DISQUS

I feel your pain. I'm a Platinum member of USAir (100 or so flights a year). This year alone they have lost my reservation once and also forgot to record me as having flown on a segment thus automatically causing my return flight to be canceled. Fortunately, in both cases I was able to get on the plane -- largely because of my Platinum status.

Just this week my flight from DC to NH was canceled (9 hours in advance, so obviously not weather) and I ended up having to fly to Boston instead.

If I didn't fly every week and thus get special treatment and separate email addresses and phone numbers to use, I'd have even less hair than I do!

PS, if you're interested in travel horror stories, check out Shel Holtz's Road Weary blog.

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Bryan Alexander

Arg! And totally, thoroughly unsurprising. Logistical screwup on their end... check.
Poor human relations in person... check.
Insane phone setup... check.

You know, this could be any major American carrier.

Very sorry to hear about your travail-ful travel. :(

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Veronica Vizcarra

I recently had the most horrible experience with U.S.Airways
This is a copy of what I wrote to airconsumer@dot.com to try to complain after attempting numerous calls and faxes(to a number that did not work)

LETTER
My name is Veronica Vizcarra and My brother is Jose Vizcarra. Both my brother and I were supposed to be on a flight from Las Vegas to Fresno on June 13, 2007 ( flight #2832) at 4:02 PM. We were asked to board our plane and we did. The captain came on the loud speaker and said they were having some sort of engine problem so it would be a little before take off. We waited about 30 more minutes before we were told that we must deplane. We were taken back to Gate B19 and waited to see what was going on. I got up to go to the counter to find out what was going on and was told "they are trying to get the part to fix the plane, we will keep you updated". Well no updates ever came. Another 1/2 hour went by and I went to the counter again to find out what was going on. I was told we would board at 6:30p.m. Well 6:30 came and NO announcement to board ever came. I went and waited in line along with 20 something other upset passengers only to be told that the flight was cancelled. I had to wait another 30-40 minutes before getting to the front. All other passengers were given hotel rooms and flights on the next day flight at 6:15 am 6/14. This was not an option for me because I had to be at work at 7:15am on June 14. I asked if there was any way off accomedating me with a rental car so I could drive that night, and I was told no. I overheard another passenger saying that there was an 8:55pm flight to Visalia, Ca. I asked if I could be put on that flgith and I was. They told me at the counter at gate B19 in Las Vegas that I could be reimbursed and that all I needed to do was go outside to the initial check-in counter outside security and that I would be reimbursed, this was FALSE. I was told at the counter outside that I had to contact U.S. Airways via e-mail, mail, or customer relations numbers. I had already waited some time and I had to go all the way back thorugh security and try to make the 8:55pm flight(4799) because they had sent me all the way outside. I had already planned on calling U.S Airways as soon as I got back. My brother and I made it to the gate and boarded our plane. To my suprise the plane was a small 19 seater comuter plane with no restroom, and no air conditioning. I was upset have my brother take his first flight ever on such a turbulent and rough flight. I have attempted to contact U.S. Airways since June 14. I have called many numbers all bieng cutomer relations. These numbers get me absolutely no where. One number tells me to call the other and the other to call another. I am just going around in circles. I did speak with persons in Reservations and they pcik up the phone pretty quick. I have been on hold for over 4 hours between the calls I have attempted to make to CUSTOMER RELATIONS which seem to be the only ones that can help me according to reservations. I am starting to think no one actually works at customer relations, maybe they think people will get tired of calling and leave things alone. Please let me know what I can do

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Jamie

Did anyone ever find an actual name for someone who is in charge of customer relations?

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Brad Lounsberry

My wife and I just had a nightmare travel situation with US Airways and are trying to figure out the best way to get compensation for our troubles. Does anyone have any good ideas?

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A disgruntled passenger

They have the worst "customer service" system! There is no shortage of people waiting to take your money, but try to get someone to actually give it back, and it's a whole new ballgame. I called all of their phone numbers to request a refund (long story), and each one referred me to the next. Customer Relations is in charge of initiating refunds, but good luck trying to get a hold of anyone there - they will be "personally unable to answer your call" and suggest that you "try your call again later." I did manage to track down the number at corporate relations, and was able to speak to an actual person who is working on the problem, finally.
Here is the contact info I have: 1(480)693-2341, Carlos.

Good luck! I know I will never be flying US Airways again - ever.

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mg

US Airways is the worst F ing company. My wife had a confirmed ticket to houston today, however the line in SYR was 5 hours long with a lot of people who missed flights because of issues at JFK/Weather. in stead of boarding people who had flights everyone was in the same F ing line. She missed her flight and there were no other flights today!...or Tomorrow. hence we had to book at 3x at United. WE got a refund. I will do whatever it takes to destroy US airways reputation. (not that it can be worse) I need to find the CEO's email so I can spam the crap out of him. I hope oil hits $80, so that they go out of business.

