nookanaya

I've only had to call once in the last couple weeks. There was a brief wait of about 30 seconds and then I got an agent who was knowledgeable and willing to be pretty flexible with my reservations after a schedule change. I was just changing flights though, not applying or preserving upgrades.

dank0014

I haven't had an issue with the wait time but agree, agents have been very poor. Got into a good argument with an agent who was sure she was right that if an RPU doesn't clear that we don't get it back....I even read the terms to her and told her where to go on the website to review and had her read it to me. She still didn't get it, thus HUCA had to be done.

Second call was an issue where I had to have my ticket reissued due to a change that didn't work itself out after 48 hours. That call resulted in three transfers and the last agent being able to fix the issue in 30 seconds verses the 40 minutes of transfer with me telling them what I had to do.

Third call was just fun listening to the agent when I had to call in to change a flight that 1K have to pay a fee to SDC and that E+ there is a fee as well. She had to call her supervisor and when she came back she said she would make a "one time exception"....I said great as I didn't want to argue against stupidity of agents not knowing their own airline benefits for elites.

This all within the past two weeks. I am looking forward to the rest of the year....

higgsjoa

I had a very poor agent this week. She answered, `hello, this is ABC from the 1k premier desk,' so I was initially hopeful, although she was difficult to understand. I had to guess many times as to what she was asking. I needed to change the date of the middle leg of a 3-legged trip, where I had previously secured R-space on all legs. I was dreading losing the R-space on the outbound (now R0). Instead of having to rebook and reprice the entire itinerary, the agent merely changed the middle flight. I asked if there was a change in cost, and she said "no change." I asked her to email the new itinerary and she said she had done so (email never arrived). Now when I look at my reservation, the itinerary notes the change and I was able to pick a seat (still R-space) for my new flight date. However, I was never charged a change fee and the receipt still shows the original flight dates. I don't know if I have a valid reservation for the new date or not. I dread calling back to ask if the reservation is valid...

physioprof

I've gotten through very quickly as a Platinum over the last few weeks, and have been pretty happy with the service. I did have one agent who was a little brusque with me when an equipment change caused me to lose my seat assignment for a flight within 24 hours, and she said it could only be handled at the airport. I continued to ask her some questions, just to try to clarify what exactly had happened and what my options were, and she got a little impatient. She obviously wanted me off the phone. The opposite happened more recently, where the agent was providing me with all kinds of long detailed explanations of fare buckets and UP/UPDI fares, to a level of detail that was definitely beyond what I needed.

greenpau

Not to pile on, but agree ... lately I've had really mixed interactions with agents understanding basic policies. I've had superb service from the HNL and SLC call centers, but over the past month I've had to HUACA more than ever over very simple requests or be transferred to a "Real" GS agent (their words) ... for example, today's GS agent insisted that I "absolutely could not" apply an RPU to upgrade a ticket into PN class. After politely sparring with her for a few moments, I thanked her, HUACA, and the second agent did it in less than 30 seconds. If this is the "best" level of service, I can only imagine how challenging it can be for someone without status.

bmwe92fan

I honestly think the problem is that your first agent isn't a GS agent at all bc all of the real ones were probably busy - but I know that is how they answered the phone! My impression is that there are a lot less high level / experienced agents left (1k/GS) - and even though they answer the phone that way they aren't the agents we have grown accustomed to expect at all...

greenpau

Spot on, bmwe92fan, and commensurate with your earlier posts in this thread ... as I described, some agents even stated "I have to transfer you to a real GS agent for this request".

I guess my point is really around just how consistently poor the experience has been in the past month. I actually think it logical that demand flows to available call center agents to sustain service metrics, but the clear lack of training these agents have received on even the most basic of tasks - upgrading with an instrument, syncing a ticket, checking available inventory - is surprising.

To get a different answer every time you call, debate service policies, and then be given incorrect information in a surly manner as a result of incomplete training is not helping UA in retaining business and winning new, and this worries me. Flyer Friendly for me would be having HUACA a thing of the past!

physioprof

I think it would make people happier if, when being asked something that they don't understand, agents would simply say, "I don't know if that can be done, nor how to do it. Let me transfer you to someone who does.", as opposed to the default response being, "No. You can't do that."

But I guess the agents with the shallowest knowledge are also least likely to recognize when they don't understand something:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning...3Kruger_effect

TonyBurr

Since UA IT is so antiquated and I cannot book a multi leg trip on line I tried calling the Premier line and the annoucement said it would be a 20 minute wait. Is this due to the proposed FA work stopage tomorrow, weather or ???

I cannot imagine what the general phone line wait time is like if it is 20 minutes for Premier (if there really is such a thing).

FlyinHawaiian

Huge ground stop here in Chicago for all airlines plus weather in NYC and IAD. I'd consider cutting UA a little slack here for the long phone queues.

TonyBurr

OK, that explains the quesion I asked.

Often1

There's also no Premier Line and hasn't been for 3+ years. Your MP#, whether recognized or entered, simply places you in the queue for a more senior agent and further up the queue.

You can call the general # and enter your MP# and be treated as a GS or call GS and not enter a MP# and be treated as nothing.

wanderingkev

I have had 10 min plus on GS line several times recently

goalie

And from our friends at the FAA website

FlyinHawaiian

I am so looking forward to flying ORD - LGA today