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United Airlines violently drags a doctor off a plane so employee could take his seat

Why do you fly United?

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O

oxidax

Member
M

Makonero

Member
Wereroku said:
So that's how they handle rich white guys in this situation.
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Rich guy's response after the event:

Fearns requested a full refund for his flight from Kauai and asked for United to make a $25,000 donation to the charity of his choice. This is how rich guys do it.

He received an email back from a United “corporate customer care specialist” apologizing that Fearns apparently had an unpleasant experience. But, no, forget about a refund.

As for that charitable donation, what are you kidding? A hard no on that.

Instead, the service rep offered to refund Fearns the difference between his first-class ticket and an economy ticket — about a week later, as if that wasn’t the first thing they should do in a situation like this — and to give him a $500 credit for a future trip on the airline.

“Despite the negative experience, we hope to have your continued support,” the rep concluded. “Your business is especially important to us and we'll do our utmost to make your future contacts with United satisfactory in every respect.”
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J

jungomitis

Member
Zen Aku said:
The title of Doctor is a professional title earned by someone. If you called someone Mr. Johnson knowing full well that he's a doctor. By not calling him Dr. Johnson (even if he's not your personal doctor) is unprofessional. Especially in this case where he is a paying customer and his reason for not wanting to miss the flight is because he has to go see patients.
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I don't see people calling him Dr. Dao. I see people saying "he's a medical doctor, he should be treated better." As my post after the one you quoted said, I think that draws favoritism towards a certain occupation and I don't particularly think the favoritism is warranted.

Just as his past criminal record or what not has nothing to do with the shitty treatment he received, I don't think we should favoritize his position because of his role in society.

My problems with the case are:
1) Airlines can kick people off because they can't get their logistics correct
2) Airlines can kick people off after they let them on the plane
3) Airport security can hurt a person in the process of kicking them off a boarded plane
4) Airport security can then issue a report lying that the man fell
5) Airlines can then issue a statement not acknowledging the assault and then paint the man as belligerent
6) Media want to victim-smear afterwards

I think those should be independent whether he is old, young, doctor, thug, whatever. I feel worse personally because he is an older gentlemen and I believe older people need more protection in society, but that's independent of the problems of the case.
 
S

Socivol

Member
The Exploder said:
Yeah it's pretty coincidental that their computer randomly selected him after that exchange. It almost makes me think that they are lying again.
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Yup someone on the flight said he did volunteer but when he found out the next flight wasn't until the next day said he couldn't do it because he had patients to see. It totally wasn't random because apparently him and his wife were asked to leave. The odds of both of them being randomly chosen seems to be really slim.
 
SpartanN92

SpartanN92

Banned
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L

Linkura

Member
Did anyone else mention (probably) that United got more bad press than an elementary school shooting? That's when you know you fucked up.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
Makonero said:
http://www.latimes.com/business/laz...ed-low-priority-passenger-20170412-story.html



United is a fucked up company.
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Exact same thing happened to me in 2015. United tried to downgrade me from First to Economy. Except I refused. Said that selling a First Class ticket that really is an Economy Ticket is fraud, and that I would not be voluntarily bumped. Got to fly the First Class I paid for. Fuckers.

I asked if he’ll ever fly United again.

Fearns could only laugh. “Are you kidding?”
Click to expand...

Precisely where I am at. I am overjoyed that this pile of shit is finally exploding on them. The whole airline deseves to go bust.
 
M

mid83

Member
For everybody claiming to never use United again, you must not live in Houston. United is pretty much a must here unless you happen to be going to a city with another carrier's hub.

At the end of the day, this sort of thing is why United isn't going to feel major long term effects to their bottom line. Lots of people's choice in airline is based on their home airport and which carrier offers the most flexibility. Add in frequent flier miles and rewards gathered from people who have United rewards credit cards, and you will see lots of people choosing not to switch.
 
S

Suzushiiro

Banned
NeOak said:
Everybody hates the airlines.

