[Jgruntfest]

On Octoboer 7th, 2009 I purchased a direct round trip ticket from Newark, NJ (11/25) to Charlotte, NC for my 12 year old daughter set to return on (11/29). I purchased this ticket through Sam's club/Expedia as I have several times in the past with no issues. My ex-wife brought her to the United desk as recomended by the intinerary print out. (Even though it was a Continental booking for a US Air flight operated by United???) When my daughter and her mother arrived at the check-in counter they were instructed that my daughter's ticket was only a "reservation" and had not acctually been purchased by Sam's club. ( I wasn't aware airlines held un-paid reservations anymore) They were partially correct since my card was directly charged by Continental and not Sam's on Oct 7,2009. I then spent 30 min on the phone with Sam's and had returned a call to the United counter with a Ticket # provided by Sam's and they still would not allow her to check in. My ex-wife then went to a US air counter and was referred back to the United desk. By this point it was 15 min until the plane was departing and she missed this flight.
I was waiting in Charlotte for her. We rented a cabin in Asheville (2 hours from Charlotte) for Thanksgiving with 10 other family members all waiting for the arrival of my daughter. No one could and has yet to explain to me what happened. No option was given to help correct the situation. It was not until 1 hour later that a Sam's club representative asked me what the airline could do to rectify the situation. Having my ex-wife travel back to Newark and having me drive 4 more hours round trip the next day was not going to happen and should never have been part of the equation. I paid $522.00 for her ticket and $100.00 for an unaccompanied minor extortion fee. The airline's stance at this point is "this is a non-refundable ticket".
I live 600 miles from my daughter and although I have her for most of the summer and I travel to NJ 2-3 times a year this was a very special holiday she was going to be visiting with me and several of her cousins and aunts and uncles. This was not a mechanical issue. This was not a weather issue. This was not even an over booking issue (that they have yet to admit to) this was a break-down in the over-complicated system. One that no one to date has claimed responsability for. Someone is responsable and someone needs to be held accountable for ruining my Thanksgiving.