My children held a reunion in York, PA in April, 2009. This being our first ever I did everything in my power to stay healthy, am a heart patient with dislocated tail bone & back problem. There were 4 travelers in our group, we purchased our ticket directly from Continental website weeks in advance. We reported at San Diego International Airport for our flight to Baltimore, MD exactly 7minutes late our check-in time(1hr 53mins) before our domestic flight. Three of us had driven (over 8hrs, traffic jams & all) from Clovis to San Diego, CA. The Continental agent refused to allow us to get on the flight because we were 7 mins late for our check-in time, remeber there were passengers still going through the security checks and the flight was a good 1 hr 53 mins before take-off. Another agent tried to help us but she told him off and insisted there was no other flights and we could not be placed on any other partner airlines. We were stuck at San Deigo International Airport for the night because this one agent decided our fate that night.
We had a CAUCASIAN young man, my daughter's boyfriend whom she was willing to board but not us even though we were all in the same group. Next morning we stood in line at 4am to be placed on flight but were told every flight was booked until further notice which could be several days. My daughter took the bull by its horn so to speak and began making phone calls. After 11am we were split up and put on flights with some of us to Housten the others via Atlanta. Reaching Housten, TX I became ill & disoriented due to lack of proper sleep, meal & meds. We had informed the agents at the counter that I am unable to travel alone due to my health challenges but to no avail. There were other ways we were mistreated which my daughter's boyfriend clearly pointed out to the agents only to be told that he needs to sit queitlly if he wants to get on a flight. Eventually all 4 of us reached Baltimore two days later at 11pm.
By than I had contracted flu with fever reaching in the 103, a cough that kept me sick for two months, upper respiratory problems, 3 times I had to take emergency meds for chest pains, I believe flared up from so much stress. The trip was ruined costing us almost twice as much as it was supposed to. We complained by phone, email and a letter to the CEO with not even a single reply. THIS AIRLINE BOASTS, "Continental Airlines is dedicated to providing a level of service to
our customers that makes us a leader in the airline industry today. We
understand that to do this we need to have a product we are proud of
and employees who like coming to work everyday. Objective evidence
shows that we are leading the industry in customer service." Not so for us, we were of the wrong color, not even worth replying to nor acknowledging our complaints. I have traveled for 35 yrs of my life around the world and worked for an airline in my younger days but never had I come across such mean-spirited agent and negligence of paying customers. I have heard of other folks having being badly treated by Continental since.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Dave
Locust Grove,Virginia,
United States of America
Fact: Continental does not care about you.
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, October 13, 2010
I know as a fact that you were treated like this as I was also. I am going to file my own detailed report within the next few days. I just wanted to ask if I am the only one that finds it obvious that some of the rebuttals are from Continental Airlines employees trying to discredit the person complaining. Seriously think about it. What consumer would waste their time to type a rubuttal in detail that is obviously trying to discredit the original complaint? Why would a normal person do that? Why would they care? Why would they assume that they know what you went through? Why would they even be looking at a site like this to begin with? You can look through all of the Continental complaints and see that the rebuttals are from people that are somehow employed by Continental to specifically try to discredit you. Of course they click the consumer box because they do not want you to know this. They think we are all stupid!
Continental hires people specifically to try to discredit consumers like us. It is another reason not to use them. They make it plain and clear that they are all about money and don't care about the customer at all. I know first hand. I was just wondering if I was the only one to notice this. If you have been treated unfairly and you are not getting any results then you can try some of these.
1. Report them to the FBI's fraud department.
2. Report them to the Better Business Bureau.
3. Report them to the Federal Trade Commission.
4. Dispute the charges through your bank or credit card company.
5. Share your story on a blog, facebook, myspace, twitter etc. where all of your friends can see.
6. Verbally remind your friends and family not to use Continental and tell them your story in detail.
I realize the frustration of these consumers being pushed around by multi-billion dollar corporations. It is very possible that you can make sure Continental loses business because of the way they have treated you.
Do not give up!
Dave
Locust Grove,Virginia,
United States of America
They only care about money
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, October 13, 2010
I know as a fact that you were treated like this as I was also. I am going to file my own detailed report within the next few days. I just wanted to ask if I am the only one that finds it obvious that some of the rebuttals are from Continental Airlines employees trying to discredit the person complaining.
Seriously think about it. What consumer would waste their time to type a rubuttal in detail that is obviously trying to discredit the original complaint? Why would a normal person do that? Why would they care? Why would they assume that they know what you went through? Why would they even be looking at a site like this to begin with? You can look through all of the Continental complaints and see that the rebuttals are from people that are somehow employed by Continental to specifically try to discredit you. Of course they click the consumer box because they do not want you to know this. They think we are all stupid!
Continental hires people specifically to try to discredit consumers like us. It is another reason not to use them. They make it plain and clear that they are all about money and don't care about the customer at all. I know first hand. I was just wondering if I was the only one to notice this. If you have been treated unfairly and you are not getting any results then you can try some of these.
1. Report them to the FBI's fraud department.
2. Report them to the Better Business Bureau.
3. Report them to the Federal Trade Commission.
4. Dispute the charges through your bank or credit card company.
5. Share your story on a blog, facebook, myspace, twitter etc. where all of your friends can see.
6. Verbally remind your friends and family not to use Continental and tell them your story in detail.
I realize the frustration of these consumers being pushed around by multi-billion dollar corporations. It is very possible that you can make sure Continental loses business because of the way they have treated you.
Do not give up!
Angie
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
A Rebuttal to why this happened
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, July 28, 2010
Dear Ill traveler,
Sindee
Clovis,California,
United States of America
Continental Airlines No More
#6Author of original report
Thu, January 21, 2010
Thank you for sharing, we including our 200 plus close relatives living around the world decided not to travel by Continental any longer. We had to leave from SD because my daughter lives there and had to work until 4pm. I'll remember to give Jetblue or Southwest a try next time.
Karl
Clovis,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
My Wife Had The Same Problem
#6Consumer Suggestion
Sat, January 09, 2010
She was a few minutes late at Lubbock TX and the ONLY Continental agent on duty went to the gate and closed the counter. Next time either take Southwest which actually HAS customer service or get to the desk more than 2 hours before flight time. Why did you go from San Diego anyway? There are several nearer airports.
Of course if Continental bumped you for arriving late they might have the opportunity to charge you extra for a cancellation or change to a non-refundible ticket. Looks like they didn't. You are lucky. I quit using Continental years ago. Everybody except Jet Blue and Southwest are just as bad.