dmodemd

Hmm... might be a good idea to allow for adding pictures to our UA profile!

cchuang1980: maybe looking for a 32 yr old Asian?

ToneDaBass

My biggest beef with COdbaUA is that the SHARES system is horrible and nobody can use it quickly. By the time it takes an agent a half hour to figure out a good flight alternative, that flight might be taking off! pmUA's booking system was much much much much better for giving agents quick access to the tools to serve their customers.

Has SMI/J done any analysis on worker productivity with SHARES, and realized that the time lost from the inefficiency of the system is costing them more than the prices of the better pmUA booking software?

FlyWorld

I doubt they'd invest in developing metrics that quantify the magnitude of their failure.

unavaca

One could say the same thing about training CO agents on FastAir or Apollo. They had to choose one or the other and SHARES was chosen. If Apollo had been chosen, there'd be complaints about PMCO agents unfamiliarity with Apollo.

channa

You're assuming the systems were roughly equal when they were not.

Fastair was much more modern and intuitive than SHARES. While there would have been complaints either way, no doubt, the efficiency gain would have been accepted much more readily.

Also, you're assuming that there is a disparity between UA and CO agents' performance on SHARES. I do not believe there is one, and if there is one, the level of impact is not even noticeable.

I have had several situations post-3/3 where CO agents have incorrectly handled or otherwise botched my rebook, resulting in significant time spent.

I even had an excellent, knowledgeable CO rep recently, but it still took 40 minutes to rebook and process a VDB.

Unfortunately, that is the new norm.

unavaca

SHARES is akin to Apollo, whereas FastAir is more like the CheckIt apps that came out last year. I get the impression that CheckIt and FastAir both work pretty well these days.

I could say the same about FastAir. I've had PMUA SFO agents who couldn't add me to PMUA's VDB DM list and PMCO IAH agents who couldn't process a VDB.

That's not been the case for me. SFO and SJC agents (both UA and CO) have been great. Companion upgrades, SDC, and standby have all been fine (I haven't had a SFO VDB opportunity yet). I had some issues with a VDB in IAH during the Summer weather last year, but otherwise, things have been chugging along mostly fine for the last few months.

channa

Not quite. CheckIt is far from comprehensive. There are lots of things that CheckIt cannot do. UA agents never left FastAir.


And now with CO's systems, I can often not get on the VDB list since I'm in F. Not that it matters, the VDB list is so difficult that most agents don't use it.


You've been lucky and/or have not been doing many rebooks. I spent 40 minutes a week or so ago with that rebook; the previous week I dropped a shortie segment that had been cancelled, and it took 2 agents and 2 helpdesk agents to drop it; and the week before that, I was rerouted to DL and it took 2 agents, 2 supervisors and 4 helpdesk calls 90 minutes to get me going.

These all would have been < 5-minute transactions with the old UA. The only blame lies with SHARES.

FlyWorld

Channa, how are you able to tolerate this? Hasn't it beaten you down yet?

usa18dca

He's a Sadomasochistic 1K that lives for this kind of abuse from UA.

FlyWorld

He must be.

After my last experience, I don't know if I can take it anymore. And, what I've been through seems like a fraction of what Channa has been through.

I'm not sure now whether or not I'll ever fly UA again.

It's not about anger at how I was treated, and it's less about how the value proposition has been gutted, and only marginally about the desire not to do business with a hostile, arrogant, and dishonest regime - more than anything else, it has to do with the fact that I simply can't take it any more. I'm exhausted and worn out from how hard I have to work just to get from A to B with this disaster of an airline. I just don't have the time or energy to sustain this level of effort for an activity that formerly required hardly any effort whatsoever.

channa

If I weren't in striking distance of 2MM, I wouldn't tough it out like this.

spin88

I am less than one year of travel from 2MM, but that is not really a draw for me. I figure I'll wait a few years, see if they fix their issues with new management, then go back to UA (if I am not latched into DL or AA by then).

unavaca

If it's so bad, why even go for 2MM? It's not like life is going to magically suck less at that magic number.

1KPath

...and I am not so sure that achieving 2MM is worth the "pain"...I am less than one year's flying from 4MM and lifetime GS but I am making no special effort to fly UA with it poor reliability, miserable customer service and, most importantly, the executive suite's disdain for its most loyal customers. The reality is that achieving "status" with the "new"United Airlines is not worth the misery of achieving it!

u600213

Tonight 02/07/13 it is snowing at ORD and lots of delayed and cancelled flights. I am 1K. My flight on United Express 3416 ORD-SGF got rolling 10-20 minute delays waiting for incoming aircraft for several hours. When the aircraft arrived, it had a mechanical problem. After waiting another hour for mechanics to do something, the flight was cancelled. The later flight had already been cancelled for unknown reasons. I went to the RCC near the lower numbered B gates and was offered a hotel voucher for a free night at the ORD Hilton and two $10 food vouchers. I did not have to dispute the cause of cancellation or anything. Hopefully my re-booked flight tomorrow will be happy.

All very good. Just like before 03/03/12 but with much more typing required by the RCC agent.