Sunday, October 14, 2007

Mixed messages from United

The email said I’d been upgraded. The gate agent said I hadn’t.

I had just deplaned from my flight to Denver from Oakland and checked my email on my Treo. I was delighted to see a message from United confirming that I had been upgraded to first class on my flight from Denver to Washington, D.C. (A screen shot of the salient part of the email appears below).

image

I got to my gate and waited my turn, happily ready to exchange my coach boarding pass for one in first. I told the gate agent about the email. She shook her head, tapped a few keys, then shook her head again. “I have no idea what that’s about,” she said. “First class was booked full and has checked in full.”

Now, understand: Even though I’m a United million-mile flyer, I have no expectation of upgrades. I book my seats in coach and am happy to sit there. But sending me an email telling me my upgrade request has been fulfilled raised my expectations, only to have them dashed a short while later. It is, in my opinion, inexcusable.

How could such mixed messages happen? Is it that one system doesn’t talk to another?

In any case, I called Customer Relations when I got to my hotel, but they’re closed on weekends. (I guess nobody flies and needs customer relations if it isn’t Monday through Friday.) So I tried the Premiere Executive number, where I was told to wait until tomorrow to talk to Customer Relations.

So I’ve spoke today with a gate agent, a flight attendant, and the Premier Executive desk, each of whom passed the buck and none of whom offered an apology. We’ll see what happens tomorrow when I call Customer Relations to ask for (a) an explanation, (b) an apology, and (c) assurance that the system-wide upgrade certificate is put back into my account. I’m not hoping for much.

In any case, I have learned a couple lessons about United today:

  • Never rely on or trust an email from United. They could be completely false.
  • The loyalty involved in flying a million true miles with United doesn’t matter to United.
  • When you get screwed over by United, nobody at United seems to care very much.

It’s true what they say: You have a choice of carriers when you fly. To be honest, I’ve been avoiding United for the last year or so when I can. Today’s experience only confirms that this is a good idea.

Special note to Craig Jolley: Yeah, yeah, I know, I know…

Posted by Shel in • Planes
(7) Comments • Permalink

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  1. I’ve seen this happen on Continental; someone who’s gotten an upgrade notice a day or two in advance gets downgraded when it’s time to get on the plane.

    The problem with offering the empty first class seats to preferred customers in advance is that someone might still come along and buy them, and honestly, if they bought them, they are theirs. (My partner caused this to happen to someone recently; he had to make an emergency trip, he was buying the ticket a few hours before the flight left, and first class was only a little more than coach - so he bought the ticket. Somebody got sent back to coach as a result.)

    So this one doesn’t bug me that much - usually it works fine, and avoids the hassle of exchanging boarding passes at the gate, so the occasional “oops” seems understandable.

    John  on  10/14  at  05:25 PM

  2. That’s one situation, John. Mine is getting an email a mere two hours before the flight with the word “confirmed” in it.

    Shel Holtz  on  10/15  at  04:56 AM

  3. My guess is that it’s the same situation on a tighter time frame. Very annoying, of course. Continental actually often doesn’t tell you you’re upgraded until you are at the gate, which avoids some of this - the flight is closed to new sales and check-ins, and they know exactly who’s there. They also never email you once you hit 24 hours before the flight - you might find out when you check in, or you might find out at the gate - and I’ve even had a flight attendant come back to my coach seat 10 minutes before take off to tell me I’m upgraded. American might want to consider doing things that way…

    John Whiteside  on  10/15  at  05:11 AM

  4. Another point to keep in mind is what I was told at the gate: The flight had shown first class checked in full all along. Either I was lied to about that (if, in fact, my upgrade was bumped for someone with greater status) or United’s systems keep the right hand from knowing what the left is doing.

    Shel Holtz  on  10/16  at  08:33 AM

  5. You are making progress Shel. You know, next time you are in the UK why don’t you ring up Richard Branson and pitch the idea for him to fund/develop the AUA (Anti United Airlines) company? Think of the built in market!

    .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  10/17  at  04:38 AM

  6. Man… that would not be fun.

    There’s a distinct unpleasant feeling about getting your hopes raised up to the ceiling and then someone swatting you back down.

    Comparison is a killer smile

    I know I’m late to post. But just wanted to empathize with your situation.

    That sucks smile

    Sorry.

    baby carriers backpacks  on  02/20  at  12:49 PM

  7. Cantor spokesman Joe Pounder is like a one-man RNC (which is nice because the real RNC doesn’t even bother sending me emails anymore—I’m looking at you Gail Gitcho budget web hosting. He sends out a release noting the multiple fronts on which different White House players seem to be pulling in opposite directions. Because competence is back see vps hosting competence checklist.Washington, DC — The United States’ top diplomat on Africa described the violence in Kenya’s Rift Valley as “ethnic cleansing” on Wednesday, but hours later the State Department spokesman in Washington, DC, backed off, calling the situation “evolving” and “fluid.”

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