CMK10

See my post above.. On a recent flight with a broken reading light and broken audio jack I got offered 3,500 Miles/$75 E-Cert/10% Domestic Discount. That's one-half what 2Ps used to get.

CCIE_Flyer

Wow, here I've been flying UA for 20+ years and was completely unaware that nonfunctional audio jacks were a potential means for compensation. Even had I known, though, I doubt I'd have ever written in about it. See, until recently, I was under the impression that not complaining often meant that my complaints would be taken extra seriously! As if.

I recently spent hours upon hours collecting facts and providing exacting details to support my case that UA had basically ripped me off and had consistently failed to follow through with promised corrective action. I was clearly in the right (ticket numbers and credit card transactions furnished) and ultimately proved it beyond doubt. In response, I was told that my version of events could not be verified but was offered a $175 e-cert for my troubles. I am not completely ungrateful but I know the value of my time and this did not represent anything remotely resembling true compensation. I guess I should have been bankrolling compensation all these years prior to ensure balance moving forward.

Signed,

Long-time 1K (Once GS) With Probably Less Than $1K Lifetime UA Compensation

Ancien Maestro

What reasonable compensation would you reasonably expect for nonfunctional audio jacks?

CCIE_Flyer

None at all and that was a big part of my point. I read this entire thread from start to finish and in the process learned that a lot of people have apparently been making out quite well for themselves with complaints about such things (things that, while annoying to be sure, never struck me personally as anything worth taking the time out of my busy day to write UA about).

I guess I was surprised to learn that trivial things were so richly compensated (until recently, evidently) over all these years and now here I finally felt as though I had a legitimate customer service issue worth arguing and it was, in my estimation, given very light treatment. In retrospect, rather than having taken hours and hours to establish my case, I should likely have just written one really nasty e-mail or made one really nasty phone call. Likely the end result would have been identical.

Dude

1. On SFO-HNL, the plane's a/v was non functioning. Everyone received skykits. $50, 10% or miles.

2. Due to a mechanical, I missed a connection in LAX which resulted in an overnight arriving to LAS 7 hours later. Was offered either $125 or 20% cert after an email was sent.

kcblakely

Yeah. Unfortunately, the "better use for that money" would be paying a dividend or raising executive compensation. It would *not* be improving the customer experience.

Ancien Maestro

I agree that trivial things are often compensated heavily..

which leaves less room for compensation when something entirely valid goes wrong..

such as life and Murphy's law.

emanon256

Its not just compensation that getting downgraded, or I guess they are using compensation instead of a refund.

I was on a buy-up to C on ORD-DEN, I paid $150 for the buy-up. By flight to ORD got canceled due to mechanical an there were no other flights. I ended up spending over an hour on the phone trying to find a way home. I finally ended up going standby and getting a seat in the back row of a CRJ-200 and getting home a few hours later.

I e-mailed 1K voice, explained what happened, and asked for a refund of the $150.

I got an e-mail back offering me 10,000 miles, but saying:

I thought, maybe they miss-understood me. As I paid for the upgrade. I wrote back very clearly stating:

And I asked that they forward this to their supervisor.

I then got a reply from a supervisor, all it said was:

I called my credit card company about disputing the charge,but they said the charge was over 60 days old and they could not initiate the dispute.

I guess I just bought 10,000 miles at $0.015 a mile.

channa

Unfortunately, it seems like dealing with UA CS is going to be like dealing with CO CS. You have to leverage your escalation methods -- executive office, Star Alliance (if appopriate), DOT, media, social networking, and ultimately the court system.

Have you twittered this on their twitter page asking for an escalation contact because you were charged for services not delivered?

Seems like you have to crank up the heat if you want to pursue this.

as219

I think this calls for an email to SMI/J. The advice from channa to Twitter about it makes sense too. I mean really, someone has lost their marbles over at UA CS. What if you had purchased C, been downgraded to Y, then lost C due to an equp swap -- would they keep the C-Y difference and just say, "ooops, too bad!" If you use a SWU to ugprade, then are downgraded -- would they keep the SWU and say "Ooops! So sorry, nothing we can do?"

The new UA is undoubtedly getting worse, but this kind of seems beyond the pale. I say keep escalating...

CCIE_Flyer

I've posted this link before in this forum and I'll continue to post it:

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/problems.htm

I can't believe the response emanon256 got - as a 1K and from a CS supervisor no less! I would be absolutely fuming (heck, I am just from reading about it). It absolutely disgusts me that they refuse to acknowledge that they pick-pocketed one of their most loyal customers and then refuse to refund the money when called on it.

I would consider contacting one of those troubleshooting travel writers - doesn't USA Today have one? And I would definitely enter a complaint at the above link regardless of outcome. UACO clearly deserves some bad press for this one. Not liking these changes one bit...

emanon256

I have drafted a nice letter to SMI/J and will send it tomorrow. I don't want to go on social media or with a travel writer about it as I am worried there will be backlash from United. I will also report it on dot.gov, thanks for the link.

I write this as I have been waiting 40 minutes on the ground in DEN for a gate, as they have more ER4s here than gates to accommodate them, yet .bomb shows an on time arrival. Lovely.

CCIE_Flyer

As a regular COS<->DEN flyer, I feel your pain. Unfortunately, this is a legacy UA problem at DEN that's been around awhile and been growing for the past several years. I can't tell you how many onward flights I've missed because of hour-long waits for a gate. Total incompetence and total indifference. They should be ashamed but I'm sure they're not.

Good luck.

EsquireFlyer

At this point, you deserve both a refund (for the service purchased and not delivered) and the 10,000 miles (for repeatedly wasting your time).

I would write back again by e-mail (keep it down to 5 sentences or less, as sometimse these CS agents' reading comprehension decreases with the length of the message).

Simultaneously, I would write via snail mail to WHQ with copies of the e-mails.

Then twitter about it or post it on UA's facebook page.

You can also try PMing UA Insider. I don't know how much they get involved in individual issues these days, but here you've tried to go through the proper channels and hit a dead end.

If none of the above works, then it's time to talk to a news reporter.

You could also file a claim in small claims court, but that will be more time consuming and frustrating (and less fun) than any of the above methods.

LIH Prem

I think 1kvoice has turned into a joke these days. But on the other hand, Customer Relations seems to be much better. I would try them, and if that doesn't work, a PM to UA Insider is also a good idea.

-David