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randal thom

wow i feel as if i am in an na meeting, at least i aint alone with my problem.. i had to cancel a flight last july and got a flight credit. yesterday as i was trying to use the flight credit, i researched the flights and got quoted a price of 448.00 for a flight from msp to boston.. well since i wanted use my flight credit of 470.00 i was instructed to call another number. after waiting for 2 hours, i finally got a person. would you believe the price of the same flight i had already been quoted was now only 1150.00 so yep i pitched a bitch and quess what ,, yep the more i bitched the higher the price went. lol. so needless to say usair has used my money for a year and now they are going be able to keep it all without me even gettin on their plane. what a rip off airline. so i am randal and i am a us air hating customer. lol rembr,, if us air is involved you will be screwed, oh the new 311 rules dont allow vaseline so ask em to slip it in slow and easy or it will be painful. randal

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randal thom

well here is a good story about us air.. i called the number 480 693 2341 and the phone rings into executive relations. i spoke to a leo rubenstein. he listened very politely to my dilema and he came up with a solution i could live with. i am flyin onto boston next week and they didnt drill me like it was looking like. i am back to being satisfied. so, if you can or need to contact the number i listed and hopefully you too will have your problem resolved without further ado. randal thom windom minnesota

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Michelle

OMG I thought that I was alone. we were to leave june 14 from charlotte to tampa, 15 minutes before bording it got cancelled. Now I understand after reading this why they acted like it was no big deal. Sounds like the cancel more flights then they actually fly out. I ended up flying into orlando 2 hours away and they lost our luggage after they had 5 hours to make sure it got on right flight. I never fly and now I know why I pay the ungod price for gas....atleast I know that my stuff and I will get to where I am going. I have 2 numbers that us air gave me 18665235333 and 18003632542 as far as I am concerned they will never pick them up and really don't care.

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Jerri

I think US Air should post on their website that their standard policy is to cancel your reservations for no reason and treat you badly throughout your trip.

We recently booked our annual vacation to Cabo. There were 6 of us so we decided to go with the cheaper airfare and fly US Air. Our first flight out of DC's National Airport was first delayed by two hours and then canceled becuase the co-pilot's wife had a baby and there was no available backup for him. Of course we missed our connector in Phoenix and had to take a flight 6 hours later. We arrived in Cabo 8 hours later than planned, missed our prepaid transportation to the hotel and a whole day of vacation.

Then, the return trip was even worse. They canceled 4 of our 6 reservations, refused to work with us to book on other airlines, offering only seats on the next flight out which was 24 hours later. They didn't offer hotel accomodations so we had to sleep in the airport.

We went to one of the airport restaurants and the waiter - after seeing the look on our faces - said, "Flying US Air?"

Finally, we went to the Southwest Airlines ticketing counter and their agent was extremely helpful and got us on a flight 8 hours earlier than the US Air flight. (Hmmm.. did the supercilious prig of a US Air agent really check other airlines?)

So, we are fighting to get the costs of the SW flight, money spent in the airport to basically live overnight. Oh... and did I mention the fact that items were stolen from our luggage??

My mission now is to shut down US Air once and for all.

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Christopher S. Penn

Jerri and all - yeah, I feel your pain acutely. Still waiting on that refund, ha ha ha! Not going to happen via US Air, sadly. Am pursuing with the credit card company. Anyway, I recently had to go to DC and flew JetBlue instead of flying into Reagan, because Reagan = US Air at least from Boston.

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Upset with USAir

Here's another story... bad service BEFORE the flight.

I got stuck overnight in PHX on a flight to Vegas and while sitting in the airport, filled out an app for a USAir Dividend Miles card.

I got a card with a $500 limit (thanks for that!) and used it for a few things... now, I'm trying to purchase a couple flights out to Boston and take advantage of the $99 companion ticket that they pitched with the card...

So I pay off the balance of the card last week... about $480 and call in today to place my reservation. The system says my balance is $0 and my available credit is $63... run the route of the customer service buttons... and finally get an agent who tells me there's a week "hold" placed on my "available funds" because I made such a large payment! She says the payment has posted and I verify it's been paid from my bank... but she says there's nothing she can do.

So I ask to speak to a supervisor and get placed on hold for about 10 minutes until she comes back and says everyone is busy... but someone will call me back WITHIN THREE DAYS!!

At this point I'm about to hit the roof... after two lousy flights this year with US Air, I'm trying to book a third and they won't even let me do that...

Hmmm... maybe I'm stupid for thinking US Air is a viable option to fly.

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Dawn

I too have had a bad experience with US Airways this past weekend and after reading these horror stories I don't suppose I'll be hearing back from customer service. I just hope my story here along with the others causes someone NOT to fly US Airways. I had a $400 flight vouher from when I had been bumped from a flight a few months ago which I wanted to use to book a flight to Cancun from Buffalo. In order to use the flight voucher you have to call reservations instead of booking yourself online. I called in my reservation and then told the agent I'd go out to the airport to pick up and pay the difference for my ticket. I went to the airport right away and got the ticket. On my way home I was looking over the ticket and these are the flights the agen had booked for me....BUF>CLT...CLT>CUN and on the return CUN>CLT and that's where my trip ended! I booked a roundtrip ticket but the agent never bookd the last segment of the flight, this is why I prefer to book my own flights, at least I get it right! I immediately called US Airways to rectify their mistake. 45 minutes later after being placed on hold while "they tried to fix my problem" I was told they could fix my problem but it would cost me an additional $6, now $6 isn't a lot of money but I was actually overcharged by $24 for the first flights because the agent booked the wrong itinerary and when I asked her about it she gave me some garbage that the fare was different than when I book online. The reason they now wanted to charge me $6 was because between the time I originally booked my flight and the time I was calling the fare had gone up $30. Tjis was not acceptable to me so I asked to speak with a supervisor who proceeded tot ell me the following. First she told me they were "doing me a favor by waiving the $100 change fee", excuse me doesn't she understand I'm not changing anything, I'm just trying to correct the mistake made by their reservation agent, next she told me they were already giving me $400 (my flight voucher), they aren't giving me anything, I voluntarily gave up my seat on a Sunday night flight which was extremely overbooked and then didn't fly out myself until Monday, there were still 4 really pissed people who were involuntarily bumped from that flight, they should have been thanking me! Her final comment to me was the best,she told me I had 2 options, I could either end my trip in Charlotte or pay them $6..How's that for a customer service supervisor? I too have had it with US Airways, my son and his girlfriend are also going to Cancun with me but they need to pay for their flights so I will be booking them on Delta!

