I am trying to book a trip on UAL and need assistance from a UAL agent. I have called the PE number several times and reached an offshore agent each time. So far, none have been able to assist me - they have not been able to figure out what I am trying to do (it's really not that complicated).

In the past, I have had more sucess when I reached a US-based agent - not sure if it is the language barrier or the systems they each operate on. Are there any tricks to reaching a US agent? Do they exist anymore?

Thanks.

Dont know any tricks.But if you get India, yep its SOL.However, if you get Manila you should have no problems.UA Manila call center actually used to be an Amex Travel call center.So when UA took it over, it was an office of seasoned travel professionals.They were Travel Agents, but thats better than working with a total novice.

Are you dialing the regular Premier Executive reservations number and entering your Mileage Plus number into the voice system when prompted? That's what I do, and I'm almost always connected with one of the US call centers (usually Detroit).

Good luck. UAL has closed a bunch of res offices in the US. One of my friends I used to work with at UAL spent a lot of time in India training agents. By the way, the premier phone number goes to a regular res office on a different line. I would just hang up and keep trying till I got someone I felt comfortable with.

Don't get me started again - 2 summers ago I had issue with return flight and was forced to call UA customer service - I was unsuccessful in convincing them that one did not need a passport to fly Boston-Wyoming.

Okay...so I dialed and dialed and kept getting a non-US rep. No luck. I finally tried again (must've been India, because WHAT A NIGHTMARE!). Thought we had everything booked as requested. When I got the confirm, many things did not match (like my first class seat being in economy class). Called back. Asked for help. Worthless. Got a supervisor. He was in a US office. Still worthless. UGH! Shouldn't be this diffcult to use miles. I am going to try calling again tonight (and tomorrow if needed) and try to get this resolved - if not, will cancel and start again later.

PS Gail - I laughed when I saw your email. I work with an insurance company that moved its disability claim intake to Costa Rica. The representative asked if one of our employees pregnancy was "work related" and wouldn't continue on the claims intake until she answered. The Costa Rica rep also did not know what an OB/GYN was. AGH!!!!

This is why I am in the process of moving away from Delta Airlines - I CAN'T STAND SPEAKING TO THEIR OFF-SHORE RES AGENTS!!! It's not that they don't speak "English..." it's that they don't get the nuances, the American cadence of speech, or the idiomatic expressions. And they're almost too polite in a way that seems insincere...

...and they sound like they're reading from a script....

Because they are!

To close the loop...yesterday, I tried calling customer service. Not helpful. And boy that script was in full force - they sure are trained to say "I am sorry for..." Kept saying they were sorry, but couldn't help. I was told I needed to talk to reservations.

Well...on my third attempt, I reached Marilyn - in Chicago! Wow, was she good. She was able to rebook everything as I wanted. Provided me some great advice and even saved me $150! I immediately sent to note off to UAL to recognize her.

I am still a bit frustrated with UAL over the whole situation, but I did confirm that now all the reservation agents are difficult to work with.

Now I need to book the rest of my trip - the fun part!

Have a great weekend all!

Glad it worked out and nice idea to send note on Marilyn - maybe someone up the chain will get the hint.

Please note typo in my previous post...should say "NOT all reservation agents are difficult to work with"

Not the same industry but same issue.

I have many customers upset when they call my company's US-based repair service and 'have' to talk to a person in NYC. I've hear all the same complaints - don't get my point; don't listen; don't know where XX state/city is; hang up on me, etc. They are so pleased when they get someone in TX...

is anyone complaining about this formally?

it is so frustrating- from computers to hotels to airlines. and sorry, there is one nation in particular that is the source of the problems- can we not band together to force them to use competent offshore call centers? is management listening at all?

The country responsible is the United States, which is so determined to make a fast buck with minimum effort that it is willing to fire all its own domestic employees and pay Third-World workers dirt to answer phones under conditions that no U.S. worker would tolerate.

If you don't like this, vote with your wallet. Stop dealing with companies that cannot provide adequate customer service, and write to them (on paper) telling them why.

The U.S. problem isn't limited to customer service, as a recent pet-food company's attempt to make a fast buck by importing contaminated Chinese ingredients demonstrates.

Yes, vote with your dollars. For example, all US calls to Continental are answered by phone agents located in the US. I've had many helpful ones, particularly those at the Salt Lake City phone center.

Sometimes those agents actually tell them they're at SLC. I think it's a jab against Delta, which maintains a large hub at SLC, but all regular phone calls go to India.

I had the same problem with UAL when I was trying to book an open jaw type of flight. I finally gave up and changed my itinerary and booked online using my miles. I have since cancelled my United credit card and now have an Aloha Airlines card. I get more miles per dollar and when I call Aloha, I get someone in Hawaii! So pleasant to deal with! Of course, this works for me because all of my FF miles are used to travel to Hawaii. I absolutely hate dealing with United.

Not only that, the credit card company also employs the offshore customer service clerks and they are a nightmare to deal with as well. The credit card company sent me to collection twice on an old card where I transferred the balance to a new card. I even had the confirmation letter that they did so. However, they never transferred the old balance to my new card and kept sending me to collection without even sending me statements! So frustrating so I am done with United and Chase.

I did send an e-mail to UAL regarding this and got zero response.

The latest off-site customer service trend is at fast food drive-thrus according to article in local paper. While call centers are currently based in US, you know what the next step is.

While acknowledging that not nearly as serious as airline issues and one always has the option of getting out of car, imagine trying to argue about the order with the guy at the pickup window when someone 3000 miles away took the order - do they have to call back to India to get the mayo off my sandwich?

I hope that airline co folks read Fodors.

Some airlines believe it's better to cut cost and shrink, rather than spend more money and expand.

UA is expected to shrink domestic capacity by 0.5% this year and grow internationally a mere 2% for a total 0.5% growth. It's continuing to face stiff competition at Southwest and Frontier at DEN, and will see Southwest and Virgin America at SFO.

Rather than trying to get more passengers and fight, they are going the other way. I don't know which comes first - cutting cost/service and shrinking business - but they go hand-in-hand.