[PESJ]

On January 5th, 2012 we were supposed to fly from Frankfurt to San Francisco with UA 901. After boarding and during our way to the runway, we already lined up to start when the captain pulled over to the left.

We didn’t receive any information about what happened until several passengers insisted of an update. We were told that one tire had to be exchanged and this wouldn’t take longer than an hour. The further communication with the passengers was almost non-existent and updates were only shared after different groups addressed questions. We were put off with non-working breaks and paper work for the next 3 hours and were told not to get up since we will leave within the next 5 minutes.
Besides, we didn’t receive any beverages or any meal within the 4.5 hours we were stuck in the plane.

After a total of 4.5 hours we had to be released from the plane following EU regulations. The plane parked on a lot next to the tarmac and we were shuttled to the terminal with the United counter. At the counter our request for a re-routing was denied and we were told the only goodwill we can expect is a hotel voucher. Questions regarding an overnight kit, meal vouchers, further information etc. were rejected.
At the hotel we didn’t receive an overnight kit (we asked in particular for one) and the meal was timed for 7:30pm, which exactly was 7 hrs and 15 minutes after the original departure time.

Services like a free call, Internet or a fax weren’t announced and most passengers had to pay for it themselves and didn’t receive any reimbursement. Moreover, we didn’t receive a list of our passenger rights before the next day at the gate. The paper included a statement with a reimbursement of EUR 600 (or the full cost of the ticket!) from United if a flight is delayed longer than 4 hours and the company didn’t offer re-routing or re-booking.

In the plane, which left the next day with another delay of an hour, we were told not to take any pictures and all flight attendants had removed their name tags.

During the taxi to our terminal in San Francisco we were told that United Airlines offers each passenger an appreciation online in return for the hassle. As it turned out the appreciation was either 22,500 miles, a $500 voucher for a domestic flight or a 20% off e-voucher for future bookings. However, this was far less than written in the passenger rights and on top the offer was changed recently without notice.
When we checked the offer on January 25th, 2012 the appreciation was lowered to 17,500 miles, a $400 voucher for a domestic flight or a 20% off e-voucher. When addressing this fact to United Airlines we didn’t receive any feedback.

Not only that all passengers were sold cheap with United’s first appreciation, further correspondence with the company was even worse. We were looking for further correspondence with United and addressed our concerns within 7 days after the incident.
We received a response but this seemed to mix up events and we contacted customer service again. This time we received the following answer, the reason why we finally decided to contact you about the customer treatment and crisis management:
"Thank you for the final opportunity to address your additional concerns regarding your flight from Frankfort to San Francisco and for your patience in waiting for us to respond back to you…We will consider this matter closed and will no longer correspond regarding this issue… If given the opportunity to welcome you both on board in the future, we are confident your next experience will warrant a much more favorable report. Thank you for bringing your additional concerns to our attention."

In our opinion this is the worst way of customer service we have experienced so far. We are frequent travelers and encountered different situations with multiple airlines but the way United Airlines handled the whole situation was top of the cheeks!
Besides, there were other passengers that were rejected by the company throughout the whole process looking for a fair compensation. The fact that the company even changed the appreciation offer without notice is a slap in the face aside from the fact that they just stopped talking to us.
Interestingly, United did not stick to the list of passenger rights they handed out themselves in Frankfurt!

Reasons, no one should travel with this profit greed and unprofessional airline anymore!

[jimworcs]

Many US based carriers are trying to circumvent the EU regulations and seem determined to make mechanical breakdown an "exceptional" event. This has been tested in law, it is not exceptional and they are obligated to compensate. You can file your complaint online, in English at the German Competant Authority. In Germany this is


Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA)
Hermann-Blenk-Str. 26
DE - 38108 BRAUNSCHWEIG

Tel. : +49 531-2355-100
Fax : +49 531-2355-707
Email: fluggastrechte@lba.de

You can file your complaint in English and hopefully they will help you to assert your rights.

However, the real lesson is this: When flying between the US and Europe choose a European Carrier... the only way to change US airlines behaviour and flouting of the regulations is to boycott them.