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I have to say, I mainly fly US Airways because it is the major carrier out of Philly. General service has been going downhill everywhere, from gate people to flight attendants, etc. I try to "self-serve" as much as possible to avoid needing customer service as a result- is this a good thing, though? It also means I am choosing to drive and take the train more often as a result of the poor experiences.
I really wish Virgin Airlines flew more places. I took a bunch of Virgin Trains in the UK on my last trip, and the customer service and amenities were so wonderful- Mr. Branson really gets it.
I've also realized it doesn't take much to upgrade an experience from humdrum to special. It is often not even expensive to do cost-wise, but the impact on perception is huge.
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.
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. :(
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
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.
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.
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.
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
“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.
Never again will I fly this airline, I'd rather pay more money than be treated like this. US Air SUCKS!
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)"
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Thanks to other bloggers I plan on calling (480) 693-2341/ (480)693-2336/ (480) 693-0800 Until I get some sort of satisfaction.
do NOT call (480) 593-2336. I called and spoke to a woman who said bloggers were not suppose to be posting the numbers. Regardless the woman I spoke with created a "file". She said there would be no way a refund would be issued as they are "covered" by a statement on voucher "subject to fees" and a message on the call in prompt referencing fees. She offered me a future flight credit of upto $100. I explained it was of no value to me as I will not fly their company again. Also I pointed out that the subject to fees was not explicit and the ticketing agent had told me "all fees and costs associated with these tickets will be $602.02". After getting off the phone with her I checked the ticketing line the message states "a $25 fee MAY apply". Which I think is not clear that it WILL apply and IS not included in the fees quoted. So I will be calling the refund department Monday, their number is (480 693-6735. And I will dispute this charge as well with my credit card company. They have told me it is my best chance. US Airways should be ashamed.
My Domestic Airline experience:
Great Service: Southwest
Good Service: Air Tran
Acceptable Service: Northwest
Not Acceptable Service: US Air, Delta
We were supposed to take a connecting flight from Las Vegas to Phoenix. Our planned destination was to San Diego after our flight from Phoenix. We arrived in Las Vegas from our flight from Newark Airport, and we were late due to thunderstorms in Las Vegas (Which I think they say that just to hear themselves talk.) They assured everyone on the flight that we would reach our connecting flight in which we didn't! When we reached Las Vegas everyone missed their flight and was ordered to go directly to the US Airways counter for further flight options. I decided to do that since what else was there to do.
When I reached there I was expecting them to place me on an immediate flight out of there but instead they ordered us to schedule a new flight for the morning and to sleep in the airport. While the only hotel deal they had for us was $5 off of any hotel dinner.(That can't do a thing especially in Las Vegas, and I didn't know my way around.) I had to wait for 11 hours in that dirty airport. And, the funny thing is I felt like the flight attendents and US Airways employees just leave their well paying customers behind at the airport at night like we are trash.
After 11 Hours of waiting (Since I would rather sleep in a well better kept enviroment.) I decided to hop on my flight. When I reached the gates and I was allowed onto the plane I thought that my nightmare was over. But that was just the beginning. Gate Employees came onto the plane calling my name saying that there were problems when they booked my next flight. The problem was they over booked my flight and so someone was sitting in my seat. I felt embarrased when they took me out of the plane in yet I had packed all my stuff in the over head compartment. They make you feel like a criminal when they take you off the plane as if you didn't pay. (They should have taken the person who was behind me in my seat order since I booked my flight before that person.) I made sure to tell them off and even threatned to sue them which I still might do.
In the end I was booked onto another flight and I finally reached my destination. (Surprisingly) But I will never forgive them for what they did. Someone has to teach them how to show more appreciation for there well paying customers. I will never fly this airline again period!
US Airways refused my daughter passage because she didn't have the specific identification the gate attendent demanded. My daughter had the required identification specified on current USA Government websites. My daughter was stranded in an airport and her checked luggage flew on without her!... (by the way a FAA & TSA violation). US Airways customer service for despute resolution and reimbusement is non-existent. I continued to get the same repeated email messages from them. When I requested the name and contact number of a supervisor, I received a message stating my case was closed. I am having to take US Airways to court. My suggestion to all air travelers; AVOID FLYING ON US AIRWAYS AT ALL COSTS!!!
Please avoid US airways and to our govt. I say > STOP BAILING OUT these big businesses that ruin people's lives like this! I am tired of my tax dollars paying for corps. that do business like this! it's freaking illegal to steal from consumers like this-
To make matters worse we had to stay in NYC last night, but before leaving LGA they rebooked our tickets. This morning when I get on the plane I have seat 26 and there are only 22 rows on the plane. The idiots changed equipment and didn't bother to tell me.
Now they tell me they can't get me to Chicago today, perhaps on Sunday but only if I go via Charlotte, NC.
