United Airlines Ruins U.S Sailors flight home for the holidays.

A friend of mine recently had a very poor experience with United Airlines. So bad that he filed a complaint with the company. After hearing about his experience I wanted to post it here.

Below is the complaint he filed with United Airlines.

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Sandra-Senior Flight Attendant

United Airways Flight 322 from SFO to SEA

Incident took place on 22Nov2010 at 1210pm

CONF # WHN1WK

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Rico M_________, I am currently a US Service member stationed out of San Diego California.  On the 22^nd of November 2010 I had the luxury of flying from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA (home) for a Thanksgiving Day visit.  During the first portion of my flight SAN to SFO was very calm, cool and relaxed.  Serviced by a very enjoyable staff of professionals with UNITED Airlines.  Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the second portion of my trip connecting from SFO to SEA.

During the entire portion of the flight I was fast asleep as I had completed 43 Hrs of military duty the fri, sat and sun prior.  I awoke at approximately 1205 needing to utilize the restroom.  I was seated in16B the middle seat, port side of the plane.  I asked the passenger in 16C to please excuse me to use the restroom.  As she obliged, the passenger next to me in 16A also accompanied me to the restroom as she had the same need.  As we proceeded to the aft end of the plane to utilize the “non 1^st class” restrooms both were occupied and including myself there were 3 in line.  I noticed that the line was soon growing as a 4^th passenger was approaching the rear restrooms.  I advised the older female passenger that sat next to me to go ahead in front of me and I would utilize the restroom in the front of the plane.  As I arrived up to the front there was 1 female passenger standing outside of the restroom.  I began to stand next to her keeping clear of the aisle and the way of others.  I Began to make small talk with her when a flight attendant approached me.  The flight attendant asked me “what are you doing up here” I replied to her that I was waiting to utilize the restroom.  I was then asked as to where I was seated on the airplane at which I told her I was seated at seat 16B, I was quickly told in a rude and condescending tone that the front restroom was for 1^st class customers and I could not use it.  I can defiantly say that I was appalled to find that I was not good enough nor authorized to use a restroom on the plane because it was segregated from the “common cabin” and exclusive to the “elite first class” customers.

I then obliged to the flight attendants request of me leaving the area and waiting in line at the back of the plane.   As I was making my way to the back of the plane I turned to the flight attendant and asked for her name, she replied “Sandra”. I said thank you and proceeded to walk down the aisle.  Sandra then called me “hey, and what is your name” and I replied that I did not have to tell her, which she argued saying yes I did.  For the sake of causing the scene I tried to leave the area and walk to the back of the plane where Sandra followed me and very vocally repeatedly demanded my name in front of other passengers.  She then stated, “that’s fine I’ll just get your information from the passenger manifest!”

As I arrived at the aft end of the plane Sandra had followed me and stated to the other flight attendants to find my seat to get my information off of the passenger manifest.  I turned and replied that I sat in seat 16B and my name is Rico M_______.  She then began to try and argue with me in regards to the incident that took place at the front of the plane.  I attempted to explain my logic in using the “first class restroom” in that there was a line building at the rear of the plane and for the sake of others and not loitering in the cabin area I chose to use the empty one up front.  Sandra then told me it was policy that main cabin passengers are not authorized to use the first class restroom and had heard her over the PA system explain that then I would have known.  I replied to her stating that I was asleep and didn’t hear that, at which she told me that wasn’t her fault.  I then told Sandra that I was not going to continue to argue with her on the plane and told her, her conduct was unprofessional and causing a disturbance.  She then exited the area and proceeded down the aisle.

I utilized the restroom and spoke with the 2 other female flight attendants (very polite and professional from the beginning) in regards to the situation.  They advised me on my rights when I asked them about a formal complaint.  Without indirectly telling me in respects to their colleague I did get the impression that this was not the first type of incident with Sandra where her professionalism and conduct was called into question.   As I excited the plane Sandra was the flight attendant standing at the front of the plane near the jet way.  As she greeted everyone departing, she simply glared at me and as I was almost past her, held her hand up over my head pointing down to me. As if she was pointing me out to someone. 

