GoingAway

Thanks again for your time.

Just wondering if you see the credit card, why do they need the entire thing whenever I call in to book a trip? I have it stored in my profile, I assume its the same thing you see.

UnitedRhapsody

Hi RSSR! Thanks for posting:

1. Do you take many calls from pesky travel agents like me, and are they generally good or bad?

2. Do callers complain to you about offshore call centers, and what are the most common complaints?

terrysalmi

My guess would be this is a security measure to make sure someone didn't pull up your MP# (such as off a misplaced boarding pass) and decided to make a reservation for you

GoingAway

but that type of verification can come from requesting the exp date and 3 or 4 digit code (depending on card type) that I need to rekey each res made online anyway

superEGO

This thread pretty much rocks Thanks for being such a good sport!!!

1) I've had a couple calls in the past where mid-way through a rather complicated question, the call has dropped... Always forcing me to restart the entire process. I had always blamed myself for not providing a phone number other than on my record. Is there any procedure for trying to reconnect before abandoning the call and accepting a new one?

2) I sometimes use the Japan 1K call center, depending on my mood - last time I did so, there seemed to be a lot of confusion when anyone looked at the record about what had and had not been ticketed. So does a call center somehow have any particular ownership or control over a particular record, as far as how it's handled once you hand it off to ticketing/etc?

3) Since some agents use pseudonyms, do you have to somehow "register" them with management? I've sent notes in about positive and negative call experiences before, but always based on thigns like "Susanne from the HNL office" or "Hank from DTW".. Obviously, that breaks down if the name isn't real. Is sending feedback about calls futile?

snic

FWIW, I've asked CSRs who gave me great service for the contact info of their supervisors, and after I e-mailed the supes with praise, they e-mailed back thanking me for the input. So at least feedback gets to a supervisor; whether it means anything after that is another question (for RSSRNotIndia!).

goalie

was it the 24th? as towards the tail end of me helping out goalie-sis, the phone answered immediately with "are you flying completely within the u.s." as opposed to where the system recognizes the phone number and asks "is this goalie" (and to share with you, as i said in that thread your counterparts were aces ^)

BlackBear05

is it just the last four flights or the last four trips?
sorry, but i really want to know, thank you

RSSRNotInIndia

Many people don't have a CC stored... and I really don't know if CC stored in your profile online are the same as what we see in reservations. One theory: If you're making changes to a reservation, we'd have to go to the Consumer Information Menu, verify the CC/enter the CID (note that we only see the last four digits of the CC) and append it to the record. Many agents probably skip this and type it in from scratch from the exchange(s) menu (may be faster/easier for them -- they probably only use the CIM when building a record, not changing it).

We take ***A LOT*** of travel agent calls. Some are REALLY tough (why else would they be calling ) but most are pretty simple -- just verifying changes/information, or introducing a caller (since the caller should be contacting their TA on an agency record). The only "bad" calls, IMO, are those in which the TA could handle themselves, but ask us to do. Orbitz/CheapTicket's offshore call centers are REALLY bad for this.

I haven't heard many negative things, actually. Sometimes somebody will comment that it's nice to speak with an agent who comprehends them/is easy to understand... but not too often.

Only in rare circumstances -- we're an inbound call center with the philosophy 'you'll call back.' Maybe you just hung up ; ).

No. All records made via UA (even airport locations) look the same. Travel agencies do control their records, and it's sometimes hard to tell if they've been ticketed... most often they won't append the ticket numbers (usually paper, sometimes e-ticket which we should be able to display anyway) to the record. This is very common with agency-created government/military records.

3) Since some agents use pseudonyms, do you have to somehow "register" them with management? .... Is sending feedback about calls futile?[/QUOTE]
Yes, pseudo names must be registered & approved. We appreciate any positive feedback -- every positive letter/e-mail sent about us makes it back to us. It's really nice when we get these letters, but we rarely get them... mostly get the negative letters, which are reviewed with local management as well as WHQ.

