Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
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Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#2I am so starving. http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-am-so-starving-vs-i-am-so...
We get it, flying is frustrating. Sometimes you have to wait four hours in an airport. Sometimes, the airlines don't treat you like the important person you are convinced you are. Write your rant, and delete it. Just don't publish it under the color of "advice", it makes you look like a whiney little kid.
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#3I am so starving. http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-am-so-starving-vs-i-am-so... We get it, flying is frustrating. Sometimes you have to wait four hours in an airport. Sometimes, the airlines don't treat you like the important person you are convinced you are. Write your rant, and delete it. Just don't publish it under the color of "advice", it makes you look like a whiney little kid.
He wasn't complaining about having to wait 4 hours. He was complaining about the lack of respect they have for customers (not specifically him, but in general), and he was comparing his experience between Virgin and United.
With one, he was surprised by an unfortunate, not-well-known policy and OFFERED NO HELP, versus the other where they went above and beyond what he expected from them (sell him a ticket to get home).
I think this is a great example of how some companies "get it" and are going to keep and grow their customers, while other companies don't "get it" and it will lead to their demise.
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#4I am so starving. http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-am-so-starving-vs-i-am-so... We get it, flying is frustrating. Sometimes you have to wait four hours in an airport. Sometimes, the airlines don't treat you like the important person you are convinced you are. Write your rant, and delete it. Just don't publish it under the color of "advice", it makes you look like a whiney little kid.
Actually, I don't find flying particularly frustrating. Waiting on the runway, getting kicked off my flight because it's overbooked, getting stuck in the airport - it goes with the territory, and I am okay with that. My grudge with United (and subsequent love affair with Virgin) was about the way they treat their customers.
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#5I stopped reading here:
"I ended up skipping my the flight from SFO to LAX because a friend of mine was driving down the night before; I figured I would keep him company on the drive, and I would get to spend an extra night in LA."
In my experience, that basically canceled his set of flights ,and he was no longer a customer. That's been my experience for at least 10 years of flying.
I didn't read the rest of the article, but I presume he discovered, the hard way, on a thanksgiving weekend - that he had no ticket whatsoever and was SOL.
That's really nothing to do with United, and to call it Customer Service, when you aren't actually a customer, is stretching it.
Now - My story of Taking a Greyhound Bus from Reno (Amtrak was sold out), (I had a ticket for the 9:50 AM, but they oversold it, and I didn't get on until 12:45 - after arriving at the Greyhound station at 9:00 AM in the morning) could have been negative, but, I'm traveling freaking thanksgiving weekend! I figure it's even odd's I don't even make it back home Sunday, so anything better than that is an Epic Victory. :-)
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#6I'm always astounded why so many companies seem more willing to lose a loyal repeat customer than take a small hit on the bottom line for a particular transaction. Companies like NewEgg, Costco, and Zappos have demonstrated how being willing to take a small hit on some transactions can engender a fanatical customer base, but it seems most companies still prefer to be penny wise and pound foolish.
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#7I suggest that if anyone else finds themselves in Rich's situation then they call the airline prior to their first flight: Claim to be ill, tell them you'll make your own way down to LA in few days, and tell them you'll still need your return flight home. Sure, it's deceitful, but you have to play the game you're in..
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#8It's easy to chalk this up to whining and ignore it since it comes off as a rant. The problem is that United and its employees don't consider service a priority, not that they have a policy about canceling flights when you skip the original leg. I've had this experience multiple times with United and have found them to be the worst offender of all the legacy airlines.
They are a mess and they are outright hostile to their customers much of the time. I realize that travelers get stressed out and yell a lot and it can be frustrating, but laughing at a customer should never be acceptable.
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#9I stopped reading here: "I ended up skipping my the flight from SFO to LAX because a friend of mine was driving down the night before; I figured I would keep him company on the drive, and I would get to spend an extra night in LA." In my experience, that basically canceled his set of flights ,and he was no longer a customer. That's been my experience for at least 10 years of flying. I didn't read the rest of the arti…
You know, just because that's the way it's been done forever does not make it right. The lady next to my cube has a sign about tradition, which is what the bad flying experience has become in America:
Re: Startup Lessons, Courtesy of United Airlines’ Crappy Customer Service
#10I am so starving. http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-am-so-starving-vs-i-am-so... We get it, flying is frustrating. Sometimes you have to wait four hours in an airport. Sometimes, the airlines don't treat you like the important person you are convinced you are. Write your rant, and delete it. Just don't publish it under the color of "advice", it makes you look like a whiney little kid.
He wasn't complaining about having to wait 4 hours. He was complaining about the lack of respect they have for customers (not specifically him, but in general), and he was comparing his experience between Virgin and United. With one, he was surprised by an unfortunate, not-well-known policy and OFFERED NO HELP, versus the other where they went above and beyond what he expected from them (sell him a ticket to get home…
Since when is selling you a ticket "above and beyond" expectations for an airline?