So as I have sat here and explained my side of the story, I am completely aware there is 2 sides to every story, then in between lies the truth.  My concerns with this situation are a couple of things. 1) I complied with Sandra’s instructions as to me not being able to use the first class bathroom, so why did she feel the need to elevate the situation by following me, etc.  2) I have the right to know her name, especially in the event that I would like to file a complaint, but her stating to me, others and her colleagues that she would get my information from the passenger manifest frankly scares me.  To publicly state that you will get passenger personal information off an official document, which could possibly fall under the privacy act, is a concern.  For what reason did she need my name??  3) Sandra was persistent in attempting to elevate the situation.  From following me through the aisles, verbally and loudly requesting my name, to even continuing in trying to ague with me in the back of the plane was unbelievable. 

Through out me taking the time to write this formal letter of concern against your employee “Sandra” I also took the time to review your customer commitment posted online.  I couldn’t help but find it interesting that not 1 of your 12 customer commitment points was “to provide respect, fairness and excellent customer service to our guest” or anything similar.  I would like to think  that would be number 1 on your list. I was also able to review your “ Message to the customer” and in that is the opening statement “In the air and on the ground, online and on the telephone, our customers have the right to expect — to demand — respect, courtesy, fairness and honesty from the airline they have selected for travel.”  I agree with that partially in that we as customers and guest have the right to expect those things but should never demand it. 

In closing I would like to bring attention to another sentence in your message to the customer, “we strive to keep our customers feeling relaxed, respected and rewarded both during and outside of normal flight operations.” Unfortunately I feel as if Sandra let the United team down in fulfilling this statement.  I felt very un relaxed, disrespected on this flight today.  I tried numerous times to refrain from confrontation and causing a disturbance.  Her persistence and lack of professionalism not only affected me, but the many other guests on your plane that had to be privy to her irrational conduct.  It is truly unfortunate that on that flight today that the highlight of will not be the excellent care, or how the pilots excellently and flawlessly landed the plane safely on a snow covered runway, but the Flight attendant who chased the passenger down the aisle demanding his name, or ensuing in an argument.  I hope that this is not a common occurrence with United and the team members that strive to make this airline company one of the leading in the industry.  I look forward to hearing from you soon with a resolution to my concern.

Very Respectfully,

Rico M____________

Master at Arms 2^nd Class, US NAVY

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Good Luck Rico, I feel that they owe you an apology. A good one. No one deserves to be harrassed on a flight, especially by the flight crew.

Ummmmm…that was my ice cream.

Today we ventured off base to enjoy some delicious ramen!! It was amazing! Shoyu ramen and fried rice with gyoza. On the way back we stopped at the 7-11 and I got my favorite treat Monnaka (ice cream bar). While walking back on the base I felt like I had been slapped with something, and I thought I dropped my ice cream….uh, no.

What really happened was a giant hawk swooped down and grabbed the ice cream with the packaging right out of my hand. In the process he smacked my hubby with his wings and nearly took off my finger. Holy SHIT!!

So I guess Im on the Japan Diet…cant eat, the birds will steal it!

Silent night

I was shopping yesterday and found a bunch of adorable Carter’s onesies. Clearly Carter’s is the go to brand for adorable baby clothing. And there were some really cute Christmas themed ones.

“Who needs Santa when I have Grandma?!”—Adorable.

“All I want for Christmas is my Auntie!”—too cute for words.

“All my Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night.”– What the F*ck?! Am I the obly person that gets freaked out by this damn shirt? It gave me nightmares. It evoked such SIDS fears in me that I started to cry while shopping.

The shirt scared me so badly that I pulled my little man into bed with me to sleep.

What are the makers of these shirts thinking?

