81 hours have elapsed since United denied me a seat on the Austin-bound flight (on a confirmed ticket purchased weeks in advance).
After more than 10 calls to United Customer Service and the threat of legal action, we finally got some follow up and a return phone call – actually 4 of them – this afternoon. The callers assured both my husband and me that my bag would be delivered between 5 – 9 this evening.
It is now 8:57. Commence holding breath <******>
EDIT: 9:03 BAG ARRIVES! OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER! I feel like I won the lottery! We’ll have to file this under “Brands that Stole a Weekend” instead of Worthy of a Weekend
69 hours with no bag and counting.
On my final call to United yesterday (9:45 last night), I was finally forwarded to a supervisor and got her name. Kelly Fox was, like her colleagues, very nice and professional, yet wholly inneffective and untrue to her word. When I refused to get off the phone without some degree of accountability from someone, she told me she would call back within the hour after she got through to the baggage team in Dulles.
You know where this is going – I received no call, no email, once again no accountability and now I am getting ready to go to work with no makeup. Good times.
Dear United Airlines,
You win. You have reduced me to hysteria on the phone with (a very nice) person in your call center after going through your call bank for the 7th time in 48 hours trying to get back my bag. I don’t like to talk on the phone but the information on the web portal is erroneous, so I had no choice. In short:
- You denied me boarding an aircraft on which I held a confirmed ticket
- You made ma wait in 3 different customer service lines at the airport to rectify my “new” travel plans of not being able to travel at all
- You lost track of my bag (that went to Austin without me) for 12 hours
- You found the bag, sent it back here, and told me to be here between 7 – 11 last night for the delivery that DID NOT COME until I was dead asleep at 1am.
- You misinformed me in my morning call today that the bag was with the delivery service and to call them to request it (it had actually been returned to you)
- Only now, after yet another call from me, have I been informed that it is back at Dulles and I needed to request it be delivered again.
- I might get it in the next 4-6 hours. If you deign to allow it.
I have been told over and over again that everything above is totally allowable in your fine print. If you think everything that has happened to me is an acceptable business practice and not worth so much as an apology, I will spend the rest of my business travel days trying to avoid being subject to your whimsy as to whether or not I can go to my booked destination, deserve my bag, etc.
I hope to hear from you. If not, I wish you a brighter future than the customer experience you have offered me. Goodbye,
Virginia Miracle
In my energetic attack of my super sporty New Year’s resolutions, I broke one of the bones my left foot. I am 31 and this is my first broken bone ever. Nothing like a stylish walking cast to accompany me on the first day of my new job in DC next week, eh?
Look for a thoughtful post pile on to Ben’s marketing clutter post tomorrow. For today, I’m going to kick back with some pain meds and Tivo.
Like the rest of us, I am thinking about resolutions today. 2008 is going to hold a lot of change for my family – a move, new jobs, and a new city among them. Because of the impending changes and my past resolution success record, I am going to start off making resolutions for what I am going to tackle for the next 13 days until I begin my new gig and my weekly commute to Washington, D.C. Every day for the next 13 days, I commit to:
a) Spend 30 quality minutes interacting with the baby with no distractions
b) Blog (this one does not count – a little too meta)
c) Work out
d) Take a family walk – fresh air is good for everyone
e) NOT eat French Fries or any other member of the tasty friend potato class – including tots, browns, and the wedge. If my life was a cartoon, my arch nemesis would be a perfectly crisped golden brown french fry wearing a black hat and cape who lurks around every corner, waiting to tempt me to the dark side.
f) Not feel guilty about everything else I am not working on while I’m trying to be diligent about the above.
Happy New Year everyone! I wish you luck thinking about your own resolutions – be they new year or new fortnight.
