keep my plat status next year with CO and try to get battlefield upgrades.

CO drew a fly, I mean a sucker, when I checked in at the kiosk last Saturday. The very nice lady policing the kiosks said "Oh, I think there's just enough time to catch the earlier flight" Like a sucker, I said fine- and there went my EQM's.

Unfortunately now that NW's HPN schedule is pretty much all CRJs (including the 2.5-3 hour flights to MSP), I'm not sure that you're going to find much in the way of upgrades or service there either.

They zapped your EQMs for taking an earlier flight? I though that on a discount fare (and I assume you were on one due to the EQM issue) they’d still credit EQMs at 100% even if you took an earlier flight as long as your ticket was booked via co.com

I've done this - you should have no change to EQM's. Call or email the OPSC, they'll fix it.

Let's be realistic here. CO didn't "screw" you. You had a bad experience, and you didn't like the way it was handled. That's fine, I understand that. But there was no "screwing" going on. You can't help the weather, and your insistance to the otherwise will not change things. Like I said before, if you were flying NW, you would have sat on the tarmac too, except you'd have done it in an old ratty DC-9.

What I am about to disclose is going to cause some to argue that CO doesn't prepare the F/A's (via training)to handle customer service issues,but I looked up the seniority on both 348 (ewr-sfo) and 1881 (ewr-sea) for the 6th of November (if that is the incorrect date, please let me know): Just as I thought, there is a vast difference in seniority of both crews.

Two of the crew on 348 were fresh out of training and may have been intimidated by the vast delay and weather (thinking that any minute the flight would be cleared for t/o). The other two were more experienced and didn't use good judgement in taking care of the situation. Again, some f/a's probably are in the wrong career or just wack jobs. I'm sure everyone has someone they know that holds a job or position that is above their abilities ("Brownie", former FEMA, comes to mind).

The other crew has years (10-20 years) expericence with these situations and in my opinion used that to judge a common "winter" problem in EWR and NYC airports. I know many people outside and inside the industry think we should replace the "old" f/a's with "new" fresh faces (that are willing to accept lower pay and benefits), but I think this is an example of when "veterans" can make a positive difference.

Sidenote: Before you BBQ me, I know you can also make the case where experience did the opposite, but I would argue those folks use their experience to make for a negative experience, where as , they could have used it constructively.

At this rate you have three (NW, AA, UA) more bad customer service experiences and then you'll be forced to exclusively fly Southwest!

Ever seen Airline? :D

Don'tGoThere: Very interesting! You've reminded me of something that I didn't mention initially because it didn't seem 100% relevent and I had forgotten about it:

During the delay on the ground, I got up during the first 30 minutes or so to head back to the Lav. As I was waiting in line and stretching I heard the flight attendents discussing the delay. The one who appeared to be the youngest of the group, (I'd guess early 30's. I remember her well because she was one of most strikingly beautiful FA's I have seen in some time. Svelte 6 foot tall brunettes don't grow on trees after all.) was telling her colleagues about a flight she worked with Gordon in the front cabin, where this exact same thing happened. They were on the ground for quite some time, and as people were getting restless Gordon told them to pass out the headsets for free and start the IFE up, and that it was only the right thing to do for customers.

After I was done in the Lav, we were sitting for maybe another 15 minutes or so before they started doing exactly that. It was obvious that they felt empowered to do so based on previous experiences from the top of the company. This is the area where management's attitude towards it's customers and employees has the most obvious impact. When you have your beloved CEO telling you to do something simple to make customers happy, that makes an impression. I already knew Gordon was that kind of operator, and wasn't surprised to hear that story or see the resulting follow-up. I just take that kind of service for granted at CO now. I hope it doesn't fade now that he's gone...

Regardless, your point about the experience of the flight crew is well made. A wet behind the ears group of F/A's who don't really know what they can and can't do without the wrath of beancounters coming down on their heads probably won't do anything, with the resulting bad taste people get in their mouths. The encouraging thing is that they CAN make the choices if they have the will to do so. What would a NW FA be able to do in that scenario? Or any other domestic airline, just about?

I was on a ground hold in LGA once for several hours and they told me no free booze (I was invol downgraded... not a happy camper), they said that in Gordo's day they would have but now they could get fired for it...

