PV_Premier

I really hope this one comes back on UA where it hurts. Awful to read all these stories in this and other thread.

schley

Called 3 times today to the 1k line

1st call 70 minutes on hold 10 am CST
2nd call 118 minutes on hold 11:30 CST
3rd call less than 2 minutes on hold 22:00 CST (am i lucky or what?)

I was told 1200 callers on hold this past Thursday and 900 this morning, down to 369 just now.

hobo13

Last night, a personal friend of mine (and also FTer) called me and pretty much begged me to call the 1K line on his behalf to get his flight fixed. Of course, I obliged. But I got a busy signal 3 straight times, got mad, and started this thread instead. (Though I guess if I kept trying, I'd eventually get through, just like a GM.)

Maybe there is a business opportunity here. Since COdbaUA can't seem to prioritize their 1K/GS passengers anymore, maybe I should implement a queue for FTers (for a nominal fee, of course)

I call UA, wait on hold for X hours and finally get through. Then I start having FTers IM me stating that they need to speak to an agent. When it is their turn, I have them dial my conference line and then connect them with the UA agent. When they are done, I don't hang up, but rather IM the next FTer to have him call into my conference line. Wonder how many 'friends' the UA agent would be willing to help on a single call? Maybe we could get her entire shift?

So, what would you pay for this service right now?

(Note: I'm just theorizing here. I'm not offering to do this. Yet.)

username

UA is going to read hobo13's post and get the idea to start a 900 number that gets prioritized higher than the GS/1K line Or, have miles/GPU/RPU deducted for moving up the queue

julp

I've been trying all weekend as well on the Premier line. I just received a new message just now for the first time, telling me what my wait time is. I hadn't received that before. It said 3 minutes, and after about 8 minutes I actually got connected to an agent! Looks like United has been upgrading the system?! Seems like the worst time to do it, but at least they're making progress.

stanscan

After 2.5 hours on hold at 3:40 AM local time, I finally give up! I cannot keep my eyes open any longer. Will try again in a few hours.... good night all...

JC5280

Meanwhile, the next few 1Ks in line are watching their hold times double…

hobo13

Now that you mention it, I'm actually surprised they don't offer that. Seems not much different then selling priority access.

If you paid attention to this thread, you would see that the prioritization system is failing right now. Otherwise there would be no need for such a service!

cmdinnyc

This is pretty much spot on. The airlines KNOW IRROPS happen. They know it's cold and it snows in the winter. They know when hurricane season occurs.

I'd give them a pass for an event like an earthquake or similar event that is, in fact, unpredictable. But on the whole the weather is relatively predictable in the short run (hey - it's probably going to snow in the northeast in 2-3 days) as well as in the long run (it's cold and snowy in January in North America and warm with thunderstorms in July and August). There's simply no good excuse for not having well-planned processes (with the supporting technology) for managing IRROPS.

enviroian

1K line currently down

karenkay

was able to get into premier line, told there'd be a 15 minute hold. 30 minutes later, still waiting. (not terribly upset about it, just another data point.) got a very competent houston-based agent at the 35 minute mark.

onocoffee

I spent three days trying to get ahold of an agent. Waiting about 1.5 to 2 hours each attempt. Finally got through yesterday, spoke to an agent for at least 30 minutes (maybe 45) and just checked the total call time: 3h32m.

All in all, I'm not upset. It was a storm that caused IRROPS across half of America. That's thousands of people stranded somewhere. I'm glad I wasn't one of them!(today, that is, because at some point in the future I will be one of those stranded)

villox

I'm actually going to disagree with this. Comparing resourced needed to handle spike in say, holiday demand at Amazon, which occurs on predictable timeframe, and IRROPS due to a nearly unprecedented weather situation (seriously - when was the last time you saw a weather waiver that spanned multiple hubs and eight days?) is not fair.

United needs trained representatives to handle this sort of demand. How many of these people do you want to be sitting around the rest of the year just to offer lower hold times in case of severe weather? Also, how do we know that the system isn't working as designed? Let's say the hold times got to be 4 hours plus. What's better - having people sit on hold this time, or simply offering a busy signal which means - we're too busy to take your call!

I would actually much prefer getting kicked out with a busy signal than sitting on hold for hours on end with no actual certainty you'll ever get through.

And by the way, even Amazon didn't meet their forecasted demand. UPS couldn't handle the volume of orders and thus some delays in getting people their packages on time occurred.

nerdbirdsjc

The united.com support number has maintained hold times of under 15 minutes throughout the weekend, and connects to very sharp agents in Manila and Pune.

villox

That number was quoting me 3 minute hold times on Saturday evening. I gave up after 25 cause it wasn't urgent. When I called back it was quoting me 60.

Was better on Sunday morning but not until about 7am EST.