United Airlines takes advantage of helpless elderly couple, extorting nearly $3000

Last update

2010-06-06T14:26:00.000-05:00

For closure to all those who supported me this issue, nothing further came out of UAL. They never contacted me again as they promised they would. Eventhough I wanted to pursue legal aveneues against UAL, my parents did not want to pursue the matter any futher. I had become too engrossed and obsessed with it and it was affecting my personal life, and needed to get away from it all. So, I am sorry for being away for so long without any updates. I want to thank every one who supported me in any way in my fight against the unethical and irresponsible policies of UAL. I tried, and failed, but if enough of us try to fight these injustices, these mega corporations might someday learn to be just a little bit gentler and kinder to the concerns of their customers.

Updates from last week

2007-02-04T23:04:00.000-05:00

I spoke with the UAL lady last week to find out how the tickets became invalid. The tickets had become invalid because they have been extended by a month beyond the 3 month grace period. When I requested the tickets to be changed in San Diego, I wasn't told that the tickets would become expired by doing so. Neither has it been mentioned to my parents, and they were allowed to board the flight from Omaha without any mention of it. UAL says its too late to check and its all speculation. However, this speculation has remnants and side effects that are very real and has cost us lots of money, time and unnecessary frustrations.

I told UAL that I am tired of all this and I would like to settle this matter, but that I would like to know how much will be refunded for the unused portion of the tickets by sharing the information with the other UAL department that can determine how much can be refunded. She said that she would try her best, and I believe her. I don't think this is an unreasonable request and that UAL should be able to provide me with that information. So, hopefully I would hear from UAL next week or so about this. Whatever little refund I can get from them will be given to the charity I mentioned in a previous blog.

Much Nothing About Ado

2007-01-24T23:38:00.001-05:00

I managed to get hold of the UAL rep today and this is what has happened. UAL is willing to refund the unused portion of the prorated amount for Singapore to Sri Lanka. But, to get that I have to send them my unused tickets. So, I wanted to find out how much that amount will be and she told me that she doesn't know that, and that she will forward it to the right people and that they will determine the amount that can be refunded.

She said that ultimately the tickets are expired, and there is nothing that can be done. That the tickets have been extended beyond the maximum 3 month period by a month. I told her that the issue was that they could have told us about those problems in multiple places, in San Diego, Omaha, and finally when my parents were to board at the airport in Omaha. Instead, UAL told me they changed the tickets, assured that the flights are confirmed all the way to Sri Lanka, told the same to my father in Omaha, and even allowed them to fly from Omaha to Los Angeles without any problems! Then she asked me what difference it would have made, that it would only have been more expensive if they caught the error in Omaha. I told her that if we had known about this then, we could have purchased round trip tickets for what UAL and Sri Lankan Airlines charged us for this one way trip. She said that the regular price they charge for a ticket from Omaha to Singapore is $962.60 and that by charging my parents only $500 per person service fee, they have actually saved us some $462 per person!

She asked me if I had contacted Sri Lankan Airlines, and I said I had not and that I will have to do that if UAL wouldn't work on my my behalf since UAL is the primary carrier. She said that when you purchase a ticket from an agent they issue other tickets under their tickets and UAL cannot be responsible about the other carrier. OK, fair enough. But the whole reason why my parents were forced to purchase new tickets was because of the errors UAL made in the first place.

The question that has remained unanswered to this day is "Why do my parents have to pay for UAL's mistakes?" It is human to make mistakes; we all do. However, UAL has yet to accept responsibility for the mistakes they have made. They have admitted problems with their computer systems, and have tried to put the blame on us by claiming that the ticket itself has been extended beyond the maximum allowed (again their error), and that what I thought I was issued in San Diego were not tickets, but itineraries with dates, gate numbers and flight numbers. Maybe so. I am not an expert in airline tickets, but when I request the tickets to be changed, I expect them to change the tickets, or to hear from them that it cannot be done. I would not expect them to give me itineraries with dates, gate numbers and flight numbers and tell me that the flights are confirmed all the way!

