ente_09

Are you seeing even more incompetence and difficulties with Airline telephone support? The wait times and incompetence of the of the agents seems to be increasing in my opinion.
We're talking United Airlines here but I think this applied to other airlines
Sent in a refund request at the check-in counter 2 months ago. We could not make our miles purchased flight due to a connecting flight delay and they could only give us coach instead of the purchased business.on the re route. When I saw no Miles refunded to my account, I called in 1 month later and they had no record of such a refund request. They claimed they re entered the claim again . I called yesterday and again they say there is no such a refund request

Our luggage did not make it to LHR. It was still on the ground in Santa Barbara, which is kind of amazing since there are only about 2 UA departures an hour, I.I told lost baggage department at LHR that we required semi-formal clothes for a party will be going to that night and they said no problem just shop and keep the receipts. I submitted the application on line with receipts 2 months ago and heard nothing back. I called yesterday and after waiting first 20 minutes for an agent and then another 30 minutes for the agent to transfer me to the appropriate office, the person said our refund would be $34. The total amount of the purchases was $380. I asked to speak to her supervisor and after another 15 minute wait I was told by her to call back in an hour to speak to her supervisor. When I told her I would just simply take United to court instead she put me through to her supervisor- another 10 minute wait and the supervisor said said no such reimbursement claim was ever filed. I asked her where this number of $34 came from and she said no idea.

To be as politically correct as I can, how much of this do you think is due to outsourcing?

StuckInYYZ

So it's not necessarily an outsourcing issue. I've had some great outsourced staff from companies that generally don't work too well in terms of service. The two most likely scenarios... Inexperience (most likely) and apathy. There is a serious labour crunch everywhere. At the various airlines, you can see it in all the cancelled and delayed flights... in the lost/unprocessed luggage... in the really long lineups upon checking in... everywhere. So to get people into position, once you're hired, you're typically thrown in the deep end day one. You might get lucky and have a day or two of training on whatever systems that airline (in your case, United) uses, but not much more. So for simple things, you might get lucky. But for others, they might miss something like saving down a ticket or refund process. Unfortunately in this scenario, there isn't much you can do until the knowledge sharing is properly done or that person picks it up themselves.

In scenario two... apathy (which is more rare), those employees generally don't care. They're BIS just to flill out the ranks. They know there's little chance they'll be let go because of the shortage and are determined to profit from it. They're there just to answer the phone and do the minimum to not be declared a cost rather than a "profit centre".

adambrau

As an airline worker I have little sympathy for customers who check in luggage for an important event the next day (wedding/cruise/etc) - if it is so important then bring it as carry on. Or go a day earlier. Getting through to customer service from an airline - those days are numbered! There are two sides to every story and incompetence exists with both airlines and customers alike.

limey1K

wow

adambrau

Look I apologize if I come across as harsh. My intention was to call attention to travelers who post on here is to not checkin in a bag with something mission critical for a meeting/important party/cruise that is happening half way around the world the next day. I completely understand the frustration of the OP getting poor/slow/non-existent customer service from UA or any airline for that matter. It's not right.

zombietooth

Not outsourcing, but a complete change in the customer service culture at UA. They don't really care anymore. Their planes are always full, so they can kick their customers in the teeth and still sell-out their flights. I am always prepared for the worst from UA and hence, always get to my destination when I'm supposed to because I am always willing to cancel any flight for refund, when they fall down on their obligations, and take another carrier at the last minute, even if it costs more.

Lux Flyer

On speculation is so wonderful. They do 9 weeks in their first 6 months. 6 weeks to start out, 2 weeks later in the process to prepare to deal with Premiers, and a 1 week refresher. Whether that is enough time to become proficient in the nuances of the vast domain of an airline operation is questionable, but I for the most of them, probably not, especially given the workers they are generally bringing in for these roles (barely over minimum wage in their US contact center cities).

Last data points I received, they're losing 1/3-1/2 of every new hire class within 6 months. Probably close to 2/3 by the one year mark. Seems more an inexperience issue coupled with high turnover in an industry that takes years to actually get enough expeirience.

mozilla

Exactly. From a not-so-shortsighted shareholder perspective, I don't see the benefit in providing better customer service when planes consistently go out full, even with record-high airfare levels. Clearly, there are enough customers who don't think it's an issue (or do, but just don't have a choice), so it would only be a drag on profits.

Starbase 1K

I�ve heard the term �Kirby Kwality� thrown around in regards to certain experience changes. Might this be related to that?

mlbcard

It�s not just airlines, phone agents of nearly every company are terrible. Although recent labor shortages have made it worse, the trend has been going on for years. They don�t care. With consolidation of major companies, they know they won�t lose too many customers with poor service.

The only agents I�ve been recently impressed by are credit card agents.

prestonh

This is good advice. To blame a paying customer for service failure is not good form however and why people hate airlines.

It was harsh because the op stated no sympathy. It was clearly an important personal event which was disrupted and they are still having customer service issues in recovery. A more seasoned traveler knows that airlines screw up all the time and have no sympathy. Lesson learned for them.

FC ORD

My last experience was typical for me. I wanted to change one leg of a mileage ticket (timing, not cities), and only received error messages when I tried to do it online. I called UA and had only a 2 minute wait before they answered the phone.

I then spoke with a very pleasant rep with a difficult to understand accent. She had to put me on hold 3-4 times but eventually got it done over a 40 minute call time.

My guess is that the rep just did not have the knowledge/experience to make this fairly simple change, but was trying her best. In the end I did not like the length of the call, but she accomplished what I hoped she would.

Kacee

This is why UA's investment in technology (especially the app) is such a plus. For most tasks you don't have to call, you can do it yourself.

And if you think UA phone support is bad, try virtually any other airline (or even worse, AmexTravel). Most of my UA phone experiences have been fine.

I'll add that lost luggage has always been a total cluster with UA; I recall having the same basic issues as a Premier (no way to reach anyone who knew anything about my luggage) 20 years ago.

halls120

AMEX card (not travel) phone support in particular is fantastic. Earlier this year we had to go through the process of changing phone numbers and two factor authorization details with all of our banks and businesses we deal with. It was frustrating, to say the least. Except with AMEX.

Getting back to UA, I disagree that all CSRs there have given up. While I have to HUCA more than a decade ago, there are still good ones in the system.

TonyBurr

I totally disagree and resent that attitude. It is typical of the airline industry, "take whatever we dish out to you and shut up". I have a right for service on a ticket I have paid a large amount of for, and now to even being charged to check in a bag. ONLY the airline industry has the audacity to even think of " don't complain about service, you paid for it, but you shouldn't expect it". You have given a form to the attitude of UNITED and I am a 2.5 million mile flyer so lot's of experience.