Really, no one who flies United should ever be surprised that they don't care about customer service. Trust me, I used to work for their HR/Benefits dept...

But here's more proof:

United Breaks Guitars

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United really has disappointed me a few times. Not huge stories like watching them break my guitar, but just stupid, uncaring stuff. Like not announcing that a flight had been cancelled while an entire plane load of people was sitting in the gate area. Multiple employees standing there, but they just didn't feel like announcing that the plane wasn't coming. Finally someone asked at the counter and the grapevine had to get the word around. And even as people were grabbing their stuff and scurrying away to hopefully get on a different flight, THEY STILL never made an announcement. Because they didn't want to.

The laws have to be changed to allow foreign companies to fly with the US. The reason our airlines are so crappy, so uncaring, and so sloppily run is that there's no competition from companies that actually give a shit about customers.

My sister and her husband fly regularly to L.A. from Spain, where they live. They've flown on several different European airlines, and of course been forced to fly American companies as well. Without exception, their experiences on European airlines have been vastly superior, while the American ones sucked in comparison. It's gotten to the point where they always fly non-stop from Europe, and will not consider even a short hop on any American airline.

No competition, no improvement. And it'll just get worse every year until they have a REASON to get better.