Again, experience would say no liquor during the big delay, but once airborne, I'd do it on the "down-low" and probably only for the first round. I don't know anyone fired for that, now or when Gordo was here.

If the agents informed me that you had been downgraded, that would have impact on my decision to offer you free drinks (again, not until you were liquored up). If you told me, with no confirmation from the agents, I'd think you were trying to pull a fast one.

I can tell you who was on that plane, I have their names. I won't do it here, but I've already sent that in - and BTW, I also got the Capt's name, who seemed "experienced" the FO was a young guy and got his name too.

you know, all I want is an email saying .. "sorry".. that sucked and wish it was better. NOTHING! how would NW deal with it? well, since I'm going to fly them all the time now through DTW, we'll find out, so far they have been great... and I love DTW airport. For those of you who have done the "mad dash" at EWR trying to get a plane from gate 110 to 89, the red train of love is a wonderful solution. I've had 5 min to go to catch at plane at DTW and have made it with that train...

so, never again.. SFO - DTW - HPN my new route, or SFO - DTW - BOS, never again will I fly into EWR.... EVER.

They're probably delighted to lose you as a customer.

Worst Ever... Update
 

A new update -- finally after a month they got back to me... I will never fly Continental again... I have my two first class ticks to Hawaii and that will be the last time I fly them.


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 9:20 AM
To: William Coleman
Subject: RE: EWR - SFO Flight 348

Dear Mr. Coleman:

I agree that waiting nearly a month for a response is excessive. Ever since the beginning of this unusually active hurricane season we have been inundated with an abundance of mail. While it is taking longer than normal to do so, we are committed to responding to every piece of correspondence we receive.

Again, I regret your disappointment in the level of service you received. We continue to seek ways to improve and hope to win back your confidence in the near future.

Sincerely,
Melanie Long
Alliance Customer Care Manager

-----Original Message-----

Sent: 02 Dec 05 10:32:28
To: <[email protected]>
Cc:
Subject: RE: EWR - SFO Flight 348


It only took you a month to respond - forget it, never fly with you again. I think "fell short" is something of an understatement. I've forwarded this correspondance to the FAA and TSA. I will wait for their response - in the meantime, I've switched my upcoming 4 flights to United. You will never get a penny of my money again.



-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Fri 12/2/2005 8:13 AM
To: William Coleman
Cc:
Subject: RE: EWR - SFO Flight 348
Dear Mr. Coleman:

Thank you for taking the time to share your recent travel experience via our web site.

I understand your frustration. We share it. The flight had backed away from the gate, ready to leave before the storm rolled in. However, we could not move further as once an aircraft has backed away from the gate, it is under the control of ATC and cannot make any move without their precise permission to do so.

I apologize for the negative impression which this series of events has created.

While I realize we fell short of your expectations, we ask that you reconsider your current position. We value your patronage and want to remain your airline of choice.

Sincerely,
Melanie Long
Alliance Customer Care Manager


-----Original Message-----


Sent: 07 Nov 05 20:52:53
To: <[email protected]>
Cc:
Subject: EWR - SFO Flight 348

To whom it may concern,

I was on flight 348 last night (Nov 6th) - Onepass number xxxx. I have never been on a CO flight (let alone another airline) that was as screwed up as last night.

We sat on the ramp for 5 1/2 hours, and then took off at 10:30pm for a 6 1/2 hour flight and a full scale prison riot going on in the plane. No food, no drink, NO anything was served on the plane for 5 1/2 hours and people were screaming "get back to the gate" - it was like a rock concert gone bad. I fly a lot and I have NEVER been on a flight or airline that did that - I mean really, get the plane under control. With a completely full plane, and people mulling about the aisles, the plane was a clausterphobia box - my wife and I felt like crazy people on that plane.

I think next time (my advice) - go back to gate or not board the plane with a storm heading into the NYC area. sfo Next time, I'll be smarter and know that "make it" is code for clearing gates so that you can move planes in a delay and keep me in a rat trap for 11 1/2 hours. Shame on you.

I'm done flying out of EWR with CO, it's just been such a hassle lately, no upgrades, no service, PACKED planes. I think my biz will go to NWA with less packed planes to HPN routed through DTW to SFO - it's a real shame, but this was the straw that broke the camels back.

Thanks,