Some time ago, I wrote an email to United Airlines detailing my issues with a recent flight experience. I also posted it as an open letter in this blog.
I few things I want to note. Apparently, there are limited ways you can contact United via email. Or rather, that is to say, none. An email sent to customerrelations@united.com resulted in the following response:
***This email address no longer accepts inbound messages***
Thank you for contacting United Airlines. Due to technology changes related to the United-Continental merger, this email address has been closed and no longer accepts inbound messages.
Please instead contact us through one of the following channels:
http://www.united.com/web/en-
- For general questions, or additional contact information, please visit united.com and consult “Ask Alex”, our virtual expert:
US/content/Contact/default.
aspx
- For assistance with current or upcoming travel, please contact our Reservations team at 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331).
- To submit feedback to Customer Care regarding a travel experience, or resubmit / send additional information on an existing Customer Care matter, please use our online form at united.com/feedback.
- For information relating to delayed or damaged Baggage or missing property, please visit us at:
default.aspx
- For information relating to Refund requests, status, or policies, please visit us at:
refunds/refunds.aspx
We appreciate your business and look forward to hearing from you.
- Your United Airlines Customer Care team
At first blush, this seems to be a pretty helpful response. After all, there's a whole pile of links that you can use to contact them. There's a phone number, a link to their main site, a customer support robot you can talk to and policy information.
Here's the problem. The reason I sent an email about poor customers service were because people were failing to deliver on that promise. I wanted a human being to intervene and correct a human problem. Instead, I received the above. I'm also not wild about this statement that "This email address is now closed." Why? It's not a storefront that costs rent! Instead it says, "Rather than allowing customers to contact us they way they want, customers need to conform to our process."
Now, in their defense, there is a phone number there. Unfortunately, guess what answers? An automated attendant that you have to try to speak to. I'm not a big fan of those systems mainly because you seem to need to shout a variety of things at them just to talk to a person.
Luckily, I was able to send the email directly to Mr. Smisek's inbox. A few days later, I received a voice mail from a United Airlines employee. I returned the call a day later, and now a month later have yet to receive a call back. I think I understand where customer service is now at United. Maybe that's why they have to go to such lengths to reward the good stuff.
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