If you didn’t know already, I’m very much a brand loyalist. If I have a good experience with a certain product or service, and this company stands behind said product or service, and their customers, I’d have no problem recommending it to friends and family. In this day and age, with big review sites like Yelp overflowing with bad customer service horror stories, businesses have never been held more accountable than they are now.

Today, I want to share with you a bad customer service story that I had with a company that I’d been loyal to for many years. More than 10 years; maybe even 20. I’ve lost count, but it’s been a while. I’d been an advocate for them despite recent bad press they’d received, and I’d never had any issue with them until now. The problem, though, is significant enough to make me want to take my business elsewhere.

Today I’d like to talk about United Airlines, and how they’ve officially lost me as a customer and brand advocate.

There are benefits for both parties when a business transaction has a favorable outcome. If the customer has a good experience, if they’re treated well by the associate with whom they worked, they’ll be a brand advocate for the business. They’ll tell their friends and families about what great service they’d had, how much they love the product, etc. If they’d had a bad experience, however, they’ll share that with friends and family, and often be more likely to share their horror stories with more people than if their experience was positive. That’s not my goal for writing this. I’m writing this because I want to share my experience, and because I believe that when it comes to doing the right thing, they failed. They stuck to their policies instead of listening to their customer, and trying to find a mutually-beneficial solution.

That all being said, here’s what happened:

I recently wrote about an upcoming cruise I’d had booked which was canceled. Shameless plug, you can read the post by clicking here. This cruise was departing from Tampa, so naturally I needed a way to get myself from Austin to Tampa. I turned to United, as I typically would for my airline needs, and booked a ticket. I actually booked first class, since this was a vacation I was taking after a long period of work, so I thought I deserved it. I’d had my flight booked well in advance, at least 6 months or so. I typically book my cruises that far in advance as well, since the rates are best around then.

Let’s fast-forward to the beginning of March, and as we all know, the coronavirus has landed, reached pandemic status, and wreaked havoc on our economy and the travel industry. When my cruise was canceled, Royal Caribbean had given me the option to get a refund to my original form of payment, or a future cruise credit with a little bonus. Check out that prior post, I went into more detail there. I’d been hoping that United would offer something similar for my airfare.

I’d had another flight booked for shortly after that cruise’s return date for my nephew’s christening. That’s been rescheduled, so I didn’t need that flight either. I went on to United’s website, logged in, and within a few mouse clicks, I had the christening flight canceled and my money refunded to my card within a few days. I thought I’d have the same experience with my cruise flight, so a few days later, I went to cancel that flight and get my refund, only to find that something was different.

Since I’d been flying United for a while, I was fairly accustomed to how their website functioned, and I’d always booked the same type of fare. They’d had Basic Economy, Economy, Economy Plus, or First Class. I’d never seen any clear distinction between refundable and nonrefundable fares.

When I went on to cancel the cruise flight, I was not given an option for a refund. I was only given an option for a future flight credit voucher, that would expire one year after its date of issue. I thought that I might get the option for the refund once I complete the steps on the page after I’d canceled the flight. Nope. I also didn’t recall exactly how it went with the first flight, because it had been about a week since I did that, and the process was so smooth and fluid it was forgettable.

I tried contacting United via Facebook Messenger, which I’ve previously had some success with. Due to the higher volume of inbound calls and texts, it took them a while to get back to me. Once someone replied to me, they told me that my fare was nonrefundable, and that my only option was for a credit to use on a future flight. I detected zero empathy or any interest in trying to find a solution that would work. The rule book was thrown at me, so I politely asked to speak with a supervisor. I was given the generic 800 number to call in so that’s exactly what I did.

I called in and sat on hold for about 15 minutes when someone answered who was extremely hard to hear. Apart from their fairly thick accent, there was some type of problem with their phone making anything they said nearly unintelligible. I gave my reservation number, and stated what I was looking for, and the person immediately put me on hold stating she wanted to get a supervisor. Since that’s what I was ultimately hoping for anyway, I agreed and was put back on hold. I’d also wanted to talk to a supervisor because I figured anyone else would have a properly working phone.

