My name is Yasmin and I wanted to share my experience flying on US Airways, which has a hub here in Charlotte, with the local community. The story begins when my mother Geraldine, who lives in Arizona, passed away on May 2, 2011 from ovarian cancer. My family planned the memorial service for her on 14th. So I purchased my airline ticket through Orbitz on US AIRWAYS for Friday, May 13th, flying direct from Charlotte through Phoenix to Tucson, AZ.
I have a friend named Sheralee and her son named Derrick, who have no other family and have considered my mother their mother/grandmother figure for about 15 years, that live in Phoenix. She does not have a car, so she didn't have a way to get down to Tucson for my mother's memorial service. So I thought about it and since my flight went through Phoenix, I figured I could just not catch my flight from Phoenix to Tucson and rent a car from Phoenix instead. That way I could pick her and her son up to go to the memorial service in Tucson.
That worked on the way there, but on the way back is where the emotional hell began.
On the morning of Monday, May 16, I called US Airways to see if I needed to do anything special since I would not be on my flight from Tucson to Phoenix, instead, just catching my flight from Phoenix to Charlotte, since I was returning the rent a car in Phoenix.
When I called, the operator told me that my flight would be canceled if I didn't catch the Tucson to Phoenix flight and I could maybe call Orbitz. I was getting really stressed out because this would mean I didn't have a flight home! So I called Orbitz and spoke with a lady named Sarah. She was nice enough to listen to me and try to call US Airways on my behalf. Ultimately, US Airways, was not willing to work with her, but told her I could reissue my ticket for a $150 change fee and the $1300 on the fare. On a roundtrip ticket that I had already paid $400-plus for. So at this point I'm hysterical...It's beginning to sink in that I may be stuck in Phoenix. I had about $350 between my credit cards and cash, but certainly not $1300. And the one person I could always call in emergency's, my mother, was dead!
At this point, the thought of being stuck in Phoenix (at the airport with no car and one car-less friend) was making me cry so hard I couldn't even breath! I had no other choice bu to keep trying. NO ONE at US AIRWAYS was willing to help me me. I pleaded with them through the tears, wasn't there anything they could do to just allow me to catch the portion of my flight that I paid for, from Phoenix to Charlotte. I wasn't asking for an upgrade, I wasn't asking for a different flight, I didn't want anything more than to get on the Phoenix to Charlotte flight that I was already booked to be on. Again, no one would help me. They just kept saying there's no way to make it happen!
My question/concern, is that computers are running huge corporations, that have used public tax money to bail themselves out of their mistakes, for many many years. Why was there not a person that could judge my story with compassion. No one at US AIRWAYS cared. No one gave a damn that I was stranded in Phoenix with only $350 to my name and no car, even though I did have a flight from Phoenix to Charlotte. No one to say that hey, while I did make some mistakes, US AIRWAYS was not so heartless as to stress out someone who had just lost their mother. No one at US AIRWAYS gave a damn. What if this was your sister, your mother, your daughter, caught in a bad situation, just wanted to catch a leg of a flight they had already paid for. What if this was YOU? If US AIRWAYS would treat me this way, they will treat ALL of their customers this way, even though they've used PUBLIC money for YEARS to correct their mistakes.
I finally calmed down, accepted the reality and started looking online. Delta had a One-way ticket out of Charlotte that I could afford, which I bought (from Phoenix to Charlotte, with a lay-over in Atlanta). When I printed my Delta boarding passes, the computer told me that my flight from Phoenix to Atlanta would be delayed, getting me to Atlanta only 5 minutes before my connection flight to Charlotte left, which would force me to spend the night at the airport to catch another connecting flight.
Realizing this, I spoke with a nice gentleman at one of the counters and explained the situation to him. Delta had no room on any earlier flights to accommodate me, so he apparently called US AIRWAYS to ask if they had a seat open on a direct flight from Phoenix to Charlotte. Oh the irony! They did. The gentleman at Delta, was then able to change my flight to that US AIRWAYS flight that left at 1:45pm and got to Charlotte at 8:44 pm (Direct).
I realized then, for sure, that US AIRWAYS was HEARTLESS! Computers have over-ruled any human compassion at US AIRWAYS. You or any of your viewers could have a similar experience at US AIRWAYS.
Already in high-stress mode because of my mothers death, my experience in dealing with US AIRWAYS took it to the top! I want WSOCTV's help in hearing from someone at US AIRWAYS, to explain to me why they couldn't use a little human compassion, the kind they would want if it was them or their family, in my situation, to just allow me on my connecting flight?? I made a mistake and in my grief, did not read the terms and conditions, which stated my flight would be canceled.
But US AIRWAYS (who has used the American people to finance correcting their mistakes) would not allow me a pass for something that was an honest mistake but couldn't be fixed on my part. Had I realized the consequences, I certainly would have just used my ticket as issued so I wouldn't have had that stress, but I couldn't go back in time to change it, I just needed someone to care and help me fix the issue without having to pay $1300, which I didn't have and couldn't get. I just needed a compassionate person at US Airways to forgive my mistake and let me catch my flight out of Phoenix...but that didn't happen! No one offered me a chance to fly standby, to work over-ride the computer or even to talk to someone that could allow me to use my seat on the flight I was already scheduled on from Phoenix to Charlotte. US AIRWAYS offered no solution other than to pay $1300 plus change fees or find a way back to Tucson and buy a new one-way ticket to fly out the next day!
Not only has US AIRWAYS used the American people's money to fund the corrections of its mistakes, it has a hub right here in our community, but has proven, from my personal experience, that it doesn't give a damn about people who live here.
This experience has been one of the most stressful and emotionally/mentally draining that I have EVER had, compounded by the death of my mother.
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