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11 Responses to “United Airlines”

1. On June 25th, 2007 at 7:53 pm Jan Robinson said

   This information was invaluable in my getting my refund after the Accounting & Refunds department were giving me the runaround. We had been upsold a ticket from Economy to Economy Plus back in March for which I wanted a refund (instead of Economy Plus on a 777 they put us in the Economy Exit Row 30 and charged us $219.) The non-responsiveness had been going on since the beginning of April and as it is now the end of June (3 months) I sent a copy of the original refund request to Graham Atkinson’s email with a short note mentioning your website as where I found his name. He responded to my email in 3 hours (I was amazed) and I received my refund 2 days later. Very impressive service! Thanks!

2. On February 14th, 2008 at 11:05 am Chris Styles said

   That was a great article that you just wrote about here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23116704. Its really unfortunate that airlines have those restricted policies. Often time customers are stuck, but there are other options. Consumers can purchase travel insurance, or if they are stuck with the product they can try to resell it on http://ebay.com or http://icanttravel.com .

3. On February 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm Louise said

   United trickets are to be transferrable. Was sent a DBfree ticket and I am trying to book in ticket for handicapped friend. I cannot get it to process with a name across top of original free voucher. They want a copy of person whose name is accross top of voucher with picture id and also copy picture id for person whose name is going on the voucher within 24 hours of booking if by phone. United said I could do it online, and I am finding no way. Please help!! Is this the only way now???

4. On February 28th, 2008 at 3:08 pm Blythe said

   After 8 months of trying to get a downgrade adjustment taken care of through United Customer Care with no luck, I contacted Pam Coslet and Graham Atkinson of United at the e-mail addresses provided by this website, and within 24 hours, was contacted and refunded! I am so relieved, thank you!

5. On March 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 am Dave said

   That email worked for PAM; at least it has not gotten bounced yet. We’ll see if I get a response.

   Thanks!

6. On March 13th, 2008 at 11:45 pm Cheryl Pfeiffer said

   About UA - Last July I booked flights thru Expedia from Philadelpia to Aspen, to fly Dec. 2007. First leg was on USAir, but booked through United, I later learned. At PHL, USAir had no reservation for me (even tho Expedia confirmed my reservation the night before). Because it was Dec. 20, flights were full; no other seats available on any airline, USAir said. They put me on a flight the next day; new routing (PHL to Phoenix rather than via Chicago). In Phoenix, the flights to Denver were cancelled bc of weather. I had to stay over in Phoenix at my expense. Flew to Denver the next day; flights to Aspen were delayed bc of weather. Finally reached Aspen two days later than planned. Also had a cancelled flight on return trip & arrived home a day late.
   After several phone calls, UA promised me two vouchers totalling $500. When it didn’t arrive after 2 weeks, I called again. Had to complete a form saying I never got it. Asked them to fax it (they didn’t offer). Sent the form back & about a week later did get the vouchers. But at the same time, also got a letter saying I couldn’t use them bc I’d already taken the trip! Called back again - they reluctantly agreed, after much back and forth, to $250. I got that. Tried to use it for a new on-line reservation - site wouldn’t accept the voucher code. Called UA; found out I could only use it with a phone reservation. Called reservations (all this contact was in India, and hard to understand.) Finally got reservation made for myself, then needed to reserve for my husband on same trip. Was then told there was a $15 fee for phone reservations. Went ahead anyway at that point to assure we got same flights. Agent booked all information, put me on hold, and several minutes later said rates went up as she was booking. Asked to me please hold again; she was trying to get same rate she quoted me. Put me on hold again. Came back several minutes later; still problems; the rate would have to be booked manually and she needed more time. Given all the problems to date, I was afraid a manual booking would somehow get lost. Told her to cancel both reservations. (All this took well over an hour.) Then rebooked, online, with another airline, and found that my new total (via Expedia again) was only slightly more than UA’s would have been even with my discount of $250.00. Summary - This was the worst customer service I’ve had in years, in any industry. And on the December trip, US Air was not far behind in poor service when their flights were cancelled or delayed.

7. On April 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm Donald Dunow said

   This is an e-mail that I just wrote to United basically telling them I will never fly them again. I sent it to all of the email addresses listed here; we’ll see what kind of response I get. The customer service used to be great…now, not so much. Being sent to India (or wherever) every time I use a voucher or have to change my plans is RIDICULOUS, especially considering now I’ll be paying $150 for a change of plans (in my line of work, plans change all the time). BOOOOO! to United. And how is it that all of the workers in India have American names? Are they THAT Westernized??? Amazing.
   ————————————————
   I have to admit that United was my favorite airline. I used to brag to everyone I knew how amazing their customer service was, and how happy I was to fly with you guys. I love United so much that I actually have a United 747-400 tattooed on my ribcage for all to see during my shirtless summer vacations. My license plate reads UAL 93. My website background is the evolution of the United logos through the years. However, my opinion has changed drastically in the past several months.