Just for clarity, in case it hasn’t been obvious thus far, my ultimate goal was to have my cruise flight fare refunded to my original form of payment. Plain and simple. The other flight I’d booked and canceled I booked the exact same way I did this one, and had no issues canceling that, so I didn’t know what the problem was. I thought it might have been something technical on the website, which required an agent to handle it on the back end. Apparently not.

The supervisor came on and, thankfully, had a much better phone than the previous agent. I explained what I was hoping for, and she seemed to have a tiny bit of empathy, if we want to call it that, because she said she understood my situation and my request. She then grabbed her copy of the rule book and hurled it at me. She stated the fare was nonrefundable, and that my only option was to get a future flight credit which I can use up to one year from the date the voucher was issued.

I asked her if this was my only option, and she coldly said “yes.” So, despite the fact that we have a global pandemic on our hands, flights/cruises/vacations are being canceled left and right, this is clearly an extenuating circumstance; none of that mattered. The rule book she was throwing at me said “Non-refundable means non-refundable, no matter what.”

She even went so far as to say that the airline didn’t do anything wrong, so it wasn’t their responsibility to issue a refund. While factually that is accurate, it’s just cold and heartless. In this day and age where bad press is so easy to come by, companies should really be focusing on doing what’s right for the customer in whatever their individual situation is. Sometimes what’s right for the customer, or what’s right for the situation, may not end with the company making money. That’s a risk that any business has to take, because the payout could be far better in the long run.

If they actually did refund my my money as I’d asked, I’d feel that they cared about me as a customer. I’d feel that they had my best interests at heart, and that I’d trust this company to do the right thing. I’d continue booking flights with them, recommending them, and sticking up for them when others would share their one off horror stories. My years of loyalty, at the end of the day, are meaningless. I don’t have any high-level status with them, so I’m just another schmo that flies every so often with them. I’m just a number. I’m just… “some guy.”

It was clear to me that the supervisor I was speaking with had no desire whatsoever to do anything for me except issue the voucher and send me on my way. She did come up with an alternative plan which, in a word, was asinine. She told me that I could still add the trip insurance to my itinerary, then attempt to file a claim with the insurance company to see if they’d cover my flight fare. I laughed at that idea, because it sounded like a whole lot of useless legwork that would get me no closer to my ultimate goal than I was at that moment. In fact, it’d put me further behind, since I’d have to fork over some amount of money for the insurance. So, I’d be out the money for the flight, and the money for the useless insurance policy. I definitely declined that option.

So, where are we now? I’ve been advised that I’ll receive an email in the next few days with some sort of voucher code on it. I’ll have to keep this in a safe place, and be sure to use it before one year from the date of its issuance, or it loses its value.

United is holding my money hostage. They thought that, despite the global pandemic of COVID-19, and the anxieties and inconveniences that have come as a result, it was better to hold my money hostage than issue me a refund. I was, potentially, duped into booking a nonrefundable fare by an online reservation system that didn’t make it obvious that one fare was nonrefundable compared to another, since I was already refunded for the christening flight. They thought that tossing the rule book at a loyal customer, who’s never abused any aspect of their customer service, was the right thing to do. They did what they thought was right, and now it’s time for me to do what I feel is right.

I’m taking my business elsewhere. When it comes to shopping for a flight, I don’t go based on price, because I prefer to earn miles and, when possible, status upgrades. I have a few replacement airlines in mind, but if you have had good experiences with any of the large domestic air carriers, please feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

United’s been fine for me for all these years, but they made a poor decision and it cost them a customer and advocate. I’m sure I could have called in again, gotten someone else, and probably gotten my refund, but that would have required time and energy I frankly didn’t want to devote to this. I honestly want absolutely nothing more to do with them any longer. I’m forced to fly with them once more, since I have this voucher to spend.

Once I use up the voucher, I’ll spend my MileagePlus points on something for myself, cancel my United credit card, and never fly with or recommend them again.