JNelson113

You missed my earlier post that the phone was no where near her face? It was not shoved in her face in the slightest.

My radar was on. I waited in line until she finished with the prior person and looked up at me. I stepped up and said "Hi. Will you please add me to the standby list?" and showed her my boarding pass in my phone. Went down from there.

I have been an elite on United about 25 years and have interacted with thousands of great employees. Never had an experience anywhere near this.

It was 100% there. I had already gotten an elite upgrade on the flight that I was scheduled on!

I tried to register for standby at the kiosk and it did not present that particular flight as an option. It gave me other flights but not that one. I did try that first.

I did not try to hand my phone to the GA, just used it to show her my boarding pass. {A}t no time was it "shoved in her face". I showed it to her the same way I've showed it to other agents who had no problem obtaining my details and putting me on standby.

What are the gaps in my story?

And BTW, thank you to those of you who provided advice and support. It is greatly appreciated!

Thank you! I fly in and out of Denver regularly and overall the folks there are great. Every other United employee I encountered today was courteous and I appreciate your post and all that you and your colleagues do for us.

fumje

Although I have never been snapped at about offering a phone, I have noticed that overwhelming majority of agents do seem to prefer an ID document or some other non-electronic reference. Typically they just ask for something other than the phone, rather than making a point about not liking the phone. It seems understandable, as phone displays can be quite varied.

JNelson113

After this, I'll definitely get a paper BP as the kiosk if I want to standby and can't arrange it at the kiosk. :-)

gengar

Speaking as someone who has worked for service industry businesses spanning the spectrum of management styles and corporate cultures, IME it's much better working for employers who actually have standards for their employees.

QBK

Although I'm not going to weigh in on the OP's situation, I have found this thread interesting and educational. It had never occurred to me that (a) a gate agent would prefer me not to show them info on a phone, or (b) they'd have good reasons for it. But several posters on this thread gave good reasons -- phones are dirty, fonts vary, risk of damage/liability, lock screens, etc. Honestly, I'd never thought past the point of "I'm used to showing them my boarding pass... now it's on my phone, so I'll show them my phone". So now I'll avoid showing gate agents (or hotel checkin clerks, or whatever) things on my phone.

Any day I learn something is a good day...

FlyingNone

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But did she really (swat the hand) ?? or was it just an exaggeration on the OP's part ? Can't tell you how many times passengers have (YES) literally shoved their phone very, very close to my face. It's extremely jarring, annoying and unnecessary. Just give me your MP number or your confirmation number - all eight (eye roll x 1000) letters/digits of it - how difficult is that ? Maybe just write it down somewhere just in case you lose your phone or drop it in a toilet or off the Empire State Building. Furthermore, telling someone you have xx millions of miles means nothing until the agent looks at your MP Account or your PNR. If the dialogue/body language went down as the passenger is saying then the agent certainly should have had self-control and just questioned him without any mention of not looking at phones.

DCP2016

Rude gate agent? United? Nah, never I tell you! I think it becomes news if you encounter a nice gate agent. Don't know why UA hires the lowest bidder.

garykung

Have you tried a GA at the CS Counter before going to the gate?

Also - how late have you requested standby?

Just because you think you are nice does not mean others feel you are nice.

For starter - Route?

747FC

It is curious to me that as a community of flyers, many here are quite skeptical of their brethren. It escapes me why some assume that the OP stuck a phone in the agent's face or committed some other offense. Why?

I've just completed an international trip on non-UA metal, and while none of the four checkin agents swatted my phone away, most just asked for identification in order to process the checkin. In every case, the agents printed out boarding passes for us. It seemed to be standard practice (across two airlines) and a hint that the airlines don't like phone-based BPs.

Over the years, I've had gate agents handle my phone to scan the BP or direct me to place the phone on the scanner. No biggie. In no case did anyone ever act rudely and say "I don't touch phones."

OP, I am glad your are reporting this rude employee. Every system needs feedback in order to operate effectively.

mikesyr18

"I don't look at phones." LOL - I love it. Your job involves the use of electronic boarding passes. Don't like it? You don't have to work there. If I were their manager I would've ripped right into them.

This is mind blowing logic you have here. The gate agent is on the job... The flyer isn't. The GA needs to how to talk to a customer if you're working face to face with them or go visit a therapist.

I also highly doubt the OP shoved their phone in the lady's face as no reasonable person would do that.

boerne

I think everyone can have a bad day. And staring at cell phones all day long in your job can hurt you, see below. I always get a paper BP for exactly this reason, even if I am using my phone BP. IRROPS happen.

16 Damaging Side Effects Of Your Smartphone Addiction

laxmillenial

If you read the article, most of these don't apply in this situation:

Sleep (shouldn't be sleeping on the job at DIA unfortunately),
Text Claw (the GA would be looking at a phone, not texting on a passenger's phone),
Indirect Injuries (a GA shouldn't be helping a passenger get on standby and be driving at the same time)
Eyesight (applies if a GA is looking at a phone nonstop for more than 20 minutes...and suggests a 20 second break: Seeing how a GA interacts with people, this threshold should be easily surpassed)
Hearing (GA is not talking on the OP's phone....just looking at it)
Radiation (No data to back up this claim)...

I could go on and on.

That being said, I've handed my phone to just about every LAX agent that works on the Premier side in T7 and in the Kisoks between T7/T8. None of them have EVER had an issue simply looking at a phone to get a confirmation number. Nor would I expect them to. Come on, its 2018. Don't tell me you have 'problems with cell phones' and then reach into your pocket and start texting on yours.

Bad day or not, you don't take it out on your customers. I deal with some commerical aerospace contracts, when I have a bad day, I go home. Or I get drinks after work. Can you imagine if I took it out on a customer during a meeting? I'd probably be fired on the spot.

JNelson113

She literally swatted my hand. I extended my hand holding my phone to be right next to her computer monitor (to her left) because other agents have then looked from my phone to the monitor and she literally swatted my hand away. She touched my hand.

Why would I go to the CS counter instead of the gate? Isn't the gate where you request to be put on standby if you can't get the kiosk to put you on the list? I've requested standby at the gate at least 100 times, always without issue until yesterday.

I requested standby as soon as the gate opened. About 45-60 minutes before the flight. I was sitting there waiting for an agent.

You can think I was not nice all you like. I don't see how saying "hi, will you please put me on the standby list?" and showing a phone would qualify as that, but whatever.

Route DEN-IAH, flight 1819.

SpinOn2

In my time as a GA, the only time I declined a cell phone is when passengers wanted us to talk to someone on them. Even then, if it was someone who has language issues or older, or pretty young, I would. Moreso I would decline to speak on the phone from the people who felt I had to talk to someone since I wouldn't do what they commanded.

That being said, otherwise, there is nothing wrong for a GA to look at a phone. Even if she'd rather not, there is a much nicer way to go about it.

By all means complain about that agent and send in that video. I guarantee it's not the first time for them. IF she is union, firing people like that is almost impossible without proof, but if you have a video of her acting way out of line, it would help. If it's an isolated incident for her, then I'm sure at the least it would be a mark on her personnel file.

mikesyr18

Yeah, that's right, make excuses for the GA's poor behavior. Your argument pertains to people who stare at their phones for 30 minutes at a time... Not someone who stares at it for 10-15 seconds.