May be I have been too impatient to expect a solution this fast. After all, Untied has been collecting complaints since October 1998 and have compiled over 9500 complaints to date. Now, that is perseverance!

Since the beginning of this saga, I have always shown our good faith to UAL, gave them the benefit of the doubt and have given them ample opportunity to correct the wrong, only to have them come up with one excuse after another about their mistakes. As the latest gesture of our good faith, my parents will be flying UAL once again for their next trip back to the USA, scheduled for mid february. I have even given UAL a way out without loosing face. This is really a sad state of affairs. So I have come full circle, back to square one again.

The short version of this story can be read here and the complete story here

Don't forget to check out The Consumerist, a wonderful site for giving a voice to the consumer.

If anyone from Google or Blogger is reading this, can you please leave a comment about how to enable the Blog Archive tree to be expanded for all nodes? I would like to have the older archives visible, instead of having to click each node to expand. Thank you for the wonderful work you guys have done in making a great blogger. I haven't upgraded to the newest version because I didn't want to loose anything accidentally.

Weather forecast: partly cloudy with sunny skies expected.

2007-01-22T08:04:00.000-05:00

I am sorry that I could not write for a short while. I have been busy catching up with the parts of life that I have neglected due to this.

UAL has called me last week for more questions and again late last friday evening and left a message that they are ready to make some amends. I am scheduled to be having a very busy day today, so I left a message for UAL to contact me on tuesday.

On a different front, I received this heart breaking e-mail about an innocent young boy who is fighting for his life. If UAL is willing, here is a wonderful opportunity for UAL to participate in something very special. I am even willing to give up what I was expecting of UAL if they choose to donate our money for this good cause. Yes, thats right, all $2860 of it. Here is the e-mail I received, and you can read his blog here.

From: "manjulawick" manjulawick@hotmail.com
Subject: Fw: Appreciate your help in saving a young life
Date:Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:45:07 -0800
Dear Friends,

Piyumal Abeysinha Gunawardane, a 3rd year student at the University of Moratuwa, is suffering from a cancer in his tongue and throat area.

At the moment he is in a critical situation at the Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore and needs emergency surgery. Now he is undergoing chemotherapy prior to the surgery. Doctors have estimated a total cost of 6-6.5 million SL Rupees (US $ 60185 @ 108 SL Rs./US$). (Breakdown: for chemotherapy (2 million) and the surgery (4-4.5 million)).

Piyumal’s parents cannot afford this vast amount of money, his father being a retired stationmaster and mother being a teacher. All his four siblings are still studying.

Today (Jan. 21, 2007) we talked to Piyumal’s sister in Sri Lanka and she informed us that chemotherapy treatment is underway and surgery is yet to be performed for which they need the money most.

If you wish to donate through us, please respond to this email. We will send your contributions to Piyumal’s family;

Or else you can send your donations directly to the following account:
Account No.: 1661497– Bank of Ceylon Bazaar Branch, Matara (current account)
Name: M.A. Gunawardane / S.Gunawardane (Joint Account)

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Manjula.

2007-01-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

I had a draft here for Much Nothing About Ado, and when I published it was makred as posted on sunday instead of today, so I had to move it up by emptying this out and creating a new one.

Anonymous posts enabled.

2007-01-10T22:02:00.000-05:00

I have now enabled anonymous posts. I was so busy with everything that I didn't have the time to explore how to turn on anonymous postings. The blog was set to use the PST, which I switched to the EST today.

I faxed the original tickets and the ones issued in San Diego to the UAL representative today after lunch.

I was reading the consumerist and ran across this article American Airlines Loves You Now, isnt this the what good customer service is all about?

Thank you everyone for all the help and support you have given me, not just on this blog, but everywhere. This is so draining, but all the kindness and the supportive comments and help I have had from people I have never met, makes it all worth while. I'll Keep on truckin, thanks to you.

Empire Strikes Back or The Groundhog Day?

