US Airways - Customer Service FAIL...(swearing to ensue)
Right, like airlines even believe in a thing called customer service to start with...
So yesterday my flight was canceled due to inclimate weather...at this point it sucks, but I do not blame the airline. In fact, the girl who "helped" me seemed so nice. She checked bunches of flights, other airlines, etc. Nothing. There is crappy weather and canceled flights all over. So, she reschedules me for the same flight this evening. Tells me I am confirmed.
Today (too bad I wasn't cynical enough to do this immediately when I got home) I went on-line to see what kind of seats were available - I was actually thinking of upgrading to first class. Instead, I get a message that my flight has been rescheduled and that I must call the 800 number to "resolve the issues with this reservation". So I call. I am in the queue for a good 15-20 minutes before some outsourced US Airways employee answers. Based on her accent I am betting I was put through to India. She proceeds to put me on hold for another 5 minutes to figure out what is going on. At which point she comes back and tells me it is going to be long and starts asking me about some flight this morning.
What flight this morning? It seems the bitch at the ticket counter yesterday royally fucked up and confirmed me on a flight that would have left this morning, going through Phoenix, and would have gotten me into Seattle around 7:40pm. However, that isn't actually correct either, I don't think, because the note on the web page as I was trying to check-in this afternoon specifically noted Flight 1549 for this evening. The person on the phone informs me that my "confirmation" was a standby reservation. What the hell is that? How can you reserve standby?
Anyway...the BEST they can do for me NOW is to put me on a flight TOMORROW that goes through Philly and won't get me into Seattle until 11:40pm. I also do not yet have an assigned seat on the Philly flight because all they had left were exit row and "premium" seats...I will supposedly be assigned a seat when I check in in Charlotte tomorrow. (What this really means - though she specifically told me that it was not true and I was guaranteed a seat - is that I may not get on that flight either because I am certain ALL flights are overbooked at this point.) The weather is supposed to turn for the worse again in Seattle...I have no idea what it is doing in Philly, but it probably isn't good and at this point I am betting money that I will end up stuck in Philly for who knows how long.
When I ask what compensation I will get for having an agent of US Airways outright lie to my face, I am told there is nothing they can do, but that she was very sorry for the inconvenience. Inconvenience? The retard at the counter should be reprimanded up to and including termination for lying to a customer. They won't even give me a voucher for an in-flight meal and I will still be paying the $15 for my checked bag.
Amazing. They know they've got you by the balls and they are loving every minute of it. If I could not ever have to fly (or at least deal with an airline) again it would be the best day of my life.
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And of course you have to do all of the work to get things resolved and you're made to feel like everything is your fault. I hope that you're able to get back soon. Will you try and stay longer or just end up cutting your trip short?
Luckily the pups are still with me. Neil was going to drop me off at the airport and then come get them. He will have them until the day after Christmas.
I will just have a short trip...if Marly wasn't having ear issues I would stay longer (through New Year's at least), but she really needs to get back to the vet and it will be easier for me to get back to work in my regular office surroundings. But yes, I am sooooo pissed about the wasted vacation time.
You all might be reading about some lunatic woman at the Charlotte airport tomorrow if anything goes wrong...especially if that same girl is at the ticket counter. I will be having words with an on-site manager if I see her there, regardless of whether this flight happens to actually work out or not. And, I spent the additional $20 (amazing they refused to even comp me the upgraded "premium" seat how cheap would that have been just to make a REALLY pissed off customer happy? Not to mention, these stupid seats are exactly like all the other coach seats only they charge you more for them...that little game started about a year ago...anyway, I digress) for the special seats so that I could have assigned seats on both flights. I am checked in, so now, unless the flight is canceled yet again, I WILL be in Seattle late tomorrow night.
I am still sooooo steamed about it all - sorry for rambling on...more. :) I hope you and Andrew and the kids have a very merry Christmas doing exactly what you want to be doing!