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Abe

WOW! I just had the WORST experience with these guys! I purchased tickets based on the fact that I have extra miles & wanted to upgrade to First. I checked the flight first & ALL FIRST CLASS SEATS WERE EMPTY except for two! I booked my flight online in coach & immediately called up to upgrade. "Sorry, there are no seats in first at this time". HUH, I just checked on line & it is empty... "Well these flights (both way on a round trip!) are only for PURCHASES not upgrades". When IOasked to cancel my reservation that was placed less then 10 minutes ago. I was of course told, "Sorry, your ticket is non refundable". Now I am stuck with 50,000 miles & two round trip tickets in coach that cost me WAY more then any other airline & no chance of an upgrade!

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Missy

ok, so, yet again they have SCREWED ME!! thats THREE TIMES in ONE week!

in retaliation, I have started a myspace page on US AIRWAYS SUCKS!

join my myspace protest, my email address is:

usairwaysux@yahoo.com

You can search me on myspace. Thanks in advance for the support

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Miriam

having just endured the most absurd week (and it's not over yet, as my nine-year-old son and i spend yet another night away from home in an expensive NYC hotel, thanks to another string of unexplained cancellations by US Air) I stumbled across this great blog. The treatment we have received has been unbelievably rude, inconsistent and basically inept. Never have I seen such inefficent customer "service" as now seems to be the standard for US Airways agents. Do they not realize how much more pleasant their jobs would be if they showed just an inkling of empathy or even common courtesty to stranded passengers? They almost seem to enjoy some sort of perverse pleasure in treating us helpless passengers who merely want to reach our destinations, with disdain. It's almost as if some of them seem to enjoy watching us squirm. I won't bore the rest of you with the details of my experiences, but my story echoes the rest here. unbelievable in a time where the airlines should be fighting for customers I have never felt more alienated. Once I finally arrive home, I will never fly Us Airways again, even if it means paying twice as much on other airlines. They have some serious customer relations work to do if they hope to maintain any sort of loyalty, which they've definitely lost from my family, who flew with them frequently in the past. hopefully, someone with the airline who actually cares how their customers are being treated, will also stumble upon this great blog. thanks for the chance to vent and co-miserate. Here's to hopefully better travel experiences for us all! headed now to Missy's usairwaysux@yahoo.com myspace page...

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Wendy

Yes, they are still at it friends...had the most messed up travel espeience with this airline...ever and I've travelled all over this and many other countries. Horrible service at airport..rude/incompetent/money mismanagement/baggeg mishandled. Any way they could..they failed; as I imagine the company (with service like this) will. Meanwhile, they've seen the last of my dough.

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PryncessLayah

10 months ago

US AIRWAYS is no bueno. Good luck getting a hold of anyone at their
“customer relations” number 1-866-523-5333. I called for 3 hours
and kept getting disconnected as they are personally unavailable to
answer your call and suggest you try your call again later. After
googling for a while I found a number ( on someones blog) where a
live person should be able to help you. I believe it is US Airways
corporate number- ( not toll free) 1-480-693-2341 they were able to
assist me there although I did not get the desired voucher amount
that we deserved for our troubles. I will not ever fly with US
Airways again. I value companies that value their customers- this
company could care less about helping people with the problems they
encountered while flying with them.

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Yoffi

9 months ago

Thanks to the number I found in few of the comments (480-693-2341). The issue that seemed impossible to resolve in fact was resolved right away when I called the above number. Thank you everyone for your comments.

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Anonymous

4 weeks ago

I too used the phone number found in an earlier entry (480-693-2341) and it turned out to be the Executive Office at US Airways. A lady picked up the phone on the first ring and resolved my problem in less than 5 minutes. Thanks!

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Jacko

I had a confirmed reservation and seat assignment and they told me the flight was "closed" and hour before the flight left. My family was stuck in a foreign country and all they gave me was an 800 number that didn't even work. I found out they overbooked the flight and I was left stranded. The plane hadn't even landed yet at the airport, so how in the hell can they "close" a flight to a confirmed paying customer(and frequent flyer)? I hope they go completely bankrupt and never get to torture travelers again.

Never again will I fly this airline, I'd rather pay more money than be treated like this. US Air SUCKS!

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Christine

I will never fly with US Airways again. I have a credit for a ticket that I purchased last year. When I canceled my ticket the representative told me I had a year to use my credit. I called tonight to purchase my ticket and they told me I have to COMPLETE my trip within a year of purchasing my ticket...two completely different things. I tried to explain this to a guy in reservations who I could hardly understand and he hung up on me. I called back and told this girl that he hung up on me and all she said was "Departing City Please"...no apology or acknowledgement of me telling her I was just hung up on. These people are ridicilous. She told me to call Customer Relations..they are open 24/7...this was an automated number...WTF...sorry I am just so pissed right now. I am never using them again...and I am an admin assistant that purchases tickets for over 500 employees who travel at least 2 weeks out of the month...I will not be purchasing tickets through US Airways...they are going to lose a lot of money there....they really need to take a look at their customer service....I am so disappointed.

