Agent to me: "You are making fun of me because of my accent" ????
 

I'm a little stunned by this. I'll give the long version, and I will be as honest as I can remember about this conversation.

I've been trying to get a MP business ticket on the inaugural TAP flight SFO-LIS. Final destination is AMS.

MP and TAP haven't seen eye to eye lately, and tickets have not been available. But I called on a lark today, and I found an agent who saw the availability. The call was dropped in a dead zone, so I called back.

The next agent did not see the flight at all.

I called a third time. This is where the trouble begins. I am bolding what I said that was out of frustration - and then how the agent initially responded.

Me: I'd like a one way ticket from San Francisco to Amsterdam via Lisbon on TAP.
Agent: When is the return date.
Me: No, just one way
Agent: Oh, San Francisco to Amsterdam, returning from Lisbon
Me: No, I would like to fly to Amsterdam VIA Lisbon
Agent: Why do you want to go that route? You can fly via Newark or somewhere else
Me (now kind of frustrated): Are you listing to me??? I will say it a third time. I want to go from San Francisco to Amsterdam on TAP via Lisbon.
Agent: You are making fun of me because of my accent. I can't believe how rude you are being.
Me (swallowing my pride): I'm sorry. I should not have spoken that way. I apologize (this is verbatim what I said).
Agent: Nothing
Me: Say again?
Agent: There are no flights. Go online look for yourself if you don't believe me.
Me: Let me understand. You are suggesting I go online.
Agent: Yes
Me: Tell me you name again?
Agent: CLICK

I called back, got another agent who found the flights and ticketed right away.

I would think if the phone system got your MP# , UA can track down who took the call. This kind of he said/he said situations are hard to proof but I hope UA keeps track of customer complaints and find patterns of abusive agents.

If someone spoke to me like that, I'd be upset also.

why doesn't United just record the calls?

I thought they did.

But I don't think you necessarily would have grounds to be.

We don't know the tone of the full conversation, but I can definitely see a case where OP has asked for something specific, and the other party is on auto-pilot and not actually listening to what OP wants, and at some point you have to jar the other party out of doing what they expect to happen into doing what you actually want to happen.

Again, not having a tape of the call, could go either way, but as a business, I would expect CS agents to have a LITTLE thicker skin.

Of course, everyone has bad days, sometimes two people have a conversation that doesn't go well, OP called back and got what he wanted, so I would probably let this one go.

Given how little space audio takes in relation to how cheap data storage is these days, it would be an egregious oversight if United did not.

I would have provided the specific flight numbers and when asked "why do you want to go that route" I'd have given the straight up honest answer ("It's TAP's inaugural flight From SFO to Lisbon and I'd like to try it"). That would probably have reduced all the back and forth discussion and any raised voices (if they occurred).

I don't think that this is worth a second's effort on OP's part. Asking passive agressive questions such as "are you listening to me" (OP follows with three question marks for emphasis) is not appropriate.

The agent's better move would have been to disconnect the call rather than counter OP's inappropriate approach.

Given that they don't state the call may be recorded (do they? I certainly don't remember it), it would be an egregious legal violation for many callers if they did...

Any calls from California, for example, require the consent of all parties to be recorded.

I can honestly say that I'm basically NEVER rude on the phone, but I'd be tempted to say exactly what ZRS70 said to that obviously vapid agent.
I shouldn't have to explain three times what I'm looking for to anyone. Unless that person is... shocker... NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

Not exactly. The law has been tested at least a couple of time - Young V Hilton Worldwide and Kight v Cashcall - both times the Court of Appeals ruled Hilton and Cashcall could record the calls, as one does not have a reasonable expectation of the call not being recorded.

Anyway, UA states online they "may" record calls.

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/privacy.html

Offline purchases: Telephone, travel agent or ticket counter

To make a purchase or transact other business with a United Customer Contact Center agent, a travel agent (including online travel agents outside of United), or a customer service representative (collectively, “Reservations Agents”), Reservations Agents collect data such as payment information, passport information, birth date, name, addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers. We may monitor and/or record telephone calls to Reservations Agents. By continuing with the call, you are deemed to consent to such monitoring and/or recording.

I have a very simple rule that I follow in this sort of situation. My failure to make myself understood is always my fault. It's served me very well.

There are plenty of reasons why this could have happened -- bad connection, I was providing information in the wrong order, or, as implied by the agent's comment about an accent, a potential language barrier. Getting frustrated solves nothing, so I accept full responsibility for making myself understood. If I can't, I thank the agent politely and HUCA.

I'm in a state with "one-party-consent" law and I think that when I call UA they mention that the call might be recorded.