Yes. But again, just something heard 'through the grapvine.' ; )

Flights - just in reservations. I'm sure our Mileage Plus Service Center knows a whole lot more - we just don't deal with MP functions (posting, etc.) in reservations.

darthbimmer

RSSR, thanks for taking your own time to answer our questions.

I've been 1k for about a year now, and I really appreciate the level of service I've gotten from the 1k line. 1k agents have always been kind, professional, knowledgeable and sincere in helping me. A typical call to the 1k line goes like this:

"Hello, I am speaking with Mr. Bimmer?"

"Yes, this is Darth."

"Are you calling about your BOS-SFO flight on Thursday, Mr. Bimmer?"

"Yes, I need to reschedule it to Friday."

"I have seats open on the flight at the same time Friday. I also have a later flight, departing at 6pm. Which would you prefer?"

"The 6."

"I see you had an E+ aisle seat, so I've booked you into 9C on your new flight. Can I help you with anything else today, Mr. Bimmer?"

If only more customer service interactions were as textbook-perfect as that....

scotlass

I'm sorry if you answered this in the 6 pages of questions and answers but here goes: Today's scenario:

I just called United reservations, twice, and got this answer both times. If I book an outbound flight 330 days ahead, I am told that I just call when I want the return flight and they will hold the reservation until I can book the return which is 3 weeks later. Both agents said this is on United only and not partner airlines. Can this possibly be true? Everything I have read indicates there is no hold time for ff reservations. Please advise. Thank you.

luv2ctheworld

RSSRNotInIndia, I was reading some of the Q&A's and got me thinking:
What is your take on a situation when a customer calls and doesn't like or want to hear the explanation/issue given. If the customer decides to just hang up or cut himself off, what would you be able to do in terms of noting the conversation. Would you be able to add in the remark that the customer was informed, but then was disconnected?

It was mentioned in other posts that the call can be notated, but I guess if the caller hangs up/disconnected, would that be considered a completed call.

I ask this question because it has been said here that mantra for calling is:
When you don't get the answer (rigt or one you want to hear), the approach is to call, call, and call again.

whistler814

Thank you for keeping this thread going.

Once when I encountered a severe delay, I asked a RCC agent to help reroute my flights. I did indeed, use a customer relations discount travel certificate - but she didn't seem to pick up on that. She commented, "Wow, you got a heck of a deal on this ticket!" After she read back what I had paid, her attitude turned stingy and I didn't get the reroute.

So, if a reservation was made and a customer relations discount travel certificate or ecert was applied, do you see that information? Or do you just see the discounted fare?

RSSRNotInIndia

The agents are correct... we can hold all-UA itineraries booked 330-days out for up to three weeks but Star Awards are still restricted to a maximum of 72-hours. I've seen itineraries in which a longer hold was "honored," and many of the flights canceled out.

I will always notate a record if I feel my answer is pretty definitive and I get a "feeling" the passenger will call back. And if a call disconnects, I will always notate the record if the situation warrants. If I don't like the answer I gave (e.g. a service director refused to do something, and waits were 20-30 minutes to get a hold of another SD), I won't notate the record.

Does the next agent always read the notes in the record? Maybe not. Or maybe they won't agree with my answer. But I think notes are important to expedite future calls, protect the company's revenue/product (when warranted) and ensure the integrity of the agent (e.g. "SHE NEVER TOLD ME THERE WOULD BE A $100 CLOSE IN FEE!)

We'll be able to tell some type of discount was applied by looking at the e-ticket -- different discounts are mentioned in different places. The fare you paid probably shouldn't effect the service you receive, but I'll admit that I'm guilty of it sometimes... for example, if a SFO-JFK flight gets canceled, and two passengers seek to be moved to the earlier sold-out flight -- but one paid $1000 whereas the other only $100, I may argue to move the premium-fare passenger (by overselling), whereas I probably won't with the cheapo-fare. A quick glance at the e-ticket would indicate whether or not some type of incentive was applied to reach that fare...

thebat

So if you have worked with someone for a long time on some ticketing issue and you are disconnected, do you ever call them back? Just wondering.