No Respect at the Airports!

[Carol F.]

I just wanted to say that my son was travelling from CA to OR by flying yesterday on leave. Hasn't been home for 6 months.
He was able to get from Oxnard, CA to Los Angeles, CA just fine. But then ended up having his flight on United cancelled due to the horrible snow storm in Portland OR.

He was in his dress blues. He tried to get many different airline personnel to help him out to get him home on another flight. He told me that the Navy uniform got absolutely no respect at all! Even from the airlines who didn't have problems with cancellations.

He told me that if he wasn't in his uniform, he would have exploded but being a Navy man, he held his temper. He is a nice, smiling young man and always is respectful to others.
But he was really really upset at the no respect aspect.

I just would like it to be known about this so the airlines could maybe tell their personnel at all times to be respectful to the military who are serving our country and protecting them!

[Sue]

My son had a similar experience that was completely non-weather related this past April. He was coming home from A school and Sub school and his flight was canceled somewhere along the line. He was rerouted into a different airport, which we took in stride, and his bags were lost for nearly a week. His girlfriend was flying into a different airport and also rerouted and she ended up with a comp ticket. Brad on the other hand, did not so much as get an appology. He thankfully had clothes to come home to and had brought his orders and other criticle items in his carry-on. I was disapointed that there was absolutely no concern for the loss of his precious leave time, much less for his service to our country. Thankfully we are free to not use that airline anymore.

In contrast to the airlines treatment, the other passengers and those there to pick up other passengers did not hesitate to show their thanks to he and the four other service members that got of that flight.

[Carol F.]

Thanks guys for telling your side of your stories about the airports/airlines experiences. I am sorry for not being on here lately.
I just took my son to town to spend the nite with his brother so he can fly out tomorrow morning. So have been busy.

I don't know if any of you know the full story about my son gettting home for the holidays. But he ended up having to drive 18 hrs home because United wouldn't have a flight for him for 4 days which would have been Christmas Day.
I am in the process of trying to get a refund for him. Have gotten 2 emails back from United so far. They list on their main website as they will refund for certain days & flights due to the weather. So we shall see what happens really.

Debby, I am glad to hear that your son would rather walk than fly United again. I only booked United because they were the only ones who flew out of Oxnard, CA, otherwise I would have booked with anyone else. They were so expensive to begin with.

Debbie, It seems that our sailors have learned to keep their tongues but it is so so hard for us moms too, LOL I would have done the same thing you had by speaking up.

Tena & Dianne, I am glad that you both had a good experience with United. I can imagine that GL has a lot to do with it tho since so many of the sailors fly in and out of there after boot camp.

Carrie, you are wonderful person to do what you did for that Army guy. He must have really appreciated you doing that for him. Now, if all airline personnel would just stop and think about what the military does for this country, maybe they would appreciate it more and try to help them out more.

Karen, very interesting points you made. I understand what you are trying to say but after finding out that the airlines didn't want to have their planes stranded in Portland, OR, that they just cancelled the flight. I don't agree with this at all.

As Debbie said, I think the airline personnel need a refresher course on how to deal with respecting everyone, not matter what the situation is. Airlines are cutting their budgets so it gets really hard to have good service, I think.

[Karen C from AZ]

Carol, you say they told you they didn't want to have their planes stranded in Portland? I question if they could even get into Portland? Our flights couldn't even get in there due to the weather. We had a couple that got in prior to the weather moving in, and we were able to get those out almost immediately, and they went out full. But, you have to again see the airlines side to this...so we fly a plane into Portland with 150 people on board..fine..they arrive at their destination...but now the plane is stuck, and it is scheduled to turn around and fly from PDX to PHX to JFK to PHL to CLT to LAX next day...multiply the number of passengers (other than the 150 from PDX to PHX) that will not be able to go if we flew the plane into PDX and it sat for 3 days. This aircraft has 4 other cities for 3 days it needs to fly to, so now instead of 150 people stranded, we have now stranded 1800 (over 3 days). So, which makes better business sense and customer service overall? Just again trying to show the airline side to it...but YES you should get a refund, no questions on that one, and the reservation agent should be able to instantly process it. If not, when you call ask for a supervisor. You should not have to wait for an answer if the flight cancelled.

[Carol F.]

Karen, Yes, they did say they didn't want to be stranded in Portland and I understand kind of that the rest of the flights couldn't get going that day either. But just 1/2 hr before my son was to land in Portland, his military friend ended up touching down at the same airport. Tho from another city back east but...........still landing is my point.
As for instantly processing the refund, no way did that happen. He was never told about that at all. I found out on the United website myself. And he ended up driving with another woman who was on the same flight and she said nothing about being told about a refund either.

