Brian and Lisa lost in the land of airlines.(Or why United can go suck it.)

12/20/06

6:00 AM I received a phone call on my cell phone informing me that “something had changed on my reserved flight.” No other information was provided.

6:15 AM I logged onto United.com to check on our flight. I checked my reservation and found nothing out of the ordinary. Since I was online, I decided to check in. It would not allow me to do so. Puzzled, I went to the main page, and entered my flight information. It was at this point that I was told that the first leg of our flight was cancelled.

6:30 AM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

6:35 AM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was cut off.

6:40 AM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

6:45 AM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. I was put on hold to speak to an agent.

6:55 AM I finally got through to an agent. (Let’s call him Agent 1, he refused to give me his name when I asked) He informed me that we could be put on a flight departing from Portland to Denver at 7:50 which would allow us to get our connecting flight from Denver to Minneapolis that evening. I told him that we were unable to make it to the airport with a mere hour in advance warning. (It’s a good thing, too. If we had been on that flight, we surely would have been trapped in Denver when our connecting flight was cancelled that evening.) The agent then began to look for flights for me. He was unable to find anything for me on Dec 21st that would get us to Minneapolis. He found a flight for the 22nd. I asked why the original flight was cancelled. He told me there was going to be a snowstorm in Denver. He put it on hold. I inquired as to the possibility of being put on a flight with another airline, as I had checked on Orbitz.com and found many flights that would get us to Minneapolis in time. He told me that that was impossible – that he could either give us a refund or book us on another flight. As the refund would barely cover half the cost of a new itinerary, that option was not acceptable. I asked to speak to a manager. I was placed on hold. I was on hold for over an hour, with the agent occasionally checking in. He kept asking me if he could protect us on the new flight. I assumed that he meant book us – he seemed to have some difficulty with English. He eventually told me that I was unable to speak to a manager, that he was booking us on the flight on the 22nd and that I should attempt to speak to a manager when things were less busy. The flight on the 22nd was booked for us (through Chicago). He told me I would receive email confirmation. The call ended around 8:10 AM. It had been made clear to me that my concerns were unimportant, and that United was not interested in making this right. Rather than any sort of understanding or sympathy, all I was presented with was an attitude of “this is a weather concern, therefore it’s not our fault, and we are uninterested in helping you.”

11:00 PM Concerned that I still had not received email confirmation of my flight, and that the online itinerary that I could find on United.com would not allow me to choose seats, and in fact said that all the seats were full, and showed a little graphic of an airplane with all the seats full. I called, and went through the phone tree. I was placed on hold. I was on hold for over an hour and then I hung up, with never having spoken to an agent.

12/21/06

11:00 AM Still concerned about not having an email confirmation and the fact that I cannot select my seats, I call again. I go through the phone tree, and when I am told I will be transferred to an agent, I get a busy signal.

11:05 AM I call, I go through the phone tree, and when I am told I will be transferred to an agent, I get a busy signal.

11:10 AM I call, I go through the phone tree, and when I am told I will be transferred to an agent, I get placed on hold.

11:20 AM I get through to an agent. (Agent 2). She is kind and lovely, and very concerned with helping me. I tell her about my concerns. She assures me that we are confirmed on the flight, and explains the reason why I cannot select our seats on the flights. She is able to go in and choose seats for us on the second leg of our journey (Chicago-Minneapolis). She apologizes for being unable to do so for the first leg (Portland-Chicago) but assures be I will be assigned seats at the airport. She says there is no way I will be bumped from the flight and assures me that it is not oversold. I am much relieved, and thank her.

1:41 PM It is 24 hours before our flight is due to leave, so I attempt to check in online. It says “We are unable to locate an electronic ticket for this itinerary. Please return to your original place of purchase for assistance and return to united.com for check-in.” I am no longer relieved or confident.

1:45 PM I call in to 1-800-UNITED-1. A new message! This is the first time the phone tree talks about Denver and extended hold times. I get through the phone tree and am placed on hold to speak to an agent.

2:00 PM An agent answers. (Agent 3). She tells me that I am unable to check in online because I have been protected on this flight from another flight. This is the same phrase Agent 1 was using before. This usage of the word protected is new to me, a certified English teacher. I don’t know what she means, and I tell her so. She says it means transferred. I wonder why she didn’t use that word in the first place. She says that it it 24 hours for the flight to be officially transferred, and that I should be able to check in online after that time. I point out to her that it has been over 28 hours since the flight was changed. She ignores this. I tell her I need to be able to check in. She says that it will take 24 to 48 hours from the time I made the transfer. I tell her this is unacceptable. She says that she will “queue” my transfer. I don’t know what this means. She tells me it has been “queued” and will be brought to “their” attention. I ask who “they” are. I ask if it would help if I went to the airport NOW and checked in. She said no, because the e-ticket hadn’t been issued yet. I begin to anticipate problems tomorrow. She says she will transfer me to “customer service,” which is odd, because I thought that’s who SHE was. She transfers me. I find myself back at the message about Denver and extended hold times. I go through the same phone tree I have been through a multitude of times. When I am told that I will be transferred to an agent, I get a busy signal.

2:15 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:20 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:25 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:30 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:35 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:40 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was received a busy signal.

2:45 PM I called 1-800-United-1 and went through the phone tree. When I was due to be transferred to an agent, I was placed on hold.

3:00 PM I speak with "Rachel." I tell her about the problem with not being able to check in. She tells me that the reason I cant check in online is because the Portland to Chicago leg of my flight is likely to be cancelled. I told her I didn’t understand this, as weather.com and other sources predict no snow for Chicago on 12/22. At our landing time it predicts “few showers” and at our takeoff time “partly cloudy.” She did, however, assign seats for us for the Portland to Chicago leg. She told me that she thought the problem was with the internet and asked me if I would like to be transferred to web support. I told her I didn’t think that was it, and asked her to check with co-workers or her supervisor and see if there was something else going on. I pointed out that I also had still not received my confirmation email. She then placed me on hold while she went to consult with her co-workers. When she came back, she told me that our tickets were “queued” to transfer, and they would not actually transfer until I check in at the airport, which I would not be able to do until 5 hours before the flight. She told me I would not be able to check in online at all. When I told her I would like to lodge a complaint, she told me I could speak to “customer relations.” I told her what happened the last time I tried that, and she gave me their direct number. I asked about what she said about the likelihood of the PDX-ORD flight being cancelled, in light of what I had found on weather.com. She told me it was likely to be delayed, not cancelled.

3:20 PM I call customer relations. I relate this entire story to the agent. Her accent is so heavy I can barely understand her. She tells me that she is very sorry for the problems, and asks what she can do to help. I told her what I really want is a guarantee that they will make sure we get home tomorrow. She said that United will do whatever it can within the airline, but that they will not transfer us to another airline, because this is a weather problem and not their fault. This is not what I want to hear, and not good customer service. She does offer us each a $100 voucher for use in the future. I say that that would be appreciated, and will mollify me, to an extent, so long as there are no more problems. The call ends.

Will our heroes make it to the golden land of Minneapolis? Stay tuned, gentle readers.