screwed by the system - how do I ..... constructively?
 

Shortening the story (a lot) ... I got downgraded on SFO->SYD the other night due to what we were told was a mechanical problem with the crew rest compartment heater - so those crew needed seats in C... boom, six of us get downgraded to Y.

THIS SUCKS, BUT .... HAPPENS AND THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M COMPLAINING ABOUT.

What I am complaining about is the borderline farcical way in which everything else was handled, and the half-dozen or more commitments that were made and subsequently broken.

When the SFO CSR came to get me out of my seat with the bad news, I said something like "I know how this works, just tell me the bad news." I'm moved back to Y, and I'm told "you will have a voucher in your email by the time you land". This did not happen. Whether it COULD have happened isn't relevant, if they couldn't do it, they shouldn't have said they could.

Then I'm told that within 24 hours, my GPU will be refunded. Again, it was not. And again, I don't really care (I know I'll get it back EVENTUALLY) but the point is do not make promises you can't keep.

Then the flight delays start - first we are told by the pilot that they didn't put enough fuel on board, and we have to wait 30 minutes. Grr, but whatever. Then I hear the flight attendants saying that they don't have enough meals on board, and sure enough 30 minutes later a ground catering guy comes in with a stack of meals. The online app says "Departure delayed awaiting inbound aircraft" -- which is patently false because that airplane arrived more than 5 hours before and hadn't moved from the gate.

Then when I get to Sydney, I don't have time to wait on an agent, but the purser (who was great, BTW) had taken all my information down and gave it to the agent meeting the flight. When I got off the airplane I spoke to her for a few minutes, and her direct quote was (pointing to my mobile number)

"I will call you on this number this afternoon, you have my word."

And (you guessed it) - 24+ hours later and no call.

Again, I do not care (or at least I'm not *angry*) that they took my seat. I'm beyond furious that every single time I was told that they'd do something, they didn't. What I'm trying to figure out is who can I talk to that might have some chance of actually doing something about it? And I don't even know what that is, but I'd really really like to see something approaching accountability or recognition of mistakes here.

I think most of us would shrug off one or two of those, but it seems like you got a stretch of bad luck.

If I want good service I usually fly another airline. However I'm SFO and EWR based, so UA usually gets the call.

bt

Agree on the shrug, and also on the "captive market" that I am to UA. The part that really really drives me crazy is that three people directly said "I will do <<whatever>> to help fix this" and then did not. For god's sake, if you say "I will call you" then just call. I don't even care if you don't have an answer or can't do anything to help. But just call.

You are right things happen, but where does accountability come into play here? Stories like yours scare the bejesus out of me because at 6'4" and with back issues, I would not be able to make the journey in coach (maybe if I had a bunch of coach seats to myself) - and when I hold a CONFIRMED seat in biz I expect to have that seat.

Question 1 - did they say you had to be downgraded? Could you have said "no thank you"?

Question 2 - were you given an option to take another flight? Airline?

Question 3 - where did you end up sitting in the back? Was it full? (Just curious)

Every single contact you had with the company was a FAIL. No courtesy whatsoever - it's so frustrating. What is happening, people, to this world? Does anyone care anymore!?

The OP is being too nice IMO, I wouldn't be furious as he said, things happen, but as another said, call and say, "I have no answers for you but wanted to follow up..."

Compensation: 30,000 miles + the difference between economy and business class. Per person.

At a minimum.

What a bummer, sorry you did not get C from SFO to SYD.

Awful story but what makes it that much worse is the distance - I've flown that route many times, and the 14-15 hours in Y is absolutely the worst flying experience I've ever had, simply as a function of the length. Adding the frustrations and delays to a flight of that length magnifies the impact.

The GG OVS DOWNGRADE policy stipulates that you get a $1,500 downgrade voucher on the spot. The SFO agent should have done this, but keep in mind the systems are so bad, that it takes several minutes per person to do the voucher (and rebook the downgrade, etc.). If there were a few people to downgrade, that would have been significant time, and at the time, the delay was not known.

My last downgrade took about 20 minutes to process, and that was once I made the agent aware that the F cabin was oversold. Their systems are not visually appealing, and things that are pertinent to them are not always prominently displayed.

The GPU refund process is not always automatic. It's supposed to be, but it also depends on how they handled the downgrade. Were you issued a coach BP? Did your reservation show you flew in coach? It's possible the agent got too busy and did not process the downgrade (remember the time it takes to do stuff in the system multiplied by the number of customers impacted). If they did not downgrade you in the computer, the GPU would have been used (and it will make your claim more difficult).

Just curious, did they give you an option to fly the next day, either via LAX or SFO?

These Syd flights always seem to have lots of upgraders. What is the current UA policy of downgrading? It seems strange to me that a 1K on a W class ticket would have been downgraded on this flight. Even if status is no longer used for downgrade sorting, the class of ticket should have seen a miles upgrade be downgraded before a W class. I bet the GA just wanted your particular seat for crew rest and couldn't be bothered sorting it out.....

I realize that all airlines have issues (especially U.S. carriers), but I would let your wallet do the talking.

At some point (which I have passed) having consistent service/product is worth more than schedule convenience.

I moved all my business (except leftover FF mileage tickets) from UA to AA and have not looked back.

Yep, I had a similar situation last year with a d/g on DXB-IAD. I didn't get the $1,500 voucher until I got UA Insider involved thru FT...I know it is dissappointing to have people promise you stuff. Obviosuly, they are just doing it to gid rid of the customer, knowing that the customer has little or no way to track them back after...:td:

Reading all these posts make me hope for a "What to do in a downgrade situation" wiki. The only time it's every happened to me was LGA-IAD on a PMUA regional jet. The gate agent was awesome, came on board, said there was issue with overbooked F and gave me a $400 voucher. I was more than pleased.

With all the new downgrade shenanigans that I've read about during the past year, I want to be prepared for what I should do. With my luck, I know I have a downgrade coming.

I know about GG OVS Downgrade, but is the bottom line to always demand some form of compensation before moving out of your seat? Before the door closes? It seems like the new UA doesn't think it needs to compensate for people that got into F for free (be it CPU, RPU, GPU, miles, etc).

How else can this be dealt with. If they told me I was being moved to Y on a 14 hour flight, I would tell them to go [jump in the lake], no chance. If you have a business class ticket how can they force you into the Y torture chamber for half a day? Why should paying customers get screwed over, let the crew rest in Y.

I hate that attitude! It is not "for free." IT may not be paid for with money, but some kind of currency is used, whether miles, certs, etc.

In one sense or another, we have worked heard to earn that alternative currency.

This is not accurate.

The downgrade policy explicitly addresses this. Any downgrade, irrespective of how one got into the premium cabin, gets the voucher + fare difference. Now if you were on a CPU, there is no fare difference to return, but you still get the voucher.

The issue is not that the policy is not reasonable, it's perfectly fine. The issues are awareness on the front line of the policy and the cumbersome nature of the computer system which deters execution of said policy.

When you're looking at 10-20 minutes per downgrade x 6 downgrades, unless you have an army of agents twiddling their thumbs, that's a very labor intensive undertaking for an already busy agent trying to get a flight out.

So even if the agent is aware of the process (not a given), it's often orders of magnitude easier to kick the can down the line and blow off the customer than to do the right thing because the systems are so bad. And unless the customer knows about the correct procedure, chances are the BS will work.