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Sept. 2016: Another passenger "ripped" from her Business Seat

Sept. 2016: Another passenger "ripped" from her Business Seat

Old Apr 24, 2017, 2:10 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: LAX/FAO
Posts: 354
Originally Posted by Beltway2A
The article references a civil suit.
Yes, it referenced a "new" lawsuit. The article has been updated extensively since I read it, but I still have it open to compare. I see that "new lawsuit" is now removed - is it not new? If it was just filed, this incident happened last year. Why wait until now to file suit if she has a case? And not even take the time to get the facts correct? She has resources available to her that most don't.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 2:15 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by hughw
It's just getting worse for UA. Conceivably, the seat was needed for a FM, but she said there were empty seats that she could have been moved to. And to give her a $750 voucher is adding to the insult.

http://nypost.com/2017/04/24/united-...-of-the-plane/
I'd demand the immediate refund ($1150) plus that GG OVS downgrade eVoucher plus all the damages that have caused her. Not even sure if she pursued the upgrade refund yet.

Fellas, it is possible that she's upgrading both ways, and the return is not necessarily LHR-EWR. But boy, it has got to be one of the worst redemption case I have ever heard along with 60k AMex points.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 2:26 pm
  #33  
 
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What does FM stand for?
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 2:28 pm
  #34  
 
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Federal Marshal or Federal Air Marshal....its the NY Post.....they dont really know much
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 2:49 pm
  #35  
 
Join Date: May 2013
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Originally Posted by spin88
I don't know about fishy, the type of treatment the girl received is sort of standard operating procedure by UA at Newark.
While many customer service employees in New York can have a certain brusqueness, it seems a stretch to paint all (or most) employees at EWR as either giddy to downgrade double upgrades or willing to physically manhandle passengers.

Originally Posted by spin88
On the first point, I did not claim any post "United beats up Chinese Passenger" events, just noting that it is open season on United. I would assume competent management would have made this clear to line employees, and told them in no uncertain terms to use their common sense to avoid escalating CS issues. But given that such a communication would likely have leaked by now, hard to say.
There haven't been any credible reports of escalated CS issues in recent weeks.

Dragging up old issues in an effort to make a quick buck has no bearing on the current state of United customer service.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 3:54 pm
  #36  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by Lani1
Not surprising, I watch UA employees treat folks with zero respect daily. 52 segments already this year, 120+ last 17 years - every year gets worse

Since 9-11 they have become unbelievably cocky and aggressive as they know they can get away with it

Many times I have had to bite my tongue...
My brother who is a now retired attorney ran a cottage industry defending pax on UA as well multiple other carriers that had run ins with airline employees. He said much the same thing to me that after 9/11 things just got crazy. Simple complaints lead to trumped up charges of endangering the safety of airline personnel and interfering with airline safety personnel. Some of these trumped up charges were initially listed as felonies with massive fines! He often quickly go them reduced but it was always a hassle for the charged individual and usually quite costly. Some of the stories I had heard over the years were crazy and appalling.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 3:55 pm
  #37  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
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Is this reported anywhere besides the NY Post? Knowing the Post's ethics I have to wonder what really happened and why they are just now publishing it.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:01 pm
  #38  
 
Join Date: May 2007
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From what I can glean from the details, one has a young passenger ("socialite", no less), who upgraded during check-in from E+ to BF.

10 minutes prior to departure, they down-graded her. The alleged "empty" biz seats may still have been awaiting arriving pax, deadheading crew, or FAMs.

So they down-graded her. That's happened to me and many on this board (although in my case, it happened before boarding, but I have colleagues that had to relinquish seats in forward cabins). Yes, usually last upgraded is the first to be downgraded. I don't know of anyone that was forcibly "clawed" from their seat...people usually understand that they have to move back. No one likes this...

She should have had her upgrade fee returned, and possibly given a downgrade kit, and a voucher isn't bad, either.

Perhaps, given her background, there might have been a little bit of "DYKWIA" going on here? Really hard to tell from just this story.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:08 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: May 2014
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The fact that it is alleged the FA called the complainant a 'c-nt' is probably the part that makes me really doubt the story. A downgrade and FA rudeness all certainly sound like realistic scenarios but that word gets me to raise my eyebrow. I've seen a fair few UA FAs act in a less than pleasant way toward passengers and others but never seen them resort to extremely crude insults when they go on their officious power trips.

Even as far as insults go it seems like an odd one given how it's considered so very off-limits in an American context. I know it's now a bit more commonly used due to recent hipster Anglophilia, but that is more likely to be the complainant's social set..
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:13 pm
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by Ber2dca
The fact that it is alleged the FA called the complainant a 'c-nt'
Now, the post said "c-t", so I think he called her a "cat", although it might have been "cot" With those offset gold framed shades, she is clearly trying to be a cool cat, succeeding? not so much....
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:14 pm
  #41  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
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Nonsense is a bonanza

Originally Posted by trk1
This non-sense article is why flyer talk is going down hill.
Clicks... Clicks... Clicks...

There will be wannabes coming out of the woodwork wanting their 15 minutes of fame accompanied by the commensurate payday from UA. Don Henley "Dirty Laundry" comes to life.


SL
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 4:22 pm
  #42  
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Originally Posted by princeville
Yes, it referenced a "new" lawsuit. The article has been updated extensively since I read it, but I still have it open to compare. I see that "new lawsuit" is now removed - is it not new? If it was just filed, this incident happened last year. Why wait until now to file suit if she has a case?
The statute of limitations for torts in most states is one to three years. The lawsuit presumably included a cause of action for a tort because of the request for punitive damages.

Why would you think a lawsuit has to be filed right away? Unless someone is seeking injunctive relief, there's no rush to get it filed, as long as you're within the statute of limitations.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 5:01 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by PaulInTheSky
I'd demand the immediate refund ($1150) plus that GG OVS downgrade eVoucher plus all the damages that have caused her. Not even sure if she pursued the upgrade refund yet.

Fellas, it is possible that she's upgrading both ways, and the return is not necessarily LHR-EWR. But boy, it has got to be one of the worst redemption case I have ever heard along with 60k AMex points.
Amex points are a terrible waste to use for air fares or upgrades of one sort or another. But people do it, including my brother-in-law. They never get transferred to an airline that's not a partner such as UA. Basically UA sells an airfare at whatever the market price is and you pay for it with some combination of cash and/or points which typically have a value of from $0.005 to $0.01. So if it cost say, $1000 for an airfare, you could buy it from AMEX for 100,000 points.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 5:06 pm
  #44  
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 807
Originally Posted by Ber2dca
The fact that it is alleged the FA called the complainant a 'c-nt' is probably the part that makes me really doubt the story
re-read the article. the AGENT named Exxxxe Dxxx is not
a F/A. Sloppy journalism is bad enough... reading comprehension is worse. The agents name is mentioned, so where is the outrage from others saying getting employee names is next to impossible ? I know fa's who have been harrased/stalked on layovers by seedy type pax who somehow got crew member names.
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Old Apr 24, 2017, 5:08 pm
  #45  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
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Originally Posted by hughw
Amex points are a terrible waste to use for air fares or upgrades of one sort or another. But people do it, including my brother-in-law. They never get transferred to an airline that's not a partner such as UA. Basically UA sells an airfare at whatever the market price is and you pay for it with some combination of cash and/or points which typically have a value of from $0.005 to $0.01. So if it cost say, $1000 for an airfare, you could buy it from AMEX for 100,000 points.
I know you can redeem Amex points to purchase tickets, but is it even possible to redeem points to partially pay for an upgrade (in this case E to E+)?
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