[Molly]

This is a seriously horrid airline! Let me share my story, broken down into the various problems I experienced.

A flight delay in leaving Denver (cause: ‘late arrival’ explained as 'your flight is delayed due to late arrival', apparently referring to mechanical trouble and not to weather) meant 11 people missed the Sydney flight from SFO. All of us were told ‘there are no hotel rooms available in all SF or surrounding cities. You can have a toothbrush instead and sleep on the airport floor’. When I asked for this to be stated in writing, United staff refused to do so. They then found hotel rooms for the 5 of us who asked for the statement in writing. All other passengers without flights were not given rooms (because they did not make a fuss), and there were about 200 more from other flights. As arrangements were made for us 5, another staff member kept telling the others, ‘don’t give them anything’. Another staff person at the desk told me I was ‘not a nice person’ because I did not believe there were no hotel rooms to be found anywhere in SF or near the airport, even though I expressed this contrary belief very mildly (and it was obviously not true, since he himself found me a hotel room).

The replacement flight required I spend exactly 12 hours at LAX the next day, with an early start due to immigration rules. I objected, since that meant only a few hours sleep and an uncomfortable day before another long flight. ‘Your problem’, I was told. At 2.00am I phoned the United reservation desk, who agreed this was an inefficient arrangement and instantly changed it to leave via NZ for Sydney (I've got to acknowledge these phone staff were helpful), but without having to spend any time in LAX or anywhere else. I did have to spend 24 hours in SF.

United staff at SFO then refused to reroute my baggage on my new ticket (for revenge regarding the hotel room, I believe). They said it was my problem and I had to sort it out myself. I did, around midnight, adding another hour of exhaustion to a very trying day. However, the baggage person was helpful – the problem was the queue of people with missing baggage.

United staff at SFO told me to catch a shuttle to the hotel even though it was midnight already. I waited an hour. No shuttle arrived. I searched for airport staff to help, and finally a bus driver told me the shuttle didn’t run that late. At 1.00am I caught a regular taxi, since there was no other option. Hotel staff said ‘United knows there is no shuttle that late. They use this hotel all the time. We tell them this repeatedly. Don’t use United in the future if you can help it’. I do not exaggerate this last point.

United staff in SFO gave me a dinner voucher for the evening of the missed flight, but the hotel said there was no food, no drink or anything to be found in the hotel at that hour (not even vending machines!), and that United knew this. I had to buy all my own food the next day.

Overall, I am appalled by United’s treatment of me and many other passengers. Are there ways to complain? I have looked on the website and there is no apparent contact. My travel agent is trying to complain but can't get a response. There is a very fancy ‘commitment’ statement on United's website, but every sentence is contradicted by my recent experience. Air NZ finally got me back to Australia, and their service was superb (their safety video is hilarious) even though they too had mechanical delays in the NZ stopover. But finally I’m back, and I will be doing my utmost to avoid United forever.