Comments on: Is United Airlines’ complaint line closure the future of customer service?

By: shaun

shaun — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:39:59 +0000

this is insain I have been trying to resolve a problem with them for 2months now and the email back and forth with no personal contact is horrable … its just another way to dodge your customers …. united you suck

By: JOHN MAY

JOHN MAY — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:51:11 +0000

My wife and I were given United vouchers due to problems with our flight. When we came to use them we discovered that they could not be used for an alliance flight but they could be used against the United part of that flight. This eventually caused additional expense , additional travelling time and a smaller luggage allowance. Complaints were politely ignored. Indian call centres are merely a way of ignoring complaints.

By: William Rowell

William Rowell — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:55:52 +0000

Ok, So if they close the call center in India, does that mean I don’t get to hear this again….. So your flight originated in “DC”, what state is that in??????

By: Serge S

Serge S — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:10:13 +0000

Most of the airlines already use e-mail, fax or mail as a form of contact of the customer relations department. You can usually request in your first communication to call you to discuss your past travel experience and a representative will call you.

By: tripso.com | United Airlines to unplug complaints phone line

tripso.com | United Airlines to unplug complaints phone line — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:52:22 +0000

[...] Email might be a part of the customer service process, but it is a poor substitute for human interaction, especially when time is of the essence. [...]

By: Steve P

Steve P — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:20:02 +0000

Chris -

I’m a proponent of email or “forms” contact as well, based on experiences at a non-travel company I work for that’s in the top 20 of the Fortune 500. With email, it’s easier for us to hone in on key complaints to do trend analysis. Are our customers experiencing problems with a new change in policy? Not like a component of service? Well, that gives us key indicators to work on to improve the customer experience. And, in a day in age where there’s so much competition for everyone’s money for goods and services, knowing your customers is extremely powerful.

With calls, and with offshore call centers, how sure are we that the call is being logged for the correct reason? You can flag the call for whatever reason, based on the metrics that are demanded to you by the outsourced call center management. Feign ignorance when they ask you why the call was flagged incorrectly, because, hey, who in their right mind would screen thousands of calls and check on you?

On a personal note, I’d much rather write an email or write a letter. It gives me time to formulate my thoughts in a clear and cohesive manner, and allows me to take the emotion out of my message. I don’t know about you, but if I had to call an offshore center with a few loosely framed talking points, I’d end up at a new level of frustration based on the canned responses expected from such a center.

By: David Z

David Z — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:24:01 +0000

Hmm, from that article you linked to, Chris:

Other corporate giants such as American, Delta and Disney have already moved in a similar direction, United said.

I wonder if Delta/Northwest will process their vouchers in the U.S. rather than their Indian call center this time and cut down the 10-day time? Heh.

By: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:36:35 +0000

@Morton L. Brown. The story you’re referring to is here: http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090211_United_preserves_isle_jobs.html

I just saw it, and I agree. It’s an interesting spin compared to the AP story carried by USA Today on which I based this post.

I do hope this will lead to an improvement in customer service at United. I think we all do.

By: Raul

Raul — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:30:39 +0000

Hum… what about calling the reservation center and, if you are on a situation that needs to be taken care of right away (i.e. you are at the airport and something just happened) then I will call reservations and speak to a supervisor to see what they can do… hum…. it is a catch-22…

By: Morton L. Brown

Morton L. Brown — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:18:26 +0000

I wonder if Chris has gotten this one right. An article in today’s Honolulu Advertiser (picked up from the Bloomberg News Service) puts a rather different face on this matter. According to them, United is bringing 165 call-center jobs BACK to the U.S. from India, these jobs to be split between Honolulu and Chicago. These jobs will be filled, they state, by workers who now handle reservations, and who will see duties involving customer relations added to their present jobs.

It is true that United will be urging customers to use e-mail or snail mail for both complaints and comments rather than telephoning, and that when they discontinue their customer-relations phone number, United reservations agents will be handling complaints. Perhaps the matter is not quite as dire as Chris seems to feel.

In any event, bringing jobs back to the U.S. from overseas has to be a good thing, given the present economic state of affairs. I’m no fan of United, but I think they’ve done a good thing this time around.