Complain about a product or service

United Airlines

United Airlines • Itinerary changes • Lost luggage • Group sales • Unaccompanied minors • Ineffective bumbling --- News • United Scraps Hike in Second Bag Fee • United Pilot Arrested for Alleged Drunkeness • United Doubles Second Bag Fee To $50 • United Pilots Want CEO Fired • United To Reduce its Fleet By 4 Percent • United Charges for Second Bag • United Pilots Contradict Carrier on Cancellations • Computer Glitch Hits United Airlines • Winter Weather Wreaks Havoc with United Flights • United Gets New Daily U.S.-China Flight • Airline Pensions Under Government Review • United Cleared to Taxi Out of Bankruptcy • United Poised To Emerge From Bankruptcy • United Prepares for Life After Independence • United Wins New Labor Pact • United Plans To End Employee Pensions • United Reaches Agreement With Flight Attendents • United's Union Deals Unraveling

United is in the same boat as American, US Airways and Delta and it is a boat that is not very seaworthy. Though United has a strong route structure it does not exactly have a workforce that knocks itself out everyday to keep customers coming back for more, as the complaints in this section show. When you get right down to it, that's the problem. It's hard to see a solution.

Debra of Wheaton, IL August 19, 2009

I was a passenger along with my husband on the flight listed above. The plane was late therefore boarding was delayed. When we finally got on board the air conditioning was on full bore. Many of the passengers including myself complained that it was very cold. Shortly the captain came on the PA to announce that the crew was aware that everyone was freezing but they had no control over the temperature since we were still at the gate. He then proceeded to say that all blankets had been give out and then he apologized and assured everyone that once we got in the air they would moderate the temperature.

Shortly after that the captain again got on the PA to announce that we would be delayed due to some baggage taking longer to load. We finally took off about 2:10 PM (San Francisco time). We had been in the air for about 30 to 40 minutes and we were still being blasted by freezing air so I along with many others asked if they were going to moderate the temp erature. I was told that they were trying and shortly after that the temperature become much more comfortable, for about 15 miutes and then the cold breezes began again.

Many of us were complaining as it was unbearably cold. For almost all of the 4 hour flight everyone was doing everything to try ad keep warm. Some of us even went to stand in the galley next to the heating grids! It was too cold to sleep or to be comfortable at all.

Diane of Cornelius, OR August 11, 2009

I have had a United Miles credit card for many years. I did not have a balance on it for some time. I looked at my June 2009 statement and like many others, I had a 1.00 balance for a finance charge, which I had no idea about since I paid the bill in full the month before. I got to looking at my interest rates and just about had a heart attack when I saw my Effective APR at 71.81%! Talk about robbery! I have called and talked to them, and have been hung up on by 2 different people.

When it was WAMU, my daughter put 300.00 and got a Secured Credit Card for which I found out she was paying 19.9% interest on her own money! When Chase took over, they do not have Secured Credit Cards so she wanted to know what happened to her 300.00 she opened her account with under WAMU.

We have talked to 14 different people since July 10.2009, been hung up on several times. They claim they put it into her savings account on 2/8/09, but she does not have a savings account. We seem to be getting the run around and they keep blaming it on WAMU. I told her to ask for a copy of the application for the credit card she has with Chase. Of course there is none! I have my mortgage and a 2nd with them, and my payments have gone up over 500.00 a month.

I am receiving Social Security Disability and my income is not going to increase in the future. As soon as my daughter has her 300.00 back from them, we are closing all accounts, and closing all credit cards. They are the rudest and uncaring people I have ever had to deal with. I guess they don't get the saying "What goes around, comes around". I thought it was against the law for them to charge 71.81 APR!

