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Feb 24, 2009 -- United Airlines eliminates customer service over the phone
United Airlines plans to eliminate all human contact customer service by the end of April.
They had "customer no service" anyway -- a foreign call center staffed by people with no authority to solve problems -- but what a statement this makes. United doesn't even want to consider pretending that they offer customer service!
They're now suggesting that anyone with a complaint write a letter or send an e-mail.
The airline industry has repeatedly shown a complete lack of focus on the customer. A powerful lobby in Washington has shot down every effort to make this a customer-focused industry. Hmm…isn't it ironic that they can't seem to figure out how to make money?
The key to running a business is to treat your employees well and communicate a sense of mission to them so they can go out and help the customer. Clark refers to it as romancing your employees so they'll romance your customer.
But the airlines have made it their mission to continually cheapen their product to the point that no one wants to buy. Even as they park aircraft, they can't do it fast enough to accommodate the decline in demand brought on by years of poor customer experiences.
To paraphrase Gordon Bethune -- the man who saved Continental -- it is possible to make a pizza so cheap that no one will ever want to eat it.
Perhaps the congressman and senators who fly commercial aren't really aware of the shoddy customer service. After all, they get preferential treatment and their own private waiting rooms. But currying favor in D.C. is not a way to make money. You make money by treating your customers right.
Shame on you, United.
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What others are saying
Geez whats up Pam's and James butt regarding Atlanta Man. It is exactly this 'I think I'm better than everyone else' mentality that has United acting the way they do. Pam and James are no better than them. Remember that your early ancestors were not from here either and had to steal the land from the natives. Just because someone doesn't have correct grammar and doesn't speak English well that doesn't mean they don't have as much right to be in the U.S. than you.
United Breaks Guitars
Anyone reading this thread should check out the song "United Breaks Guitars" by SonsofMaxwell on Youtube. This is a hilarious and catchy ditty recounting the singer's (true story)frustation with United Airlines.
All Airlines and Travelocity Suck
Personally, I am sick and tired of the airlines (all of them) how they treat their customers, how they totally rip you off when you have to make a change to your flight due to an emergencey. And you can forget about ever getting any help from Travelocity even though you book through them. They don't speak english, and then they tell me that I have to contact the airline for my change, I have to contact the hotel for my change, and I have to contact the rental car agency for my change. I will never use Travelocity again, and I recomment no one else does either. They are ok...as long as everything goes as planned. As soon as a problem arises...they are totally worthless. I would love to see high speed rail come to fruition. I have no desires to fly anywhere unless it is an absolute emergency. Let them all go bankrupt and fail...personally, I don't care. Although...I think that they are seeing far less traffic these days not only because of the recession...but because people are just sick and tired of the hassles. Flying is no fun anymore.
No more United E-Fares emails either! Last one was today's.
Welcome to your weekly E-Fares.
Thank you for having subscribed to our E-Fares emails. These weekly emails are being discontinued, and this is the last issue that you will receive. E-Fares will continue to be available on united.com Tuesday through Friday of each week. To see these fares, you can select the E-Fares link in the News & Deals section of the united.com home page or on the Special Deals page, whenever E-Fares are available. You can also use the united.com booking tool and look for fares marked with a blue star and the label " E-Fares ."
We hope that you will continue to enjoy available discounted fares each week through united.com.
We would also like to remind you that now would be a good time to check your united.com email subscription preferences and make sure that you are receiving information about fare sales, Mileage Plus® offers and valuable partner offers. Simply log in to My Profile and view your settings on the Email & Subscriptions tab.
Thank you again for having been an E-Fares email subscriber.
Sincerely,
The united.com team
Congress using Government Planes
Congress / Washington people don't fly commercial, they use the Air Force planes at 3 or 4 times private jets cost, that's why they don't get it...
bailout
Don't fly them, let them fail, and then the government will bail them out with our money.
Any business, including airlines
I have a small business and it amazes me how people make things so complicated. Simply treat your customers the way you would like to be treated. You will always make money. If I have a customer that buys something they are not happy with, I will refund their money, even if I know that I can't return or resell the product. I may lose some money on that transaction, but my customer knows that they can trust me to fix any problems that arise. I will have a happy customer and I will more than make up for the loss on future purchases. Airlines are no different. The ones that have policies that make flying more pleasant will do well. Southwest figured it out a long time ago. That's why the are so popular. Of course, even on Southwest you will come across a grumpy employee from time to time. Even the friendliest person sometimes gets up on the wrong side of the bed, isn't feeling well or had a fight with their spouse just before coming to work. That's life.
United Airlines
I just spent 90 minutes on the telephone with the United "cotton candy" customer service hotline in India. That is 90 minutes of my life I will never see again !!! I booked a flight through United that included a connector flight that they then cancelled. They plan to re-route me to another airport 2 hours away on a flight that costs $225 less. They refuse to credit my credit card becasue they say it was a non-refundable fare (even though they made the change). After a long debate they now say they will issue a voucher - why don't they just roll over and let Jet Blue and Southwest take care of the "friendly skies".
Anyone Special?
I have been a frequent business traveler for more than 20 years and have logged more than 1,000,000 miles on two carriers, on my way to a third... For as long as I can remember I have periodically received these cards in the mail called "someone special". These are designed to give to an airline employee who has demonstrated exemplary customer service. In all this time in the air, I have NOT ONCE had occasion to give one away.
Air Travel
I worked in the travel industry for 8 yrs back in the 60s (before dereg) when service was key & you got a meal served with a smile on practically every flight. Back in those days passengers dressed nicely & it was a pleasure to fly. These days I'd sooner take a Greyhound bus than travel by air.