All I can say is THEY SUCK and deserve to be out of business! They don't have a clue how to run an airlines.
NEXT DAY WE WERE ON THE PLANE AND BEFORE TAKEOFF EVERYONE HAD TO DEPLANE, PROBLEM WITH AIR PESSURE. AFTER WAITING 4HRS.WE WERE TOLD EVERYTHING WAS FIXED, AGAIN ALL PASSENGERS WERE IN AND 45 MINUTES LATER IT WAS THE SAME STORY. AFTER BEING ON THE PLANE FOR 2HR WE WERE TOLD TO GET OUT AGAIN. AFTER WAITING AT THE GATE AREA THEY OFFERED EVERYONE $5 FOOD VOUCHERS. PLEASE BELIVE ME I SWEAR ON MY TWO YOUNG CHILDREN. AFTER 2 MORE HOURS THE FLIGHT WAS CANCELLED. BACK TO THE HOTEL AGAIN FOR 2ND NIGHT. TO ADD MORE INSULT THE BUS SHUTTLE DRIVER LOCKED HIS KEY INSIDE AND WE HAD TO WAIT FOR AAA TO OPEN THE VAN. NEXT 3RD. DAY WE LEFT FOR CANCUN 1HR. LATE ON A DIFFERENT US AIR PLANE. FLIGHT 315 FROM HELL. WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES WE HAD 10 DAYS AT A RESORT SO WE STILL HAD 7 GOOD DAYS, BUT THERE WERE FAMILIES WITH SMALL KIDS GOING FOR 5 DAYS SO IT WAS 3 DAYS IN PHONIX AND 1 DAY IN CANCUN, ONE DAY TO RETURN. WHEN WE GOT TO THE RESORT WE WERE TOLD THEY GAVE OUR ROOM TO SOMEONE ELSE AND IN THE TIME THEY WERE RESOLVING MY ISSUES I WAS APPROACHED BY A HOTEL REPRESENTATIVE WHO WAS TRYING TO HELP US BUT HE WAS A CLOSET KGB TYPE TIME SHARE AGENT.
THE RESORT NAME IS HOTEL MARINA EL CID IN RIVIERA MAYA, WE GOT IT THROUGH COSTCO TRAVEL, POOL WAS HUGE BUT ONLY 3 TO 4 FT DEEP.
BUT OVERALL IT WAS A NICE PLACE, BUT THERE ARE BETTER.
I hope they end up in bankruptcy because lord knows they deserve it!
The flight back was more complicated; they overbooked, I was involuntarily bumped. The US Air agent, Amy Bullard, Employee # S17482 was obnoxious and rude in just about every way possible. It was obvious that she did NOT care about my predicament. She offered me a flight the next morning which was no good; I had to be at work then. Southwest Airlines had a flight going out in a couple of hours — which I would have to buy at the gate — for $500! Amy Bullard refused to pay for it. All I got was a refund for my ticked ($183) which I could apply to my new $500 ticket. It was Easter Sunday, Amy refused to let me talk to a supervisor (she said she was the highest ranking supervisor there) and I had NO CHOICE but to accept the refund or wait until tomorrow.
When I arrived to Baltimore at 1:00am, my bag was in lockup and all of the US air employees were gone for the day. When I called the next morning, to had my bag delivered, I was told by customer service (in India) that all claims for bags had to be made in person and that I would have to drive back to the airport (1 hour each way). I did, and whatever frozen food I had in the bag went bad by then.
NOW HERE IS SOME ADVICE: I paid for a direct flight both ways and US Air did not provide those services. After speaking to an attorney/friend I was told the following:
1) I paid for a direct flight to and from baltimore and phoenix. US Air failed to fulfill their end of the deal by providing me a direct flight in either direction.
2) Although accommodations were provided, those accommodations were NOT reasonable.
I called my credit card company (AMEX) and asked them to reverse the charges based on the above. We’ll see how that works. I’m determined not to pay for crap service and rudeness!!! I have no idea if it is going to work, but its worth a shot.
But they encourage you to check your bags online first so you can save $5 off this ridiculous fee. Sure it's only $5 but I figured I'd give it a shot. Guess what? It doesn't work - multiple attempts result in unexpected errors and then when you try to log back in with your confirmation number there's no way to get to that page again.
A call to customer service about this resulted in a 10+ min wait time, and ultimately me bailing on the attempt. At the check-in gate, I overheard a woman next to me explaining that she was unable to check her bags in online, just like me. She even wrote down the error code the screen gave her. Both our gate agents were unapologetically unsympathetic.
While the $5 is not that big of a deal, the way they set me up and then let me down is lame.
My one-way flight back to New Orleans on US Air will now be 4x the cost of my one-way flight up here via JetBlue. And this will be the last time I fly US Air.
Also, you should be happy to know you rank #2 for "US Air sucks" on Google.