[TheyTreatUsLikeCattle]

I was a passenger on Continental flight 1834, Newark to Seattle, on Sunday Aug. 1. Shortly after takeoff I made the very upsetting discovery that my seatback reclining mechanism was broken. The button was jammed deep inside its housing and could not be budged. Not only did the seatback not recline, worse, the seatback was tilted forward 4” - 6” beyond the normal upright position. Being 6’ 1” and with a chronic lower back condition, economy seating is a tight fit for me and uncomfortable even in the best of circumstances. This made it untenable. Additionally, and even more alarming, I feel this created a SAFETY HAZARD in the event the aircraft came to a sudden stop.

I called over the flight attendant to see if he could adjust the seatback. He could not. Since this was a totally full flight, he could not move me to a different seat. So, he had no help to offer.

As I was leaving the airplane, my neck and shoulders stiff and aching, the flight attendant asked me which seat I had been in. When I told him “29E”, he said that seat had been reported broken PRIOR to flight 1834 and that I should have been informed of this PRIOR to boarding. So, a lot of good it did me, at that point.

The next day, I submitted a Feedback form at the Continental website, documenting my experience. I followed up with a phone call to 1-800-WE CARE2. The representative was adamant that the “best we can do is 1,500 miles” to compensate me. I very grudgingly and unhappily went along with this, but the more I thought about it after, the angrier and more dissatisfied I became.

I called the 1-800-WE-CARE2 line again to re-open the matter. The agent was very cold, unsympathetic, and refused to give me the name of her supervisor. She insisted that there was “nothing more I can do”, that “there is no one else to speak to”, and that the case was considered closed by Continental because I had accepted the 1,500 miles compensation. When I continued to press to speak to a supervisor she gave me the telephone number for Customer Care Headquarters. I have since left two detailed messages and have yet to receive a call back. I discovered the recorded voice is that of the CEO of Continental. Somehow I doubt he’ll personally be returning my call.

Is this representative of Continental’s “Customer First” pledge, the one that states, “Our goal is to make every flight a safe and pleasant experience for our customers”? My flight was neither pleasant nor, IMO, safe, and I feel 1,500 miles is completely inadequate and unacceptable compensation for such negligence and failed maintenance on Continental’s part. A fully functioning and SAFE seat is the very least passengers should be able to expect for the cost of a ticket.