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Sam

No wonder i see so many responses with a successful failure in the trips. Kudos to US Airways for having maintained this repute for years. This shows the attitude of US Airways towards its commitment of failing to meet its customers basic needs and its reponsibilities. I had a worst experience and would not even want my enemy to face this kind of problems. I spent 18hrs in PHL which was a connecting point for my flight from LGA to YOW. I was put to standby on 4 flights despite having an itinerary with a confirmed seat (also checked for the status online, spoke to the customer service when i was told tht i have no seat in the flight n still the operator told me tht i have a ocnfirmed seat). Thanks to US Airways for having spoilt my appointment in ottawa, canada on 10 Mar 2008. The next appointment i have is on Apr 15 2008 till then i will try to recall the sweet memories i had during my so called "TRIP IN VAIN" by the US Airways.
Note: The customer relations at 8665235333 never answer the call but a messag "We are unable to take your call due to a very high volume........." and when i tried reaching them in the offpeak hours it kept ringing for 10 times and disconnected my call automatically and also the customer relations page http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/contact/cu... doesnot have a contact number in it. Nor can any department in US Airways can transfer you to Customer Relations. I doubt if there is one in US Airways by name Customer Relations. No wonder US Airways strives hard to maintain its policy "Customers First(Troubles Next)"

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sam

oh my goodness...I thought I was losing my mind! US Airways are the worst ever.

Stranded in Charlotte North Carolina on March 8th (after having checked in our luggage only to find out that our flight was cancelled 45 minutes after)...Major chaos in the airport as the storm cancelled various airlines heading North East. So of course our flight to Buffalo was one of them.

After standing in line for what seemed like hours at the baggage claim area wanting to fill out a form for our luggage which apparently was sitting on the tarmac backlogged..we were told that no form needs to be filled out and that our luggage will be routed to our destination.
I was like.."are you sure".."yes definitely, you will get your baggage in buffalo"..

Of course my father was busy standing in another line trying to arrange for the next flight home. After standing in line for 2 hours got to the counter to find them locking up for the day. They directed all of the 100s of disgruntled passengers to proceed to the main terminal to get their service. Forget that..Now we are reaching hour number 5 in the airport we wanted to get the hell out.

So we rented a car and drove all the way to buffalo. In the middle of the night.

Now I am desperately trying to find my luggage. No claim filed which every US Airways rep have reminded me that is what they need to track our baggage down. After I have breathlessly told them that we were told not to. I called Buffalo airport myself to find the luggage. A Godsend of a man by the name of Chris in the Superintendents office was kind enough to actually keep me on the line while he walked over to the baggage. identified all three peices (whew) and transfered me over to the US Airways rep there.

Well thinking that my worries are over..the US airways guy was so rude saying that I will have to go down to the airport to pick it up ..because..I didn't file a claim. (ugh!)..

I told him I live 3 hours away and can't drive down if they can send it to me as it was their negligence not mine. He said nope. Plain and simple. No apology no nothing.

I asked him if he had a direct line that I can call him (since he was talking on the cell phone that Chris handed him)...he said no there is no way of contacting him.

So i just hung up on him. To find Chris from Buffalo Airport calling back to apologize about the way the US Airways guy spoke to me. He says the luggage gets delivered all the time and the Airline should be handling that ina more professional manner. He suggested I call US Airways customer service to complain.

So guess what. I did. And couldn't find their damn number. Called the baggage claim office again at US Airways and their computers are down. That was recording telling me this. Not a live person.

Now I"m waiting to get a refund on the flight. Of course i've been told that they have to get approval.

needless to say I am NEVER flying US Airways again!!

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Brett

United Customer Relations is still the worst, they transfer all of the complaint calls out of the country. Wow...that shows how much they care about customers. Let the outsources take care of all the problems.

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Tom

We returned from Italy on the 11th, but our bags did not. We had to file the claim with united since they were the last carrier. We did get one of the bags on the 13th. Since then we have gotten a differant story from united everytime we call about where the missing bag is. Us air will not help since we filed the claim with united. Does anyone have a real number for the complain depatment?

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Tom

I had a nightmare voyage on March 8th also. Here are the lowlights:

Sat on the plane for an hour in Pittsburgh because there was no ground crew to put the baggage on the plane. The pilot actually got off the plane after an hour and loaded it himself.

Sat another hour because there was no ground crew to push us away from the gate.

It was snowing (but not enough to ground planes or slow down take offs & landings), and, of course, we had to de-ice. All of that got us into Charlotte 15 minutes after our connecting flight had taken off. It ate up our hour and forty five minute layover.

With a seven year old and a one year old in tow, our choices were to wait for the next flight to Sarasota 19 hours later or fly into Tampa that night. We flew into Tampa and had my wife's parents drive an hour north to pick us up.

But, of course, the baggage didn't make it on our new flight even though they had an hour and a half to get it onto our plane.

