[nwtx1503]

Airline people will treat you like hell because they will more than likely never see your face again!
On January 8, 2008; I and Vaughn flew back from Rome, Italy on flight 41. We arrived at Newark (EWR) were we quickly exited the plane and made our way through customs in an effort to make our flight to Houston, Texas (Flight 51). We collected our bags from the carousel and made our way to the area were the bags were to be transferred to the connecting aircraft. At this point we noticed that the person transferring the luggage from the floor to the conveyor belt was slamming down the luggage onto the belt. This was a huge issue for me because I as well as Vaughn had just spent 19 days in Europe and we had spent a lot of money on Mycenaean Pottery, art, gifts, and a few bottles of wine. Vaughn went to go look for a supervisor. He found someone whom instructed us to move our luggage to a different area. This person was William Britton. Vaughn motioned for me to bring over the rest of the luggage. By the time I reached the area where Vaughn motioned me over to; I heard the woman that was manning that conveyor belt arguing with Vaughn saying “did you see me throw any bags…don’t be accusing me of anything”. I urged Vaughn not to argue with the woman, and for us to go find a supervisor. At this point William Britton comes over, and I ask to speak to a supervisor. He tells me that they do not have any supervisors on duty and instructs me to speak to someone at the Continental counter. We go to the continental counter were the representative there directs us over to baggage office. The baggage office directs us up to the second floor to find a supervisor whom would be wearing a red blazer. We find a woman in a red blazer whom is apparently with security and has nothing to do with continental, she then directs us to a supervisor whom is at a counter. This person was apparently dealing with another customer issue and was having a bad day and had no problem letting me know she did not want to help me. This person would not give me her name. No name tag! She did however; direct us over to another person in a red blazer. This person was a sweet old lady who explained that the people in red blazers were not supervisors but floor directors. She walked us right back down to the original Continental counter. The woman at the Continental counter refused to help us and insisted that we had to go to the baggage office. I asked to speak to her supervisor and she refused saying that her supervisor would not be able to help me. So after about five minutes of haggling with this woman, the representative next to this woman got tired of our haggling and said this is the supervisor and pointed to her right. Wow, the supervisor was there the whole time. We waited in line to speak to the supervisor “Bridgette in FIS”. Bridgette would not give us her last name citing security as the reason. I explained the situation to Bridgette and she agreed to walk over to the transfer area with us and introduce us to the supervisor. William Britton was the supervisor. William Britton the person who told us there was no supervisor on duty. Bridgette went over to speak to him. Mr. Britton comes over to where I and Vaughn were at. In a very loud and combative voice says to me I am done with you and I have documented the slur you made against the young lady. Wow! My first question was what slur? Vaughn too reiterated what slur? Mr. Britton asserted that I had made a slur against the young lady at the conveyor belt, this came as news to me as I had not had the first word with the woman. At this point Mr. Britton walked off and said to Bridgette “I am not gonna deal with this anymore and I have documented everything.
Allow me to summarize my grievances against Continental Airlines,
1.) If Mr. Britton would have admitted to being a supervisor and would have acknowledged our concerns. He could simply have instructed us on the appropriate protocol for fragile luggage.
2.) I believe that I am owed an apology for the false allegations of a slur. I never spoke a word to the woman whom was purporting the alleged slur.
3.) Almost no one was wearing a name tag. So I had no clue who I was speaking to and when I asked for a name they refused knowing I am in a rush to catch a plane… they will never see my face again and I do believe this is why Mr. Britton refused to admit he was a supervisor.
4.) When we retrieved our luggage from the Rome flight, the luggage was intact and looked to be in good condition. I believe that my luggage was intentionally damaged as retribution for complaining about the way we saw luggage being mishandled. Upon inspecting our luggage in Houston I discovered I had a piece of Mycenaean Pottery broken and Vaughn’s luggage was ripped. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid by voicing our opinion.
Let me make this very clear I want a resolution to this problem via a written response or a phone call I will not settle for a stock response letter. Therefore what I have done in an effort to make sure my complaint is heard I have posted a copy of this complaint on http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/ and http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/travel.htm. I will also carbon copy this letter to your Customer Care Department, Baggage Resolution Center, and the office of Larry Kellner.
In concluding this letter, allow me to quote a personal statement purportedly written by Larry Kellner on the comment card… “Our employees are always expected to deliver the highest level of service possible. They have been authorized to act in your best interest and to solve problems on the spot”. Mr. Kellner your people at the Newark airport have failed you miserably. Our original question was “What can we do to have our luggage treated as fragile luggage?” Mr. Britton denying that he was a supervisor created this whole situation. His unwillingness to answer a legitimate question or offer assistance created a problem that could have been avoided.