Everybody.

Thank TSA, baggage fees and paying for food, among other things.
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It happens with pretty much every industry that either is a monopoly on the service they provide (if only on an individual consumer level, ie ISPs) or something that most people use very rarely (ie airlines.) The main thing that gets consumer-facing industries to not suck is the threat of losing regular business from consumers you piss off, and that's not a big threat if going to a competitor is difficult or impossible or they use the service you provide so rarely that the income they represent is a drop in the bucket.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
mid83 said:
For everybody claiming to never use United again, you must not live in Houston. United is pretty much a must here unless you happen to be going to a city with another carrier's hub.

At the end of the day, this sort of thing is why United isn't going to feel major long term effects to their bottom line. Lots of people's choice in airline is based on their home airport and which carrier offers the most flexibility. Add in frequent flier miles and rewards gathered from people who have United rewards credit cards, and you will see lots of people choosing not to switch.
Click to expand...

Thankfully not. I used to come to America once or twice a year, fly some ten flights in the USA, almost all Business / First Class. Luckily I had a choice of carrier. Now, with the upcoming policy of having to hand over your social media passwords, emails, contacts and what not, I am not setting my foot in USA again. Not worth it. But I will still feel immeasurable joy seeing United burn.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
mid83 said:
For everybody claiming to never use United again, you must not live in Houston. United is pretty much a must here unless you happen to be going to a city with another carrier's hub.

At the end of the day, this sort of thing is why United isn't going to feel major long term effects to their bottom line. Lots of people's choice in airline is based on their home airport and which carrier offers the most flexibility. Add in frequent flier miles and rewards gathered from people who have United rewards credit cards, and you will see lots of people choosing not to switch.
Click to expand...

Houston based guy here: What are you talking about? Sure, most non stop flights are United's, but they are usually not the cheapest. I fly AA instead, which I consider a step above United.

FYI: United's loyalty program is crap. Really
 
M

mid83

Member
Chittagong said:
Thankfully not. I used to come to America once or twice a year, fly some ten flights in the USA, almost all Business / First Class. Luckily I had a choice of carrier. Now, with the upcoming policy of having to hand over your social media passwords, emails, contacts and what not, I am not setting my foot in USA again. Not worth it. But I will still feel immeasurable joy seeing United burn.
Click to expand...

How about maybe wishing for a change in policy due to all this fallout and maybe the CEO getting tossed out instead? I don't think destroying a company with tens of thousands of innocent employees is necessary here.
 
M

mid83

Member
NeOak said:
Houston based guy here: What are you talking about? Sure, most non stop flights are United's, but they are usually not the cheapest. I fly AA instead, which I consider a step above United.

FYI: United's loyalty program is crap. Really
Click to expand...

If you want non stop flights, United is your only real option unless you are going to a major hub.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
mid83 said:
How about maybe wishing for a change in policy due to all this fallout and maybe the CEO getting tossed out instead? I don't think destroying a company with tens of thousands of innocent employees is necessary here.
Click to expand...

Nah. I have worked in a blue chip company with a culture corrupted to the bone. No matter how many people, leaders, teams you replace, the bad culture will prevail. It's like a virus. It's better just to burn down the entire company. The good people will get hired by whoever picks up their marketshare - encumbents or newcomers.
 
D

danm999

Member
norm9 said:
Cant decide if hes with United because dude not white or if hes just a pro-cop. Glad he's getting blasted for child support by people.
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Probably a healthy dash of hating social media and outrage culture or whatever so he needs to be on the opposite side of things.
 
O

old manatee

Banned
Somebody should tell Walsh that United uses a computer to randomly select their victims. Being their toady won't help you when it's your turn for re-accommodatation​.
 
G

greepoman

Member
Also we keep saying randomly, but does anyone know which post earlier which described United's "random" selection process which basically excludes all but the lowest paying fares? My own attempts to search the thread were a bust.
 
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