Darlene of pleasanton, CA August 10, 2009

I spoke with three different attendees about being cold. Good responds from first women, a don't bother responds from second women, and crazy responds asking me to apologies for agreeing with another person complaining about, if there is something that can be done about the awful cold temp.I could write a three page complained. All we wanted was some heat and multiply people complained. It is one thing to be a little cold and another when it is blowing on your face, neck,and hands. I have a stiff neck from it,runny nose, and was miserable for all of but 15 min.of my flight. I had a jacket on, but trying to read and turn pages was a joke.Also, we did not even have a movie to watch to get our mind on something else. They said it would be "The Soloist". Never once did they apology's. Note,I could not put my seat in the up right position,either, and have arthritis in my back causing pain from not sitting in up right position. Worst flight I ever had.

Sara of White Plains, NY July 27, 2009

My husband and I made travel arrangements around the same time that he lost his job. Risky? - yes; but searching on one of the typical travel sites we found a decent deal to go to Puerto Rico. The location is great, but the idea was really to stay with and visit his mother who we hadn't seen in close to a year. While the reason may not matter, we ended up finding out a few months later as our departure date was fast approaching, that my husband was eligible to recieve job training that would potentially help him find a job and excel his career. Great News! Except, ahh! The last day of training happens to be on our departure date... we'll still go to Puerto Rico, just at a later date.

Well, I had been in touch with the travel site with whom we made the reservations for and they told me that the change fee would cost 150 a ticket! That's about 60% of the ticket cost. This is really my problem with United. However, when I took the time to call United and explain the whole situation(EXTREMELY politely might I add) I asked to speak with a supervisor after the first person couldn't really do much, and I have to say I felt Helen the supervisor was quite rude with me. I was disgusted to tell you the truth. I thought the airlines were trying to maintain their customers in these times, but United just proved me the opposite. I felt like they took my money and ran.

Carmen of Edmonton, AB July 23, 2009

We flew Untied from Miami, FL to Edmonton, AB, Canada on Feb. 11/09. Because of the lack of staff the luggage tags were mixed up with another person checking in at the same time. Our baggage went to Paris, France and his came to Edmonton. Thanks to the passenger in Paris contacting us directly and the help of airport personnel in Edmonton (no thanks to United staff). We finally received our baggage a week later.

All of our luggage was damaged and again thanks to the staff at Swiss port Edmonton they took care of the needed repairs and replacement of the luggage.

My IPod and travel speakers were missing from my luggage. Reported the missing items and filed a Pilferage Report. I also forwarded all the orginal receipts, flight information, and forms required by United to their claim department. I have phoned, written letters, faxed, and phoned again for the last 5 months with no compensation. No one at United can be bothered to help us.

As well my husband has limited mobility and requires the use of a wheelchair in the airports (we requested a wheelchair when we booked our tickets). The staff were rude and incompetent and in one case he never even got the wheelchair and had to make his own way, with difficulty, to the plane.

Warren of Honolulu, HI July 11, 2009

I reserved an international business class ticket from Bangkok, Thailand back to Honolulu, Hawaii with a lay-over in Tokyo. I told the United representative that I would be traveling with my pet dog, and she said it would be an additional 200. However, when I got to the airport to check in, they took my credit card and charged 400 on it. When I got to Tokyo, our flight was canceled, and we were forced to rebook with a DIFFERENT airline. Upon arriving to Hawaii, I called United to inquire about the 400 charge, and they could only tell me I needed to send an email to their Customer Relations department. I've since sent 4 emails in 1 month without any responses. Calling back was no use either. I can't believe that United Airlines is still in business with the horrible "service" they practice towards their customers.

Miu of Rockville, MD July 7, 2009

On March 10, 2009, I purchased a roundtrip airline ticket for my parents. It was a trip from San Francisco to Baltimore (June 22, 2009) and back (July 6, 2009). The payment had been made on the same day. Their arrival was fine, the problem started on July 2, 2009. We got a call from our credit card company and they wanted us to verify if our family bought a United Airlines ticket (1,206.34). However, nobody in my family purchased one. We told our credit card company to stop this payment.

