getting screwed by us airways

[Travelpro72]

Going to a store only to find the item you wanted is out of stock means what? You didn't PAY for it so why would you expect to be compensated? If you PAY for a service and the airline doesn't deliver due to something THEY had control over such as maintenance or whatever they should be compensated. Not told to plan accordingly and pack extra clothes. What BS. Buy something at a store after standing in a line of 100 people only to get home through all the traffic and find it broken in the box. You go back and the store says, "Sorry it happens". NEXT. Your reaction may not be a letter like the OP's but you'd just say ok and walk away? THAT is what I'm getting from all these UNBELIEVABLE posts.

 

[malikie]

If you PAY for a service and the airline doesn't deliver due to something THEY had control over such as maintenance or whatever they should be compensated.

How does the company have control over a maintenance issue? Can you predict ahead of time when your car is going to break down? Do you expect the company to look into the future and say hey A/C such and such is going to have a maint issue?

The company, except for the alledged rude behavior of the customer service agent, did as they were suppose to. The company provided lodging due to it being a maint issue, provided food vouchers for the passengers, and did get them to their destination safely but a day later.

 

[Glucose Intolerant]

How does the company have control over a maintenance issue? Can you predict ahead of time when your car is going to break down? Do you expect the company to look into the future and say hey A/C such and such is going to have a maint issue?

Defer maintenance "to infinity and beyond" and it's bound to happen sooner or later....

 

[Travelpro72]

The company, except for the alledged rude behavior of the customer service agent, did as they were suppose to. The company provided lodging due to it being a maint issue, provided food vouchers for the passengers, and did get them to their destination safely but a day later.

WOW :blink: and we wonder why US is looked upon as it is. Well, besides management who knows only numbers and the few employees that are on their little wagon. THIS is acceptable in making a bad situation right? This is how you feel a customer should be compensated for missing a days work and meals besides the $5.00 voucher? Again as I've asked in the past, "are you a consumer"? If this is how US treats it's customers due to an issue that is US's fault (not the customers) it's a sad state of affairs.

 

[Poug Darker]

It always amazes me how citizens in our 'just-in-time'/instant gratification society plan for air travel and react when it doesn't pan out the way they thought.
A while back a lawyer (supposedly an astute individual) had a 12 noon court appearance in New York City, so he booked himself on the 9 am flight to arrive at 11, thinking there was plenty of time to cab-it to the courthouse, get settled and make his appearance as councel.
Well, not only was there fog that day on the east coast, but the FAA shut the airport down because of low visibility. Nothing in, nothing out.
So there we sat at the gate, waiting for the fog to lift and the airport to reopen, assured by ATC that it would be soon.
Meanwhile, the lawyer is freaking out. He asks the crew repeatedly if there is anything that can be done to get him there on time. I told him, yes-you should have left yesterday. He looked at me like I had two heads. He said that going over the night before would have cost the client a hotel room (at the Ritz, prob) and the extra hours of his time. I asked him what the cost was for losing his case since he wouldn't be there to serve as councel.
The obvious lesson of this story is: stuff happens, like bad weather, airplanes that don't work correctly, and air traffic jams. And this stuff happens every day, and is probably why air crews are so nonchalant about it. The goal is safety first, schedule second. So, if you absolutely have to be there tomorrow for work, leave a days buffer in there. It is foolish to think of an airline schedule like a train schedule. To be as reliable as a train, we'd have to BE a train.
Hey, the grass needs cut when you get home anyway, right? Enjoy your trip, come home a day early, readjust to normal life, have a cold one, then go off to work the next morning. Like I said, amazing people can't figure it out....
Cheers.

 

[vantheman63]

Ding ding ding... we have a winner. Someone understands what many of us have been saying all along.

It's too bad the SandCastle has no clue about taking care of their own employees... and taking care of their customers.

Back on topic, the OP really needed someone to rewrite this letter for him, and to do it with a clear mind. Lord knows I've learned that lesson in the last 20 years. You don't catch flies with vinegar.

+1

I know I've given up....unless there is just NO other way to get from point A to point B...or it is scary cheap.

It is what it is...

And if the OP did spend the time and money to have someone do the letter for him or her...would it make any difference?

I dunno...prolly not....all you gotta do is read the responses here to realize, we customers are the enemy! Defeat us and get rid of us 'cause we all suck and we're the reason for all the problems. The company will run so much better without customers...oh, wait...okay...maybe not.

In any case...we customers are probably the root of all evil.

Thank goodness for CO and WN.....

 

[malikie]

WOW :blink: and we wonder why US is looked upon as it is. Well, besides management who knows only numbers and the few employees that are on their little wagon. THIS is acceptable in making a bad situation right? This is how you feel a customer should be compensated for missing a days work and meals besides the $5.00 voucher? Again as I've asked in the past, "are you a consumer"? If this is how US treats it's customers due to an issue that is US's fault (not the customers) it's a sad state of affairs.

I am a consumer. I also plan accordingly. If I am on a trip and need to be back home to work I will not attempt an evening flight or the last flight of the day. I will also budget extra money into my vacations to cover hotel, food and alternate transportation. This consumer lives in a fantasy land where he thinks everything works properly and noting ever breaks. No sympathy from one consumer to another who plans poorly and lives in fantasy land.

 

[DrBeth]

The OP needed me to write the letter. I've been doing it for years. Keep it simple, straightforward, and polite, and let the airline offer compensation, which you can either accept or decline, if not satisfactory. That being said, whether or not anything would have been offered is another story altogether, as inconsistency is often the rule at US.