Welcome, my name is Apu

After my appointment this week we drove by this little joyful snack station. I didnt see Apu or Spiderpig but I did see some guys who looked like they were straight out of the Simpsons show.

If it hadnt been for the scary appearance of the place and my “bedrest” limitations, I might have gone in looking for a squishee.

Am I the only one who finds this hilarious? Im still laughing!!

Dealing with unsolicited opinions and advice

I posted the other day about my incredibly rude cousin, and it turns out that she reads my blog. (Sending waves to the blog STALKER!) So needless to say she was pissed about what I said. She continued her psychotic rant by accusing me of lying about my pregnancy losses, states that she “knows” I was never pregnant with twins, and believes that I am making up my issues with this pregnancy to take the attention off of her.

Whoa…no Im not joking. She really is that evil and crazy. First, only an insane person would “fake” a pregnancy loss. And mine werent private, they were well known by my family, friends and my employers (as I had to take time off for a D&C and recovery both emotional and physical). She thinks that the fact that I started announcing this pregnancy so early shows that I am not a survivor of previous losses. And second, only a heartless and evil person would accuse someone of those offenses and risk sending them into a complete and total breakdown, not to mention someone on bedrest trying to prevent another loss.

I want to discuss one of her points here though, announcing this pregnancy so publicly and so soon. Yes, we announced this pregnancy at just a few days post ovulation. And yes there were people who skoffed us for it and to them I send a HUGE “FUCK YOU”, you dont know what it was like trying to make the decision. For some people they need to keep it private and wait until things are “safe” to announce. For us, I needed to allow myself to believe that this could be ok. I needed to have people be excited for us, I needed the positive energy. Does that mean that I havent been terrified on a daily basis of losing this baby, no. Does this mean that my other losses didnt happen, uh…NO. All this means is that I tried something different and something that was comfortable for my husband and I. And I do not regret it.

I got incredibly upset over this “relatives” comments and spent the day cramping and feeling sick. It just isnt worth it to have that type of filth in my life, so I removed her. I dont need to deal with that drama. And as for her blog stalking, well I cant prevent her from reading it, but I can assure everyone that this will be the last time she is mentioned here.

How do you deal with unsolicited opinions?

Stupid people and dealing with Mother’s day

Lets start with stupid people. I think I have been pretty honest here with how difficult the last 10 days have been. I think I have made it clear that this baby’s life stands in a delicate balance. I think Ive expressed myself in a clear and understandable fashion, and you all seem to get it. You understand. You seem to be my largest support.

And then in real life I am even more vocal, I explain even more, people witness the tears and struggle written on my face. They SHOULD be the ones that “get” it, but they dont.

Yesterday I had a cousin of mine send me an email basically shaking her finger at me for buying baby stuff because “you never know what will happen” and she tried to guilt me into revealing the baby’s name by saying “dont you need to be calling him/her a name since your time is limited?”

What a PHUCKING bitch. Really? Do people actually say things like that and not expect me to 1) cry, and 2) want to rip her fat head off?

And hours after I have felt the need to
Go shit on her lawn (thankfully bedrest prevents it) I sit here and ponder Mother’s Day. Why does it have to be this weekend? Why cant it been in 4 more months after Bean has made it to the “safe” zone?

My Hubby sent me flowers. Im so happy to have recieved them. And so thankful that he took the moment to think about me and appreciate me. And then I feel like Ive been sucker punched, all the what if’s from my cousins stupid remark come rushing back to me.

Its not just Bean’s life that stands in a delicate balance, but my own. I will be forever changed by him/her regardless of the outcome. And maybe that is something to celebrate the mark all my babies have left on my heart.

How big is your town?

How do you measure the size of your town?

Population size? Square miles? Time it takes to drive across it?

Well…apparently in some places they measure the town based on hpw many Walmarts are on the town.

Case in point: I recently asked a family member how big their city was. The response “its huge!! We have FOUR walmarts!”

I giggled for hours. And afterwards I was chased around being told “this better not end up on your blog.”

