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 Dishonest practices and terrible service of check-in staff and incompetent Customer Relations agent
Posted Mon September 25, 2006 3:05 pm, by Wendy L. written to US Airways
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I am writing on behalf of my parents and myself to complain about the dishonest practices and terrible service of your check-in staff at La Guardia Airport, New York City and your incompetent Customer Relations agent.
My parents and I were scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles from La Guardia Airport at 6:40 AM, Sep. 14 (Flight No. 961/1433). We purchased the tickets on www.usairways.com (confirmation number xxxxx). Since my 68-yr old mother showed physical discomfort after the long journey in New York, we decided to go to the airport in the late afternoon of Sep. 13 to stand by for any available flights around 6 PM back to Los Angeles, so that she can get medical attention. Your website showed more than 5 flights going to Los Angeles around 6 PM (flight no. 2185/48/116 at 6 PM, 4451/374/116 at 6 PM, 2138/298/116 at 6 PM, 733/711/116 at 6:10 PM, 1268/1031/116 at 6:10 PM, etc.) In our past experience, airlines would not have a problem with standbys as long as seats were available, especially when there is no flight between 6:10 PM on Sep 13 and 6:40 AM on Sep 14. And, prior to going to the airport, we confirmed online that there were indeed many vacant seats.
We arrived at the airport prior to 5 PM. Your check-in agent, a Caucasian senior staff, checked the seats and told us flights were full. He then referred us to your Star Alliance partner, United Airlines, and told us if United is willing to accept us, they do not have any problem.
Therefore, we dragged all our luggage to another terminal, where United is located. After hearing our story, the United agent checked the seating information of US Airways and commented that US Airways was really terrible because they had plenty of vacant seats. She said that she would be willing to allow us onboard immediately, as United did have many seats on flights 693/131 at 7 PM, 847/925 at 7:07 PM, and 695/131 at 8 PM back to Los Angeles. However, she would need actual tickets or boarding passes with ticket numbers in order to get reimbursement from US Airways.
So now the problem started. Since our tickets were issued electronically, we needed to go back to the US Airways terminal for tickets/boarding passes. But after the long journey back to the US Airways terminal, your staffs refused to print out anything for us to board United flights. The supervisor at the check-in desk, an African American male, not only refused to help board us on United flights but instead suggested we stand by for a US Airway flight at JFK Airport around 8 PM, without even checking the seat availability. The idea of going to JFK from La Guardia during peak traffic hours in New York was way too ridiculous. Worst of all, none of the US Airways agents wear visible nameplates. When I specifically asked for the name of the Caucasian senior staff for the record, he refused to give his name to me. A female agent told us in private that she was willing to help us but she could not do anything since her supervisor, the African American male, already said so.
Having negotiated for a long time to no avail, around 7 PM, my husband decided to call US Airways Customer Relations at 866-523-5333. Now our only hope was to board the 8 PM United flight. After we spent more than 10 minutes explaining the whole situation, the Customer Relations agent, Vanefe (ID #1MJ), agreed to try to change our flight to the United flight at 8 PM. But soon she told us US Airways does not have the ability to change online tickets because www.usairways.com is maintained and fully controlled by www.orbitz.com. She told us to call www.orbitz.com at 701-280-5683 for changing flights. My husband told her that she could use a 3-way conference call to resolve this urgent issue with www.orbitz.com because not too much time was left, but Vanefe said she was not equipped to do so. We tried this 701-280-5683 number many times at the airport, and even after we were back in Los Angeles, but as expected, the line was always busy. We really doubt if this is a real phone line for www.orbitz.com.
So we were forced to miss the 8 PM United flight and sit in the lobby of La Guardia Airport for one night to wait for the 6:40 AM flight.
The bad attitude and dishonesty of your check-in staff, especially the African American supervisor, is unacceptable. Under no circumstances should your check-in staff lie to us that flights were full. They would rather keep seats unoccupied than give them out to customers in desperate need, especially two seniors close to 70 years of age requiring medical attention. Once your staff refers us to United and United accepts us, your staff should co-operate by all means to get us onboard United flights. Instead, your staff, including the check-in supervisor, gave us such a hard time, which really made us furious. Apparently, it appears that your company doesn't want to pass the profit on to your alliance partner, United Airlines. Then what is the point of the alliance and why did your agent refer us to United to start the whole hassle? If your agent would like to use the "same calendar date standby policy" as an excuse, you should stick to it instead of lying about flights being full, referring us to United (a long distance between terminals), and then give us the run around, even asking us to stand by for a US Airways flight at JFK airport.