Between Charlotte's customer service and Tampa's baggage service, we heard the phrase "USAirways won't do that" numerous times to either our party or other parties. It was like a mantra with their employees. Here is what the phrase "USAirways won't do that" was in response to:

Can you put us up in a hotel tonight?
Can I get a full refund for my trip?
Will USAirways deliver my lost luggage to my house?
Will USAirways pay for transportation from Tampa to Sarasota?

Some of those questions were asked more than once, so I heard the response at least seven times. Only twice did I hear anyone say "I apologize."

Our baggage was supposed to be on the first flight in to Sarasota the next morning and should have been at the airport by noon. To confirm that, I called the USAirways Baggage Service number on my lost luggage claim ticket. I was told (and I quote), "I would have no idea where your bags are." I felt like I was in a scene from Seinfeld. I told the guy, "You're Baggage Service. You should know where all bags are. It's your job!" I went on to tell him that there are bar codes on all the luggage tags and that he should be able to find where the bags are in the computer. He claimed that they have "millions and billions" of bags every day and that they don't use the scanning system anymore becuase the volumes of luggage would overwhelm the system. They handle them manually, by looking at the individual tag. I kid you not! This is what he told me. And then he had the audacity to ask me to call him back at 4:00pm.

Anyway, I ended up just going to the airport (it's only 5 minutes away from my inlaws) and the bags were there.

The ride home was only slightly better, but that is for another entry. I expect nothing less than a full refund from USAirways.

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Abby

7 months ago

US AIRWAYS SUCKS! The flight I was in yesterday was canceled, after spending 3 hours in a plane that never took off. This plane was ready to take off twice, and twice it was stopped and parked on the gate for a "mechanical issue" as they called it. After 3 insane hours in there (the kids at this point were freaking out), we were told the flight was canceled. Then the line at the customer service was unbelievable, of course! The only other thing they could do was fly us out tomorrow on the same flight, same hour, but the possibility of a delay or cancellation was there.

Another flight was offered for today at 6pm; however, it had already been delayed until 6:45 for mechanical reasons. The airline will refund the money back; however, it takes them 2 months to process! The airline is US airways, and their customer service really sucks!

I will never fly again after that experience yesterday, I even experienced claustrophobia, which had never happened to me before. It was out of a scary movie, there were people that wanted to leave the plane after the first take off attempt, there was a little girl sitting in front of us puking her guts out, the flight attendant never offered any snacks (thank God I brought stuff for the kids, by this time they were starving) and an older man peed on himself waiting in the bathroom line, because the guy that the flight attendant was flirting with, was standing right in front of the bathroom, and the old guy thought he was in line waiting for the bathroom.

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Jennelle

7 months ago

I have to agree with everyone that US Airways cuustomer service sucks. I worked in lost luggage for 8 years (felt like a life sentence!). The call center is located in El Salvador where they make $2.50/hour. Suha Arkan, who was the Director of lost baggage, only cared about hiding the number of lost bags in Philly. Customer service was the least of his worries. Fortunately, Corporate Security escorted him off the premises. If you're missing items from your luggage go to www.unclaimedbaggage.com. That's where everything was sent.

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Grant

5 months ago

Never ever will I fly US AIRWAYS again.

Listen to my story and you might just cry as I almost did.

45 min prior to my departing flight from syracuse I get an automated call telling me my flight has been cancelled.. Nice advance notice there.

I arrive at the desk in Syracuse for my departing flight, and the person is nice enough to put me on another airline to get to my destination. Getting in 2 hours late I finally arrive, sadly this is the best part of my story.

Soo.. After a nice trip in Seattle I go back to the airport with my fiance to check in and get on our flight home. The lady at the desk tells me I have to pay over a grand, and that my reservation was cancelled. Of course I give her a "what are you insane!" look. She tells me apparently there was a problem with my credit card. Funny since I never used a credit card, and they had no problem getting me to my destination.

She insists I have to pay again if I want to get home. Furious I ask to speak to a manager. She informs me that there is no manager there, and she is at the gate. I simply tell her that I could care less where the manager is, I want to speak with her.. Irate at this point the ticketing woman goes absolutely berserk. She literally starts yelling at me, saying I am being rude, and that I need to relax. She also points out that I have officially missed my flight, and will need to get on another flight. Seriously it seemed like something out of a movie.

Finally I get the lunatic woman at the ticket counter to call the revenues department to find out exactly what was going on. Again she tells me that there is a problem with my credit card, to which I of course tell her AGAIN that I did not use a freaking credit card. She then calls another department and they tell her that the company was informed that my payment via paypal was "POSSIBLY" fraudulent, and that they never got paid. I frantically call paypal, and not one but 2 supervisors confirm that the payment was indeed sent to them.

To make a long story short I spent in excess of 24 hours talking on the phone with various people and departments, all yielding me absolutely nothing.. But here is where it gets fun. I get to talk to a woman in the US airways security department named Michelle, she tells me that they were notified of a problem with the payment. I tell her as I had told numerous others, that the payment was fine, and paypal was just performing a routine inquiry as it was a higher dollar amount. She responded by saying US Airways does not take paypal. LOL. Seriously how bad is it when their OWN employees have no idea what payments they actually take? She tells me she will investigate and call me back.