Ooops….y’all wont tell on me will you?

Does breastfeeding offend you?

I was reading about how DELTA airlines doesnt allow breastfeeding in the cabin of their flights. They require that nursing mothers take their infants into the lavatory to feed the babies.

When I read this I started to FUME!! First, I think the concept of feeding anyone in a nasty bathroom is disgusting. Second, HOW DARE ANYONE DICTATE TO ME WHEN TO FEED MY CHILD. Third, it has been proven that nursing a child during take of and landing can relieve any discomfort that the infant can feel during the altitude change. It also keeps the baby quiet, making everyone around the baby more comfortable!

So what do you think? If you were on a plane and the woman sitting next to you began nursing would you be offended? Do you think that it is ok for society to dictate when and where this can be done?

Whats up with the porn?

Apparently nothing is “safe” anymore. I cannot fall asleep watching HBO because I will wake up in the middle of the night to soft core porn, including lesbian action. I fell asleep watching Bride Wars for Dogs sake! I did not expect to wake up watching Erotic Fantasy 4. Isnt there supposed to be some sort of warning before those programs play?

Now, dont get me wrong. I dont have any issue with porn. I just have a preference not to watch it. That should be a choice that you get to make, not something that you get forced in to. Doncha think?

And on the topic of porn…what about kids? I mean its freaking HBO!! I dont think that parents lock that channel and although children shouldnt be watching TV at 3am, I wouldnt have guessed that porn would be playing at that time. I was going to call the cable company to find out if there is something that we signed or acknowledged saying that we understood that it was a porn channel. Im pretty sure that we didnt.

What do you think?

11 year old gives birth

I love reading the news. I read it multiple times a day, and often recieve interesting articles from a close family friend (my blog stalker). So imagine my shock this week when there are quite a few pregnancy related articles.

Both of the ones that come to mind immediately are sad. One about a youg woman who was found dead next to her still born triplets. Apparently no one knew she was pregnant and somehow she managed to be full term with the threesome. Its heart breaking.

Then todays article just shocked the hell outta me. An 11 year old girl gives birth to a baby boy. What the hell?! There is so much more to childhood than SEX. Where are the parents? At 11, I was still playing with friends at the park, and riding my bike. Im pretty sure I still had skinned knees and was wearing mostly disney character shirts. I thought that Simba was cool and boyfriends were disgusting!

How do things change so much in so little time? Am I going to have to start the sex education with BB (baby bean) now? Im appalled and incredibly confused. I dont condone 16 year olds giving birth but I can kind of understand how it happens. As for an 11 year old, good LORD she was just a baby!

I really hope that her parents get some sort of jail time for this. and the father of the baby as well. At least they should be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, at the very least.

Things I cant comprehend

Im sitting at the lab and this 60-70 year old man walks in carrying an oxygen tank (portable one) he has a cannula in his nose and is breathing heavily.

He sits down behind me and I start to gag on the smell of cigaretts. I turn to look at him and can see the pack of Marlboros in his breast pocket.

At what point to people realize that smoking is going to kill you? And at what point are they going to stop offending me senses with their nastiness.

The hospital is a odor free facility. We are asked not to wear colognes, perfumes or incredibly smelly lotions and yet stinky people waltz in with no problem.

I think the Glucola is making me grumpy.

There is just something wrong with this…

One of my most loved family
Members made a yule
Log to share with the family.

Is it just me, or does this look a little naughty?

Multicultural

So maybe its just me, but this restuarant term makes me stop and do some head scratching.

La= Hispanic/Spanish term

Oriental= Self explanatory

Bistro= French

I should have gone in to see what type of food they serve, but I was too afraid. I was picturing refried bean eggrolls with a side of Escargo.

Crazy, right?

Mazatlan has no toilet paper

Hover and do a wiggle!!

Bitchy

What is a blossom ass?

Appropriate attire for Nursing students?

