email sent

[jwgh]

> Thank you for contacting US Airways. Below is a summary of your
> request and our response.
> 
> 
> 
> [===> If you need to reply to us, please type below this line ===>]

Hi.

I was told after my flight came in on July 24 that my luggage would probably be found the following afternoon. Apparently this didn't work out, since the luggage is still missing. I admit a certain curiosity as to why finding it is taking so long and whether any progress has been made towards recovering it.

I called 1-800-371-4771 earlier this evening and, after entering all of my information and choosing the option to change my contact address, was put on hold. After twenty minutes some guy answered the phone, asked for my claim number, verified my name, and said, 'Can you hold?' He then put me back in the same phone queue that I had just been in. Forty minutes later I was still on hold with only the thirty-second loop of odd bits of music interspersed with suggestions that I use your website instead, so I hung up.

In that connection, I was interested to note the way in which your phone system incessantly promotes the use of http://www.usairways.com/baggage/ to check on the status of the delayed baggage, as the form on that page requires more information than is required if you call in, and after you fill it in and hit 'submit' no information about the claim is actually displayed. It is therefore simpler and more useful to use the phone tree than the website (although admittedly this is not saying much). You did email me a brief status report an hour or two later and provided me with this email address so I suppose I should not complain too much, but it seems odd to promote a largely nonfunctional website in this way.

Another interesting aspect of your phone tree is that when I called in at around 5:40 (for example), navigated the tree, and got to the point where I was to be informed of the status of my claim I was informed that my luggage had not yet been found as of 5:53, thirteen minutes into the future. It was in this case an accurate glimpse into the future, since it's now more than five hours later and the luggage is still mysteriously missing, so perhaps you could license this technology to a psychic hotline.

I do appreciate the care with which your system has been designed to prevent any accidental or intentional interaction between your customers and a human being; real care and effort appears to have been put into this, and it is rare to find a phone system that has been designed with this goal so clearly in mind. Not having to interact with your customers, or inform them of what exactly is going on with the luggage that you have accidentally misplaced, probably saves you a great deal of time and money, so I suppose it's well worth it.

Anyway, if someone could let me know if I am ever going to get my luggage back and if so when I can expect an update on its status, I would appreciate it. I can be reached at any of the email addresses I have provided so far (they all go to the same place) or at [REDACTED], which is my cell phone.

Thanks,
Jacob Haller

(I apologize for the length of this message, but I hope this feedback is helpful to someone somewhere.)

> [===> If you need to reply to us, please type above this line ===>]
> 
> Your question:
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Baggage Inquiry - [REDACTED]
> 
> 
> Response:
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Response (US Airways Baggage Services) - 07/25/2005 01:53 PM
> Thank you for contacting US Airways about your luggage.  We apologize you have
>  been without your luggage and we will make every effort to locate it as quickly as
> possible.  We have checked your file record and see that your luggage has not yet
> been located.  Once we have located it, we will call you promptly to arrange delivery.
> 
> US Airways will continue to priority trace your baggage.
> 
> If you would like to inquire later about the status of your bag click on the link below:
> 
> http://www.usairways.com/baggage
> 
> We appreciate your continued support of US Airways.

---

And now I go to bed.

Comments

[muffyjo]

That is the most sweetly worded, kindest, amusing slap in the face of US Airways that I've ever read. I do hope that you get some kind of response. If not, I think we should forward it to the Globe anyway. Could be amusing.

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

By contrast, the system at United Airlines seems to be unable to predict the past.

Last Christmas UA lost my bag. When I called their toll free number, I found myself talking to a voice recognition system that does an excellent simulation of a half-deaf elderly relative. After about five minutes of that it informed me that my bag had been found and would be delivered by no later than three hours ago.

At that point (and only at that point) I was given the option of uttering the magic word to speak to a customer service representative. Upon choosing this option I was placed on hold for a few minutes. Then a recorded voice told me all their representatives were busy helping other customers, and I should go fuck off. Click.

I was pretty steamed about that, but I had trouble maintaining my indignation once I read the papers and learned how much more thoroughly tens of thousands of travellers had been screwed by US Airways. United didn't seem quite so bad any more.

[restartsmyheart.livejournal.com]

god you are patient. waht happens if it is never found?

[jwgh]

I will stop being patient eventually.

[cadmiumredgirl.livejournal.com]

did they ever respond to that?

[jwgh]

Not specifically, but I did get this a half hour ago:

Response:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (US Airways Baggage Services) - 07/26/2005 08:29 AM
Thank you for contacting US Airways about your baggage. We apologize you have been without your luggage and we thank you for your patience. We have checked your file record and see that your luggage has been located and is being forwarded to the destination city. Once your luggage has arrived, we will call you to arrange delivery.

Feel free to submit a new baggage inquiry. This will enable us to check for updates on the status of your luggage. Please use the link below:

http://www.usairways.com/baggage

We appreciate your continued support of US Airways.

[thenightrainbow.livejournal.com]

:grin:
somebody's gettin' a free ticket!
and a hug. from me. sometime soon. for being so super awesome.