Approximately 2 hours later she calls me back stating that my paypal account had been tagged as "fraudulent", and that I was using a stolen credit card. Impossible of course since I paid from my paypal balance and dont even have a credit card connected to my account. Of course more BS. She then in my opinion in an effort to perhaps cover her own butt, informs me that she has put me on the US AIRWAYS FRAUD LIST, and that if I attempt to take any flight with US AIRWAYS I will be immediately DEBOARDED. What the hell? Not only did these criminals get paid but they are now threatening me and making claims that are not even remotely true? I paid with MY paypal account, in MY name.

All in all I had to purchase new one way tickets. I am also in the process of contacting an attorney for compensation. Never should an airline strand you in the middle of nowhere like US AIRWAYS did to me. There are ways of handling things, and they quite possibly took the worst possible route. This has caused me nearly 2 grand in expenses, and forced both my fiance and I to miss work.

On a lighter note, I guess it really makes no difference if I am on their list, as I would never fly on US AIRWAYS ever again! No wonder they are on the verge of bankruptcy. With employees that seemed to have barely a highschool education, and no ability to reason it is really no surprise they are in the current predicament that they are in.

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David

5 months ago

LOL you are so fucking ridiculous !!!! north american people really sucks!!!!

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Kelley

4 months ago

Well, I was so enthralled reading the previous posts and seeing how I'm so not alone in my horror of US Air that I had to just jump right in and share my own story. Hope you are all settled and maybe have a little snack, because it's a good one :)
Our departing flight from BTV went off without too much of a hitch, there were some nice delays while waiting to taxi but I've come to expect that , with any airline because they can't seem to get their traffic under control at any airport.
Our flight back from Charlotte to Reagan to Burlington is the hellish experience I am about to tell you.
Our flight is scheduled to leave at 1:00pm. We are about 1.5 hours away from the airport so we leave about 10 am and make the drive. We arrive at 11:30 and make our way to check in. Let me also say I have two small children. So it's me, my husband, my 5 year old and my 9 month old. We get to the check in area and of course are directed immediately to the self service check in, which is always a problem when you have an infant lap ticket. So we're attempting to do that and my husband just had a small question because it wasn't giving us the option to add our infant. There is a female rep at the next counter standing with another rep just standing there, as he is checking in someone else. My husband very politely asks for her help when she has a moment and she rudely tells him that she is busy and he needs to wait, my husband says ok, I just have a question and then she proceeds to call him rude. So he is like (the southern gentleman that he is ) Maam, Maam? Trying to get her attention, when she finally looks at him he says, I am not being rude I was merely asking for some help when you have a moment. This goes back and forth for a few minutes, her claiming he is rude etc etc. All the while are kids are getting annoyed and well, so are we. She finally pulls herself away from doing nothing and sends someone else over to help haha. So he is nice, checks us in and checks our baggage.
As we make our way to security a rep kindly directs us to the employee security area since we have children, this is nice, and I am surprised by this.
We make our way thru and get to the boarding gate. We wait and wait and wait. It is about ten till one and no boarding has taken place yet. Finally they call to board families and people with disabilities first. We gather our things and make our way toward the counter when suddenly every single person on that plane slams in front of us. The ticket agent sees us but ignores that we are there and starts boarding everyone else. I am a bit annoyed, mainly because I like getting on the plane first because I hate being an annoyance to everyone else while I get the kids settled. Oh well.
Prior to this an agent put a yellow gate sticker on our stroller. As we get to the door of the plane another agent yells at us that we dont have the GREEN ticket. I say, we didnt put the ticket on there, another agent did, she gives me a shitty look and says, well hopefully it will get there. I feel like saying wtf , go find a green ticket then biotch lol. (I didnt actually say that, but lord I wanted to). So we foldu p the stroller hoping it will get there, make it into the plane and take our seats.
Since my youngest is a lap baby we ask that if there are any empty seats once everyone boards if they can accomodate two seats next to one another to place the baby in her carrier in. I get rude responses and a "we'll see, but we're pretty booked". So we sit and then the stewardess comes back and there is a seat in the exit row, but only one. So my husband takes that seat and I sit with the girls in the three seater row.
So now we're all ready to take off right? wrong. So we sit there and sit there and we are informed that we are 15th in line to take off. Let me mention that our connecting fight leaves at 250 and we are scheduled to get in at 220, leaving little time to make it. The pilot informs us that we will be sitting for at least 30 -40 minutes. So we flag a stewardess down to tell her our situation, and others do as well since they are on the same connecting flight. She says that she will let the pilot know and see about getting in touch with the connecting flight when we are closer to that time. We finally take off and while in the air my daughter wants to go up and see my husband (my oldest) as he is in the exit row and I am barely awake (on anti anxiety medication for flying) I say ok and the stewardess comes up to my daughter while she is making her way up there (only a few aisles up) and turns her aruond brings her back to me and yells at me saying she CANNOT be up there. I apologize and say I was barely awake and forgot my husband was in an exit row. My daughter is visibly upset as she felt she did something very wrong.
Assholes.
So it's about 230 at this point kids. Flight leaves in 20 minutes. We talk to the stewardess again and she says she has notified the other plane that we are late but en route.
We land, with about ten minutes to spare and our "group" consisting of older ladies and a few others (one woman in her sixties who has NEVER flown before, poor thing) and we start RUNNING. As we are getting off the plane the stewardess tells us that our gate is 27 btw and we have landed at 37. Well that shouldn't be a problem right?
WRONG
we realize that gate 37 is the first one in this section and 40 something is the last. We all see that we have to go OUT of security (wtf) and thru the terminals and into another one on the other side of the airport and thru security again! We are like there is NO way we are going to make this, but we remember that our stewardess said she called and we assume they are waiting for us.
We are running, running, old ladies running, us with small kids running as fast as we can without looking like terrorists or something.
We make it to the new security line and oh look, it's packed. Make our way thru.
This is where it gets hilarious.
So I have all the boarding passes. We put our shit on the conveyor belt. I go thru the security bridge with the baby in one arm, and holding the others hand. My husband is behind us. I look back and one of our items has gotten stuck in the belt. The scanner lady is yelling at him to push it thru and he's like I AM! Meanwhile twenty or so people have gone thru security and in front of him and I realize that I have his boarding pass. Great.
