Stand Up for Yourself

So it took my chicklet and I 36 hours to get from MAN UK to Boston Ma. What a horrible experience. Our USAirways flight was late arriving into the UK so of course we were going to be late leaving. When we first checked in, our flight was delayed for 1.45 hours. Then...we ended up with two maintenance issues. We finally left for Philly 4 hours late. They rebooked us on a later flight before we even left the UK, but we missed that one as well. They then booked us on an 8:15 flight that kept getting more and more delayed due to the weather. The final word on the flight was that it was leaving at 11pm. At this point daughter and I had been awake since 5 am BST and it was now 1030 EST. IF the flight left at 11 as they stated (which I dont know if it did) we were going to be stranded in BOS as the last train out of Boston was at 12:10 AM. I spoke to several agents during the night, most of which were unhelpful, rude, and some were downright aggressive. I needed to know what to do. I knew that if we made it to Boston that night and got stranded, the airline would not help because we were at our final destination.So I spoke to the agents in PHL. Other than the last agent that helped, they kept telling me that they would not put us up in a hotel as our flights were delayed due to the weather. True, our flight they booked us on to get to BOSTON was delayed due to weather, but our original flight to BOSTON made it in on time, and we missed it due to their plane having maintenance from the UK.
US airlines will not hand out hotels due to weather but know your rights, if you get stranded due to MAINTENANCE issues...it is the airline's responsibility to help you out (most of the time). If I hadn't persisted in finding an agent to help, daughter and I would have spent the night in Logan airport on the floor. Instead, I finally found an agent that would listen to me and he couldn't understand WHY no one had helped us. By the time we got to our hotel room in philly, daughter and I had been up for 24 hours...walking zombies.
I made sure I got EVERYONES name that I spoke to. So USAirways, will be getting a few couple of letters from me. One telling them how downright horrible some of their agents in PHL were....and one telling them about the angel that finally helped us.

What a nightmare! Glad you sorted it out, but I'm sorry your journey was so long and that you were awake for 24 hours. 

I'm sorry you had such a terrible experience.  I was on a flight from PHL to MAN once that was delayed over 6 hours due to maintenance issues/deicing the plane. It was a real issue for me as I am terribly claustrophobic, and being stuck on a plane for 8 hours, let alone 14 hours (they let us off for 30 minutes) was a nightmare for me. I didn't write to anyone or complain but USAirways sent everyone a $150 voucher to use on a future flight.

I do hope they compensate you in some way for all your troubles.

LOL...its so funny. I didn't really want compensation. I was very glad for the hotel room. Sh*t happens that are out of peoples control including maintenance and weather. However the unbelievable lack of customer service that I got from the supervisor in PHL was amazing. She couldn't be bothered to get up off the seat in the boarding area to speak to me...to check if there was room on an earlier flight.
So today, I wrote an email (A very long one with details of flight numbers and peoples names). I praised the crew in MAN and on the flight, about how they kept us informed of what was happening. We got two free alcoholic drinks on the plane. BUT, I also went into detail about the HORRIBLE treatment from two agents (who turned out to be supervisors) and also the angel of an agent that eventually helped us. I told them to be sure to let that agent know how very grateful we were and that he was an asset to their company. I spent a good half hour writing this email...and while I was still writing it, I received two $150.00 vouchers to use for future flights. I wasn't expecting anything...and didn't want to complain for that reason...but I was so compelled by the complete lack of customer service and empathy from someone who should know better, I just had to complain. PHL is a horrible airport on a good day...and I don't know where they get some of their agents. BUT, our angel was definitely someone that restored my faith that there are good agents there.

Good on you! As someone who gets a lot of fun with airplane travels delaying and the like, and can truly understand it taking 36 hours to get to Boston, that was a job well done on your part!

Glad it worked out in your favor in the end! What a PITA, though!

KBeech,

I'm glad you wrote to complain. I've taken to doing that lately for a couple things for which we received horrible service. If nothing else, it make one feel better to get it off their chest.  It is also nice when one can compliment someone (as in your angel agent) for a job well done.  Hopefully they will take your letter very seriously and address the rude and guilty parties.

I'm sorry too that you've had such a bad experience with PHL. I've never had a problem, having flown in/out about 10 times, and everyone I've come in contact with was super nice and helpful. 'course I don't have much to compare it with!