I am thankful for being a citizen of the
I am thankful for Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the World Wide Web, responsible for breaking down communication barriers around the world. I am thankful to all the people who make the www work everyday, and the Google people that made blogging so easy to empower the average person.
Given all this freedom and the wonderful tools for the www, it would be a sin for me to stay silent while UAL has been robbing my parents for nearly $3000, while making the invalid assumption that they would be the average 70+ year olds that can be screwed easily. I intend to fully take advantage of broadcasting to the world, the struggle of my story against UAL in getting every penny that they stole from my parents.
This would not have mattered as much to me if it they did it to me. I would have probably given up after some time, as my time is more valuable to me and I can easily earn that money. But then again, its $3000 and I don’t like any one stealing a penny from me! Additionally, my parents have been visiting us for over a decade, making their annual trip for the love of their children. They are retired and have no income coming in, and this is a plain case of a big greedy company screwing the helpless... royally. I have tried to work with UAL, writing them several letters, requesting that they return the money that was wrongfully charged to my parents. Even though UAL admitted to having problems with their and Sri Lankan Airlines computer systems, and have given us coupons worth $600 to make us “happy,” they have refused to refund the money. I have saved these coupons to produce them in a court of law, along with all the communication that I have had with them. At this point, I have no recourse, but to pursue legal means for recovering that money, which I fully intend to pursue and I have made it my personal crusade to recover every penny that UAL has stolen from my parents. Even if I don’t succeed, I would have tried and broadcasted my attempts to others that might have faced similar injustices by companies such as this.
4 comments:
In the current climate of capitalism run rampant, it is not surprising that large corporations, like United Airlines, focus exclusively on the bottom line to the detriment of moral and ethical considerations.
In the old days it was called politeness and common decency. Today, these social guidelines are woefully absent and are not compensated by concepts like "transparent communication", "customer service", and "customer feedback".
When faced with an automated substitute for a human being, who hasn't felt hopeless and helpless? The human need for narrative, for telling "our side of the story" remains unfulfilled.
And when an individual needs to communicate with a corporation, for example, to let it it know it must be accountable for injustices committed, the only response is a defensive one: gates are barred, swords sharpened, and a period of stonewalling ensues. As well as a lengthy and costly period of litigation.
So, to you who take pride in flying the "friendly skies", please answer me this: in regards to your customers, why is making a buck at their expense more important than just doing the right thing?
Thank you for you comments artemisia. Wish you a Very Happy New Year!
Mahesh, if you haven't already gone to flyertalk and asked for help there, I'd recommend it.
You won't find another forum filled with as many expert flyers and frequent flyers who've dealt with every possible situation with airlines. I've seen them give advice for situations as complicated as yours.
Thank you Kathryn. I will check it out.
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