United ticket agent gives cold shoulder to family rushing to dying relative

Monday, April 20, 2009

'I've got to go on my break'
United ticket agent gives cold shoulder to family rushing to dying
relative

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: April 20, 2009
4:45 pm Eastern



By Chelsea Schilling


A couple is distraught after they say a United Airlines ticket agent
refused to help them – even while a woman tried desperately to be with
her mother as she lay dying.

But the ticketing agent would not help the distressed customer because
it was time for her break.

"I was just hoping and praying that she could hang on until we got
there," Melissa Evans told San Francisco's CBS 5.

Evans was trying to purchase a flight from San Francisco to Portland,
Ore., where her mother was nearing death.

"Her dad called me and said get my baby girl home," said her
boyfriend, Michael Golaszewski.

Other passengers kindly allowed Evans and her boyfriend to the front
of the line, and the couple told the only available ticket agent that
they had an emergency.

"I said we need to get a ticket we've got a flight at 7:50 p.m., you
know her mother's in the hospital she's close to death can you know
just try to hurry us along," Golaszewski said.

But, to his shock, the woman refused.

"She looked at me dead in the eye she handed me the ticket back and
she said I've got to go on my break. I wasn't quite sure that I heard
her correctly."

Evans said she was dumbfounded and speechless when the woman turned to
her and retorted, "Look, I'm going on my break and you know if you
have a problem with it you know you need to talk to my supervisor;
that's the policy."



In a letter to United Airline CEO Glenn Tilton, Golaszewski wrote,
"When the employees of large companies discard compassion, respect,
and common human decency and instead place their own interests in
front of those they are chartered to serve, then they are no longer
deserving of the public's trust."

He continued, "I was absolutely horrified. The only person at the
United counter who had the ability to ticket passengers felt that it
was more important to go grab a soda than to give me a decent chance
at making a flight to be with a dying relative."

Even the customers standing in line voiced their concerns about the
way Evans and Golaszewski were being treated.

The couple was too late to board their 7:50 p.m. flight. Another agent
booked them on a later one – almost three hours after the first one
departed.

The United agent told Evans and Golaszewski the behavior of the first
ticketing agent was understandable because "management really makes us
work some unreasonable schedules."

"My girlfriend's mother passed away at 2:50 AM, shortly after we
arrived in Portland," Golaszewski wrote. "We will, of course, never
know what we might have been able to share with her in the two and a
half hours we burned sitting at a gate at SFO.

"I certainly hope your agent's break was worth that price."

United apologized to the couple for the incident and said employees
should "... provide excellent and professional customer service at all
times" and that its staff can do "... a far better job than your
letter indicates."

There has been no word of whether the ticketing agent was disciplined.

According to the report, United Airlines has changed its customer
complaint process and is refusing to take phone complaints – opting
instead to handle them by e-mail and regular mail.

The couple has filed a complaint with the Department of
Transportation.

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On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:23:39 +0300, (Henry) wrote:

Brian wrote:

'I've got to go on my break'
United ticket agent gives cold shoulder to family rushing to dying
relative

http://www.worldnetdaily.com

(1) Consider the source. (worldnetdaily??? Give me a break!)

(2) Remember that there are two sides to every story.

As difficult as it might be for some of you to believe, human beings
have been known to say outrageous things in order to gain special
treatment -- ask any teacher : 'the dog ate my homework', 'my
grandmother died', etc., etc.

['You've been at this school for three years, Smith, and that's your
fifth grandmother!']

I wouldn't be at all surprised if agents hear 'my ____ is dying!' _all
the time_. Unfortunately, it occasionally may be true.

An even more serious problem than a public that is always trying
something on, however, is a management that sets draconian work rules.

What if that agent had been dying for a **** for the past half-hour, but
was strictly forbidden from leaving the desk except at the prescribed
break time? I'll tell you what : if I were in that situation, with
bladder bursting and in the face of a story I had heard already seven
times that week, when the clock struck the designated hour I would
without a doubt do just as the agent in the report did.

There are other details in this story that don't add up. For example, Mr
Golaszewski is quoted as describing the ticket agent as '[t]he only
person at the United counter who had the ability to ticket
passengers...'. Did he even talk to the supervisor, as the agent
suggested? Apparently not. But then, surprise, surprise, a different
agent 'booked them on a later' flight. So much for 'the only
person...with the ability'. And, significantly, that second agent
supported her colleague!

No ... the more I look at this, the more it seems like another ME ME ME
"entitlement" story. Too bad. Hard life.

And we're to believe that at *SFO*, in the middle of the afternoon,
right as a line of people were checking in for a 7:50PM flight, there
was only *one* ticket agent, and that agent went on break leaving
*zero*?

I could maybe believe that at an odd hour of the day (no flights
leaving), or at an out-of-the-way airport. Or I could believe that
there were only a *few* agents, leading to a long line. There's
certainly room for improvement in airline customer service, and strict
work rules can be a big part of the problem (some forced by strict
local laws on break time requirements), but this story just doesn't
add up; there's a lot more to this...

Josh

In message Brian
was claimed to have wrote:

The United agent told Evans and Golaszewski the behavior of the first
ticketing agent was understandable because "management really makes us
work some unreasonable schedules."

Let me offer a counter point -- At one job where I worked, management
decided that even if you left for your break late, you were expected to
be back on time.

Despite this practice actually being illegal in most jurisdictions (not
this practice specifically, but rather, mandatory breaks of minimum
lengths are required in nearly every civilized country), the natural
employee response is simply to ensure that their break starts on time.

In my case I was a call center monkey in those days, so my only question
to management was whether I should terminate a call when I go on break,
leave the customer on hold, or transfer them back into the queue.

That being said, I'm a decent enough human being to make an exception
based on the circumstances, and it's truly unfortunate that things
worked out the way they did, but if United actually had no ticket agents
at all on duty at that particular moment, the majority of the blame
still goes to United, not some poor working slob who probably gets such
a wider variety of "I'm so urgent you have to make an exception and help
me now" stories then most of is could dream up if we tried.

United claims:
==========
However, United Spokesperson Jeff Kovick says the couple arrived at
the counter just 30 minutes before the flight time and points out that
United's policy is customers must be checked in 30 minutes prior to a
flight. Kovick also says the couple did not have tickets, just travel
certificates. He says given the timeframe and ticketing needs, it
would have been impossible to get them to the gate on time for that
particular evening flight.
==========

There are a few other airlines that fly from 'Frisco to Portland. I
realize they had travel certificates but if you want to see a dying
relative, what's a few bucks to see if you could catch a flight on
another airline?