[USMarine007]

I just got back from San Francisco and it was my worst travel experience. I had a connecting flight in Chicago. My flight from San Francisco to Chicago was late. When I got in Chicago with 3 other people, we ran to the gate to catch our Kansas City flight. We even told a lady working at United counter to call our gate and let them know we were on our way. When we got to the gate, we were told that they gave our seats away.

They didn’t even start boarding the flight. Everyone was still standing outside, but they gave our seats away. The United employees at the counter even called me stupid when I told him that we ran here to catch our flight.

Even at United Airline customer service people were rude. They tried to book 3 of us through CLE on Continental and one of us in the afternoon on United. There are at least 25 non-stop flights from Chicago to KC, but they tried to stick us on the crappiest connections they could. She even argued with us when I told her that doesn’t work for us.

The funny part is that not once ANY of the United Airline employees even tried to apologize for the inconvenience they caused us. Everyone I talked to in Chicago was rude. People working on the gate and the customer service should know how to handle these kinds of situations better. This was the worst customer service experience I have ever had.

[stonecold_1981]

So let me get this right - you had a confirmed ticket on the connecting from Chicago. You reached the gate before it was shut and there were people boarding. If this is true, I think it should be classified as "bumped" and you should be compensated. Try writing to the airline

[jimworcs]

I agree, but airline staff are accomplished liars and will claim he arrived much too late. Try DOT. Always a good idea to take a date and time stamped photo of the aircraft at the gate on your phone, to attach as evidence.