thecupcafe

When I call the MileagePlus number, I always get a call center in India (or thereabouts from what I can tell from the accents). This wouldn't bother me except that not a single person in India has corrected the issue, which has been ongoing for months. Is it possible to reach someone in the US?

I just matched over from Delta, which has amazing customer service for their elite members. Meanwhile, I feel like United just doesn't have their act together at all. There are times I even feel borderline unwelcome. Will any of this improve when I reach 1k, or are the problems with the airline that systemic?

njcommodore

Are you calling the MPSC (mileage plus service center) directly or through the elite desk? If the former, try the latter. The reservations agents will transfer you over and you shouldn't be routed off-shore. If you want to share more details of the problem some of us may be able to offer suggestions on a resolution.

WineCountryUA

UA elites of Gold or higher will get elite phone centers which are better trained (and for USA calls will go to USA phone centers).

What is your problem?

dparkinson

You'll get India for the MPSC if it's after 8PM ET on weekdays. I don't know the weekend MPSC hours in SD/IAH

WineCountryUA

MPSC hours have expanded

Mileage Plus Service Center (MPSC) phone hours

dparkinson

Yes, but the off hours are not staffed onshore. The folks in Rapid City and Houston leave around their dinner hour and pass it off to India for the rest of the night. I don't know what hours are for weekends in the US.

thecupcafe

(1) Sorry for posting this under the mileage runs. That was clearly an error. I tried to fix it but couldn't figure out how to delete. Could someone help on that? I need to delete the duplicate thread I created.

(2) I called the elite line and still ended up getting transferred off-shore. After the agent said it was "all resolved" I called the elite line again and for the first time actually spoke to a domestic agent. The agent saw that the incident had been noted, which is good, but the error had not actually been corrected. Before I was off the phone with the domestic agent I was able to verify the correction on United's website.

Just to be clear, when I call the MPSC and am recognized as being Gold or higher, they route me to better trained reps? If that is what has been happening, then I am very concerned what the regular trained reps are like!

WineCountryUA

Without some idea of the issue, it is going to be hard to help.

thecupcafe

My status was downgraded today for some reason. The domestic rep I spoke with got it fixed (I believe it took a manager to assist) in less time than it took the off-shore rep to *not* fix it.

SFO777

Curious as to why you left DL?
Not many folks are moving to UA these days.

WineCountryUA

When are you calling? and how many times since becoming an elite have you gotten the India call center?

channa

Computer issues like this have happened from time to time since UA downgraded to CO's computer systems about a year ago. Many people have seen mileage removed, status change, mileage changed without any sort of audit trail, etc. It's simply not as clean as DL's systems.

If I were you, I would try to get used to it if you plan on sticking with United. It's not just on the mileage side where the technology is screwed up. Reservations and ticketing has its share of issues as well. Just wait until you get burned by something not ticketing or a rebook that takes an hour.

I'm a DL Elite as well, and while UA may excel in award redemption, that's pretty much it these days compared to DL.

thecupcafe

Usually in the evenings EST. I have gotten the Indian call center about 5 or 6 times. Today was the first time I got someone in the US.

I wouldn't say I've "left" DL. It's just that UA has the timing/routing on international flights that works best. However, I'm starting to think that the extra connections, inconvenient timing, and difficult award redemptions may be preferential to UA's general dysfunction.

Bowgie

To the OP, unlike United, Delta has no off-shore call centers, unless you count Jamaica. (And they're the same as Salt Lake, but with happier accents )

WineCountryUA

As mentioned earlier, late evenings ET the MPSC rolls over to ICC. In general, those are the better ICC agents but they are not as experienced as the USA agents. If you feel better served by the USA agents, then calling earlier in the day or on weekends should work better for you. Also maintaining status (which is useful for most airlines).

The ICC has been a frustration for many, my experience appears to have been better than others.