2007-01-09T23:03:00.000-05:00

So far, this is starting to look just like The Groundhog Day. A UAL representative had left a voice mail yesterday around 5:45 pm EST asking me to contact her today between 8:30 and 5.00 PM. I left her a message last night that I will contact her in the morning. Today I tried to call her around 9:40 EST, then again at 10:00 am EST, and left a message asking her to call back at her convinience as I couldnt get hold of her. She called me back around noon, and said that they have started an investigation into the matter and that she needs to ask me some questions. She asked me if I had the new tickets and I told her that she can get it from my blog and that I didnt have anything with me at the moment. She asked for the url and I gave her the url and appologized for the name I had chosen; told her that it was out of my frustration at the time. She wants me to fax her those tickets, because she was having trouble locating it on the blog. I told her that I will have them faxed over to her tomorrow as it takes me about an hour to get home and back. I will fax those to her tomorrow. She seemed a bit confused at first as to how I had the new tickets, and I felt confused as to her line of questioning. I told her that they were the unused new tickets issued from San Diego and Omaha, and that my father had mailed them to me after they went to Sri Lanka since UAL didnt honor those tickets.

After more questioning, she asked me if I had paid a fee for changing the tickets, and I told her that I had not, and that I would have gladly paid a fee if they had requested. Then she mentioned to me that the tickets my parents had purchased could only be changed on medical grounds for 3 months and that my parents tickets were extended one month beyond that.

No one had mentioned anything about this either to me at the San Diego Airport or to my father at the Omaha Airport at any time. This had not been mentioned in the 2 letters I received from UAL either.

This left me pondering these questions for myself; Why then did UAL issue new tickets in San Diego and later corrected the issue with the 2 reservations in Omaha, instead of telling us that it would not be possible due to the reason that was given today? Should'nt UAL have told us about these at that time? Would not my parents be in a better situation if UAL had told us that information before they started the journey, instead of telling us that the tickets have not been approved, authorized and authenticated partway during the journey? Why was UAL was telling them that their tickets were confirmed all the way to Colombo, Sri Lanka, giving us a false sense of security, only to become victims at the most unexpected way? If UAL had declined to issue those tickets when the request was made, we could have easily bought 2 round trip tickets for the price they had to pay for that one way ticket from LAX to Sri Lanka.

Whichever way you look at it, promises were made, tickets were issued, fixes were made, confirmed, reconfirmed, only to catch them with an unpleasent surprise partway during the journey, at the most unexpected point.

UAL agrees to correct the wrong.

2007-01-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a tip by The Consumerist, I was able to open a channel of communication with the UAL's Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, who has made an appology and has promply agreed to resolve this matter. I have accepted his appology and await the completion of this saga. I will keep you posted as to how things pan out.

All the letters, tickets and receipts uploaded

2007-01-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

Dear readers, please note that I am in no way suggesting that you boycott or not fly UAL due to the issues that I am facing with them. The purpose of this blog has always been to document my frustrations in dealing with UAL Customer Service, and for communicating with others facing/having faced similar situations. I have flown UAL in the past, and would gladly fly again if needs to be.

As of today, I have uploaded all the letters I have exchanged with UAL and they can be viewed at My Communication with UAL (aka How to break both legs!)

You can view the re-scheduled tickets issued by UAL and receipts for new tickets my parents had to purchase at the airport by clicking the links next to the letters.

I havent heard from UAL as of yet... they seems to have received the letter I sent on the 2nd of January, so that gives them till the 22nd of January to respond (15 biz days).

Thank you everyone

2007-01-04T22:06:00.000-05:00

Several news sites, including BoingBoing and digg has picked up the story, as well as The Consumerist, a wonderful site for empowering the consumer.

Thanks to everyone that took the time read my blog and special thanks to all those that gave me constructive advice and worked hard to spread the word.

