No it is not my 2015 annual post. Not yet. In all honesty, I am always here because I somehow found free time to actually start ranting. So this one will be about customer service. Yeah, you got it right.
So, after high school, I landed a full-time job as a customer service officer at a nearby gym (it was "part time" technically). Honestly, this gave me so much insight about the business relation between a consumer and a businessman. Well, not that much, but enough to know that you treat the waiter with respect and the person on the counter? Well, being nice to these people goes a long way, I can't even begin to explain how. I think honestly, it just rubs on you and never wears off - you know, when you are put on hold, but you are patiently waiting because you understand that there is a reason you are waiting (not because the person is a jerk and decides to make you wait pointlessly), saying thank you and not being so pissed when you get a wrong order, understanding that if your food comes late there is a valid reason - basically just being patient as a whole. Yes, it takes effort - but being nice is vital. That was what I learned through my brief experience of having to deal with customers day in and day out.
But here I am in this awkward position where I am the complainer. So let me backtrack a little bit and explain what was going on. In short, my $253 round trip flight ticket was deemed "no value" because I did not cancel it and basically just missed the flight traveling there. Hoping I could use it to travel back, I left it to the night before to check on my flight details (way to go!). Obviously, I was not able to check in. Looking through my emails and confirmation, I found an email in my spam folder from the travel agent that I had to inform the airline if I was not going to show up. This was less than 24 hours before taking off mind you. So obviously I called United. Waited on hold for 32 minutes and no one answered. Tried a different number for 20 mins, and I decided to wait till I got home/the next day to double check. Bearing in mind also, that the price ticket changes daily, I called later that night at around 1 am. They offered to waive changing fees $200 and the total amounted to $71.40. On top of my "no value" $253 AND my second flight ticket traveling here. Got pushed around obviously. The reps honestly said so many blunt and vague statements like
"If it was an open ticket, you could still use it" (emphasizing on the OPEN TICKET part and not the IF),
"You have to call the travel agent to talk to the superior to waive the fees for you" (he meant PARTIAL fees not EVERYTHING)
I had to call multiple times, and even once I got to speak to the supervisor - and I may have mentioned that I would not fly United ever again - and she just hung up on me. Welp she was obviously not concerned about the business whatsoever, she needs a raise if any United Airlines manager is reading this. Okay. Rewind. This may sound confusing, but the bottom line was that I was genuinely angry. Angry that I had to be put on hold for so long. Angry that no one could fix the problem for me. Angry that I was not aware of the situation. Angry that I had to put up with extra costs. Angry that they did not value me as a customer. Also, it was really late.
Angst aside. Things worked out after 10374572 phone calls and 1047294794795826937 minutes of waiting. Honestly. their only saviour was the last customer service rep I called - who was genuinely helpful and very concerned. She helped me sort these up and I am already checked in for my flight. So United, all hope is lost, but my faith in UA has not reached the negatives yet. I am definitely not going to fly United again for sure, but it is not a total no-no I would say. Like if it was the last resort - I would actually buy a ticket.
But yes dear readers, sadly, I am discouraging anyone from flying with United. I never really like things like this - reading it or writing something so crappy about a company. But until United realizes that customer service is everything, I would say try American or Southwest. Too many people have recommended these airlines, but I was too fixed. Lesson learned? Make wise choices while traveling and always remember to take good advice.
Thank you for your precious time. Thank you for reading my rants. 4.20 and I am checked in. I can't complain anymore.
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On a side note, the brother stayed up till 3-ish just making sure I got everything sorted. AZ, you were expensive but you were so good to me. I cannot wait for summer already. Till then.