United Airlines, Part 2

So, thanks to those who tried to assure me that United Airlines won't ask my friend for my credit card when she tries to check in -- but they will. When she tries to use the Easy Check In machine (or whatever United calls theirs), it will tell her she needs to see an agent. And that agent will ask for the credit card or the credit card information, including account number, billing address, and security code... depending on who you talk to.

I have no problem with giving this information to this particular friend, but what if I were an employer buying a plane ticket for an employee, or it wasn't such a close friend, or it was my deadbeat kid or something? And don't I have the right to buy a ticket for, well, anyone I want to, without having to give them enough information to use my credit card? It boggles the mind.

Under the jump, my correspondence with United Airlines.

Using their web interface, I sent them more or less the same thing I said in my original blog post about this.

They replied:

From: "UACustomerCare40Reply" <their email address>
To: <me>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:31 AM
Subject: RE: Web Request for Customer Relations -Ref#: 7281600A

Dear Ms. Keith,

I regret to learn that you are disappointed with the requirement to present the credit card at the time of checkin.

Ms. Keith, I am concerned about your experience with our E-ticket service and offer some background information. To protect credit card holders, United asks E-ticket customers to present the actual credit card used for payment when they check in at an airport. United staff has the responsibility to confirm E-ticket reservations and to ask whether the traveling customer will have access to the specific credit card involved. The person buying an E-ticket for another traveler might ask a travel agency or United ticket office to verify identification of the credit card involved and issue the E-ticket. Your good comments will help us continue to develop procedures to protect our credit card customers such as you.

Thank you for bringing your concern to our attention.  Your feedback will make a difference and help us improve our service.

Regards,
[name redacted]
United Airlines Customer Relations

To which I replied:

-----Original Message-----
Received: 3/27/2008 12:10:36 AM
Subject: Re: Web Request for Customer Relations -Ref#: 7281600A

You wrote:

"United staff has the responsibility to confirm E-ticket reservations and to ask whether the traveling customer will have access to the specific credit card involved. The person buying an E-ticket for another traveler might ask a travel agency or United ticket office to verify identification of the credit card involved and issue the E-ticket."

However, I was not ASKED... after I completed my purchase, a message appeared on my screen, and was repeated in the confirmation email, saying that the person checking in would HAVE TO have my credit card when she checked in. Nor was any other option for confirming this purchase offered to me other than giving her my credit card number, security number, and billing address.

As I said, I've bought tickets for other people before and never had this issue arise. It's completely impractical -- why shouldn't I be able to buy a plane ticket for an individual to whom I don't wish to give my credit card information? It does not make my transaction MORE secure, it makes it far less secure.

Christie Keith

From them:

From: "UACustomerCare40Reply" <their email addresss>
To: <me>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 7:35 PM
Subject: RE: Re: Web Request for Customer Relations -Ref#: 7281600B

Dear Ms. Keith,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us again.  I'm sorry that
you're disappointed with my previous response.

Ms. Keith, I can understand your concern that you cannot provide you credit card information to any one.  I request you to contact our reservations department at 1-800-864-8331 and talk to a Service Director regarding this matter.  I hope that your concerns will be resolved to your satisfaction.

Your understanding is appreciated.  We wish you success and look forward to serve you again.

Regards,

[redacted name]
United Airlines Customer Relations

Of course, that's the number I started out with.... the people who couldn't help me and told me to try the website. And so I told them:

-----Original Message-----

Received: 3/27/2008 9:21:12 AM
Subject: Re: Re: Web Request for Customer Relations -Ref#: 7281600B

I STARTED at that phone number. They could do nothing for me, in fact, they told me less than you did. They are the ones who suggested I used the contact form on the website to take this further. Not to mention the hellish nightmare that is the automated phone system, and how nearly impossible it is to get past it to talk to a human being.

Christie Keith

To which they replied:

Dear Ms. Keith,

I regret to learn from you that you were not provided with proper assistance when you contacted with our Reservations Department.

Ms. Keith, I sincerely apologize for any misinformation you received. Please understand that any change in the reservation can be done by our Reservations Department.   

I understand the inconvenience with not being able to reach one of our reservations representatives in a more reasonable timeframe.  Even though our goal is to answer all of our calls quickly and efficiently, we let you down when you tried to call this time and we are sorry.

I would request you to try to reach our reservations office again.  You may select reservations menu and say word "agent" to talk directly to our reservations specialist and ask for a Service Director to help you.

Thank you for bringing your concern to our attention.

Regards,

[name redacted]
United Airlines Customer Relations

Just for the record, saying the word "agent" that early in the process doesn't work. It just gets you an endless loop of  "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that," and then a repeat of the options. Not to mention I've already spoken to a human being and it didn't get me anywhere.

I was going over this with Gina tonight, and she insisted that there are good airlines in the world. That hasn't been my experience, but this particular little exercise in corporate doublespeak -- incredibly polite corporate doublespeak to be sure -- has certainly given United the edge when it comes to Worst. Customer. Service. Ever.