United Airlines, if you are reading this, please understand that I am not working hard to get some one fired. I dont want a letter telling me that you have fired a poor innocent pawn. All I am asking for is refunding what you have wrongly taken from my parents. I must also request that you change your policies, so that some one else wont have to go thru with this same scenario in the future. As can be evidenced from the comments, there are others who have been victims of your policies. In the future, please learn to act as an honorable company.

Shame on UAL (Short Version)

2007-01-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

My parents, weary from having undergone surgery, needed to change their travel plans on medical grounds. As the primary carrier, UAL agreed to change the travel plans for both the UAL and Sri Lankan Airlines (a code share partner of UAL and a memeber of The Star Alliance). They were to fly from Omaha, NE to Colombo, Sri Lanka, starting on the 30th of July 2006. Everthing went fine with the first leg of the flight from Omaha to Los Angeles, but when they went to check in for the flight from Los Angeles to Singapore, UAL refused to honor their tickets, claiming that the tickets have not been approved, authorized and authenticated. My father had argued with them that UAL did not have a problem with the first leg of the flight and how the tickets had magically become invalid. Without recourse and being in the middle of their journey, they were forced to purchase new tickets at a cost of $1000 to fly to Singapore. UAL's code share partner, Srilankan Airlines did the same in Singapore, claiming that new tickets have to be purchased at a cost of US $1860 for them to complete the last leg of the journey. The total cost for the flight was $2860 for both of them, which is the price of 2 round trip tickets. Since the middle of October 2006, I have written 3 letters to UAL, requesting them to do the right thing, which is to either refund the money or to give them 2 new round trip tickets. UAL has refused to do either, instead sending us 2 coupons, valued at $300 each. The last letter I received mentioned that they have re-visited my concerns but, the UAL policy dosent permit them to respond with the "genorosity" that I had anticipated, and that they had forwarded my "valuable" feedback to the "appropriate management team." I patiently waited for a response from the "appropriate managment team" for well over a month, wihout a response. I started this blog to tell my story to the rest of the world, so that others can see how serious UAL is about their customer service.

The complete version of this story can read here

How to speak nice about bad things!

2006-12-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

I dont like negativity, and I think it is destructive... Thinking of all this stuff I've been going thru lately, and with the ever increasing number of people having problems with customer service, two new words popped into my mind; two words that can drastically reduce the negativity of me talking about UAL.

The first word is Screwice™ (Copyright © 2006, 2007, All Rights Reserved, left, up, down, top, bottom, every direction!), which I define to be a great dis-service or a service performed while screwing you royally.

The second word, Screwlation™ (copyrighted and trade marked as above!) is defined to mean a relation with the intent to harm, or to have or continue a relation to maintain and/or foster your advantage over the other.

So, now, with the definition of these new words, I can talk about what GREAT Customer Screwice my parents have received from UAL, without the negativity attached with the use of words like "Lousy," "Horrible" or "Terrible."

Like wise, UAL seems to be having WONDERFUL Customer Screwlations! See, how easy it is to talk about bad things in a good way!

Sadly, a google search I did last night (12/31/06) revealed that these 2 words have been used before... I will, however, use my re-definition of these word though.

My Communication with UAL

2006-12-29T10:17:00.000-05:00

This is the last letter I wrote to UAL, hot off the press as of yesterday. I hope this will be resolved soon, but I doubt it. On the bright side, at least I have a New Years Resolution!!!

Click the links below for the tickets.

How to break both legs!

Omaha to Denver, Denver to Los Angeles - The Good Legs!

Los Angeles to Singapore - The Broken Leg!

Singapore to Colombo - The Other Broken Leg!

Click the links below for the receipts of the newly purchased tickets.

New Tickets purchased in Los Angeles

New Tickets purchased in Singapore

Communication from United Air Lines

2006-12-29T09:48:00.000-05:00

This is the first letter I received from UAL after my complaint. I tried to blocking out the names and address with a sharpie, but it was still visible, so I had to cut it out. Please note their admission of having no problems with the reservation and that they were in the midst of a computer system change with SLAL. Please click on the image to view a larger image.

