Our 6 year old children lost seat assignments for a 9 hour trip and United will not help us out. My family of four booked a trip in August 2011 for a March spring break trip to Maui. We specifically paid for an over the phone reservation agent ($25 extra/ticket) because of a combination of paid and miles tickets and to ensure our two 6 year old kids would sit next to their parents.
A week ago, I logged into the new/old Continental site and noticed our kids were no longer attached to my record and did not have seat assignments. Several multi-hour phone calls later, we still don't have seat assignments for all four segments and I will likely have to pay for baggage fees for my children. Even the international manager on duty complained that their systems right now are tough to use and waiting several hours to change a seat "was not unreasonable to ask." She tried to assist but "could do nothing about it."
I wish United would rectify the situation ahead of gate check in to make our very expensive trip seamless.