[Karen C from AZ]

Carol, I know the entire ordeal has been frustrating, and I'm so sorry you had to endure it. You need to contact their reservation center and speak with a supervisor regarding a refund. If it's been requested it normally takes 7-10 business days to go through. But if it was due to a weather cancel, then yes, you do get a refund for that.

Another point I may make, and then I'll leave this subject. Some airline's certifications allow them to fly into airports in bad weather, and others may not. As for ours, we are not certified to fly in fog on most of our aircraft, thus the cancels last week in San Diego due to fog. Therefore, you have to realize that just because one airline is flying into an airport in weather issues, it may be the particular one (actually it's the particlar aircraft, not necessarily the airline itself) your son was on is not certified to do so. Just another of the many things the general public is not aware of when it comes to the complexities of the airline industry. But perhaps it will help some on here understand things a little clearer.

[Kathy]

Thankfully, my son didn't experience any delays when he flew from SD to PA before Christmas. BUT he got charged for checking his seabag - and he was wearing his dress blues - and was flying out of SD.

[Carol F.]

Kathy, the military isn't supposed to be charged for any bags! You need to contact the airlines and get a refund for him. What airlines was it?

[Tracy, Proud Mom of Darryl]

I posted earlier about my sons experience and mines with a agent with United Airlines, well I have to say that on his return ticket back to Chicago, they moved him up to First Class. So I guess they have a heart after all.

[Lisa Mullen]

My son finished boot camp on Dec. 24th and flew home to CA that night. During his flight the attendant moved him into first class because there was room. He came on American Airlines. So that was great! But when he left San Francisco on American to go to A school in Florida it was a different story. They were going to charge him $240 for his 4 bags. (One was his garment bag) Luckily there was a young man in the Army close by and he told my son not to pay it. She then tried to readjust it to $120. He told my son once again do not pay it. Finally they determined that military does not pay for their bags. Thank goodness for the very helpful, polite Army service man. His flight out of S.F. was two hours delayed so they missed their flight in Charlotte to get to Florida. Four servicemen joined together and went to get a hotel room and they flew out the next morning. What a trip! But he learned a lot and now can add an 8th state that he has been to in our great United States.

[maria]

It amazes me that anyone should or would need to be told to show respect to our sailors, or any military. I find it repulsive that people these days not only have no respect for our military, elderly, or teachers , people in authority in general. But , there is still hope, my great newphew saw a photo of my son a said Daddy we know a soldier !!! Yes, his dad said and told all his first grade school mates. He emails my son. My neighborhood Italian market had asked for my sons photo and they have it desplayed in their store. Their are people who still honor the uniform but still work needs to be done, we need to teach the young so we have hope for our future ! Sorry your son had that experience , But tell him most people respect his service . Hugs , Maria

[Jacqueline Manning]

I have read through all these comments, and what it really boils down to is, its not any specific airline and their policies, but certain individuals who represent that airline. It seems to be too wide spread throughout all the airlines both good and bad experiences. What we need to do is to start holding the rude or incompetant people accountable. After the experience I had with Delta, I write down the name and job description of every rude or incompetant person I come in contact with. We all need to band together and make sure the TOPS in each airline is notified of the treatment. Make sure we anatote flight numbers, day of flight and circumstance, and the name and job description of the person we (or our sailor) had contact with. And then just maybe, once these Companies get enough complaints, changes will be made. Trust me there are many people doing customer service jobs that really need to change their occupations.

[Carol F.]

Well, about the United refund.
It was interesting to spend like 2-3 hrs on hold the other day with United on the phone. I had gotten finally an answer to my email about my son's flight refund due to the weather from the Refund Dept. They said they would refund $189 out of the $663 that I paid. I wasn't happy with that amount at all since he ended up spending $259 on renting a car and gas out of his own hard earned money from the Navy!

So I called United and spend so much time waiting to get an agent and discussing it all. They said they would only refund that amt. I fought like crazy on the phone asking for an itemized amt of each leg of the flight and they wouldn't give it to me. They just kept quoting the amt. they would refund me.
So all in all, that battle was lost and am very disappointed.
I know it did not cost him over $400 to fly back to his base after his leave. His flight intinary (sp?) doesn't itemize each leg so it is hard to know. But when I booked his flight, there was no way it was that expensive. That I do remember!

They also said in the email that if we want a refund for the car rental and gas, to call their Customer Relations Dept. number. Well, I tried for 2 days to get to them and couldn't. Finally, send an email so shall see what they say about it all.

So getting a real refund from the airline sure is a pain in the neck! I would almost rather him to just get a free flight voucher for him to use another time than going thru all this.

So if anyone has any other suggestions on how to get more of his/mine money back, just let me know please!!!