• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

United screws up again.

Ranb

Penultimate Amazing
Ranb
Joined
Jul 25, 2003
Messages
11,313
Location
WA USA
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/...ted-gives-purchased-seat-to-standby-passenger

A Hawaii teacher says she was forced to hold her 27-month-old son on her lap for three and a half hours after United Airlines gave the toddler's seat to a standby passenger.

Shirley Yamauchi says she bought the airline tickets for a teacher conference in Boston three months ago. Because children over the age of 2 are required to have their own seat, she purchased a ticket for her son, Taizo -- paying almost $1,000 each ticket.

Yamauchi said her son was clearly in his seat, but another passenger still showed up, claiming the seat was his.

"I told him that I bought both of these tickets and he tells me that he got the ticket on standby. Then he proceeds to sit in the center," she said.
Click to expand...

Arguing with United airlines can result in missing teeth so it seems the mom decided not to make a fuss.

The company said, "We deeply apologize to Ms. Yamauchi and her son for this experience. ....We are also working with our gate staff to prevent this from happening again."
Click to expand...
Anyone who believes claim this is stupid.

Ranb
 
Well, from what I read, United got about $1000 for the child's seat, then sold it to the standby passenger for $75. When the mom asked for a refund United told her they would cancel the child's return ticket. No one is that stupid; sounds like a "shut up or we screw you, again" type of deal.
 
I often wonder if this is not some kind of epidemic, but rather the same amount of absurd situations that have always occurred but simply made national news because that is the Era we live in.

I wonder if small business owners had their worst mistakes made worldwide news what effect that would have.
 
Selling a seat they already sold: Bad.
Making Mom hold the kid for three hours: Very Bad.
Endangering the child's life: Completely Unacceptable.

Before I became known around The Really Big Airplane Company as the guy who refused to fly for work, I got put on United for a trip from Seattle to the LA area. (Not LAX, I refused to go their years earlier.)
I got to SEA a bit early expecting to relax and have a latte. But when I went to get my boarding pass they rushed me onto an earlier flight. Which I should have refused since I was going to have to change planes in SFO anyhow.*
And when I got there, it was for about four hours, because they hadn't sold enough tickets on the connecting flight and cancelled it. They gave some other excuse over the PA, but I was standing right there and heard the gate agents talking about it. They clearly didn't care who heard.
So I was late for my meeting and didn't get my latte.
On the way back, a couple of days later, business wrapped up early. I walked up to the Alaska Air desk with my United ticket and said "Can you get me an earlier flight?" "Sure. And we'll give you some money back, too."

*I'm pretty sure if you're flying from Seattle to Portland, United will make you change in San Francisco.
 
shemp said:
I feel safer knowing that gate staff allowed someone to board a plane despite their boarding pass not scanning properly. I have a feeling someone is out of a job (and should be).
Click to expand...
I figure gate staff did their jobs with the kid, got yelled at by the standby, and PR lied about the result. And when the company treats employees like ****, you can't expect them to treat customers any better.
It's senior execs who should be out of a job.
 
That's to me the biggest issue.

Airlines are big, complex , time sensitive things. Occasionally a slip-up happens.

Good, well run business give their front line employees at least some latitude to correct small errors.

In the airline industry it seems often that if a front line employee makes an honest mistake they aren't given effective tools to fix it.
 
sadhatter said:
I often wonder if this is not some kind of epidemic, but rather the same amount of absurd situations that have always occurred but simply made national news because that is the Era we live in.

I wonder if small business owners had their worst mistakes made worldwide news what effect that would have.
Click to expand...

It is happening with social media for small businesses now as well, but it is limited by "cease and desist" letters. A year ago hundreds of people joined a Facebook page to close the veterinary clinic I worked at. It all started with pictures of some injures (definitely clinic at fault, but not the first or last time). Then, after the letter shut it down, it all vanished overnight.
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
It is happening with social media for small businesses now as well, but it is limited by "cease and desist" letters. A year ago hundreds of people joined a Facebook page to close the veterinary clinic I worked at. It all started with pictures of some injures (definitely clinic at fault, but not the first or last time). Then, after the letter shut it down, it all vanished overnight.
Click to expand...


Sorry, just not quite following, the vet clinic got shut down, or the facebook campaign?
 
Trebuchet said:
Selling a seat they already sold: Bad.
Making Mom hold the kid for three hours: Very Bad.
Endangering the child's life: Completely Unacceptable.
Click to expand...

Some might question this statement as being a bit OTT, but as someone who used to fly frequently, this is no exaggeration. Some years ago, I was one of the fortunate victims of an in flight incident; I say "fortunate" becasue I was shaken up but uninjured... others were not so lucky. I was unbuckled and about to get up when the aircraft struck a particularly violent region of Clear-air turbulence (CAT). The whole aircraft dropped violently, and I was pitched backwards into the lap of the person sitting behind me. A flight attendant was bent forward talking to a passenger; the back of her head smashed against the overhead luggage compartment and he was knocked unconscious, and another elderly passenger had their arm broken.

Now if such an occurrence took place while this passenger was holding her child, it could easily be wrenched from her grasp; korenyx's humorous remark about children becoming missiles is a serious possibility, not only endangering the child, but anyone who gets in the way.
 
Drunk female United flight attendant gets in some trouble.

Daily Mail said:
According to passenger Erika Gorman, the unnamed flight attendant used profanity while going over the safety instructions, telling passengers: 'If your seatbelt isn't tight, you ****** up'. The air stewardess was then filmed getting up in a passenger's face...
Click to expand...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-attendant-swears-gets-inches-mans-face.html



Edited by Loss Leader: 
Quote edited for Rule 10. Please be sure to check quotes for profanity even if they come from news sources.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sadhatter said:
I often wonder if this is not some kind of epidemic, but rather the same amount of absurd situations that have always occurred but simply made national news because that is the Era we live in.

I wonder if small business owners had their worst mistakes made worldwide news what effect that would have.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the little guys - the big ones are mostly the bullies and ********. The little guys need the business a lot more - which is the problem - the big guys need to be kept under control. Hard..
 
Last edited:
sadhatter said:
I often wonder if this is not some kind of epidemic, but rather the same amount of absurd situations that have always occurred but simply made national news because that is the Era we live in.

I wonder if small business owners had their worst mistakes made worldwide news what effect that would have.
Click to expand...


I wonder if this is an attempt to rationalize corporate greed because that is the Era we live in.
 
sadhatter said:
I often wonder if this is not some kind of epidemic, but rather the same amount of absurd situations that have always occurred but simply made national news because that is the Era we live in.

I wonder if small business owners had their worst mistakes made worldwide news what effect that would have.
Click to expand...

We wouldn't have new threads here if not for ultra-important stories like these.
 
An example of a small business screwing up would be the baker who put their prejudice ahead of good business sense.
 
...and in other financial news, Independent Fasteners fell three points in late trading.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom