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Help me complain
On our flight back from Portland, we had a bad enough experience that I am actually going to write a letter of complaint to Continental Airlines. I usually never bother but this time, I am. I also don't know what good it will do, but I think I need to do it for myself.
They oversold the flight, which is pretty much status quo I know. So, we boarded early so we could get settled. We had a diaper bag, a small backpack and our sweatshirts with us and checked everything else. We took the backpack and what we needed from the diaper bag and put it and the sweatshirts above our seat.
Near the end of boarding they announced that the overheads were full and people would have to ground check bags. One lady was not happy with that and tried to shove her suitcase into our overhead but it wouldn't fit. So the flight attendant, Margie, came. Even though there were other items in the overhead, she focused on ours, said there was no room for it and pulled our sweatshirts and diaper bag out and threw them down at us. She then said not to us but loudly "This is public transportation" and walked off.
We tried to fit our items with us, but there was no freaking way, so I pushed the call button. At this point I was pretty pissed. I told her that we had no room that she removed from the overhead. I was not friendly about it. She yelled "There is plenty of room up here, no need to get upset. This is public transportation you know, you have to be accomodating to others" I told her she was rude, which she denied. At that point I was not going to continue to argue with her because I assumed she would kick me off the plane.
So, now I am preparing to draft a letter. Do you think I should address it to someone in particular, email or snail mail? I do not know the ways of these things.
Re: Help me complain
I once witnessed the US Air baggage people drop kicking and running over luggage. I sent a letter to the FAA ( got the info off their website) to complain.
Not only did I get a letter back from them, they took my complaint to US Air who sent me a voucher for a free flight.
http://www.faa.gov
That is so irritating, Winged. Especially when you are flying with a baby, the whole air transportation thing can be really difficult. You board early with young children for a reason.
The way I would deal with that would have been to cry. Yep, I'm a stress crier. No better way to get your point across than to burst into tears when you are pissed. :
You could send the letter to Continental and cc the FAA.
It also might get taken a little more serious with them knowing they aren't the only ones you complained to.
Have SBP write your letter!
What a hosebeast, winger.
I bet her FUPA's name is Shane, like the gunslinger/drifter of literature.--HappyTummy
That flight attendant gauged my soul.
I actually started worrying that the lack of response to this was because I was bordering on sbp territory.
Signed,
Winged Salt
gee, suitcase v. diaper bag . . that attendant is an IDIOT. She should have made the woman who came on (AFTER you) check her suitcase.
why is common sense so hard for people?
sorry that happened and I hope you get a free flight to Chicago. : )
A free flight to Chicago would be fab! I am actually wondering about a free flight voucher for the upcoming holiday season.
Fallin, I have to agree. I think charging for baggage is a reason people are bringing more and more on. This woman had a rolling suitcase and a large purse, which are both allowed. And I don't understand the charging if they are just going to gate check for free anyway since they overfill. We checked our suitcase and the carseat. My husband is an Elite access member so we got our bag for free, thankfully.
Dear Continental Airlines People,
On Monday, the 20th of September, I flew from Portland to my homeland on flight # 546434184634. I was in Portland comparing hoobers and sharing rape jokes with my buddy Caliope Spiderman. I know you are probably thinking that she may be related to THAT Spiderman, but it's pronounced differently and is not hyphenated. She does a mean Gap Troll impression.
Speaking of Trolls, while on your flight, which did not offer breakfast, as your name suggests, I ran into Margie. You must know Margie, she's the one with the funny eye and that one pinky finger that looks like it was chopped off in a woodshop accident and then reattached, but they were slightly off in the reapplication because the surgeon clearly atteneded the Lee Press-On School of Medicine and Dentistry.
So Margie got all up in my bidness because my diaper bag, which was my child's one carry-on item, was in the overhead compartment and some hag wanted to get her bag in there. So Margie throws my bag at me and tells me that this is public transportation and that I need to be accomodating of the other passenger. Really, she should have yelled at my baby, but she was too dumb to realize there was baby stuff in there. And if she had yelled at my baby, she would have gotten a mouthfull of wingedfist. Did I mention that she's a douche?
