exbayern

I posted awhile back on a thread that I would far rather that UA FIX THE PROBLEM rather than throw compensation at me. I often hesitate to call, because my intent is to report an ongoing problem in hopes that it can be fixed, rather than to obtain compensation.

I even had a discussion with Chicago Customer Relations about this, and I don't think that they understood what I meant. I was trying to explain that if something happens regularly, I would like to see an attempt at a resolution by UA, rather than have certs thrown at me every time I call.

Recently I called to discuss an issue with Mr Chicken, and the CSR offered me $150 voucher. It never arrived in the mail, and I contemplated calling to follow up. But to me the voucher isn't as important as a resolution to the problem, so I didn't bother to follow up.

But that seems to be upside down thinking (or at least UA doesn't understand when I try and explain!)

MKE-MR

Actually, I completely disagree with this. I recall when I was living in the southwest, Aircell I think it was (predecessor to Verizon) actually arranged it so that if your call dropped, you were credited back the minutes of that dropped call. If my cable goes out for a week, I fully expect and demand that I pay a week less on my next bill. Are you saying you DON'T do this?
The whole point of compensation, in my mind, is to COMPENSATE for a service that was promised but not delivered. Now, do some people take it to the extreme? Sure. You have to pick your battles and lots of us here have too much time on our hands, apparently. But I don't believe, either, in blindly rolling over and accepting that "whatever we get is good enough" if it is nowhere near what we paid for.

I would be the first to file a credit card dispute if I ever paid $15 to check a bag and it didn't arrive with me. I pay for an expectation of service and I think that's totally reasonable.

Fredd

As a seasoned FTer, you must really be used to that feeling of disgust by now.

I've requested and received compensation very occasionally (most recently for a domestic flight ex SEA delayed 24 hours due to mechanical problems) and also been given compensation when I haven't asked for it.

A year or two back I wrote a constructive letter of criticism when there was no milk boarded for a 6:00 a.m. flight leaving MCO (obviously with a high percentage of children) and everybody in our party received some unsolicited miles or a voucher (I can't remember which).

I accepted them with my customary aplomb and graciousness and would do so again.

Cheers,
Fredd

paytonc

My favorite thread on this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=655200

Ocn Vw 1K

To keep the thread in the United forum, let's focus on compensation issues re United. Thanks! Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, United M+

Fredd

Which actually brings up a question that I don't think has been addressed.

How do UA's compensation policies and practices compare with those of other airlines?

Hope that's not considered OT. For the record, my recent post was in regard to experiences with UA.

Cheers,
Fredd

Fredd

To respond to my own question, I found that searching for "compensation" in various FT airline forums yields an impressive number of hits. The AA Forum even includes a well-utilized compensation thread.

So, whether good or bad or some of both, UA Fters aren't unique in this pursuit.

Cheers,
Fredd

HereAndThere

Here is a rant on the other side of the issue.
It seems to me there is a choice of not complaining and being a UA enabler or a choice of complaining and hoping things will be fixed.
Some of the responses about FT posts on poor service, malfunctioning equipment, and other problems on UA take the approach that things happen so just accept it. If I took a trip once a year and had a single bad experience I wouldn't be too troubled. But when there are ongoing problems with some aspect of my flight ranging from the Web site to call centers, crews, and onboard experiences, I want things fixed.
Can you imagine buying a new television for $500+ when the prices change daily and once you get it there is a problem. And if you keep buying televisions new problems crop up--the sales people are rude, the order is delayed, there are intermittent scratches and dents, etc. Is the customer just supposed to put up with the bad service? In most instances in which we purchase products there are alternatives, so yes, the easiest thing to do is to go to another business that will do things right. Unfortunately in the airline industry the alternatives may not be much better and some of us are more or less stuck with UA because of the routes we fly.
As long as Tilton makes $40 million in one year and he and other executives continue to suck millions of dollars out of UA, I don't feel bad about asking for miles or monetary compensation for problems. The fact is that UA acknowledges the problems in the product that we purchase from them by giving compensation.
And yes there are cases in which customers have unreasonable expectations, but UA can always deny compensation. And it is far better to complain than to enable their poor service by saying "I understand." I am not so understanding. Nor was the captain on one of the flights I took this week that sat outside the gate for about 15 minutes waiting for someone to guide the aircraft to the gate. After we got off I asked the captain what that was all about. "Incompetence," he said. He went on to say that we sat there wasting all that fuel and delaying passengers because of sheer incompetence and he was not going to lie about it.
When your customer service ranking is as low as United's it is time to listen to customers and fix the problems. If there is a chance that asking for compensation will make that happen then I'm going to ask for compensation.

cepheid

You could always complain without asking for compensation... @:-)

primusux

Come on, really? Why would you hope your travel experience is ruined in any way? We already have enough to deal with when flying these days. The last thing I ever hope for is a dis-service by my airline.

aCavalierInCoach

And this comment seems like a pretty good response to the OP's comment:

" Originally Posted by CharlesMD View Post
I was expecting to get flamed a little when I started this thread. My view on this is as follows. The airlines expect us to pay all kinds of penalties and fees: taxi breaks down on the way to the airport and you miss your flight? Fork over the ticket change fee and fare difference (if the agent's in a bad mood). Want to get home two hours early so you can spend time with your kid? Need to pay the standby fee (even if your original flight is way oversold and the flight you want has tons of availability). Bag 10 lbs overweight 'cause you want to give your uncle some pineapples from HNL? Excess baggage fee.

So when an airline makes me late for work, cuts a day off my vacation, separates me from my belongings, makes me sick, etc... is it unreasonable to expect something in return? Apologies with meaning (i.e. not a form letter pasted together) actually give the airline an incentive to take corrective action. "

nsx1164

+1.

Over the years, UA and its competition have misled us into a false set of "entitlement expectations" that are no longer sustainable as they may have once been. While its arguable that some of the "good old days" are partly what got them into trouble (cost structure wise, bankruptcy filings, etc), not to mention the oil price escalation that torpedoes their cost/margin recovery window, etc.

That plus this increasing "victim whine culture" - everyone's a victim, and has some axe to grind.

(-1) + (-1) = (-3) --> which is where we end up with

Trulyblues

I have also never asked for actual compensation, but I have expressed my dissatisfaction a handful of times and always got a "here's a travel voucher" response. In one case I specifically stated "I do not want compensation, but an explanation of how this happens and when it will be fixed", and I got the boilerplate response and a $175 voucher. If you haven't complained to UA in 4-5 years then you are either remarkably lucky or very tolerant, and if you have complained and not been issued some form of compensation then you're probably the only one!

UA is bleeding itself on service issues. I don't think they even pay attention to what the specific complaint is most of the time, they just assume that doling out money will make it all okay. It's unsurprising that people have come to have a sense of entitlement when it comes to compensation, since United itself behaves like compensation is the answer.

OhSoBlessed

On a flight once out of LAX, the plane hit turbulence causing some service carts to overturn. No passenger was injured. I heard one PAX ask the FA what compensation she will get for the turbulence they just experienced. I could not believe the words that came out of her mouth...

Compensation isn't due for every single little issue.

chitownflyer

The primary purpose of compensation is to make a goodwill gesture for problems that arise on United, but an even more important purpose of compensation is providing the tangible incentive for the customer to continue flying United.