I've heard you can ruffle feathers at various airlines if you post your
bad experiences with them....so here goes. I'm trying for some
reimbursement! Bad United. Bad bad United Airlines. #UnitedFail #United
I am writing
because I am extremely unhappy with my experience with United Airlines.
The story began on the evening of 12/26/2012 when my flight from Newark
to Albany was cancelled. I took this in stride, cancellations do happen
and I patiently waited in line at EWR for about an hour before I saw an
agent. Despite the fact that I was nice to him, the agent I met with was
rude and totally unhelpful. He booked me on a flight out the next
morning and told me that I could not get my bag because the baggage
department was closed. I stopped by the baggage claim on my way out and
discovered they were open. The woman working there was very nice and
she had my bag for me in less than 10 minutes. I spent the night in a
hotel and got up for my rescheduled flight the next morning. This flight
was delayed (they claimed there was no plane), delayed, and then
cancelled. I headed back to the service desk and waited in line again
for a very long time. I was losing precious time with my family, so I
eventually left the line and took Amtrak to Hudson, NY where my family
greeted me. The train was a good choice because United rescheduled me to
fly Albany on the 29th....which was silly as it would have given me one
day with my family before I had to leave.
Once I was at my
family’s house I called United to tell them that I would not be on the
rescheduled flight to Albany on the 29th, and I did not want to be
cancelled off of my return flight from ALB to SEA on 12/31/2012. I was
reassured by the agent that she would cancel me off the EWR-ALB leg as
an “involuntary cancellation” and keep me on my return flights to SEA.
Well, on the morning of my scheduled flight I went to check in only to
discover that I had been cancelled off of all of my flights. I was
furious, as this was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I called United
immediately and spoke with agent who calmly dealt with my anger. There
were no seats left on the flights - figures! Through her boss, however,
the agent was able to overbook the flight to get me a ticket, although I
had no assigned seat when I left for the airport. The chances were
nerve-wracking that I would get a seat which was infuriating because I
had booked the flight months ago and needed to get back to SEA. I
followed the instructions at ALB when I got my boarding pass to proceed
to the gate to get my assigned seat. At the gate I was greeted by a very
grumpy and unhelpful employee who told me I was supposed to get my seat
assigned at the check-in counter (exactly the opposite of what the
kiosk told me to do). This man actually looked me in the eye and told me
“I hate my job”. Nice employees United has - he would be better off
throwing bags than dealing with customers. I should note that I was
being very nice to him as there was no point in being angry with him, he
was angry enough with life. Lucky for me, a couple gave up their seats
and I was able to get on the plane and make my connection to SEA (a seat
was assigned to me in IAD).
I received a refund for the leg of
the flight I did not take (EWR to ALB). I had requested reimbursement
for my train ticket (a massive $47.50) but was turned down. Really?
Honestly, I am disgusted with United, their employees for their
undeserved rude treatment, and their inability to handle these problems.
All I asked for was reimbursement of my train tickets and they can’t
even do that despite rescheduling me on totally silly dates for my
flight to ALB from EWR (i.e. arriving right before I had to leave) and
then cancelling me off my return flights! Clearly this company doesn’t
care about customers. I am not impressed at all and I will happily avoid
flying with United Airlines. Why fly United Airlines when Alaska
Airlines is so much nicer to their customers?
So hint to all you travelers - United is not worth it.
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