This is the second letter I received. Pretty much saying, I'm SOL diplomatically.

Big Bad united Air Lines

2006-12-27T13:37:00.000-05:00

Shame on you for taking advantage of frail, elderly people having undergone surgery. What United Airlines has done amounts to extortion, breach of contract and abuse of the elderly!

I created this blog to broadcast to the world, the unethical and evil doings of United Air Lines (UAL) that my parents have had the misfortune of having to experience.

Their story began as any other normal international travel plan that they had undergone for the past 14+ years... purchase the tickets in Colombo, Sri Lanka through a travel agent that they had become very well acquainted with, just based on their 14+ years of annual visits to the USA to see their children. Usually they have been flying Singapore Airlines or Malaysian Air Lines, but this time, they had selected UAL as the primary carier and Sri Lankan Airlines (SLAL) as UAL's code share partner (part of Star Alliance) to fly them from Sri Lanka to the USA.

Upon arrival and having spent some time in Omaha, Nebraska, where they usually reside with relatives , my father had to undergo surgery for the removal of kidney stones. As advised by the doctors, they were forced to delay their travel plans back to Sri Lanka on medical grounds. Having failed to resolve the matter of re-scheduling the flights back to Sri Lanka, my father had asked me to contact UAL and resolve the matter.

I tried to contact UAL and tried to change the flight plans, but quickly got frustrated with the automated system that seems to discourage talking with a human being, and the one I finally managed to get hold of was very rude and the call got "cut off" before she could do anything for me. I'm not the one to give up so easily, so I found a service address for UAL and wrote them a letter, asking that the tickets be extended on medical grounds. About a week later, I received a letter from UAL stating theat they cannot do anything about it, but if I go to the UAL counter at any airport, they will be able to help me. At the time, I was in San Diego, so I went to the San Diego International airport and a very helpful gentleman made arraigements to have the flight schedule changed, without charge on medical grounds. He also changed the flight plans for SLAL as they are part of the Star Alliance and code share partner for UAL. I was amazed at how nice and considerate and helpful this gentleman was and filled out a customer survery form, stating how proud UAL should be to have employees such as him. I had forgiven UAL for the rudeness of the previous employee I had the misfortune of speaking on the phone and I was extremely pleased with UAL; however this satisfaction was short lived, at about 2 months.

My father, being very cautious of everthing, contacted UAL few weeks prior to departure to ensure that the travel plans are as they should be. There seemed to be some confusion on the UAL's scheduling system as there were 2 dates for departure. My father and an uncle promptly visited the airport in Omaha, Nebraska and finally had the issue resolved, having spent about an hour and a half working with a UAL representative. Everthing was now clear for take off, or so it seemed.

The first day of travel was uneventful; they boarded the UAL flight at Omaha and landed safely at the Los Angeles International airport, and spent 2 days with an uncle. Next leg of the flight was from Los Angeles to Singapore. My uncle had dropped them off at the airport early at 7am and headed off to his work. After the checkin counters had opened, my parents had gone to check in their baggage and collect the boarding passes. This is where the real story begins.

Big Bad United Air Lines (Continued)

2006-12-27T12:13:00.000-05:00

(Continued from the previous blog)

When my parents tried to collect their boarding passes for the flight from Los Angeles to Singapore, they were told that their tickets are not valid and that they are required to purchase new tickets to fly from Los Angeles to Singapore, and possibly from Singapore to Sri Lanka as well. My father had tried to explain that they had new tickets issued by UAL, and that the matter was resolved twice, once in San Diego, California by me and once more in Omaha, Nebraska, and that they had no problem flying in from Omaha to Los Angeles on UAL (the friendly skies). UAL still refused to accept the very same tickets that were issued by itself, and stood the ground that if my parents were to fly, they would have to purchase new tickets (the unfriendly skies!). Their position was that the tickets were not approved, authorized or authenticated! This from the very same company that made these changes in San Diego and Omaha, and had no problem flying my parents from Omaha to Los Angeles on the very same tickets! So, this raises the question that UAL may have been flying my parents from Omaha to Los Angeles on unapproved, unauthorized, and unauthenticated tickets? If so, is this a serious breach in security that should be reported to the Department of Homeland Security? If UAL can’t track their own changes between divisions and can’t authenticate their own changes, what hope do we have as citizens of the USA against the terrorists? I truly hope that the work that the Department of Homeland Security is doing is not in vein, all foiled by the inability of UAL to authenticate their own tickets!!!

