United "loses" 10-year-old girl on flight

We recently had an awful customer service experience trying to get a credit card for our son who starts college in a few weeks. Similar sort of out-sourcing, it's-not-our-fault, you-have-to-talk-to-someone-in -THAT-department runaround.

Standing ovation for the letter written to the United CEO and I hope it goes viral. He and his company need to be flogged.

 

About 95% was prior to the merger with Continental for my wife and for me.

 

Flying through O'Hare on United - - or any other airline for that matter - - is something I prefer to avoid. I do it only when there are no other reasonable choices.

My older son lived in Chicago for about 6 years so I had plenty of opportunity to fly to and from O'Hare - - usually on United - - because there was no other reasonable way to get there.

Once we went to visit him and took Amtrak's overnight train from DC to Chicago. That avoided O'Hare but it was not a hugely wonderful experience on its own.

 

I think BTE actually makes a pretty good point on the cellphone for the kid, but all the other comments (on this board and on the story's website) blaming the parents for sending the kid on the flight are beyond idiotic. These "unaccompanied minor" flights have been going on for years, and if the airline employees have even a modicum of competence, there shouldn't be a problem. And there's probably a good reason the girl went to that particular camp in Michigan, and there would be anytime this is done.

And I think this goes way past "Well, it's United..." or "it's the airline industry, what'd you expect." From the original mistake, to the way it was handled at the terminal, on the phone, at the call center, were all fuck-ups on an epic scale. No matter how bad a company's customer service usually is, there's just no excuse for what happened here.

 

Sorry, mpc, but I still must respectfully disagree about not blaming the parents. Yes, United screwed up on many, many levels. There's no excuse for what it did - or didn't do.

Still, isn't 10 a bit young to be put on a plane, instructed to fly 2,000 miles and make your way to summer camp by yourself? What, did they shove that girl out the door? See ya. You're on your own, kid.

And, with all the nut jobs in this world, why in the blazes would you send a 10-year-old girl into this situation by herself?

There is no way in hell my late wife or I would have done that with our kids. No frickin' way.

 

The Delta concourse in Atlanta can get pretty nutty, but nothing, nothing compares to the United concourse at O'Hare. If you go on the other side of the food court where the gates are for a different concourse, I think it used to be Continental, not positive what it is now, but the difference between the people on each side is very telling.

The people who are there for United flights look like they're either on edge or have a defeated look to them.

You go to the other side and it's normal. It's hard to describe, but that's how fucking bad United is.

 

I'm a longtime Continental frequent flyer, and I was really hoping that the combined airline would keep Continental's level of customer service. Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. I haven't bumped into any problems post-merger, but I suspect it's only a matter of time.

 

Years ago, I had to go to Chicago for a wedding and a fellow writer, who I traveled with all the time, called me and said, "Let's book our flight to Milwaukee and then drive."

It was a genius move.

 

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. Sure, it's not ideal, but it's something that's been done plenty of times with no problems. To blame the parents, in my mind, is to absolve the company who made major mistakes at every juncture. You wouldn't have done it, fine, I respect that; but, it doesn't make them negligent parents in my view.

 

My top United experience:

Got snowed in making a connection in Seattle. Had to spend the night and return for a 7am flight.

I arrive at the United desk with a few thousand other people. They keep announcing that the entire airport is shut down because of snow - no flights in or out. Please do not speak to us -- call your travel agent.

I kill a little time, but there's absolutely no place to sit because of the crowds, so I decide to just wander to my gate and park there. (It was pre-9/11.) I get there... just in time to see my plane pulling out of the gate, getting ready to take off.

I go to the desk, asking them what the hell happened. I explain that at the United desk they're telling everyone the entire airport is closed. The guy behind the desk tells me "They're United -- We're United EXPRESS." Then, in a sing-song voice, he loudly adds "Your fault!"

With that I put down my carry-on, and start going over the desk reaching for that little fucker's throat. You've never seen airline employees move so fast. He bolted while three other employees jumped between us, apologizing for the "misunderstanding."

I then waited seven hours for the next flight.

 

Why wouldn't you just go to Midway? Cost?

 

People have been doing this for decades. So much so that airlines actually have procedures in place for it and even have a standard charge for it. I would bet that hundreds of campers have made it to this place in Traverse City under this system.

The difference is that United has decided to charge for this service and then not provide it.