In addition, your agents should wear visible nameplates all times. Without a nameplate, it is easy for them to get away with abusive service.
Your Customer Relations department is not useful at all. If your Customer Relations agent could not change tickets issued by www.usairways.com, then you really need to get rid of www.orbitz.com. We had doubts about whether it was really true that your agent had no access to 3-way conference call technology and the 701-280-5683 is a real number for www.orbitz.com, even though we have no proof.
Finally, your same calendar day standby policy is ridiculous. That means people with a ticket for 11 PM can stand by for a 5 AM morning flight on the same day (18 hours earlier), while people holding a 1 AM ticket cannot stand by for an 11 PM flight the previous day (only 2 hours earlier). In comparison, the United Airlines agent was much more understanding and flexible.
When we lived in the East Coast many years ago, we used to take your flights all the time. And we still recall the warm and good service of the old US Airways. Unfortunately, the good service is gone, some say probably due to the merger with American West. With this kind of service, we really doubt whether we will take US Airways flights again. We believe we deserve a $100 per person refund to compensate for the pain we suffered due to the deception and unprofessional service of your staffs. I am looking forward to hearing your response soon. My mother is currently receiving medical examinations to see if any deteriorations in her condition have occurred due to the delay. Should this be the case, we reserve the right to take legal action against US Airways.
Your furious customers,
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by Wendy L. Posted Thu October 12, 2006 @ 9:49 PM
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I CC'ed this letter to United Airline to let them know that US Airways
tried not to pass the profit to them by humiliating customers. While I
have not heard response from US Airways so far (2+ weeks already),
United responded immediately and the following is the reply from
United Airline:
>From: "UACustomerCare9 Reply"
>Reply-To: "UACustomerCare9 Reply"
>To:
>Subject: RE: Customer Relations email from Wendy
>L. -Ref#: 5445588A
>Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:00:06 -0600
>
>Dear Ms. L.,
>
>Thank you for contacting us. On behalf of United and our Star
Alliance
>partner, US Airways, I apologize for the dissatisfaction you have
>expressed.
>
>We pride ourselves in being focused on customers like you who make
our
>company successful. I'm glad that you took the time to let us know
>your feelings and gave us a chance to respond. We do value comments
>from our customers, especially those as loyal and steadfast as
>yourself. Please know that we have established a specialized
>department at Headquarters whose goal is to work with every issues to
>improve service. I have registered your feedback with them for
information and internal review.
>Your suggestion will be taken into consideration during future
service
>updates. And while I cannot make any comments, I can assure you that
>your voice will be heard.
>
>As you are our valuable customer I would like to issue you a discount
>travel certificate as a tangible gesture of our good will and
gratitude
>for your business. Please allow 7 to 10 business days for the
delivery
>of the same.
>
>Your business matters to us, and I encourage you to travel with
United
>again.
>
>Regards,
>
>Mike Madan
>United Airlines Customer Relations
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by R C Posted Wed October 11, 2006 @ 3:16 PM
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Bottom-line is to avoid airlines like this. Always stick to the
better reputed airlines.
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by R C Posted Wed October 11, 2006 @ 3:07 PM
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I have not been on this website for a long time. After reading this
story, I do have sympathy on the writer, who received the terrible
service. It is clear that United Airline service is significantly
better than US Airways according to this story, if what happened is
true.
Unfortunately, somehow this website is probably abundant of US Airways
employees or related people who are attacking any complaint letters
instead of improving service to compete with United Airline.
Anyway, as a frequent traveler, I will stick to United Airline in the
future. Attacking the writers won't change my view that better
service is important.
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"We believe we deserve a $100 per person refund to compensate for the
pain we suffered due to the deception and unprofessional service of
your staffs."