So I look at the woman who is at the security bridge and say I have my husbands boarding pass and motion taht I need to pass it over to him. It's a piece of paper folks. She nods as tho she gets what I'm doing and we reach over the tiny 4 ft high wall and I hand it to him. Immediately a large woman comes up behind me and says NO YOU CANNOT PASS THINGS OVER THE WALL. I mean says it so that I think my five year old would pee her pants from being startled so much! My husband has the pass but the woman takes me and the baby into containment, she is forgetting my older child and i have to scramble to grab her or else she would have been left alone out there. How screwed up. So we sit in the containment for about five minutes , she takes us out, brings us behind a screen (baby, child and me) and by now my husband has made it thru, she lets me hand the baby to him and doesn't need to wand her down, but she proceeds to wand and pat my five year old and myself down. She makes me flip the waist band of my pants out and feels around them , touching my skin more than I was comfortable with thank you very much. I can't see what is being done to my child but my husband is making sure it's on the up and up.
Finally we're done. We get our stuff together and run to the gate where our old group of friends sit there totally pissed. They had make it there long before we did and as they got there the plane was leaving. It was only like 3 minutes after the departing time. Funny how planes NEVER leave on time except for when you hope they don't. The agent tells us nobody told them we were coming and that why didn't we take the shuttle?
IM SORRY , WHAT?
Apparantly our old stewardess failed to mention that outside the plane we could go down some stairs and hop on a little bus that would take us to that gate in a matter of five minutes. Instead that F'ing bleep chose to keep that info from us and make us run, make me and my kids get patted down like criminals etc etc etc
So the new agent tells us the next flight is not until 10 pm that night. Um, no. Tells us to go to special services. We make the long trek down there only to be told, no you need to go out of security and into the ticketing area, jesus lord, come on people! So an hour later we make it to the ticketing area and are told the same thing, 10pm flight. The main problem for us with this is that A: I'm out of my medication so I have no more to get me thru the next flight, I really really have issues with flying (this experience hasn't helped that of course) . B: I have enough formula for maybe three more bottles but I have no baby food (solids) as we were supposed to be home by now. The agent informs me up and down that they sell baby food in the airport, like the gerber puree'd stuff. I believe her. C:my babies evening medication is in our checked baggage because it was too much liquid to bring as carry on. She needs this for horrible reflux and vomits perfusely without it. We explain this nicely to the agent and she shows no sympathy and really doesn't seem to give a flying F. (no pun intended). So we ask that she checks flights, nothing, we ask if she can check other airlines, she seriously checks for maybe 1 minute and says the only thing out on another airline is out of dulles and we wouldn't make it there in time. We are so fuming right now seriously! So we ask for meal vouchers and she gives us a very hard time with that and finally gives three of us , ten dollars each for 8 hours. Well we could get some coffee and a bag of chips for that. Anyhow we take it up the bum and walk away trying to figure out what to do for the next eight hours.
Folks, it doesn't end here.
We chill in the airport, god bless my kids, they were so good considering what they had to go thru, I still can't believe it. they were better behaved then either my husband or I!
We spend the next few hours walking the airport looking for baby food. Every person says there is nothing like that in here. We couldn't even find diapers! Thankfully we had some of those but basically the agent lied to us. We even went to places and asked if they could blend up some of their fruit for us, they looked at us as tho we were crazy! I mean these are resturaunts and they don't have blenders?
So my baby went without any solid foods that evening.
We decided to eat at Fridays, where they were out of everything from coffee, a bunch of appetizers and a few meal choices for kids. I ended up eating some chicken crap dish which I definitely regretted later. (diarhea etc).
We decide to buy some WIFI time and check airlines. Amazingly we find taht there were TONS of flights leaving to the NY and NH area hours before that would have got us home hours before we were scheduled to leave that evening. So again, we were lied to. Whether or not there was room on those planes is another thing, but I bet we could have got on considering other people probably missed their connections too.
So now it is almost time for our flight to leave. We have been camped out near the security line the whole time so we could enter when there wasnt a huge line. We do this, go thru security with a breeze (amazingly) and make our way to the gate.
Again, it doesn't end here.
So we're at our gate, for about a half hour and then we are informed that we need to shuttle over to another gate as our plane is there. Well golly I didn't know ya'll had shuttles! :) So we climb down the stairs with all of our gear, nobody every offering to help and make our way to the other gate.
It's 930, there is another plane at our gate that is going to board soon , or so we are told and then ours will be there. 10 pm, that plane still has not left. People are asking questions and seriously getting no answers. The guy working the counter has no clue whats up. That plane FINALLY gets under way around 1030. But where is our plane? At about 1045 our plane shows up. They finally board us, we get situated, our youngest gets her own seat and her and my oldest pass out.
And we sit
And sit.
Then the lights go out.
Wanna see a very freaked out five year old that wakes up in the dark on a strange plane? Horrible.
The captain comes on , circuit problem. THey need to shut everything off again , and fix something and restart.
We sit in the dark for about ten minutes.
Everything comes back on but my husband and I notice that the air vents don't seem to be working well and things are slightly dimmed. We start to feel dread, we know this isn't where we are going to end up.
It's about 1145 now and we are told that sadly this plane isn't going anywhere. So they hall us all off the plane, guide us thru the tarmac and onto another flight.
it's after midnight now.
We get settled yet again, at this point I"m freaking from having no medicine, nothing to drink or eat in hours and I'm just wanting to get home.
Plane starts up, pilot comes on the good ol loudspeaker.
"Folks we'll be beginning our leg of the trip in about thirty minutes as we have paperwork to complete".
Wait
WHAT?
You are making me spend more time on the ground, with my exhausted weepy children, a panicky psychosis and limbs that are sore to the touch because you have paperwork to file?
Apparantly they have to make sure all the passengers are there etc. HAHAHAHAHAHA where was that paperwork procedure 10 hours ago when we needed it?
So finally at almost 1245 AM , ten hours after we missed our flight, 8.5 hours after we were supposed to be home we finally begin to taxi.
We make it to our final destination at close to 3 am .
Amazingly our baggage was there, it had made our original flight, it must have used the shuttle.
An agent, the nicest I had seen all that dreary day, helped us with our bags and found us a cab. I have never been so worn down in my life. We got home, put the children to bed and fell asleep around 4 am.
My youngest woke up at 6.