Having no alternative, with feelings of ridicule and shame running high due to people staring at them like criminals, and being stranded in an airport with no one to help and no real option of re-scheduling the flight, they had to give in and purchase new tickets at a cost of $500 per person. UAL also refused to check their baggage to Sri Lanka, claiming that the same might happen again when they board the SLAL flight from Singapore, despite having corrected this twice. This was just too much of a strain to put on some one that had undergone surgery, but UAL was without compassion, and unwilling to check their own computer system to resolve the matter. My parents landed safely in Singapore and collected the baggage, weary from a 11 hour flight and surgery. When they were ready to check in to SLAL, the code share partner for UAL, the same story repeated itself, this time having to pay a price of Singapore $1409 per person (total US$ 1860 for both) to travel from Singapore to Sri Lanka. The total cost to my parents for that trip was US$2860, which was an expense that they did not have to pay at all. This is also the price of 2 round trip tickets at around $1400 each! They carry no credit cards, and fortunately they had some money with them, without which they would have been stranded due UAL’s mistake.

Since I heard of this story from my parents, I have been trying to resolve this matter with UAL, so far without success. I have been juggling my move from San Diego to Atlanta, as well as having a very demanding job. So, my time is very limited and valuable; however, I have not given up, and I will not. I will work tirelessly till justice is served! I am currently in the process of exploring legal options. I have given UAL ample opportunity to resolve this matter fairly, yet they have failed to comply. I will give UAL one more opportunity to resolve this matter fairly, and if they refuse, I will have the judicial system resolve this matter, taking all punitive damages into account as well.

I will upload copies of my communication with UAL for others that may have experienced similar situations such as this. If you or any one you know has experienced injustices similar to this one, please write a comment and leave me a way to contact you.

I have been very resonable and extrememly patient with UAL, to no avail. I am just trying to get back what was stolen from my parents. I am not alone in situations like this one. If you do a google search, you will find numerous others that are very unhappy with UAL. If you want to read more about why I am making this blog, please take a look here

I am not alone!

2006-12-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

To see a full list of customer complaints against United Air Lines, go to the link below, select a month and a year and press the "View Database" button.

Customer Complaints
Consumer reviews for United Airlines

Here is a list of other people who has had problems with United Air Lines

United Airlines Laughs At Traveller's Plight
United Airlines (UAL) Sucks
United Airlines sucks (part 22)
UA Suck
Unfriendly skies
WHERE IN THE WORLD
Off Limits
Mo'Nique calls for boycott of United Airlines
United Airlines sucks
United airlines == big bag of shite....
United Airlines Sucks
United Airlines Sucks (redux) - updated
Why United Airlines is Destined for Bankruptcy

ok, I'm tired of typing all this... there are just too many. How come a company has pissed off so many? Here is the google link.
United Airlines Suck

Why am I doing this?

2006-12-27T06:24:00.000-05:00

Since the the profile dosent give much info, I wanted to write up a bit more to explain why I am doing this, and what irks me to make a blog about why "United Air Lines Sucks!"

I am thankful for being a citizen of the USA, for having the ability to speak my mind freely. I am thankful for the founding fathers of this country that gave the people the gift of freedom of speech (among the many other freedoms that we are entitled to). It is up to us to protect these rights, least they get stolen from us. Allthough the current state of affairs have been disappointing, we still have the ability to express ourselves and a lot of the freedom that we take for granted. If UAL was in an oppressive country, they might even have me killed for making this blog! ;-)

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.