Comments

[Meryl]

You should see if this lady will agree to sort them out. ;)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html?hpid=artslot

[emily]

I can only say I don't understand why you friend has to do this when I fly United about once a month, including the last three months, and never have--despite not buying the tickets with my own credit card. Why is the autochecker flagging her ticket when it lets mine go by?

[Christie]

Apparently this is a brand new policy. It's never happened to me either, before.

[Cathy Jaspers]

Glad to hear that UA is at least one airline that will not allow anyone who finds or steals my credit card to book any and all people for flights out of town until they can talk to me personally! Proving unauthorized use to a credit card company is not easy as I found when a hotel booking site used my credit card in their system to charge me again for hundreds of dollars 40 days later.

[Christie]

That would be fine if talking to me personally changed anything. Didn't you get that even though they DID talk to me personally AND we had like a month until the flight -- plenty of time for me to prove however they wanted that I was truly me -- she still has to have my card or my complete info including security code and billing address?

How does forcing people to hand out their personal account information to anyone they might want to buy a ticket for -- a friend, child, employee -- protect us?

It doesn't. It INCREASES our risk.

[Cathy Jaspers]

Yes, I did get it. Personally can also mean "in person." If I were you I would have long gone to the airport with credit card and drivers license. I had to do that one time to authorize and upgrade for my brother returning from overseas with the few miles in my frequent flyer account. I understand that now there are ways that they can do that by phone because of personal information on that acct that only the owner of that frequent flyer account would know. I would bet that you don't have a frequent flyer account with United?

[Christie]

I do have a frequent flyer account with United. As does the person for whom I bought the ticket. In addition, I've bought tickets for her and other people from United before, and never had this happen. And they didn't want me to "drive to the airport," they said the only way she could use that ticket was the way they said: By having the number, billing address, expiration date, and security code of the credit card, or the card itself.

And even if a trip to the airport would have sufficed, that's complete crap, too, Cathy! I mean, come on. People buy tickets for people all the time, probably tens of thousands of people every day. I've done it for years, I've bought tickets for people in other countries! I've never, ever had this happen and if this is a new United policy, I will never use United again. It's idiotic and exposes its customers to credit card fraud by forcing them to provide their billing information to someone else.

[Cathy Jaspers]

You say, "they did not want me to go to the airport." I can see previously in which the airline asks you to show up in person at a United Airlines ticket office (that would be the airport) or a travel agency anywhere you live...as I said, I think you have incredible stamina for this sort of thing (arguing). Credit card companies do not automatically credit your account for "unauthorized use" as I am learning from my present problem. The question with fraud is, when all is said and done, who pays for the "unauthorized use of the card"--my credit card company or me? In your case you could also add, "the airline?" My credit card company will only call a customer, they said, when there are "out of pattern spending" on the account. Since I travel a lot and book hotels all over the world this one big horrible charge did not seem suspicious to the credit card company. And I am having trouble proving I did NOT authorize it. I wish that every charge for services (hotels and airline tickets) I could show up somewhere with my credit card in hand and my drivers license to prove that I am who I say I am and "authorize" the charge. Is using a credit card these days a big free-for-all?? And I was thinking...what about this scenario:

What if a live-in girlfriend wakes up one morning after her boyfriend goes to work and books a ticket on line so she can pick up and leave. She arrives at the airport and no one asks her for the credit card used (she is not with her boyfriend at check-in)? But she can give every bit of information about the credit card owner and the credit card she got her hands on because "he is my boyfriend and he gave me this present to Hawaii." Robbery in progress....what should the airline do? I am sure this has never happened to an airline, but from this blog...now I am thinking...is this scenario so far fetched?? I trust everyone I know...but any crook with an imagination can figure out what maybe the airlines don't already know...or at least the smart ones....which would need to be avoided. They would cause too much trouble.

Back to another day fighting with my credit card company.....hope this never happens to you, Christie.

[John Jenswold]

United Airlines, quite possibly the absolute worst customer service department of any business on Earth.

Scenario: My brother's wedding in Greensboro, NC. Naturally, family and friends are looking forward to the occassion to gather and celebrate. I purchase 2 round-trip tickets with a credit card 2 months in advance; one for myself leaving from Chico, CA and a second for my adult son leaving from LAX. My son tries to print an "easy" pass before departure and is informed he will have to produce the credit card used to purchase the ticket. With me already on my way, my wife, unable to attend, tries to call (bad idea). She finally gets to speak to someone in India who informs her there is nothing to be done and no refund can or will be made. Some smart thinking on her part solved this problem by driving to our local airport to show the credit card to the United personnel which then cleared my son to leave LAX. Should be the end of story. Right? WRONG! Arriving in Chicago for connecting flight, my son is now informed that his flight is cancelled and there is not going to be another that will get him there in time for the wedding the next day. As I write this, he is flying back to LAX and I am a bit more than miffed. I will never fly this carrier again after this. I predict United Airlines is not long for this business world and would not be surprised if upper management is "cashing out" and looking for the rear exit right now.