I am currently trying to find a way to contact USAIR directly by email because I want some sort of compensation for this disaster.
Had I known this connection was going to end up like this I would have stayed at my mother in laws house another day and enjoyed another day by the pool and relaxed. I don't know how to get ahold of anyone that can actually do anything.
Seriously tho, I will never fly USAIR again, unless it's free or there is no other airline existing on this earth.
I know they are cheap, but I will gladly pay three to four times as much per ticket to have a better experience than that nightmare. They should be ashamed of their policies , procedures and tacts when dealing with people who keep their shitty little business afloat.
I get that agents and flight attendants lives are hectic and it's gotta bea shitty job but seriously, if you don't like dealing with the public this is not the job for you, maybe you just wanna fly for free and that's why you work there but the next time that anyone dare yell at my child or give me a shitty look because I need help or is just plain and downright rude to me or anyone in my family I swear to god the gloves will come off, and then I can totally understand being put in containment :)

Cheers to all who have made it thru alive!

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brian

Here is the info. I have concerning the customer service dept of US Airways. Sharon baker, apparently a high powered assistant to some US Air exec. H er # is 480-693-2336. She helped me out after I wrote a scathing e-mail to the CEO/Pres of the airline concerning a "free" airfare voucher I received after taking a voluntary bump. She was very helpful. I asked her, literally, "What the hell is wrong with your airline" . She had no good answer. Anyway, she helped me out. Good luck to all!

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J Anderson

My wifes flight out of Washington just got canceled. She was coming home and the flight was to leave at 1700 hours. She is traveling with our 30 day old daughter and our 18 month old son. She was fully prepared for a delay as far as formula and diapers but the kids are growing unhappy. Now that the flight is canceled the next is not until morning and she is running out of supplies. I am worried about them and the way they will be treated as well as how much more money this trip will end up costing me. I am mostly worried about my family being taken care of. I can't get anyone on the phone from US AIR either. I'm waiting for the next bad news phone call from my wife right now. I feel very badly because i did not go on this trip. My reason was that every trip I had taken in the last 5 years was horrible with canceled and delayed flights. It didn't matter what airline I gave my money to either. Now I feel bad because I am not there to help.

My wife just called and said that they are still in line at the counter. She said they are making hotel reservations for everyone in front of her. WHAT WHAT? She was supposed to be at work at 0700 hours Monday morning not flying still. It is now 2030 hours and my family should be landing in Phoenix not stuck in limbo. The craziest thing to me is the amount of money it must cost to put a couple hundred people in a hotel for the night. I don't care how rich you are, everyone is experiencing some level of financial difficulty right now. I don't understand where these airlines priorities are.

Why is it that I have to read a complaint blog to get a phone number for us airlines? I looked for 30 minutes on the net and found nothing of any help to me. This company is a major player in the industry. What in the world is going on here?

This just puts in stone my unwillingness to fly anywhere anymore. I recently told my wife that we should slow down our lives, and actually take vacations like when i was a kid and go places we can drive to. I think now she will agree with me and I hope everyone else starts thinking that way too. Then maybe we will all start getting better customer service.

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J Anderson

Well, its 2130 hours and my family has been sent to a hotel where they can sit for a few hours and then go back to the airport and try again. The new flight is at 0700 hours. They were unwilling to get my wifes bags so that she could have supplies for the kids. They said they were going to send the bags to vegas. Why didnt they send my family to vegas with the bags and put them on a flight to phoenix from there? Anyway, they ended up getting her bags when she told them they didnt have a choice.

Thankfully, there was a very nice woman from Sierra Vista who is going to the same hotel and flying to phoenix with her in the morning. This wonderful woman offered to help my wife with the kids, the shuttle, and getting into the room at the hotel. That was such a nice thing to do.

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j h