Bekah Clark

So after a rather excruciating experience with United Airlines today, I thought to write them a short, which ended up being rather long, note. Long story short, don’t fly United, especially in or out of Chicago.  D-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.

To Whom It May Concern:

My experience with the entire United Airlines Travel process was beyond frustrating today.

My experience with your airline began this afternoon at the Chicago O’Hare Airport with an hour-long wait to check-in and check my bags.  This was only after walking up and down the terminal trying to figure out which line I needed to be in.  While there were signs, the lines were so long it was hard to tell where one ended and one began, and the staff walking around were of zero assistance.

After being told by my gate agent to go to what I later learned was the incorrect security line, I had to argue with another member of the United staff that I was not going to go to the end of another line after already waiting for half an hour after they informed me that I was in the wrong line…after all it was your gate agent’s fault I was there in the first place.  Apparently, the gate agent sent me to the priority line while I was not a “priority” customer.

I made it to my gate and waited until my flight was supposed to board and continued waiting until my flight was supposed to depart.  At that point, knowing my flight hadn’t left yet, because there was no line and the door had never opened, I walked up to the counter to see what was going on.  When I got to the counter I saw what apparently is United’s idea of announcing a flight delay — a power point slide on a 42-inch LCD screen which customers are expected to be able see while sitting across the terminal or wherever they can find a seat.

The flight left at least 30, if not 45, minutes late without so much as an apology or mention of it from the staff. 

The flight was smooth and took the allotted amount of time.  Our baggage delivery, however, was quite another story.  I, along with my fellow passengers, waited at the baggage claim for another 45 minutes waiting for our baggage.  Only to find out that our baggage had been delivered on an earlier flight and was available at the United baggage office.  The only reason we noticed this, was because I happened to turn around and see my pink bag on the top of the pile.  When I went to go retrieve my bag and find out why it was down there in the first place, I asked if anyone had made an announcement that the baggage was at the office and not on the conveyor because the entire plane was waiting for their items.  The United employee who I posed this question to looked at me as though I had just brought up a revolutionary, world-changing idea and then told me that no - they hadn’t made an announcement.

To add insult to injury, the handle of my weekend bag is shredded on one side.  I understand that baggage is meant to protect what’s inside, but that doesn’t mean that having good luggage (which is not cheap) damaged isn’t frustrating all on it’s own, without any of my previous annoyances with United’s service throughout the day.

Ultimately, had it just been one of these annoyances I wouldn’t have said anything, stuff happens.  But this entire string of events makes it blindingly evident that United has a lot of work to do.  Unfortunately, I’m stuck flying with you because my organization has a contract with you.  However, I can promise that you won’t be getting any of my personal funds in the future.

Thanks for listening.

Rebekah Clark