United’s response….really?!

So…below is the email response I received, in addition to a voicemail. Attached to the email was a travel certificate good for 20% off travel good for a year. Really? REALLY? I am now on my way back home and will use the time on the plane to craft a response.

Dear Ms. Martin:

Your recent correspondence to Mr. Smisek was forwarded to my attention for a reply. I regret you were not available to take my call today to accept our apologies for the poor experience you had this week while flying from San Francisco.

We are still in the midst of integrating our operations and customer programs, including the frequent flyer programs. For now, although we still have two IT platforms, we have been testing our integration so our customers are not caught in a similar situation such as you experienced.

Our Reservation agent should have clearly explained which carrier you would check in with, and at the airport our Customer Service agent could have taken one minute away from the passenger he was helping to direct you better. Allow me to simply say I’m sorry.

Understandably you felt frustration after missing your standby flight cutoff by such a slim margin. We realize our business travelers may have a last minute change of schedule, so I hope someone provided you the option to confirm yourself on an earlier flight, along with the fare difference, if any.

As you know for your long association with United Airlines our goal is to provide seamless travel; but you’ve made it clear we have a lot of work to do to meet that goal. We hope you will be able to use the attached travel certificate to have a much smoother trip in the future.

Regards,

Lynn Johnson
United Airlines Customer Care

A challenge issued to Jeff Smisek, CEO at United

I recently (read: yesterday) had one of the worst travel experiences ever. It was so bad that I was inspired to write a letter to United’s CEO as well as the ‘Customer Solutions’ group. Here is what I wrote (it’s long, but I had LOTS of time to write it):

Subject: A disastrous United experience
Mr. Smisek,

I have been a customer with United since 1995. In 2011, I flew ~75k miles on United, giving me Premier Executive Gold status. Last year I was also Premier Executive, and have flown >450k miles on United so my experience with your airline runs deep. I believe United has reached the nadir of service and let me explain why.

I was scheduled to fly from SFO => EWR today (January 16th) on flight 1534. Yesterday I called United to see if I could go standby on an earlier flight. The agent gave me a couple of earlier options (although after having to place me on hold because two of the options were Continental flights and she couldn’t see what the load was). She indicated the best option was the 7:45 am flight, given the number of open seats. While she did tell me this was a Continental flight, she did not indicate that I would have to go to a Continental agent. So this morning, I arrive at the SFO airport at 6:30am, waited in the Premier Exec line for 10 minutes (in spite of the fact that I told the agent that I was trying to make the 7:45am flight while he was helping another customer with a flight that was delayed and not scheduled to leave until 8:30am.). I was then informed that I would have to walk down to the Continental counter to have them help me with standby. I asked where the Continental counter was and the agent pointed in the direction I was to go. I walked past the next bank of United counters, past American and Virgin, when I asked where Continental was. The Virgin Airline agent pointed me back in the direction from which I just came. Confused, I headed back and saw that the bank of ‘United’ counters I had walked past was actually the Continental counter (silly me, I missed the small ‘Continental’ signage below the UNITED sign). I got to an agent, explained that I was trying to go standby on the 7:45am flight at which point I was informed I missed the cutoff by one minute.

I was very frustrated by this, given the confusing signage and poor instructions by the United gate agent. I expressed my unhappiness at this, and the agent shrugged and said she couldn’t get me on the flight. At this point, she put me standby on the next flight – a United flight – at 9:06 am. She mentioned I could try to get on the 7:45am flight, but my baggage would go on the 9:06am flight. Explaining this was not at all a convenient option, I agreed to try the 9:06am flight. I head to the Red Carpet Club (of which I am a member) to see what the chances of making this flight are. It doesn’t look good.

It comes time to board the 9:06 flight, which is oversold so I don’t make it on standby. At this point, I head immediately back to the Red Carpet Club. This is where it gets good. My actual reservation on flight 1534 has been cancelled because I was a ‘no-show’ on the 7:45am flight. Are you confused by this yet? I certainly was. For some reason, the woman who gave me a departure management card for standby on the 9:06 am flight somehow booked me on the 7:45am flight without informing me. And because I didn’t show up for this (because remember, my luggage would not arrive with me), the ‘Interlink’ system cancelled my reservation. So now I have no confirmed reservation at all to Newark. (I should also note that I was unable to check in online to this flight because it is a Continental flight. Even though the ‘new’ mobile app is branded with the new logo and whatnot, it is really only useful for United flights. But I can’t get my account info either because I keep getting an error message telling me there is a SQL server issue.)

The agent working with me in the Red Carpet Club is doing her best to try and reverse this is to get me a middle seat. All the way to Newark. How often do you fly coast to coast? In a middle seat? It isn’t comfortable. And to top it off, my luggage is not on the 9:06 flight. The agents aren’t exactly sure where it is but they assure me it will be on my flight. We shall see. But until I land in Newark, it will be one more thing causing me anxiety on top of everything else that has transpired today.

The number of failure points in my experience with your company/companies is shocking. You have been talking to us – your captive audience on all United flights – about the great things that the merger will bring us. But to date all it has brought is an inability to fly without hassle and confusion. Is this a United flight or a Continental flight? Which agent will be able to answer my question? I can’t log into my account on my mobile app (as referenced above) because your systems are merging. The terminal in SFO for United and Continental is a zoo. And having signage for the Continental counter that actually reads United (albeit with Continental in small letters beneath) is confusing and a terrible customer experience. Having the two systems not talk to each other and only a very small handful of employees trained to be able to navigate successfully between the two has been a recipe for a travelers nightmare.

