Scottlee3441

Flight pvd to ord 4180 2/3/19 4:30pm
Scott Lee 1K
Upon boarding aircraft the flight attendant told me I had to check my back pack that I have never been asked to check, on the same commuter flight. When I told her there is a blanket in my backpack, she told me to go talk to the gate attendant. I tried to explain to her my medication and my $6,000.00 work computer was in it. She could care less so I went out and removed the blanket and walked back on she the grabbed my backpack and shoved me twisting me around and put a tag on my bag . She should have not touched me or my backpack. As I am on medications for my lower back and have been warned about sharp movement and by her doing this she caused me extreme pain that persisted through the flight. My medication muscle relaxers and pain killers that could have helped me through this is in my backpack, and I had to sit through this flight in pain.

I asked here for her name and she refused to give it to me. [I am the only flight attendant on the plane and you don't need my name] This is the most unprofessional flight attendant I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

The seat vent on the plane was broke and we were very uncomfortable throughout the flight very cold.

The night light was not working so you were pitched into blackness when closing the door not very unsafe you could fall and get hurt.

On arriving at the gate she had everyone stay seated as she went to the back of the plane or assist passenger to archive a connecting flight but the flight was on time. I have been in this situation on several occasions but it been on a voluntary but have never even at 1k had the flight attendant escort me off the plane and we had a tight connection from gate f to c at ord after waiting for my bag we less then 1 hour to make connection and my lower back was killing me.

On a norther note: The cockpit door was left open after the doors were closed and we were backing out of the gate. I though this door was to be closed before securing the are plane. In today's world this seem to be very unsafe for all person a board.

Often1

Anytime you are complaining about multiple unrelated issues, you are simply going to be ignored,

The only issue which directly affected you was your backpack and the sole question there is not whether you have carried it on 1 or 100 times, but whether it exceeded either the dimensions published by UA on its website and used by the sizer device at the gate (as well as check-in counter and elsewhere) or the size of the OH (which may be smaller than published maximum dimensions on a regional aircraft) or the available space in the OH.

As is generally made clear in the gate announcements as well as dictated by common sense, when one gate checks, one takes out valuables such as a laptop and medication. I am not sure why the blanket came out before the valuables.

You can write to UA, but this one will not get you anywhere, particularly because you are self-evidently an experienced flier as a 1K.

porciuscato

Bingo. My eyes glossed over after the 2nd sentence. Take the worst part and keep it simple:

"Flight attendant roughly grabbed my backpack from me and shoved me." Period.

HoustonConsultant

If you write in to 1Kvoice, I would suggest focusing only on the actions of the flight attendant and not bringing up anything about the vent, the light, or the flight deck door. Focus on only one issue. I would also try to think and write objectively about what happened. Saying a flight attendant "shoved" you is a pretty serious statement.

For your backpack, some overhead space can be smaller than the gate sizers, but unless it was an abnormally large backpack, it should have fit under the seat in front of you (unless you were bulkhead).. If the overhead space was full and if you were bulkhead, then you would have to check even an appropriately sized backpack.

In the future, when gate checking a bag, certainly remove all valuables and medication.

icydog

I have had the same thing happen to me on the commuter EWR to BUF. On the same exact plane, on two separate days , I was asked to either stow my backpack or I was allowed to keep put in under my seat. Same plane different crew. One said the small backpack would fit the other made me gate check it. But nobody ever pushed me. And nobody was rude to me. I just figured the second FA was not really trained in the size accepted under the seats.

ExplorerWannabe

Certainly have someone read your composition before you send it in and stick to the main complaint. The first paragraph by itself was enough to trigger my "do you want some cheese ...?" autonomic response (especially when you say you removed the blanket but NOT the $6000 laptop or medication) but when you got to the seat vent being broken, I went straight into disregarding everything you wrote.

BTW, what the heck kind of laptop did you get that costs $6000? Even Alienware doesn't charge that much anymore and they pretty much set the bar for overpriced laptops. Just for S&Gs, I pulled up their top-of-the-line laptop with all the bells-and-whistles on it and it's still under $4300.

enviroian

Tell me this wasn’t a Mesa flight......


FA of the Decade - very poor experience, threats to disembark

jsloan

I got the idea that the OP thought the blanket was causing the bag to be oversized, and removed it with the intention of carrying the backpack on board.

mendezka

The real question here is, what type of job do you do that requires a 6000 laptop?

JimInOhio

Yeah but maybe it was a $7000 blanket. You never know.

lotemblizej

My experience with 1KVoice is that United is not very receptive to any complaints about FA behavior. I still provide the input when I feel it is warranted because I feel it is important to do so, but have found that any responses are usually reluctant to directly address issues I have had with individual FAs and typically get generic responses along the lines of "we value your business." On the other hand, I have generally found 1KVoice to be quite responsive to problems with the hard product (inoperative seat, no IFE, etc.)

Kacee

Were you in a bulkhead? I don't pick bulkheads on express flights because of the limited overhead space.
Employers are not permitted to comment on confidential personnel matters, which would include employee discipline. The most you're going to get is "thank you for bringing this to our attention, I'm sorry you had a poor experience." That doesn't mean it's not worth complaining, or that the complaints are not being addressed.

Scottlee3441

Thank you for useful input. I will call customer care.

jj1983

To the OP: just out of curiosity, what do you want done? In other words, what is the minimum that UA could do that would leave you satisfied after this experience?

Boraxo

A generous view would suggest that the FA was trying to be proactive as the overhead bin size on some of the RJs in much smaller than mainline. I also travel with a large fully stuffed swiss pack (and laptop) and it can be a struggle to stuff it into the overhead (or under the seat). That being said the better course would be for the FA to inform you that you will have to check it in the event it can't fit, rather than seizing it from you when you are getting on the plane. Also if UA is going to police sizing this should be done at the gate and not as you board the plane.

I have often found that if I remove an item or two I have no problem squeezing it in, so they should at least permit you that courtesy, particularly as a 1K. Definitely reach out to 1K voice to complain about the way you were treated.

Personally, the only airlines that have ever hassled me are LH (the roving gate agents required me to gate check my 22" bag) and Qantas which has very strict limits for carryons. UA has never hassled me, and in return I have never brought an item that required a gate check.