United loses a 10 year old in ORD
Aug 19, 2012, 10:37 am
#166
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 251
The India call center first lied to the parents and said she arrived at her final destination, then put them on hold for nearly an hour in total. They finally reached someone at ORD on the premier line, who also refused to help until the parents were able to appeal to the agent as a mother.
Inexcusable across the board.
Aug 19, 2012, 10:39 am
#167
Join Date: Apr 2012
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 835
I'm sure the playroom is safe. I'm also sure that quite a bit of unsupervised time passed before she got there.
I can't believe anybody here wants to absolve the people that broke their promise ( and contract) to supervise this child just because she was lucky enough not to have had a disaster while the GA wasn't paying attention.
Hey, what does the crime matter when we've already decided to absolve the criminals?
I can't believe anybody here wants to absolve the people that broke their promise ( and contract) to supervise this child just because she was lucky enough not to have had a disaster while the GA wasn't paying attention.
Hey, what does the crime matter when we've already decided to absolve the criminals?
Nobody wants to absolve anyone of anything. UA is responsible for failing to perform the service they were contracted to perform. They therefore refunded the payment they receieved to perform that service. That's probably the extent of their legal obligation, but the parents are free to seek other compensation for the harm they and their daughter suffered. That can negotiate that directly with UA or seek redress through the civil courts. That's how it works. UA would probably be well advised to make a strong gesture of goodwill, but that's between them and the parents/child.
UA did not commit a criminal act (judging from the publically known facts). It's as simple as that.
Aug 19, 2012, 10:44 am
#168
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: UA MP, DL Sky Miles
Posts: 153
I'm sure the playroom is safe. I'm also sure that quite a bit of unsupervised time passed before she got there.
I can't believe anybody here wants to absolve the people that broke their promise ( and contract) to supervise this child just because she was lucky enough not to have had a disaster while the GA wasn't paying attention.
Hey, what does the crime matter when we've already decided to absolve the criminals?
I can't believe anybody here wants to absolve the people that broke their promise ( and contract) to supervise this child just because she was lucky enough not to have had a disaster while the GA wasn't paying attention.
Hey, what does the crime matter when we've already decided to absolve the criminals?
There is no evidence that she was ever left unsupervised or out of the sight of a United employee. Even the parents have since stated that she was never left unattended.
Aug 19, 2012, 10:50 am
#169
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SEA/YVR/BLI
Programs: UA "Lifetime" Gold, AS MVPG100K, OW Emerald, HH Lifetime Diamond, IC Plat, Marriott Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 9,490
No. The UA people with her refused her repeated requests to let her call home.
The India call center first lied to the parents and said she arrived at her final destination, then put them on hold for nearly an hour in total. They finally reached someone at ORD on the premier line, who also refused to help until the parents were able to appeal to the agent as a mother.
Inexcusable across the board.
The India call center first lied to the parents and said she arrived at her final destination, then put them on hold for nearly an hour in total. They finally reached someone at ORD on the premier line, who also refused to help until the parents were able to appeal to the agent as a mother.
Inexcusable across the board.
What if my child’s travel is affected by delays, cancellations or other problems?
It can be very stressful when flights do not operate as planned, especially for unaccompanied children. In the case of weather or other delays and cancellations, United will contact you or the person designated to meet your child at his or her final destination. You can also track the status of the flight on united.com. Advise your child to remain with a United representative at all times. Consider giving your child a calling card or teaching him or her how to make collect calls so he or she can reach you.
Last edited by Fredd; Aug 19, 2012 at 10:59 am
Aug 20, 2012, 3:14 pm
#170
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: KAUS
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 1,118
Originally Posted by perezoso
We've never had a problem and always thought that the drive, and the inconvenience of restricting ourselves to nonstops, is a small price to pay to avoid potential panic like these parents experienced.
Not saying it's the parents' fault... just saying that there are some common sense things you can do to try to avoid this possible eventuality.
Not saying it's the parents' fault... just saying that there are some common sense things you can do to try to avoid this possible eventuality.
Again, not blaming the parents, but speaking as a parent, the common sense solution here would have been to avoid the solo connection.
This could be done, for example, by flying a parent with her. Or choosing a different camp.
Yeah, I read UA's pledges too, and I send my kid solo too... I'm just saying that the parents here had some common sense options to avoid this that they didn't avail themselves of.
Aug 20, 2012, 3:31 pm
#171
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Programs: DL SM Plat, B6 TrueBlue, UA MP, AAdvantage
Posts: 10,008
Right, which is pretty much on-point for what I'm saying.
Again, not blaming the parents, but speaking as a parent, the common sense solution here would have been to avoid the solo connection.
This could be done, for example, by flying a parent with her. Or choosing a different camp.
Yeah, I read UA's pledges too, and I send my kid solo too... I'm just saying that the parents here had some common sense options to avoid this that they didn't avail themselves of.
Again, not blaming the parents, but speaking as a parent, the common sense solution here would have been to avoid the solo connection.
This could be done, for example, by flying a parent with her. Or choosing a different camp.
Yeah, I read UA's pledges too, and I send my kid solo too... I'm just saying that the parents here had some common sense options to avoid this that they didn't avail themselves of.
Obviously, If a family is sending their daughter from the Bay Area to Traverse City, no airline will fly it non-stop...
My kids have often flown as UM's, including internationally.
I have my share of issues and glitches, but my kids--thankfully--were always taken care by airline personnel.
The biggest issue I had was when I arrived at JFK and the ticket agent told me I wasn't the person listed as the one greeting the children.
After discussing it with customer service for over 45 minutes, the flight landed and the airline employee escorting my children called me...
I was, in fact, the adult listed, as it turned out the ticket agent was looking at the wrong flight segment, the outbound, when the kids' grandma was picking them up...
In my experience, the airline that treats UM's the best is Air France. Not only are they very careful with the kids, but they are also very kind and have plenty of "kid goodies" available for them, including children's meals, and games and toys.