yourfather

look, seeing as this is post #3 on the board for me, you'll probably completely disregard this but - what is it with American culture that as soon as something is forgotten, or something is wrong, that you expect compensation.

For example, I am an educated, white Australian male, my wife is Indonesian, and we eat Muslim food.

When flying Singapore, we ask for a Muslim meal, that's fine. Usually we get it. If we do not get a Halal meal, we ask for any meal that has no pork. If there is no pork, we starve.

I don't want to impose myself or overburden others (seriously, because it can be an inconvenience) by requesting a Muslim meal on a non Muslim flight and then wanting compensation when i dont get it.

Your stupid "my religious meal wasn't delivered on my American flight" is about as stupid as requesting for compensation because your bacon request was denied on a Muslim flight.

cheepneezy

But they JUST fix the radio and they don't give you a new sunroof as compensation. In this scenario, UA would owe someone a religious meal and a jar of baby food, not hundreds of dollars in compensation.

KathyWdrf

"If there is no pork, we starve." I think you got that backwards!

As for your question about "American culture," I don't think the OP is necessarily an American.

Still, it is a legitimate issue, but doesn't only apply to Americans. There is an entitlement mentality which is especially noticeable on FlyerTalk.

On the other hand, I do wonder why United offers special meals if their record of delivering them is as abysmal as claimed in this thread (personally, I've never ordered one, so have no experience in this area). Is there perhaps a problem with the supplier(s) (GateGourmet, etc.) just not coming through?

RI2KH2SU

Your post shouldn't be disregarded only because it's your third. It should be ignored because it's a ridiculous overgeneralization.

yourfather

sorry, i meant , if there is pork we starve.

TravelinWilly

^ It'll keep you thin.
Your stupid comment about the other comment, and your illogical analogy about pork miss the point entirely, as nothing was denied - it was simply ignored or overlooked, causing someone who didn't want to starve to starve anyway. Denied would have meant that the OP was told that the request was purposefully not honoured (ideally ahead of time, so other arragnements could have been made).

Will

goodo

I am an educated, white Australian male, only I'm single and eat kosher food.

I eat kosher and only eat kosher. Therefore I always request a kosher meal when special meals are offered. If there was no kosher meal, a non-pork or vegetarian meal just wouldn't cut it for most kosher consumers. Thats why whenever I travel I ALWAYS bring my own food. And since most of my travel is Australia to the US East Coast, thats a long time to go without food.

Thats your choice, but i don't see it as an imposition or overburden. It's a service that they offer and I am choosing to take them up on their offer.

Your bacon analogy only works if when you went to this Muslim airlines website and clicked on inflight services there was a list of meals you could request and bacon was there. If a bacon meal is offered and you request one, then muslim airlines or not, you should be getting one.

What if you boarded a flight in Sydney bound for LAX and for whatever reason there were no meals provided at all. What would you do then? You boarded the plane expecting to have a meal that you could eat, so you didn't bring your own food. And are now going to 'starve' all the way to LAX.

Some people complain about everything and expect compensation for every little thing. But i think special meals not being loaded, when it is offered and it is expected to be onboard is a legitimate gripe for passengers to complain about.

goodo

ckidder331

i thnk the tone and word choice of the original post is what got me....

"what compensation should i demand"

they made a mistake. simple. if it were not for this board, you'd probably have thought this was a rare case unless this has ahppened multiple times...although from your desire to know where to complain to, this was likely one of the first times.

i'm just saying, demanding compensation for a missed meal/meals....trading off $5/$10 meals for what...a $100 certificate, 5,000 miles, etc...you should get nothing that extravagant, maybe a $25 cert

and hopefully you're not one of the FTers whose gonna threaten to leave UA for another airlines, because seriously you're just gonna nit pick another airline about their service, amenities, etc. just be positive about it. life it too short to always be complaining about the little things.

just send a nice letter to UAL Customer Service Head in Chciago. don't demand anything, just make them aware of the situation.

rjque

While I disagree with much of your post, the last paragraph is good advice. IME, there is never a need to demand compensation unless you want something specific (e.g. a refund of your ticket for a cancelled flight). Sending a nice e-mail to UA will likely result in some compensation whether you request it or not.

jmr50

I've got a joke somewhere about the time value of airline food, but people are taking this much too seriously for it to go over well. Simple statement: the moment for United to meet its obligations passed. How absurd would it be for them to mail the OP a religious meal (although, it probably wouldn't result in any significant degradation in the quality of the product... zing!) or a jar of baby food. I think an apology written in standard written english and a token of contrition (and seriously, the dollars-off coupons are barely more than a token) is likely more than sufficient as compensatory damages... IF this were an isolated oversight by a company with a sterling reputation for service. If this is not the case (and I won't speculate what the mob thinks), it doesn't seem unreasonably for people to demand punitive damages.

Are we Americans/British/Australians insane to have invented a concept like punitive damages? Maybe. But, it is civil procedure, and people seem to expect it even outside the bounds of the legal system.

Still, I'm all for reforming this particular defendant if at all possible. I've got too much wound up in its survival

GadgetFreak

Let me know if they give you anything. Im still waiting on my compensation for when they served my drinks in the wrong type glass.