[chrisb]

In September, we bought 3 Continental round trip tickets from Sacramento,
California to Cali, Colombia. The flights stopped in Houston, TX and in
Panama City, Panama. Departure date was Dec 17th, 2010, return date was
Dec 31st for my daughter and myself, Feb 1st 2011 for my wife who wanted
to spend time with her aging parents. On Dec 16th, I received an email
suggesting on-line check-in for my daughter and myself, which I did. We
weren't able to get boarding passes online but we got a confirmation
email. The email had seats assigned for Sacramento-Houston and for
Houston-Panama. We called Continental to make sure my wife's flights were
also confirmed as well and we were told they were.

On the 17th, at around 4:45 AM, we get to the Sacramento airport, check
in, are issued 2 boarding passes each and a form telling us that we have
to go to get seats for the Panama-Cali flight at the gate, in Panama. We
get to Houston on time, locate the gate and grab some lunch at the closest
food place (I would not call these places restaurants). On the way back to
the gate, I notice that we don't have seats assigned for the
Houston-Panama flight and I see that we're supposed to check in again at
the gate. We do that, around one hour before the flight. That's when we're
told that we have no seats but that we should not worry, that they'll find
them. We wait another 20 minutes and I go back to the counter. More and
more, it becomes apparent that we are not going to get seats. They start
calling other people, some with already assigned seats, some without, and
they tell them the news as well. One of these people is an 18-year old,
traveling with his family to Panama City where they are all going on a
cruise the next day. They just took his seat away. Amazing. The airline
first offers $400 for folks to give up their seats, then $900. No one
volunteers. After about 1.5 hours of back and forth with various people at
the gate, and after the plane has left without us, we are escorted out of
the secure area to the main Elite counters. There, a manager (Kay A.)
tries to separate the "volunteers", who are supposed to get travel
vouchers, hotels and meals, from the folks wanting $800 cash and
essentially surrendering all rights to anything. It's clear this woman is
trying to look out for the Company's best interest and has no intention of
really helping us. She assigns an employee (Ana G.) to our case and Ana
spends about 2 hours looking for seats all over the Southern US (and as
far north as Newark, NJ), Central America, the Caribbean and Northern
South America. The best she can find is Houston-Bogota on the 21st in the
evening and Bogota-Cali the next morning, which means a 5-day delay and
all our family plans messed up. Then, the awful manager comes back. Ana
explains the situation, Kay decides she can do better and spends a while
looking for non-existent seats. Of course, she comes up empty handed. She
then says she has to talk to her manager and leaves for another 1/2 hour.
When she gets back, she tells us they're going to fly us back home and
that we're going to be put back on a Sacramento-Houston flight on the
21st. I tell her it is totally unacceptable and, based on how absolutely
out of the control this airline is, I tell her that I think we'll never
get to Cali if they fly us back home. She argues and argues, looking more
nasty all the time, and then goes back to her manager. He eventually comes
down to the counter. His name is Richard P. and he seems more willing to
treat us as customers and human beings than she was. I should say that
Kay, by then, has explained to us that it is much cheaper for the airline
to overbook and deal with the consequences than to have any empty seats. I
am sure some bright MBA, who couldn't find a job destroying the economy
with derivatives, credit default swaps and other casino-like games, came
up with this calculation that might help the company's bottom line but
sure is a disaster for customers. Anyway, Richard assigns Hector G. to our
case, who tries again to get alternate flights, cannot, then issues our
new itineraries, hotel vouchers for the Hilton Garden, as well as $14 each
for meals.

While all this is going on, we reach friends in the Houston area and they
offer to pick us up. At first we tell them we'll stay at the hotel the
first night (we've been up since 3:30 PST and we're exhausted) and that
they can pick us up the next day but they're scheduled to leave for
vacation on the 19th so we decide to go to their house. I just (foolishly)
think we can use the vouchers at a later date. Anyway, by then, we've been
standing 8 hours in front of that airline counter. At some point, my wife
asked Kay for some water and she was told to get it herself. Later Richard
did get us a single bottle of water. No food was offered, no seats either.
It was just like the longest check-in in history.