Anyway, I'm pretty sure the bag that replaced my child's carry-on was filled with dirty needles and meth. And it was pretty clear that Margie was in cahoots with the drug smuggler and had no concern for the comfort or dignity of the other passengers. And seriously, if you call yourselves Continental, I expect at least a croissant and a juice box. FFS.
I demand Justice!
Sincerely,
Winger
3 out of 4 dead babies agree! pepsi is better than coke! - EdithBouvierBeale
Lordy. Grow some balls and stop lurking. It's like stealing from the internet. Jesuschrist. -- AudreyHorne
I hate love and marriage. I got married so I could destroy these things from the inside. - NoisyPenguin
It's a good thing my circle of trust is as giant as my vagina. That only leaves a couple people out. - Cali
Shiit like this is why I hate flying. I don't mind being up in the air (until they have to do the sideways turn thing - THAT freaks me out), I just hate the hassle with the airport, and the bags, etc. I'd much rather throw my shiit in my trunk and drive. That's not possible with longer trips, though.
My mom works for an airline and whenever she tells me I should complain about something, she has me address it to the president of the company and send it snail mail to a different address which gets it more attention according to her than just sending a complaint email through their online system.
I am actually in the process of writing a complaint letter myself for a flight I just took back from Chicago to Seattle where we had to make an emergency landing in Billings MT due to one engine needing to be shut off. The engine had known problems before we took off and needed to be manually started, so I'm guessing they probably should've never flown it in the first place. Anyways, I digress...snail mail to headquarters is definitely what I would suggest.
2/20/2011
2/20/2011
I am c&ping that ltter as we speak groomz.
okla, they also did the fly sideways thing on this flight. I should complain about that too.
krisdi, you wouldn't happen to have that address for Continental would you?
They are local though. Maybe I should just pull a Michael Moore and stand on the street in front of their office and yell at them through a bull horn.
This is their headquarters mailing address
Continental Airlines
P.O. Box 4607
Houston, Texas 77210-4607
United States
I'd put c/o Jeff Smisek on the envelope who is the CEO of Continental to get it more attention. Though standing in front of headquarters with a sandwich board and bull horn does also seem like it would get some attention so maybe that's they way to go.
2/20/2011
the letter will come from him, but I will write it.
Wait, did she pull out your stuff and then the other lady put her suitcase up there?!
I hate rude flight attendants. And the ones who wear six squirts too many of a nasty perfume. I think perfume should be banned for flight attendants.
On a long flight to France I had one ask me if she could borrow the magazine I was reading while she went on break. Umm....no.
yes. And she didn't even ask if we had room for it, she just started pulling it and throwing it at us . (not like overhand baseball throw, but we weren't even prepared to get it, our hands weren't even up to get it.
Woooow. That super duper sucks. I totally support writing a firmly written letter in this case.
Next time check the diaper bag and hand R to Margie when his diaper is good and full of presents for her. Ooooor be a responsible adult and just write a letter :-)
My twin sister can't reach the overhead bins to put any sized bag into them. If available, she'll stand on seats to reach it, but that takes forever and isn't doing anyone any favors. So should children/super short people not be able to fly unattended if they can't reach?
Nope, but not being able to carry on a bag that won't fit under the seat isn't the same as not being able to fly unattended. I'm too short/weak to put a bag in the overheads so I don't use them.
I am actually to the point now where I think we have to revert to grade school. I think the overhead bins should be seperated equally and assigned to each seat. only if the overhead is not needed for a seat can that section be used for someone else.
2/20/2011
Ok fine, so she's not allowed to carry on a bag that fits within the carry-on limits that everyone else has to follow because she's too short to reach the overhead bins? It's not like she can just choose to pack lighter. Yes, you can check that bag, but at $25 each way, that's not really fair to expect either because of something beyond your control (like height).
Short people should have smaller bags because their clothing requires less material.