Purchased tickets used ETC then found out a week later United charged full amount
 

On March first I purchased two sets of one-way tickets for my wife and son, HNL-SFO, and then SFO-HNL. Total cost was $178.90 pp, so 357.80 per ticket, $715.60 total. I broke the trip into one-ways because I had two ETCs, one for $200, and one for $100. So, the total out of pocket should have been $715.6-$300 or $415.60. I initially reserved online, but the system erred when I tried to apply the ETC (for both tickets), so I called in at got what seemed like at the time a very helpful agent who processed the tickets with the ETCs - she quoted the correct prices, and then she even stayed on the line with me until ticketed completed and confirmed that she could see that the ETCs were applied. I saw the initial pair of $357.80 charges hit my card, but assumed it would be adjusted when finalized, which is exactly what happened the last time I bought a ticket using ETC.

I ended up having to cancel the tickets 2 days later and hope to use the value later in the year, but that's immaterial.

Fast forward a week, and I was surprised tonight to find on my credit card statement that I was charged 4x$178.90 - the ETCs were never credited. I called in just now and the initial wait time estimate was 15-20 minutes. One hour and fifteen minutes later I was finally connected to an agent and explained the situation. She looked up the ETCs and confirmed that they still had the original value. I told her that these certificates should have been applied, and I've now been overcharged $300, to which she replied, "you haven't been overcharged, they still have $300 in value!". She didn't seem to understand why this was a problem, but she eventually called the support desk to see what could be done.

Now an hour and a half into the call, she came back and told me the support desk said that I had booked the tickets online, which I had - except for the ticketing! But she insisted if I had called and spoken to an agent, the system would have automatically noted the record - so I couldn't have called and spoken to someone and therefore I must have not applied the ETCs online. Basically saying it was my fault and/or I am lying. The agent said the only log in the record was when I called to cancel the tickets. And the support desk advised they would not be making any modifications.

I'm not sure what to do at this point, and looking for any suggestions. If I try calling Chase to file a claim, they will undoubtedly call United who will again say it's not their fault thanks to their inept IT or possibly inept agent(s) or some combination of both. And no good could possibly come of me contacting United Customer (dis-)Service.



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I will say this about ETCs: to me they are worth something like 30c per $. If the amount is small, I just let them expire, and ones that have more significant value are applied only reluctantly.
Almost always creates some kind of problem.

Many on here successfully apply them (even multiple ones), but it has never really worked well for me.

UA undoubtedly has a pretty exact figure of how much ETC "currency" it issues and how much actual ETC $$$ are used/applied. My guess is that this is around 50%.
The fact that ETCs aren't readily available from the purchasing page online, or even visible online, and that there's only ever one email with its number sent out, tells me that UA is happy the way it handles this.

UA ETCs: another money grabbing scheme by UA, all quasi-legal, but definitely with a strong whiff of "on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard."

Why is this?

Just give United a call; they'll answer the phone right away and fix it.

my etcs have worked 100% and I am very appreciative of them.

Agreed. Never ever an issue.

To the OP. Something doesn't sound right. So you saw the ETC deducted on the final payment screen? Did the ticketing Email include the ETC? Did you check?

It looks like the below ... Method of Payment Misc Doc. If it looks like that then UA is wrong and they ought to fix that. If it doesn't show this, then I am afraid it might be that you did not correctly apply the certificate.

Method of payment: Miscellaneous Document
American Express ending in X
Travel Certificate
Date of purchase: Sun, Mar 01, 2020 Airfare: 154.42 USD U.S. Transportation Tax: 11.58 USD U.S. Flight Segment Tax: 8.60 USD September 11th Security Fee: 5.60 USD U.S. Passenger Facility Charge: 9.00 USD Total Per Passenger: 189.20 USD Total: 189.20 USD


Payment Info Remaining value of your previous ticket numbers X was applied to this purchase. Fare Rules Additional charges may apply for changes in addition to any fare rules listed.
NONREF/0VALUAFTDPT/CHGFEE
Cancel reservations before the scheduled departure time or TICKET HAS NO VALUE. Add Collect An additional amount of 39.20 USD for the difference in fare was charged to American Express ending in X on Sun, Mar 01, 2020.

Except that OP stated that the website didn't work and he had to call in to get the processing done, where the UA agent assured him that the ETCs were being applied properly. So while I agree that the receipt should show whether or not that actually happened, I would still think it's UA's mess to clean up either way.

What are you talking about? ETC is the same as cash if you’re going to be booking a revenue flight anyway. It’s incredibly simple to combine multiple ETCs into one. Just call United. I’ve done in at least five times in the past two years.

If you don’t want your ETCs, I’m sure anyone on here would happily pay 50¢ on the dollar to take them off your hands! 😂

So agent error on the first call. These sorts of things definitely happen.

Will you be able to use the extra $300 in travel credits within the next year? If so, that may be easier than trying to get this fixed.

Right, but the receipt should show it ... and frankly, if you book something over the phone and don't check the receipt ... well ... my sympathy is somewhat limited.

Just a random thought, based on "no record" of the phone call, where did you find the UA telephone number -- a Google search?
Did you provide a credit card number?
Do you have any 'extra' credit card charges?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...ll-center.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-ua-agent.html

Oh wow, good thought. Didn't occur to me.

Also, OP should know that ETCs to the same person can now be merged so one does not have to split PNRs to use them. Agents usually want you to merge and use at the same time - and if anything goes wrong later and you get a new one, the earliest expiration date applies.