Incompetence at Every Level
Mar 29, 2007, 4:08 am
#31
Join Date: May 2001
Location: RDU
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Posts: 1,699
Ditto: I will book around them for a while until I hear that their computer problems are resolved (or unless the alternative is DL through ATL). They lost my return flight from LGA to RDU on Sunday, and I came very close to being stuck overnight.
Mar 29, 2007, 8:19 am
#32
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To the OP - You did a good job of documenting what you observed. I really would urge you to send that in an email to the VP's in charge of Cust Service East and West. You might have to dig around a bit to get thier email addresses or the email addresses of thier admns. They should read what you wrote. Both the Managers on duty at IAH and PHL that night should be spoken too in my humble opinion.
Providing misinformation , in my mind, is far worse than no information. Ideally they just should have been honest with the folks in IAH.
45 minutes a person for rebooking is ridiculous. Maybe thier hope was that the others in line would grow tired and just leave.
What was the cause of the delay in the first place? I'm thinking something under the airlines control if they were offering hotel vouchers. BTW - The FA on board probably just repeated what the GA in IAH told her about connections -why I don't know - trusting sole that she apparently was - and gullible.
Providing misinformation , in my mind, is far worse than no information. Ideally they just should have been honest with the folks in IAH.
45 minutes a person for rebooking is ridiculous. Maybe thier hope was that the others in line would grow tired and just leave.
What was the cause of the delay in the first place? I'm thinking something under the airlines control if they were offering hotel vouchers. BTW - The FA on board probably just repeated what the GA in IAH told her about connections -why I don't know - trusting sole that she apparently was - and gullible.
This is so typical of US and one of the main reasons I quite flying them. I brought this up, the denial of late flights, and someone pointed out that they had recently been rebooked on a US itin; but only after a 3 hour delay. Most airlines, real ones, try to deal with this proactively before it gets like this. If they see something is going to be late they acknowledge it and try to fix it prior to even the initial scheduled departure. I remember one time standing in line at the gate at LGA while I was on the phone to the CP desk. My flight had a connection and I was worried. They assured me that the flight would depart on time. I mentioned that on time was in 1 minute and the plane wasnt boarding yet (A320) so I found that somehwhat hard to believe. They just said it was showing on time. Spent the night at a hotel in CLT that time. The no way off the plane is a common problem too and has been for years at PHL.
Mar 29, 2007, 12:31 pm
#33
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Location: AUS / GRK
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I typically fly HP/US since I live in the PHX area. Thankfully, things haven't been quite so bad here, at least for me.
Back in Jan, I flew UA LAX-PHX, mostly due to convenience of schedule. They had issues with getting the plane to LAX, then it had maintenance, etc...we ended up leaving 2+ hours late (I was wishing I had taken the HP flight). Anyway, after we boarded, the FA passed out forms and we had a choice of getting MP miles or a $25 cert. I requested the $25. By last week, I had completely forgotten about the whole thing and written it off...got my mail and there was a letter from UA. The cert was for $100. I'm still shocked...now just planning when/where to use it. It was definitely a fantastic gesture, and they'll get more business from me because of it.
Back in Jan, I flew UA LAX-PHX, mostly due to convenience of schedule. They had issues with getting the plane to LAX, then it had maintenance, etc...we ended up leaving 2+ hours late (I was wishing I had taken the HP flight). Anyway, after we boarded, the FA passed out forms and we had a choice of getting MP miles or a $25 cert. I requested the $25. By last week, I had completely forgotten about the whole thing and written it off...got my mail and there was a letter from UA. The cert was for $100. I'm still shocked...now just planning when/where to use it. It was definitely a fantastic gesture, and they'll get more business from me because of it.
Mar 29, 2007, 1:45 pm
#34
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Philadelphia,PA
Programs: United 1K,Marriott Platinum Premier,IHC Platinum Ambassador,Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,898
Why were you waiting for 45 minutes at the re-booking desk if you did not have a flight?
Mar 29, 2007, 2:34 pm
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 94
This was explained in the thread. I was helping a passenger who I had befriended AND I was curious to see how US would handle everything since they seem to botch so much these days.
Mar 29, 2007, 2:37 pm
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 94
I completely agree, but living in Philadelphia doesn't give me a lot of choice. I've recently booked several flights on UAL and despite that I need to make connections it gives me pleasure to not be giving US the business. But a lot of times it's just not feasible to book elsewhere.
Apr 3, 2007, 7:19 pm
#37
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K; US 50K
Posts: 743
For the record, I'm sure they weren't getting rooms. It was probably blamed as 'weather' or ATC related...
Can't say the last time I saw US part with a hotel room or meal voucher.
Can't say the last time I saw US part with a hotel room or meal voucher.
Apr 3, 2007, 10:56 pm
#38
Moderator: American AAdvantage & Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: PHX
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Unfortunately, my East flights, TA flights, DM interactions, CP res interactions and website problems are another story entirely.
There was a time not too many years ago when America West was as bad, on many fronts, as US is now. Parker and his team turned that around -- in stunning fashion. I'm really hoping they have an ability that's rare amongst management teams -- to turn around a growing mess of largely their own creation.