Prospective passengers may be interested in taking a close look at
United Airlines' performance statistics, compiled
by the US Department of Transporation.
This is the third time I have written to you on this matter since May
1998. My mother also wrote to you on my behalf. Neither my mother or
myself have even received so much as a courtesy response from you.
Sound familiar? If it does, you're not alone. Rather than pretending
they're doing a great job (e.g. "United Rising"), we think it's time
that UAL became a little more responsive to its customers. Untied.com
is doing its part by tracking responses to customer complaints registered
through our website.
This began in response to the comments of UAL employee, Ms. Kimbell,
who claimed that her employers "do care" about the passengers. As we
promised Ms. Kimbell, one month after
setting up the new input form
for submitting passenger complaints to United, the statistics are now
posted here. Needless to say, the airline's continued disregard of its
passengers is highly disappointing. Come on, United. We're still waiting...
From October 20, 1998 to the present, we have logged over 12,000 passenger
complaints, most of which were (at the request of the posters) forwarded
to UAL's customer service department. To date, based on passenger
feedback, we know of only slightly over 100 of these letters that received
a response, of which approximately half were considered unsatisfactory.
While we have no way of knowing how many more of the thousands of
complaints submitted through Untied.com have received a
reply from the airline, we wouldn't be surprised if this number were quite
low, given the fact that we hear from dozens of frustrated
frustrated passengers every month who have yet to hear a word from UAL, several
months after submitting their complaints! Perhaps UAL would like to
help improve their reputation by copying Untied on their electronic
correspondence with passengers?
Here's the beginning of a typical passenger's letter we received:
October 20th, 1998
United Airlines Customer Relations