The only pain and suffereing that happened was due to you! You mother
was ill (and possibly your father) and was in need of medical care and
you made them sleep in a hotel overnight. Your first priority should
have been to find your mother and father a comfortable place to sleep.
If there is any deteriorations in your parents condition you are the
cause.You should be apologizing to your parents and paying them
$100.00 per person for there pain and suffering. You don't have a
legal leg to stand on.
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by nick l Posted Wed September 27, 2006 @ 9:10 PM
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So let me get this straight...
Your mother shows signs of being ill, and your first concern is
finding a flight home?
Not taking your mother to a doctor? Or finding a comfortable motel for
her to sleep in? There's plenty of hospitals and hotels in New York
you could have taken her.
I'll make this short. You are disgusting. U.S. Airways is not
repsonsible for your mother's well-being. You are. Why didn't you get
her checked out if she was feeling so rotten?
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by tickytack Posted Tue September 26, 2006 @ 4:43 PM
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$100 per person, eh?
I'd love to know where you came up with that.
That being said, the other posters are correct - you weren't
guaranteed anything, you weren't maligned; you merely disliked not
getting your own way.
Oh, and "deteriorations in medical condition due to delay".
How, praytell, does waiting in an airport cause medical
deterioration?
Grasping at straws must be one fun hobby...
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by S. Brown Posted Tue September 26, 2006 @ 3:32 PM
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Stand-by is just that - - you are taking a chance that an airline will
have an available seat (or three, in your case) on a different flight
than that for which you have a reservation. When presented with a
passenger who wants to change their flight the airline has the option
of allowing it or not and obviously things have changed since your
"past experience" ("When we lived in the East Coast many years ago. .
. ."). The fact that you arrived at 5:00 p.m. in hopes of getting on a
6:00 p.m. flight is completely unrealistic and says to me that you
were expecting the airline employees to jump through hoops because
your mother wasn't feeling well. If this was truly a medical emergency
then you should have left the airport and located the nearest
emergency room. If your mother was not well enough to hang around an
airport all night because you thought you could change flights by
arriving at the airport 1 hour early and it didn't work out, then you
should have gotten a hotel.
Hopefully it is not determined that your mother's "condition"
deterioriated due to "the delay" of your choice to the point where
legal representation is necessary because I believe it is a case you
will lose. In addition, I would not hold my breath waiting for
compensation due to the "pain we suffered due to the deception and
unprofessional service of your staffs" because in my book, it just
didn't happen. The fact that you don't like their policies does not
constitute deception.
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by Harleycat Posted Tue September 26, 2006 @ 1:54 PM
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While I agree that they could have done more to assist you, I think
there were several things here that you could have done to make this
easier.
Did you call the airline and confirm that you could do this? Just
because you did something in the past does not mean you can do it now.
Due to new security regulations, airlines have had to tighten up a
lot of their policies. Just because it says there are available seats
online, does not mean they will still be available when you get to the
airport. They could have easily filled up with passengers who were
booked on a canceled flight. From what I could see on US Airways
website, for a $25 fee they will allow you to change to an earlier
flight that has available seats on the same day, not a day earlier.
Their website also says that if you have electronic tickets you must
call their reservations desk to make any changes.
Why did you arrive at the airport at 5PM in hopes of getting on a 6PM
flight? That is just not enough time. You are counting on a ticket
agent making the necessary changes, checking luggage and getting
through security in less than 1/2 hour. Planes start boarding 30
minutes before the flight. I know LGA, security alone can take more
than 30 minutes.
I think the reason there was such a problem printing a boarding pass
for you was that your tickets were for 9/14, not 9/13. The system may
not allow them to do that, I don't know.
I am curious was to why you chose to stay in the airport all night.
There are a number of hotels in the area where you could have gotten
some rest and a meal.
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by CandyPickletoes Posted Tue September 26, 2006 @ 12:51 PM
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I completely understand your frustration. However, you state that you
reserve the right to seek legal action should the delay have caused
any more injuries. I believe that New York has hospitals and you did
show up 12 hours early for your flight. So, I don't think you'd have
a legal leg to stand on because you made the decision to remain at the
airport as opposed to seeking medical care for your mother.
Good luck though.
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