Another question for my readers: the other day I was out in the community and observed someone wear thigh high boots with 4″ heels, a skirt that barely barely covered her butt, a shirt so tight and low cut that I could almost see her navel and could visualize her nipple piercings through her shirt.

No this woman was not a hooker. Staring at me from the collar of her shirt was a red name tag identifying her as a Nursing Student from my school.

Seeing as I know she is not in my classes she must be from a different program (LPN, or TADN) or she is a first year student.

I was shocked. First of all I dont think her outfit was appropriate for the community event that I observed her, second I dont think that her attire was appropriate for her to be standing out as an example of our colleges programs.

What do you think? Should a Nursing student and/or Nurse be dressing like that while wearing school name badges?

Should she be allowed to dress like that at the school?

Am I overreacting?

We are..

Crazy!!!!

Fall Holiday festival

We spent today enjoying the local holiday festival! What fun!! There were a ton of vendors selling everything from jewelry and quilts to every type of food you can imagine!

Bavarian Bratwurst!

Caramel rocky road apple supreme!

We had a wonderful time supporting local merchants and then stopped at the whole foods market on the way home to get some organic produce. It was the perfect fall day!

And how did I manage to screw it up? Well, you know those stark white scrubs we have to wear for clinicals? Yeah those horrible marshmellow suit looking uniform…well, I washed mine with a pen in the pocket and ruined an entire set. I dont know where my brain was. So now I am attempting to do some damage control and wipe away my tears.

So to try and make it better the Hubby and I opened a bottle of wine and are snuggling down to watch a movie on our super HD TV!! I love Blue Ray!!

International jew?

Does anyone else shop at the International Jew?

Evil avoidance shows her face again

Yes, its only week one and Ive managed to avoid school work pretty effectively. The entire weekebd is almost over and yet I have managed to barely start reading the material for my exam on Thursday.

This has become a huge problem for me. I was used to working and usibg my time very efficiently to get reading and homework finished, now Im a stay at home wife/student and I have no other issues to deal with and here I cant seem to get my butt in order to start studying!!

What is your schedule? How do yoy force yourself to study?

Dear DR. Penis

It is quite weird that I managed to walk in on you in the bathroom not once, but twice in a single 8 hr shift.

How is it that you got through medical school but cant figure out how to lock a bathroom door?

And no, it is not acceptable to berate me for not knocking before I opened the door. Thats why there are locks!!!

Sincerley,
Female staff who thinks its gross that you sit to pee.

FYI to the scary man

It is NOT a good idea to threaten the ED staff. Especially if you have already checked in and given us your address and phone number.

We will call the police.

I got kicked out of BLOCKBUSTER by a toothless lady

Can you believe it? I didnt even know that such a thing could happen.

Here is the long version:

StudentrnTiffany: I forgot my Blockbuster card
Toothless Trainee: Thats ok, we just need your ID
Studentrntiffany: OK, No problem
Toothless Trainee: I cant find you in our system
Studentrntiffany: It may be under my husbands name
(I spell it for her)
Toothless Trainee: I cant find him either
Manager Dude: I need to see his Drivers license
Studentrntiffany: Uh…why would I carry my husbands drivers license? I have my military ID that shows his name.
Manager Dude: No, I need to see his Drivers License, do you have it?
Studentrntiffany: Again, why would I carry his Drivers License? Can I just have my ID back?
Manager Dude: You dont have to be so RUDE!!
Studentrntiffany: You dont have to be an idiot!
Manager Dude: GET OUT OF HERE!! GO RENT AT HOLLYWOOD VIDEO!! YOU ARE OUTTA HERE!!

So my friend and I left, giggling about how stupid all of that was. We did rent else where. I also called the Blockbuster district manager and reported the bad customer service. I did open my mouth too much….but the customer is always right…right?

Have you ever been kicked out of somewhere?

Cant think

Im in a blogging funk.

Total blogging funk.

Cant think of anything to write. Need new material.

Someone do something exciting so I can blog about it please!!