It's not quite over yet for this first day. We're told we have to go and
pick up our checked-in luggage at terminal C (we were in E). We tell our
friend to meet us there and we find the luggage office. We sign in and
wait another 20 minutes or so for someone to call us. Then, we're told
that 2 of our bags are on their way to Cali, despite the folks at the
counter telling us over and over again that no luggage is allowed to
travel without the passengers, and the 3rd one is nowhere to be found.
The lady there tells us that she can track it but that it's going to take
1 to 4 hours to get it. We decline because we don't know which bag they
can find and because only one suitcase has our clothes. And, also, because
it's already 10:00 PM or so and we've been at this airport for now 10
hours!

The next day, I check my email and there is a mail from Travelocity, the
company we bought our tickets from, informing us that we could not fly. I
call the flight insurance company we bought coverage from and, of course,
they tell me that this kind of situation is not covered. I should have
known better than to even bother. I then call Travelocity and this woman
tells me that seats are not guaranteed, even though reserved, and all
kinds of other ridiculous things. The more she tries to convince me that
it's *my fault*, the more upset I get, and I make that pretty clear. I
tell her that I have traveled ~300000 miles in the last few years, mostly
on Singapore Airlines, but also on United, Southwest, Delta, Midwest, Air
France, and that, once a seat is assigned, it's a given that I will end up
with that seat or, at worst, a replacement seat. She makes it sound like
I should basically expect a standby situation. Insane. BTW, we paid $1200
for each trip. NOT bargain basement prices and I tell her that!!! I also
tell her that I hold Travelocity partly responsible for selling tickets
that are not backed up with actual seats. It's clear that it's all a
total waste of time and that this person, I would guess somewhere in
India, has no clue what things are like (or WERE like in the US) and is
just reciting some company double talk she has probably learned by heart
by now. She then tries to call Continental. I am on hold for probably one
hour altogether. Eventually, a woman from Continental gets on the line and
the Travelocity woman disappears. The new woman tells me that she is not
really customer care because they're only open Mon-Fri, during business
hours. I must say I didn't quite understand her role and why she was
talking to me. I tell her that customer care at Continental is an oxymoron
anyway and I tell her I want someone to call me during those "business"
hours because I am not going to waste more time on hold. She eventually
just hangs up. Clearly, I was not at my nicest at that point but hanging
up on a customer is just another sign of the hopeless business attitude at
Continental.

On the 19th, I get to the airport with our friends in order to pick up a
car and drive to Austin (might as well see something other than Houston on
this forced "vacation"!!). Before doing that, I go to the same old
terminal E counter, ask for Richard or Hector. Neither are there so I talk
to another manager (I didn't write down his name) who tells me we should
have been given a claim number for the luggage and tells us to call an 800
number. I tell him we're going to Austin and will need clothes. He says to
keep all receipts and that we will get refunds after we submit a claim
using the number the baggage folks will give us. So, on the way to Austin,
we do call that number, have to explain to them that no one told us what
to do when they are surprised we still don't have a claim number, etc...
At the end of the call, we're told once again that our luggage is in Cali
but they tell us we have to call every day. We call again the next day and
we're told the same thing: luggage is in Cali. Meanwhile, we get to
Austin, get a hotel, go for dinner, breakfast the next day, get a few
clothes. I keep all the receipts even though, by now, I expect more lies
and runaround from Continental and I don't expect to ever see this money
back.

We head back to Houston airport, on the 20th at around 7:00 PM. We go to
our second home, that checkin counter, and find all different employees
there. We talk to Suzanne L., tell her the whole story again, and ask for
our hotel and meal vouchers. I tell her that we didn't use the ones for
the 17th and she asks to see them. I hand them to her but I tell her that
I want them back because I want to be able to prove that we didn't use
them. She says it's okay. She then checks flights and tells us that 3
seats have opened up on and that we can get to Cali on the 21st instead of
having to spend a night in Bogota. We reluctantly agree, all the while
expecting the worst. Suzanne gets another employee to help her make all
the changes and it all seems to work except that they can't print a
boarding pass for my wife, for the Panama Cali flight, but "everything is
in order, she can get it in Panama". Right. We argue and argue, she tries
and tries, but no boarding pass. So I ask her to print all the records,
which she tries to do. Amazingly enough, these records have to be printed
on a dot-matrix printer ('70s technology for the young) and, of course the
printer is broken. There is another one somewhere else and she says she'll
print them there. She tries for 10 minutes or so and she vanishes. Half an
hour later she resurfaces with a modern printout and all the information
except the seat number for my wife. But, again, "it's all good!".

