emcampbe

Not much to add here that hasn't already been said, except to commend the OP for coming out in Post 1 of this thread and stating all the facts. Most of these threads start out with something like 'UA closed my account, I didn't do anything wrong'and take 5 or so pages of post to get to the point where they will admit the issue at hand.

username

It does seem this is a little too drastic. I think in the airline ranks, some regret having the whole loyalty program scheme and they try to get rid of the customer one at a time....

UAL250

Tough to hear about all those lost miles and upgrades. That certainly does not sound fun.

But you broke the rules clearly and UA took the right course of action. Best action for you here on out, like others have said, is to plead for reinstatement. Good luck.

bocastephen

No, jettison of a high spending long time GS/1K member for one sold certificate is not the right course of action. In essence, they just fired a customer who is likely spending 30K+ a year - is that proportional to the crime? They could have just canceled the GPUs from the account and issued a stern warning that the next time, the account is closed and the relationship terminated.

Of course this is the airline that gives a Kettle a F seat for the same cost as a couple checked bags, so their ability to account for both hard and soft costs is very suspect - as is their logical and critical thinking.

So now this customer will likely take their high spend to DL or AA, probably with a status match, and UA can sit back with a smug face and feel happy the rules were enforced with absolute certainty.

mjg59

Not random, but I'll ask friends and coworkers (and even friends of coworkers…) if I've got a cert that's going to expire before I can use it.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

This will not "really" stop it. Persons caught will still claim ignorance (truthful or not).

...and half of those jettisoned from AA or DL for selling certs will find their way to UA, probably with a status match, and DL/AA can sit back with a smug face and feel happy the rules were enforced with absolute certainty.

It's not a one-way street from UA. Probably a zero-sum exchange of non-compliant customers. If so, the pain falls mainly on the violators.

MY-OTHER-BROTHER-"TED"

Unknown to many, there are actually dozens of highly trained detective/super sleuth units throughout the system. These gumshoes usually stay hot on the track of scofflaws that they have expertise in sniffing out and capturing, and once they nap em they throw the book at them. In fact, in the past 20 years, I have never heard of anyone getting a break from these bloodhounds once they nab their man.

[off topic text edited by Moderator.]

snaxmuppet

Not even sure it is appropriate for me to post to this thread... I am not a frequent flyer nor do I live in the USA so don't fly UA but on reading this thread I am sitting here outraged that such punitive action was taken by UA.

Of course, I have to agree with the majority here that the rules were clearly broken and so while I feel for the OP he can't be too surprised at what happened. Airlines must clip this kind of thing in the bud if they are to stand any chance of controlling potential losses. But surely, with such a valuable customer, there should be a degree of flexibility? It makes sense to take significant and effective action immediately but now the point has been made and so IMO it would make good business sense for UA to at least restore some of his status.

On a more general note... how many of us (and I very much include me in this) actually read T&Cs when buying or using a service, joining a club etc? Not many of us I would guess. Ignorance is no defense so perhaps this is a head-up for us all to, may be, take a read through the T&Cs of the various services we use... I know I will.

LAXOGG

Agree. United's ecert "generosity" is predicated upon the 75% breakage rate.

dordal

And this was truthfully the first time?

That's a little concerning about eBay then: they're giving away (or selling) our personal information for non law enforcement purposes. If you have anymore info on how they found you I'd be very curious.

I would think UA would reinstate you, but agree with others to apologize profusely and admit you messed up.

Giggleswick

I'm not sure that you'd want to use that first sentence in further dealings with UA. The only way that you could even have faced a similar situation with another company would be to have violated their T&Cs, too, or done something similarly against the rules. Surely you don't want to say, in essence "I've messed up with other companies, too, but they've forgiven me."

kilo

I also agree that forfeiture of status, miles and instruments is a big enough deterrent for the rest of us (frequent flyers). Keeping the OP's account open gives UA an easy passage to continue to get valuable revenue from him. (Whilst getting those HVFs kicked out from AA and DL for the same reason).

If they repeat the offence then they should be kicked out for life.

mvoight

But, it was one CAUGHT attempt at selling. That doesn't mean the airline is not going to think he hasn't done it multiple times before. If not caught before selling it on EBAY, he might have continue to sell multiple certs until getting caught.

Hipplewm

ECERT - it is 3 pages long, printed on boarding card stuff

http://imgur.com/a/aWdfY

I got a security token error trying to upload them here, and imgur sucks, but you get the idea.....number 6 Is the important one...

chipper

Learning from the painful lessons of others is why many of us have been coming here for years. I think the advice is clear--you have no negotiating leverage so go in with full humility and let them decide whose rules you will be flying under--UA or another carrier.