United Airlines Update...

Here is the latest in communications between United Airlines and myself.  This is the first email that I rececived after filling out their feedback form online on August 5, 2016:

August 18, 2016

PASSENGER: CHILD/GRETCHEN

TICKET(S): 95778083XXXXX

REQUEST ID:2114XXX

Dear Gretchen Child:

United Refunds has received your request for refund of the above referenced ticket.

Due to the nature of your correspondence, your file has been forwarded to our Customer Care Department for consideration of appropriate resolution. Should you want to contact them directly, your correspondence should be addressed to: Customer Care United Airlines 900 Grand Plaza Dr NHCCR Houston, TX 77067-4323

Thank you for choosing United Airlines. We look forward to serving you again soon.

Sincerely,

United Refunds

Check Refund Status
FAX: 872-825-9364

Since I was only given a mailing address to contact them, I sent the following letter to my mom, who in turn printed it and mailed it to Texas:

August 25, 2016

Customer Care United Airlines
900 Grand Plaza Dr NHCCR
Houston, TX 77067-4323

PASSENGER: CHILD/GRETCHEN
TICKET(S): 9577808368587
REQUEST ID:21141159

Dear Customer Care Department,

Thank you for finally responding to my feedback form that was submitted on August 5, 2016.  The email that I received stated that I was requesting a refund of the above referenced ticket.  That is not the case.  I received a partial refund already so that new tickets could be purchased for myself and 4 of my children to move from Kennewick, Washington to Brazil.  Below I will itemized the reimbursements that I am requesting from United Airlines because our passenger rights were denied and we were not allowed to board the plane after we had checked in, gone through security and made it all the way to the gate.  The gate agent called several times for help, and so did a ground crew member while we were waiting, but no United Ticket Agent ever came to the gate.  Seven of our suitcases made it on the plane and went all the way to Brazil.  We had to wait an additional week for new flights and four days to get our luggage back from Brazil.  United Airlines then entered us in the system as “no shows” which cancelled the next two legs of our itinerary and those airlines would not help us rebook since we were “no shows.”  I have boarding tickets and luggage claim stickers which clearly prove that we were, in fact, not “no shows.”  I do not know what the issue was at the gate as not one agent could explain it to me while at the airport on Thursday, August 4.  Nor could anyone that I talked to on the phone for the next several days, although one United representative did admit that we were checked in and should not have been entered as “no shows”.  We have written down every agent that we spoke to as well as a thread on the United Facebook page that shows the limited responses that I received.

I have receipts and card statements for all of the following purchases dated August 4-August 11, 2016:

Food: $201.96
Lodging: $774.44
Gasoline: $190.30
Miles: 796 x .54/mile = $429.84
Clothing, daily necessities, misc.: $356.20
Airline ticket price difference: $1,111.30

TOTAL: $3064.04

I wish that there were some way to calculate all of the emotions, inconveniences and lost time that we encountered for a week.  We continue to have repercussions from our denied passenger rights, as we had to cancel appointments on Monday, August 8, 2016 that we had with a driver, lawyer, notary, and the Federal Police here in Brazil to receive our registration and ID’s.  Without those ID cards we cannot have all of our stuff shipped from the US to us, therefore delaying the homeschool year of our children and more.  We have still not been able to rebook those appointments as the appointments are already full.

I have already contacted the organization Get Service and have been assigned a case number and representative to help me get reimbursed, if necessary.  Since we are now in Brazil my new contact information is as follows:
Forwarding address in the US:  8332 Mix Avenue  Magna, Utah 84044
Brazilian cell phone number: +55 (61) 99672-9498

I would appreciate a quick response as these charges are currently on my credit card and will be assessed a finance charge soon.

Thank You,

Gretchen Child
child4@juno.com

Today I received the following email in response to my letter:

Dear Ms. Child: I was disappointed to learn of your recent experience in trying to fly with us from Pasco. Our records show the tickets were issued by Expedia and were issued using TAM Airlines tickets, who is not a Star Alliance partner.  At this time our records show that you were not at the game within the time frame to be included on the flight.  Therefore I must decline your request for any reimbursement caused by such an incident. Ms. Child, we thank you for your time and hope that you will consider us in the future for your travel needs. Sincerely, L.J. Rawcliffe Corporate Customer Care Case 10880330 I seriously laughted out loud at the last sentence in the email.  I will NEVER consider flying again with United Airlines.  I have been in contact with a representative at GetService.com and hopefully they will be able to help me with the next step.