United Airlines
Poor Customer Service Denver Colorado

I purchased tickets online for a trip from Portland, OR to Wichita, KS. The trip was scheduled to depart on Dec. 28 and return Jan. 4, with a total of $2,000 for my wife, two kids (ages 2 and 4) and I.

The Portland-Denver part of the trip was handled by Alaska Airlines, who did a great job. For some reason, the online ticket agency booked us on United for the Denver-Wichita portion of the trip. Why two different airlines? Your guess is as good as mine...

First, United lost our luggage. When we arrived on Dec. 28 at 9 P.M., it was nowhere to be seen. We filed a claim and were told they would call us ASAP to set up delivery of the luggage.

The next day we went and bought a bunch of toiletries, coats, etc. And when we returned home, as we were unloading the car a lady pulled up and dropped off our luggage. They didn't call us (as promised) and the lady didn't have any information on how to get our money back for our unnecessary purchase.

Fast forward to the end of our trip. On Jan. 4 we were supposed to fly out at 4 P.M., but a freak ice storm sprang up and caused delays at the airport. I called United's customer service line and asked to re-book for the next day (1/5) to avoid getting stuck in Denver due to a late arrival.

A very friendly agent helped me, re-booked us, and even got us booked on United the whole way home, instead of having to switch councourses to Alaska Airlines in Denver. I even said to my wife: "That lady was quite friendly and helpful."

I wish.

The next morning we loaded up our luggage, loaded up the kids, and drove to the airport very slowly on a layer of ice. According to the United phone line (which I called on the way there), our flight was going to be delayed 1 hour.

We got to the airport, unloaded all of our stuff (four suitcases, two car seats and carry-ons) and got in line. When we got to the front of the line, the agent said "You aren't booked today. You were booked yesterday, but not today. And we're all full, so you'll have to fly out tomorrow."

She then booked NEW flights for Jan. 6. So we loaded all of the crap back into the car and headed back to my parents' house for another night...

I called United on the way home and guess what? They had NO RECORD of our new bookings for Jan. 6.in fact, the rep told me, they weren't even allowed to book us at all since our flight originated with Alaska Airlines. Only Alaska Airlines could change our itinerary!

We finally got it all sorted out and flew home on Jan. 6 (after two more rebookings), but with two problems:

1) our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours, which made my wife miss a shift at work.

2) I woke up that morning very sick and had diahrrea 5 times before we even got to the airport. If they had booked us correclty, I would have been home in bed instead of sitting in an airport feeling ill.

After we made it home, I called United to get some help with all of these problems. They told me "We can't help you until 10 days after your return flight because our computers don't update until then." What the?!

Fine. I called back on Jan. 16 and spoke to a guy. I explained everything and he accused me of lying, saying "there is nothing in our records to show you were booked for Jan. 5 at all."

No duh! That was our whole problem, dummy!

He said "Even though there is no evidence of this problem, I will offer you one $100 voucher for each of you, including one for your lap infant. That's $300."

"No, that's $400, " I said. "My daughter was a paying passenger too."

"Oh, she sure was. I didn't see her there. Well, I said $300 so let's stick with that. I'll give you $300 in vouchers for this miscommunication or whatever it was." Once again he implied I was making it up.

When he made it clear that this was all he would do for me, I said "Look. My wife missed work, which put us out $160 by itself. Three hundred dollars is not enough to make up for all of the trouble you caused."

"Sir, " he replied, "this offer is not made to compensate you for any loss you incurred. It is simply to show you we care about your business."

I refused his "generous" offer and asked for the address of corporate headquarters. He said "How about if I give you all $400 we mentioned before? Would that satisfy you?"

Not a chance. I refused his offer and wrote a letter outlining this whole mess.

Untied... Err... United replied with a letter that said "we have researched your claims and stand by our earlier decision." Included were four $150 vouchers.

If they stand by their decision, why did they send us $600 instead of $300? And if they are standing by their decision, then aren't they calling me a liar?

The whole mess is infuriating and after I use these vouchers, I will never use their airline again.

Buyer beware.

Company: United Airlines
Country: USA
State: Nationwide
Site: www.united.com

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