[BritGirl]

I am so confused over the total and utter incompetence of Continental's staff in the cargo customer service.

Not only are they incompetent, they are extremely rude. We are active duty military; we have orders to the UK. We were told by the military (and saw an article in the paper) that Continental offered a military discount and that we could ship our dogs. I called yesterday to ask about this. Of course, no one knew what I was talking about, I waited on hold for 30 minutes while they attempted to figure this out. Eventually a woman came on who said yes, there was a new scheme, and she gave me the quote of $350 per dog from Salt Lake City via Houston to England.

Today I had a couple more questions, so I called back. I wish I had not because I was accused of lying. Apparently, the lady the day before did NOT tell me the above information... And that in regard to shipping my dogs I MUST comply with the Pet Scheme rules. I told them we were abiding by the rules, that my vet knew all about that. They asked if I had them in quarantine to which I said no, we don't need to quarantine our dogs any more because as of 2012 the laws had changed.

The staff stated that the quarantine laws to the UK had not changed as of 2012, and my pet WOULD have to be placed into quarantine for SIX months before I was allowed to fly Continental. I very politely explained to her that the laws had changed, and I directed her to the DEFRA website which clearly states that there is no more quarantine as long as your pet meets certain criteria (mine do). She looked at them, and without word put me on hold. At this point a rude supervisor came on told me

1. There was no military discount, so I should "give up" on that
2. That the quarantine was still in place, nothing had changed, that she was looking at the website I provided, and it proved nothing.

She then told me that I should fly with a different airline if I don't like the way they do things.

I have spent a total of TWO hours on the phone to the people at this number 1-800-822-2746 and spoken to multiple, and equally rude, supervisors and still I am no further in my plight to get my dogs shipped with me to England.

When I called DELTA, they had been well trained and were well experienced with these issues. They told me that I would NOT have to go into quarantine and that DELTA offered a 40% military discount. I then called DELTA again to see if I got the same information, I did. Why can I not do that with Continental's staff? Unfortunately, DELTA is a lot, lot more than Continental - even with the discount.

Now I am very stressed and very confused. I called their corporate office, the people there were rude as well. The receptionist transferred me halfway though me speaking to her. I got the automated customer service, the wait time was 33 minutes?