Early in the morning on July 5, 2009, the day before their flight (BWI to San Francisco), I went online to try and print their boarding passes, but I could not. When I called United Airlines to ask the representative what happened and why, he told me that my parents’ ticket was fine and there was no problem at all. He said just go to airport on July 6, 2009, and someone would help me. This morning we arrived and the United Airlines employees there told us that the ticket was revoked. The employees told us that we had to purchase a new set of tickets. The original, total cost for the roundtrip tickets was 558.40 (for two).

The new tickets cost 379.60 for one so it would cost 759.20 plus tax for both of my parents. I find it unacceptable that we would be required to purchase more expensive tickets. Also, our tickets were already paid for in March and should not have been cancelled. We called our credit card company and they said they never asked United Airlines to cancel our old purchase and didn't know why United Airlines did that, since the old purchase had been paid for.

I really want to know what is going on and why United Airlines didn't send me an email or call me to let me know the flight has been cancelled and why when I called, the United Airlines representative told me our schedule was still fine. Our tickets were already paid for a long time ago and therefore they should not have been canceled. I need United Airlines to give me an explanation and a full monetary refund. Due to this issue, I had to pay 759.20 plus tax for tickets that would not have been necessary if none of this had occurred.

Dominador of Dasmariñas, Cavite, MT June 26, 2009

I lost my luggage during my flight from L.A. to Freeport, Bahamas on 19/20 Dec. 2008. I lodged claim from United Airlines but no response for the past months. Today I have received a letter from Ms Patricia H of Delta Airlines Inc., Claims Manager Customer Care. The letter says that Claim Form was enclosed but unfotunately no form at all. Please contact me at my e-mail or tel. no. given above. I hope this case will be resolved as soon as possible. The luggsge contains my personal belongings as I am a seaman working aboard cruise ship.It may contains not much expensive items but the inconvenience incurred to me during my shipboard duty. Hoping to hear from your side soonest possible at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much for your kind attention to this matter.

Bonnie of Bethel Park, PA June 24, 2009

My father was flying from Chicago to Missoula Montana on Friday June 19th. Due to weather in Chicago, all flights were cancelled. I realize that no airline has control over the weather, however, pretty early in the day it should have become obviously that many flights were going to be delayed and cancelled, thus requiring additional help to reschedule passengers. No additional help was added, all cancelled flights passengers were directed to ONE line which was more than 600 people - and took more than 4 hours to reschedule. My father is 81 years old- he does not need to stand in a line for 4 hours for anything, let alone because this airline is too stupid and greedy to bring in adequate staff. I AM FURIOUS. I promise, that neither I or anyone in my family will ever use United airlines again for any flight at any time EVER.

Stephen of Lynnfield, MA June 16, 2009

I'm sure, like most people, we shop around for a "comfortable" price for a flight. I had not been on United for a few years but needing a flight to Chicago I thought why not. Bad choice! Trip was Boston to Chicago and making the computer reservation was ok, until I did the baggage check in. 1 piece of luggage, 20.00 extra! and if you did it in advance via computer, you got 5 off (15.00) OK i will get the 5 off. Filled in the info needed and guess what, error came up saying that I missed spelled the State part of the address. No matter how I spelled or abbreviated it, error came up. I was not the Computers fault. The staff at Logan did try to make up for that problem by seating me in the "exit row". Little did I realize that if I were wanting to sit there otherwise, it would have been an extra 39.00 for their Economy Plus seating. I was the only one in that row. This is Nickle and Dimeing everyone for that extra BUCK. My return flight was interesting, I had row 32 on a 757, (far back of the plane) The seat rows were so compacted, it made one regret not spending the extra for a "Normal" seat further toward the front of the "coach" section. Kidding with the person next to me," Next thing you know, we will have to pay for a cushioned seat row end up seating on Bleachers.

I will not Fly United again. Passingers are the financial GRAVY for airlines. They make the most with Cargo. I used to work for one of the airlines. This is what we were told. If they are testing us to see what we will tolerate. We need to know this. Good Luck All.

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