3 -2 -2 (UA Call Center Hack)
 

Just learned a cool little hack : When you program the 1K desk phone number into your phone, add in a series of pauses and three key numbers: 3-2-2.

Why, you might ask?

Because "3" get you from the welcome message down the road toward a live person. Then the "2" declines the option to interact by text message with UA. Then the last "2" declines the participation in the call-back/feedback.

IMHO this 3-2-2 may come in handy, the next time my flight goes tech and I quickly need to get through to a live agent to get protected on the next flight and/or when I'm driving down the road and don't want to take my eyes off the road to fiddle with my phone. Added up over all the calls I make to UA per year, it'll save me ~30-60 min per year! :)

I'll definitely try that.

Can someone explain why interacting with CS via text in general is seen as beneficial? I always find it a far slower and coarser communication channel than telephone. Maybe I'm missing something?

The only time I can see using it is when voice phone call is not possible. Wonder if the on-board messaging would allow you to do this?
I have used the app and in-flight wifi to interact with United, but never the text function.

Not sure the "hack" will work. I seem to recall some phone calls I make that I am not offered the text message blurb. But maybe it would just ignore the extra "2" in that case.

This will work for any call center where you know the options to push. The key is knowing how many pauses you need - some will not accept the digits if typed in too early, so with some, 1 (or 2) pauses may be ok between, others may need 3 or 4.

as for the text function, I’ve used it at times when I didn’t think the need to speak to someone is as great - ie, relatively simple interactions. Seat assignment issues, for example or just general confirmation of items. Sometimes there is a wait to start, but at least you don’t have to sit on the phone (I get a callback option sometimes, but not others). The text function works for these mainly trivial things, although sometimes it takes a little more back and forth then it should with confirming items that shouldn’t need so much of it - but c’est la vie.

speaking of text function, for those who are comfortable using it, at least on the iMessage implementation with iPhone, calling is not necessary if you’ve already used it in the past. If you find the existing conversation, you can just send a new message there, and will start a new convo. If you’re comfortable with text, as well, another option is to direct message on Twitter. I’ve had good luck there too - though wait times for a response can sometimes be variable.

Super convenient for simple tasks. If I have a bunch of meetings and I need something like moving my SO into E+, it's more convenient for me to text (even though it would ultimately take longer)

In my experience, the text chat goes to an offshore contact center, or seems to be based on the interactions I had while a voice call will certainly go a US based priority agent.

How do I program in a “pause”, and how to save that as a contact ph number on an iPhone?

Add a comma when you save the number in your contacts. Like ",,3,,2,,2"

I prefer the chat. It can be time consuming, but I prefer that over having to hold the phone and listen to whatever they're playing while you wait. Also, if the person on the other end has a strong accent or speaks poor english, I have a hard time understanding them. A 100% personal preference.

You can only add a pause when adding a contact to your contacts list - you can't just dial a number and add a pause into it.

1. Create your contact, with their name, etc.
2, When adding their number, long-press the bottom-left button, with all of the special charactors


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I don't recall ever receiving the second option to interact by txt and never knew it existed.

I don't find saying "representative" and then pressing "2" takes much time. I find it only takes seconds to get someone on the line typically.

Sometimes when you are in-flight or in another country, you are unable to make a voice call. That is when I start trying other forms of communication. Personally, I've had good luck with sending a DM via twitter. Sometimes they have been able to help where the 1K desk has failed which is overall pretty rare. Though both failed to get TRC to work flying to europe, I guess when the system is completely broke, no one can fix that.

The UA app has a chat feature where you can get help but I find it is not quite as reliable as twitter. However, when I'm on a flight where WIFI costs money and I don't get free messaging, then the app is the only option and having some option to communicate is better than none.

I find that just hitting zero a couple of times takes me straight to an agent.

My hack as well.

Every time I've tried the chat it's gone to a bot that cant answer any real questions. Usually if I'm calling I need something more than "what time is my flight scheduled to arrive"

That prompts me to wonder, how often do they get calls asking something like "what time does my flight get there?" 🤣

Not so much on United, but on other CS lines I use the "F" word a bunch of times, as in "get me a [gerund] agent" where gerund is the appropriate expletive.

A lot of these systems have algos to detect customers at the ends of their ropes....