Customer Relations
WHQPW
United Airlines
PO Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Alex Dean. My United Milage Plus number is [removed for the web]. I am writing to express my extreme unhappiness with both your handling of my baggage and your poor customer service.
I flew from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Phoenix on December 23rd, 2006. None of my bags arrived with me. I assumed this was because of the bad weather and delays in Denver. When I filed a lost-baggage report at the airport that night, I was told that in fact all of my bags were still in Sioux Falls. They were never placed on the plane in the first place, even though I had checked in over two hours before my flight.
Two of my suitcases were delivered to my home the next day. On the night of the 25th, I tried to check the status of my third bag using your online system at www.united.com/bagtrack. The system told me that it could not locate my bag, and that I should try calling your baggage service at 800-221-6903.
The woman I spoke to told that my bag had arrived in Phoenix, and that she was putting in an 'urgent' request to the Phoenix baggage desk to have it delivered the next day. It was not.
I tried the online system and the phone system again on the 26th. The online system had the same answer : no record found for my bag. The automated phone system was unable to find any information either, and when it attempted to transfer me to a live agent, I was told 'all circuits are busy, and we cannot place you on hold at this time'. I was then hung up on.
On December 27, I phoned your general customer complaint line at 877-228-1327. After explaining the situation, the operator there transferred me directly into the on-hold queue with baggage services. This time the baggage services operator told me he had no idea where my bag was. He said it was 'probably in Phoenix, with the bag tag ripped off'. He took a description of the bag and its contents, and said he would send another report to the baggage desk in Phoenix. He then assured me that it would 'almost certainly be delivered tomorrow'. It was not.
On January 3rd, I again tried to phone baggage services, and received the same response. The automated system could provide no information, and its attempt to transfer me to a live person resulted in my being hung up on.
I then sent an email describing my situation to United using your online form at united.com. I also forwarded a copy of my email to you at web-baggage@united.com. As of today (3 days later) I have received no response to either of these emails.
I phoned baggage services again last night, January 6th. I was again told that my bag was in Phoenix, and that the operator would put in a 'most urgent' notice to the baggage desk in Phoenix to have my bag delivered. He also suggested that I go to the airport myself to try to resolve the issue. This morning, I did just that.
My bag was in plain view in the United baggage office at the Phoenix airport. There was no damage, the baggage tag (with my name on it) was completely intact. My name and phone number were written in large letters on the side of it. The worker in the office (a man named Chris) told me he was about to send my bag to Chicago because no one could figure out where it was supposed to go. I showed him my phone number written on the side of it. He shrugged and said “I think someone called that number, I'm not sure.” He also stated that he believed my bag had actually arrived in Phoenix on December 26th (eleven days ago).
Your staff in Phoenix displayed a complete indifference to my problem. I was not offered any kind of apology for the fact that they held my bag for 11 days without taking any positive action. If your phone operators are to be believed, they received 3 requests to deliver this bag to me. My address and phone number were confirmed each time. Your staff in Phoenix refused to even validate my parking or acknowledge that I wasted my Saturday morning following up on something they should have resolved over a week before. Throughout my visit this morning, I received the clear impression that this was all business as usual for your staff.
I have spent numerous hours in the past 2 weeks being hung up on, placed on hold, speaking to machines, speaking to people, writing emails which receive no reply, and generally running in circles trying to get someone at United to care about my problem. Even finding the address to send this letter to required a Google search. Using the 'search' feature of united.com for 'customer relations mailing address' found me an addresses in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, but none in the United States.
I have tried my hardest to remain civil and patient through this process. But to discover that my bag was within easy driving distance almost the entire time, with my contact information plainly displayed on it, is infuriating. I am writing to express this sentiment, and to let you know that I am placing a copy of this letter on my personal website at www.deanspot.org. I will be telling as many people as possible about the poor service United has provided, and I can only hope they will be wiser than I was when they choose an airline in the future.
Sincerely,
Alex Dean
Tempe, Arizona
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