United is the worst
I lived on the West Coast from the late 70s until the early 90s and had to travel to Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and Los Angeles frequently on business. During that time United was the dominate carrier north/south along the coast; therefore, I was almost forced to fly with them. I have never had any other consumer experience as bad as I had flying United. Probably less than one trip out of three would go uneventfully. There were always cancellations and delays and united seem totally unconcerned. They were terrible about not informing you of potential delays and would not give you any information about when your flight would resume and would not lift a finger to get you on another flight. I am so happy that I don’t have to fly united any more.
AirlineNoService
Delta is not far behind United in this no customer service domain.
Airline Service
I grew up in an airline family many years ago. At that time, airline service was a major key to sales and success. Now I hear many comments about the airlines going back to the service level that was in place prior to airline deregulation. With the current economic issues, it seems that careful thought about service may be a key to maintaining a higher level of customer support and financial success. Gordon Bethune was right! Service counts!
Customer non-service
Just another step in United's efforts to become a ticket airline. Management's attitude is they could run one helluvan airline if it weren't for the airplanes and the people!
United Airlines
I have over 450,000 frequent flier miles in my account with United. On Saturday, my whole family is flying to Hwaii on FF Miles on United. United seems no worse than the other big guys. The only US airline that has shown care for their customers has been Midwest. Let's sww how long that lasts.
most businesses are doing the same
Most businesses are offering customer noservice. The senior management pays themselves millions but cuts every penny they can from employees and customer service. Yes, they may lose business this way. But you know what? They are not scared. They will get a bailout and you will pay them out of your tax dollar.
Airlines
I agree with Pam, proof read! I'm not sure what airline offers good customer service these days
no phone's for United - phones for travel agents
Use a Travel agent. They in Charge a fee when booking ONLY an airline. But you will have a real person to go to bat for you. Remember, agents do not get paid by the airlines.
Don't fly United - ever
I had a really bad experience last fall, the first and last time I'll fly United. Two of their agents lied to me and said TSA regulations prohibited transportion of wine in checked luggage unless it was in special styrofoam containers that I had to buy at the airport. They didn't even check the packing (I had packed the few bottles in several layers of bubble wrap and then wrapped them in clothes, and had done this without incident twice before on Delta). The special packaging ($30) did not fit my luggage so in addition to the $30 fee I had to pay the extra baggage fee for 2 bags. When I got to the TSA security line, TSA told me that no, they had no such rule. United is a horrible airline and their customer no service is no surprise at all.
ATLANTAMAN
Atlantaman, PLEASE proofread your posts. We speak a language here...it's called English.
Don' fly with them
What we got in this country if freedom of speach so the best thing to do instead of complaining is dont fly with them is as simpleas that we got other airlines in this country.
What's next for the Airline Industry?
Regarding United Airline's eliminating a direct customer service rep, what's next- cut back the maintenance crew that maintain the airplanes? This move, in my opinion, is one step beyond farming it out to India and other foreign countries. Just give me an American voice at the other end- please!
United and Clark Howard
How ironic that Clark would lambast United this way and still he has the same attitude towards us commenting on this site!
I'll stay with SWA, shame on you United!
Southwest treats there employees great. Ask one of them, they'll tell you. You can call customer service and get help, I have. Their gate agents will hold a plane for you if its the last flight out and your connection is tight. They don't stick me on a tiny little plane. They give more legroom between seats. They get me there safe and on time. I quit flying United, American, Delta, Northworst, and the rest of the jokers years ago. Every one of them has done me wrong at some time or another. Not SWA! They're a perfect example of treating employees and customers right, manage your business well, and you CAN make money in a tight industry!
Isn't deregulation great?
The free market will dictate what kind of service and fares airlines will offer. Or, so I'm told.
FAA and will not fly United
I work for the FAA and will not fly United in my personal and professional work if there is ANY other airline, I promise. This is totally horrible, and it was bad enough to farm out the jobs to foreign folks anyway, so there is not loss to us anyway.
Down the Tubes
These airlines need to go down the tubes just like the banks. Corporations have killed America. Now its our turn to dismantle them.
United Farelines
On top of everything else, United tries to get you to unknowingly approve extra cost services- they automatically add the charge if you click "continue" while registering. No more United for me!
What does the government have to do with it?
I agree this is outrageous. But all we need to do is stop flying United, and they will change their policies or go out of business. Problem solved. Capitalism works remarkably well in this sort of situation. How about we let the government handle the real problems - which we have no shortage of - instead of fiddling around with regulating airline call center numbers?
united
Yeah I'm a pilot for United and they treat us like a bus driver.. Your right Clark United needs to treat their employees like gold...
Customer no-service
In Japan, customer service comes first. I'm not sure about their airlines, but I know that their cell phone companies don't require contracts. Instead, they use customer service to keep their business. Imagine that!
Problem with United?----Sue 'em!
It's amazing what you can get accomplished in small claims court. You should give it a try, too.
um
you can still call reservations(1800united-1) for um's and other service requests, you just cant call and complain anymore. when i worked customer service letters are more thought out and its easier to solve than listening to a screamer over the phone that wants you to play god and make it stop snowing in chicago.
No Problem, I Won't Fly
Thanks for letting us know this. I just won't fly United.--It's that simple.
No business cares what the customer thinks. Business now run like the goverment. They don't care what you think. The big bosses get paid the same weather they care are not. If a business is billions in debt the head CEO's still get paid the same.
unaccompanied minors
So... how is United going to handle unaccompanied minors? I'm sending my daughter on Air Tran and I had to make the reservation on the internet and then call a customer service person to add the contact names for drop off and pickup. How will United Handle this? Only on internet is NOT the answer.
