Comment by venus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by venus | Hacker News Reader

What is this hysterical nonsense? Fine, UA should have called the mother to let her know what was going on. Someone screwed up. But they obviously went to a lot of effort to take care of the kid, putting her up in a hotel to wait for the next flight, with a UA employee of the same sex chaperoning her.

The case was seized upon by what appears to be a professionally outraged busybody trying to "monetize" shrill complaints against big companies, and they get banned. So what?

I am no fan of UA but this is a storm in a teacup. The mother should just chill out, and "PublikDemand" should learn that a kid not talking to her mother for a couple of hours does not constitute a national emergency.

edit: Just read the "complaint". http://www.publikdemand.com/blog/letter-to-united-ceo-jeff-s...

I feel sorry for the kid, yes - because of her irrationally overprotective mother. And the exaggerations amount to lies in my book - at no point was the child "stranded", nor made to stay with an actual stranger. One wonders, if "strangers" are so inherently evil, what the mother was doing sending her precious little angel onto an entire plane full of strangers. Stranding her on the plane, even!

Yeah, UA could have done better, but it's not like the kid is dead, for fuck's sake. Can we have some perspective please?

"But they obviously went to a lot of effort to take care of the kid, putting her up in a hotel to wait for the next flight, with a UA employee of the same sex chaperoning her."

How is that a lot of trouble? Isn't that what they were paid to do? Isn't that the minimum obligation? Sure they could have put the kid in a suitcase and kicked it down the Mississippi, but that seems like a high bar for outrage.

If they don't intend on informing the parents they should let the parents know, "Over the next 2-24 hours you may or may not know where your child is and we have no obligation to let you know as long as they eventually get to their destination". But I'm sure that may not fly with a lot of parents.

> "Over the next 2-24 hours you may or may not know where your child is and we have no obligation to let you know as long as they eventually get to their destination"

That is actually pretty close to my expectation? Isn't it close to yours? Let's rewrite to remove the snark:

"We will transport your child safely from A to B, accompanied by our staff at all times. We expect it will be according to the itinerary provided but due to operational reasons, there may be changes, which we will attempt to notify you about"

And who knows, maybe they did try to call the mother? Everything in the airline industry comes down to checklists; I'd be surprised if there isn't one for this situation, and equally surprised if "try to contact the guardians" isn't on there somewhere.

Honestly that's not even close to my level of expectation. If you change flight plan you must notify me prior so I can decide where my child goes. Having my child spend the night in a hotel alone with a stranger without informing me is not acceptable.

> If you change flight plan you must notify me prior so I can decide where my child goes

So what you want is the illusion of control. You want someone to ring you, tell you about the change of plan, so you can say "yes". Or if she misses her connecting flight and has to stay in a hotel, you want to say "yes" to that too. What else are you going to do? "Oh, I can't have her staying in that hotel. Charter a flight back for her immediately!"

I have to say, I find this pretty incomprehensible. And I love how none of this is about the child - it's all about managing the neuroticism of panicky helicopter parents.

PublikDemand leaves the same sort of taste in my mouth as GetSatisfaction. They build a 3rd party forum for users to try and resolve issues, then people get outraged when the company doesn't jump on the new communication method.

IMHO, United shouldn't be discussing a customers business with PublikDemand anyway. Just like I can't call up American Express and ask them why they haven't raised your credit limit.

The company is not required to engage with us in anyway to access a complaint. And specifically in this case, they ignored not only tweets coming from PublikDemand but from me as well. We simply help the consumer get attention when they weren't being helped otherwise.

From your tone, I'll assume you aren't a parent. The parent purchased a ticket with a specific itinerary plus paid extra for a chaperone. If my daughter was flying alone and my wife got this kind of call from her, you can rest assured that she would move heaven and hell to get things sorted out. From personal experience, never underestimate the power of a mother protecting her child.

PublikDemand aside, United failed big time. First by changing the itinerary (I've never had this happen to me) and second by not contacting the parents. Yes, the girl is fine, but that's really not the point.

> United failed big time. First by changing the itinerary (I've never had this happen to me)

This happens pretty often if you are a frequent traveller. Things go wrong! It may be an inconvenience but it is certainly not a "fail".

> and second by not contacting the parents

Right. So that's what this is all about. Someone at United Airlines forgot to make a phone call, or couldn't get through, or maybe the number was illegible, or something. That's all this is about. Absolutely, totally undeserving of this reaction.

You doubtless fly more than me so I'll take your word for it regarding itinerary changes.

You still don't get it about the contact. It's a child traveling alone. Should the airline just throw them to the wolves?! Or assume that everything will be ok? No, they should not! The parent paid EXTRA (and many airlines require the unaccompanied minor fee) to ensure the child would arrive as expected. It was their absolute obligation to inform the parents when things changed. Why the hell didn't the chaperone call the parents? If United couldn't find the number, the child certainly knew it!

And it's not just about "someone forgetting to make a phone call". The parents asked for updates and got stone walled by Customer "Service". That was salt in the open, bleeding wound. So yes, it's absolutely deserving.

If the airline doesn't want the trouble with unaccompanied minors - DON'T SELL THEM A TICKET. By taking the parents' money the airline willingly assumed the obligation. What more is there to discuss?

I am a parent. I totally and completely agree with the outrage. This isn't 1984 when I was flying between kansas and new york any more (got rerouted to LGA from JFK once, dad found out about it at the JFK gate and FREAKED). We have instant communications these days. USE THEM.

I agree with a lot of your sentiment, especially considering some 3rd party that doesn't hold a ton of credibility is acting as the mouth piece.

Out of curiosity, are you a parent? I'm not, but as an uncle that loves the shit out of his niece and nephew, I'd have a hard time telling their parents to chill out when their kid is not sticking to the plan, and UA's response (3 hours) seems minimize the importance (to the parents). To be fair, I'm not sure my sister or brother-in-law would allow a 10 year old to travel on their own, either.

Sorry, you asked for perspective :)

I couldn't find this bit about the airport and the same-sex chaperone in the article... The only relevant bit was:

"The little girl ended up staying ten hours, overnight, at the Denver International Airport before being rerouted through Houston."

Did they in fact put the child in a hotel with a chaperon? That might sway my opinion a bit.

Down the bottom of http://www.publikdemand.com/united/ckmnaguilar08/my-daughter...

Also worth pointing out that Courtney Powell is not a mother, despite the letter stating the contrary. But I guess lying to United isn't really a big deal.

Uh, I most definitely am a mother to a ten year old son.

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