Then, we try to get our hotel and meal vouchers. We're told that the
airline only gives out meal vouchers for the first night. I tell them that
we didn't even use the first ones and ask for them back. We're told it
can't be done. Yet another "surprise" from this hopeless company. She says
that the computer won't even allow her to print them. I ask for Richard
again, he is nearby and he tells her to print the vouchers, which she
does. Funny how the software just magically got changed... She talks to
another employee and she says it's going to be a "two margarita night" for
her tonight. I overhear what she says and I tell her it's going to take a
lot more than that for me. So we get our hotel voucher. Instead of the
Hilton, it's some roach motel I have never heard of, the Baymont or
something. We ask if there is a restaurant, we're told there is one and
that it is closing at 11:00 PM. By then, we've been in front of the
counter for almost 3 hours and we're wondering if we'll survive the
ordeal. When we get there, there of course is no restaurant in the hotel.
We have the choice between 2 awful fast food places nearby but we choose
to order Chinese food. Probably a big mistake because it was by far the
worst Chinese food I have ever tasted and we barely touched it!! There go
the 3 dinner vouchers and one of the breakfast vouchers. And, of course,
no bar, no margarita, no nothing.

Next day, we show up at the airport 2 hours ahead of the flight, just to
make sure, even though we only have carry-ons and have our boarding
passes. We get on the first flight without problems. We get to Panama, for
a 5 hour layover and we wait for the Cali flight to show up on the
screens. It does about 3 hours before the flight and my wife tries to find
a "customer service" desk with someone in attendance. There are 6 counters
in that section of the airport but only one employee. My wife tells her
the story, the woman looks things up and says that something is wrong and
that she cannot issue the boarding pass. I am shocked. NOT!. We're given
a Continental phone number (the last flight is operated by Copa Airlines),
we buy a phone card, and call the number. The woman says that everything
is right and that Copa should be able to issue the boarding pass. We get
back to the "customer service" counter and we're told she can't do it. We
ask her to call Continental herself again and, once again, she says she
can't. So we decide to try our luck at the gate. Of course, same story. By
then, only 1.5 hours remain before the scheduled departure. We're told
that there is another help counter and we go there. Once again, we tell
the whole story, show the huge stack of documents we now have, and get
little reaction from the 2 female employees and the red jacket male
manager. But, despite his lack of apparent concern, he starts typing on
one of the two terminals, asks one of the employees for her keyboard and
does some typing on that one too. He then asks my wife for her passport.
We dare not hope. But he keeps going, totally silently, and eventually
pulls a boarding pass from a printer underneath the desk. We thank him
over and over again and we head back to the gate. The plane is one hour
late departing but, at this point, it's no big deal.