   I admit that I’ve not been flying United as much as I used to, primarily because I don’t travel as much as I used to. However, I think that my choice of #1 airline will have to change (although my options these days are severely limited).

   I fly United not only because of the great customer service I have received, but to show my pride for being a natural-born citizen of the UNITED States of America. It seems you no longer value this as an embodied principle of your founding. When you guys sent your customer service overseas was when I first started noticing a big change in the level of customer service I was receiving. Yes, you have highly trained customer service representatives overseas. But there is an admittedly obvious language and cultural barrier that has presented itself every single time I have called to make a domestic reservation. I called once to change the middle name of my travel companion; I was informed that I would have to pay the $100 ticket change fee simply for a change of middle name when the first and last names and flights had not changed at all. It took over an hour to finally get on the line with a person who understood me completely and was willing to listen to my complaint and agree to not charge me for the menial change. This is just one of several examples I can provide to highlight my displeasure with your call centers overseas. Not to mention that it has never taken me less than an hour to book travel on the telephone with your overseas representatives.

   And now, you’re charging $150 for a ticket change. Let’s face the truth: it doesn’t actually cost United $150 in operating costs to change a ticket, and nowhere along the line do you lose money simply because one person has to change their reservation. If nothing else, you are apt to make money off of that changed ticket, because I am now freeing up a seat that was once filled and you can now charge more money for that seat. And now I have to rebook, and my ticket is likely going to cost me more now than it did when I originally booked. Southwest’s popularity has grown so rapidly because they don’t charge a change-ticket fee. True, they are not the most comfortable airline to fly, and they have zero international destinations. However, their customer service and their no-fee ticket change policy keeps people coming back. It puts people at ease knowing that they can book their trip even if their plans are not 100% set in stone and can change at any time without having to pay an exorbitant fee to alter their travel plans. And they make each person feel like they are individually valued.

   Fees for a 2nd checked bag; $150 ticket-change fees; overseas customer service; more expensive weekday flights (while hotels are cheaper during the weekdays); disgruntled employees due to the cutbacks they’ve seen in their many years of service: these are some of the reasons I will no longer be flying on United. Most of my travel lately has been with US Airways, and I can’t say I’m 100% pleased with them either. However, they happen to have more options available to me, in my opinion, for frequent flyer miles and programs than the other airlines. I admit that I’m not one of your super mega 1 million mile elite flyers. But every person should feel like they are a valued customer whether they can afford to fly once every 5 years or every 5 hours. United no longer makes people feel valued.

   It’s interesting to see that in 1992, you were the #3 airline for quality. In 2007, you were #8. AirTran beat you guys out for the #1 spot last year? Really? C’mon…

   I thank you for my past experiences on United and for the good times you’ve provided me in my travel excursions. If you’ll excuse me now, I need to go have this tattoo removed.

   Donald M. Dunow, MS, SLP
   Phoenix, AZ

8. On June 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am Michael said

   Note that you can at least get through to an English-speaking individual by trying the following numbers:

   (312) 997-8000 - United’s General Phone number in Chicago. Can be found on 10-K reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

   (404) 765-1272 - United’s Hartsfield/Atlanta phone number. They can at least pass messages on for you. You can get this and similar phone numbers by going to BBB.org and searching for “united airlines” and selecting businesses which are “subsidiaries” of United. e.g. this one is listed as United Airlines @ Hartsfield.

   Go to Switchboard.com and search for United Airlines in Chicago, IL. You get phone numbers, not sure where they go to, but at least they’re local.

9. On June 23rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm Ben Alexander said

   Elliott!! Where have you been my whole life!? This website is amazing.

   As a former flight attendant of United Airlines, I can give you one piece of advice when calling 1800 UNITED1 and you get that stupid little computer that can’t even understand you when your screaming at it, keep saying international, even if you don’t have an international booking.

   This will eventually transfer you to the international sales desk usually in Chicago. These agents are the best trained and know the fastair booking system inside and out. They also know why people do this, and they will kindly help you with your query!

   Regards,
   Ben

10. On June 30th, 2008 at 9:07 pm Susan said

    I just realized this site offers info for all airlines :( oops… I have contacted Delta and will see what happens next.

11. On August 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am JP Parramore said

    Your website saved me from popping blood vessels, or some other dastardly deed. United charged me twice for checking a bag. Tracking down either a person or even a voice menu to request a refund went nowhere — except snail mail to a PO box in Chicago. I Googled “United Airlines refund” and found this website. I have just been told that the inaccurate charge will be credited back in 7-10 days. (We shall see.) Too bad that United couldn’t have provided this information. Notwithstanding this complaint, I still have a big problem with an airline charging to check a bag.

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