United Airlines review by William 2015-04-01

On March 23, 2015, my wife and I had a layover in Denver on my way from Spokane, WA (GEG) to Des Moines, IA. In Denver, I discovered that my flight (UA5163) from Denver to Des Moines had been canceled due to mechanical failures. I talked to customer service, and the only available flight back to Des Moines was two days later. To get us back sooner, because we had school and work the next day, the representative booked my wife and I on a flight to Moline, IL (UA3660) and told us we could rent a car there (since ours was stuck in Des Moines) and drive to Des Moines to pick it up. He reassured us several times when we clarified that the rental would be refunded by United. He also told us to file the receipt on united.com and that they would refund all the expenses for the drive. We rented a Prius in Moline (the cheapest car they had available). We sent United our claim, which which was denied. United apologized, but would not reimburse us because "United does not reimburse those fees." This was after one of their representatives clearly indicated to us (at least three or four times) just the opposite. As we began to research this issue further we realized this is not a new problem. United Airlines has repeatedly done this to their customers and then left them high and dry (even though their Contract of Carriage allows them to "arrange" for ground transportation in the event of a cancellation caused by United). Trying to talk to someone about our claim being denied was exhausting in itself. United has trained their "Customer Care" representatives to isolate themselves from the rest of the airline's leadership. It is impossible to talk to anyone about our situation--that is, anyone who actually had any authority to deal with the problem and give us our refund. We tried to reason with their Customer Care for 3 hours, but were told they could not do anything, citing their policy. Even though we only relied on what one of their employees told us, we are the ones that have to foot the $500 bill for renting a car, covering United for cancelling our flight. This is an airline that many college students use as they are often the cheapest option. We wanted to make everyone aware that sometimes it is worth paying the little bit extra to avoid major headaches later. In the end we had to cover the entire $529.45 of the bill. We never intend on using United Airlines again. After the dozens of times we have flown with United, it is discouraging to see how they treat their loyal customers. One should be able to rely on the promises made by customer service without having to read their 50-page Contract of Carriage.