When we get to Cali, we find a luggage guy and we tell him the story. He
takes our luggage tags and heads out. He comes back 15-20 minutes later
with *one* suitcase. Of course, it's the one that my wife has packed with
US organic products, a shower head, old clothes to give to the poor in
Colombia, and all kinds of other non essential stuff. The kind of stuff
that she typically brings to Colombia when she visits. That suitcase is an
old soft-sided one, and we didn't even lock it. The other 2 are larger
ones and are both locked (with TSA locks). They contain all my clothes,
most of my wife's and some of my daughter's, including dress clothes for
the Xmas party. One of them also has a Q-See DVR with 2 cameras as well as
a router that I have pre-programmed in California and that I want to
install in my wife's parents' home so she can monitor them (they're 94 and
88 respectively). There is a ton more stuff (104 lbs total that, amazingly
enough, we didn't get charged extra for -- the limit is 50 lbs per bag).
We're told not to worry and that our luggage will show up. December 23rd
ends, no news. On the 24th, we try to call again but still no answer. So I
decide to go back to Continental. I go to their web site, enter my claim
number and name, and the record shows up. The status on all the suitcases
is "unknown" or something like that, even for the one we did get. So I
call the 800 number and after 10 or 15 minutes, someone gets on the line.
He tells me that I should talk to Copa. I tell him we just can't get to
them. Somewhat reluctantly, he does check the status and tells me that our
suitcases should have arrived in Cali the previous day at 8:30 PM and
gives me the flight number. I thank him and tell him I hope he is right.
After much trying, Copa finally answers the phone and they tell us our
stuff is indeed at the airport. We head out and go to the Copa counter.
They tell us to go to international arrivals. There, we're told we have to
wait 45 minutes until a recently arrived New York flight has been
processed. Amazing. We can't even get to the luggage area until it's empty
of travelers. Back and forth to the counter and we're told to talk to
Haniel (I think). After 55 minutes have elapsed, there are now several
other groups of people trying to get their luggage. We're divided between
the Copa people and the Avianca people and we're told that the Copa guy is
not there and that we can't get our luggage. We argue, once again, but the
doors close, we hear the lock click, and we're left wondering what to do
next. Then, 5 minutes later, we hear the lock again, the door opens and
someone calls our names. We go in and our two suitcases are there. One is
damaged but mostly still okay except that the handle housing has been
pushed in and that a front pocket can no longer open because the zipper is
mangled. The other one looks mostly okay. We open them and everything
seems to be there. First good surprise of the trip... Once back at the
house and emptying the suitcases, it does seem like everything is there
and in good shape. We realize we should have asked for receipts for our
rides to and from the airport and we should have claimed that too but
that's another story.


Lastly, some brief notes on the return trip. We called Copa to make sure
the same thing would not happen. We were told to check in online. There,
we were told that there was an issue and that we needed to talk to
someone. Back and forth a couple of times and we're eventually being told
to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight. Great. Having to be at the
airport at 5:48AM will be a fitting conclusion to this trip. We do that.
There is already a line. We eventually reach the counter and, after 15
minutes or so, we still don't have boarding passes. Everyone else seems to
require only a few minutes. We ask what's going on and we're told it's
"internal problems". Eventually, the agent calls her colleague next to her
and she takes a look. A little furious typing and we get our boarding
passes. Looks like we might make it back to California after all... And
we do, after an overnight in Houston because Continental has canceled
our connecting flight. We've known about this one for a while so no
surprise. They were supposed to get us hotels and meals but I am renting
a car and going to our friends' instead. I could try to get some
compensation but, after all we've been through, the last thing I want is
to get back to that checkin area and argue with anyone at Continental.




Conclusion:

First thing is that bumping 3 passengers from the second leg of a 3-leg
international trip is as dumb as can be. I don't see any way an airline
can make money doing that, regardless of what some supposedly smart MBA
may say. We've all seen what these people can do anyway.

Second, getting a $900 voucher for being delayed by a few hours or even a
day, as long as one's luggage is not lost/misplaced/damaged, as long as
the airline pays for a good hotel and food, as long as the folks one deals
with are honest, nice and straightforward, is not such a bad deal. Getting
the same amount of voucher money for 4 days, having to fight with awful
people like Kay, not getting reimbursement for every expense incurred
because of the delay, getting one's luggage 1 week late, is a very bad
deal. The airline should be forced to give the people it mistreats $900
per day! and should be forced to pay all their expenses. Otherwise, what
is the incentive to resolve issues?

Third, for the people who think that treating customers like [insert your
word of choice] will help them climb the corporate ladder, they are
collecting a lot of bad karma and I hope it hits them ASAP.




So what should Continental do?

The right thing to do would be for them to give us one voucher each for
each day they delayed us. One per year for the next 3 years (we already
got 2011). If they won't do that, I would expect at least all our expenses
paid: car rental, hotel, food, clothing, etc... They should also pay us
for 12 hours of standing around in front of their counters. $70 an hour
seems like a acceptable rate.

They should also fire Kay. People like her should never be allowed to
deal with customers. Even a good company can have its image tarnished by
clueless people like her and it would be good if they figured that out.



What should customers do?

It would be good if all the people who've been abused by the airlines,
this one and others, got together and filed a class action lawsuit
against them. That is probably the only thing that would put an end to
these practices.

[jimworcs]

Forget class action...sue them in small claims. I would love to hear what a judge would have to say about this. There is no way in hell they would win.