My perception is that United is trying to reap the benefits of the merger before the systems are prepared to handle this, and before you are able to give your customers a travel experience that is not riddled by hassle, wasted time, and angst. I am now in the process of finding out how to join the Aadvantage program with equivalent status. It is unclear as of yet whether my company has a partnership with American that will facilitate this. If not, I am willing to go through their ‘challenge’ program to get to an equivalent status.

17 years as a customer of United. Over 450,000 miles flown. I say the challenge is yours, Mr. Smisek. How will you fix this? Can you?

Sincerely,
Ali

I’m curious what response I will get…are you? If so, stay tuned and I’ll let you know what happens.

Role model

Zoe often comes into my bathroom in the morning while I am getting dressed. I remember doing this with my mom when I was young too. She watches me dry my hair, sees all the things I do to make it look less *blah* (a little bumble & bumble spray, round brush while drying, and a little brilliantine from b&b). She is especially interested in my make up routine. I don’t wear a lot – I use moisturizer, eye liner, and mascara. She asked me the other day why I put make up on. The answers that went through my head?

Because I think I look prettier with makeup than without.

Because I feel like it is expected of me as a working professional. (but not expected of my male counterparts)

Because I see myself getting older and makeup helps me feel less so.

What was my real answer?

Because I like to.

And its true, I do. But the other things are also true and it made me wonder what I’m teaching her.

Are you a weaver or a wrapper?

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a long time…how people approach life and integrate experiences into who they are. After I returned from India for Theresa and Atma’s wedding, I realized how much the trip had changed me, and how India will now always be a part of me…becoming part of the tapestry that makes me…me. This has always been how travel has affected me, and it made me wonder if it is the same for everyone, or if other people are able to enjoy the places they visit but don’t come out of it feeling ‘different’. Which is what led me to the concept of weavers and wrappers.

If each person is like a unique and beautiful tapestry, do we start out as an empty loom? Do we have some fundamental design that we get from our family that is built upon throughout our lives? Or is our design set? Here is what I think:

A weaver integrates the experiences of life into their tapestry, meaning they will never really know what the final outcome is until…well, I guess until the end. Each day, each new place, new experience, each person who touches our lives adds to the color and texture of what we are. This means though, that our tapestry is really never finished.

A wrapper takes comfort in knowing who they are and where they came from. Their design comes from their family and ancestry, their nationality, or whatever they feel truly defines them and makes them fundamentally who they are. This doesn’t mean they do not enjoy new experiences, or are closed to new cultures. It means that they observe and appreciate these things with some level of detachment, much as an anthropologist must remain unbiased.

I consider myself a weaver. What are you? What do you think about this theory?

Dog Years

So, I’ve been away on business for 9 days…not straight, but almost. When I got back and saw Stan walking thru the airport with the kids, I was struck by how much bigger Jonah looked. They came running up to me and Jonah repeatedly kissed me on the lips and hugged me….as did Zoe. Happiness is truly the love of your children. Anyway, we waited for my suitcase and once it arrived, Jonah took my computer roller bag and dragged it all the way to the car for me. Such a little gentleman! We headed to dinner and Jonah asked me to take him to the bathroom, which I was very thrilled about. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to actually result in him successfully using the toilet, but wanted to be encouraging anyway. I was wrong! Yay, Jonah. I tell Stan and he says that they had been working on that, especially before bath time. So when we got home, I ran their bath and Jonah wanted to try and use the potty again…this time he said he wanted to stand up. You know, like boys do. So I put the seat up, he peed, shook and was done. I. could. not. believe. it. I told Stan and even he hadn’t ever seen him do that.

In a little over a week, he’s grown up so much…if a year is the equivalent to seven dog years, how does a week equate to toddler years??

Delicious

Last week as we were driving up to visit friends in Ashland, Oregon, we stopped at Lake Shasta for the night. At breakfast, both the kids ordered hot chocolate and, as expected, there was a spill. Not Jonah, the 2 1/2 year old, but Zoe the BIG kid. She spilled the WHOLE cup all over herself. Luckily, she had diluted it with like 9 little creamers, so it wasn’t too hot. But she was

covered

in hot chocolate. A chocolate covered Zoe. So, we excuse ourselves and hoof it back to our room to clean her up. On the way there, she licks her arm and says, “MMMMmmm! I taste GOOD!” And it reminded me of this, which I found on StumbleUpon.

My little sis has an online store!

As you may know if you’ve read earlier posts, my younger sister got married in India last year. We were all struck by how beautiful the hand crafts were there, and as a result, Theresa and Atma have opened a little online store. Check it out…

Closing the loop

So, for the two or so people who actually read this, I realize I left you hanging…it wasn’t very fair of me, was it? Well, just to close the loop, all is fine with the biopsy…it came back benign. The relief I felt really can’t be described. I’m left with a very small scar, which continues to diminish with time…

I don’t know why, but I really like this…

Biopsy

Tomorrow is the big day. I have a valium. My hubby will be with me (not while they actually do the procedure…). I am quite anxious. I hope I find out the results quickly so I can put all to rest.