Litigation as the fix
I think the only way US Airways is going to improve is through litigation. Thinking this company will improve customer service or take it upon itself to honor the terms put forth under the contract of carriage is only wishful.
I’ve dealt with, and have seen others, the customer complaints dept of US Airways. It is built to stymie and frustrate. The company is betting the level of effort needed to resolve an issue will be greater than accepting the wrong and moving on. At most, you get vouchers as a way of settlement that are not worth the paper to print. This practice is helping to create the low level of hatred toward the company which currently exists. I think the last customer survey I saw had their satisfaction rating lower then congress and the DMV. This hurts the industry as a whole and does disservice to the shareholders.
Congress has failed to act on the consumers behave. Self regulation is myth. Companies do not change unless forced into doing. There is no reason this company can not pursue the customer service model similar to that of Southwest.
First, always attempt to recover losses through the company process. But once you hit that wall, follow in small claims court. When they refuse you reimbursement for the double charge; sue. When the flight attendant or supervisor makes up regulations on the spot to justify a failure; sue. That trip that was cancelled because of “weather” without a cloud in the sky either location; sue.
The courts will force the airline to follow fair business practices where self control and congress has failed. Rules of business will be enforced at the state level. Discrimination from profiling will be addressed in states which have laws on the books. And since the term “weather related” is not defined beyond that statement in the contract of carriage, it would be up to the judge, not the airline, to make the call if the flight crew arriving late from some other airport was actually weather related or just of product of poor airline planning and resource management.
Remember, this is a publicly traded company. It provides a service that you pay to use. When a company fails to provide service as stated in its contract or as required by law and fails to self rectify, you are within your rights to file a claim and force resolution. Enough claims and the company will be forced to respond and address complaints in a more above board manner.
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