Nothing compares to being harassed and having a steward get in your face trying to intimidate you and your family.

Provocation - I looked like someone he had had a run in with. wouldn't believe we were just familiar looking because we (wife,5 year old and newborn) had been frequently taking the same flight for almost a decade. No other attendant would intervene. Not wanting to be taken off in handcuffs I endured.

Switched to Delta, never used United again - 17 yrs.

I am not sure what airports do to people mentally, but the simplie things seem so complex. I dislike the passengers that crowd around the back of the line while waiting to board, makes it difficult to determine where the line starts. Or why does everyone jump up when the arriving at the gate? Nobody is leaving the plane til the door opens. I am glad I switched to cargo flights. Flight Attendants are underpaid and must put up with a lot. Try being in their shoes for once, nobody will understand until they have worked at an airline.

On another flight to Hawaii from Los Angeles, the flight attendants rolled their eyes towards passengers traveling with kids. Then they hand out these agriculture forms to for passengers to fill out that clearly states that it's a felony for not filling out the form. With all the security involved in traveling, who carries a pen on board a plane. My wife ask if she could barrow a pen from the flight attendant (which she had one in her apron pocket) she refused to loan her pen and rudely told my wife she did not have one and to ask other passengers to barrow a pen.

I think United itself is the problem from the president on down. United needs to be aware that customer service is important specially with the cost of air fare these days. United just don't seem to care. I wont be sorry to see United go under because of their poor service. I don't fly United now.

I think UAL not responding to you is worse than what the they said. Gosh, your staff is overheard calling paying customers "idiots", you get a letter about it and DO NOTHING??

I'm confused - it sounds like the flight attendants were commenting on a channel that wasn't supposed to be broadcast. Why is everyone commenting on how this is bad customer service?

Wow... I'm surprised how many people think it's okay to call a customer an idiot. Maybe it's just me, but I suspect everyone's job would be a little more pleasant if we treated other human beings better. Airplanes are horrible places to be trapped. Flying stopped being fun sometime in 1982. I do my best not to make other peoples' jobs harder. I wish others would do the same for me.

You had to go there... :P

@Colage: Yeah, I imagine the "idiot" comment is pretty tame compared with what they say when referring to first class passengers!

In the scheme of things, this is not a big deal at all. I honestly think that folks working jobs primarily involving "customer service" in one form or another are great unsung heroes. I worked customer service at a retailer briefly while in college, and let's just say it took a LONG time to regain some faith in humanity. I don't envy people working these jobs at all, and I really try to go out of my way to make their life easier when dealing with them (the payoff is that I've never had problems getting things accomplished when having problems with service or products-my experience is that even the most jaded customer service personnel will bend over backwards if they are just shown some basic human kindness and courtesy). If they need to make snide comments behind customers' backs in order to blow off a little steam and make it through the day, I don't begrudge them a bit. Of course it is prudent to take steps to ensure that said customers are not privy to such comments!

@philmin: Because they didn't have to be so blatant about it? I realize they didn't know they were being overheard, but still. It's a lapse in judgment that I'd just as soon not ponder when I'm in a vulnerable position, like on an airplane where my life is in the hands of airline crews and pilots.

@Tolgak:

Actually, UA offers this ability to listen-called Channel 9-as entertainment. It's the only carrier I know to do so, and the crew have the option not to do it, and many don't.
However, a number of passengers like to listen to it.

i am glad you enjoy it.

Sincerely,

Tom Green
B777 Captain

I have to say that I work tirelessly to ensure the safety of my passengers and the timeliness of their arrival. Also, my fellow employees try to do the same despite the trials and tribulations of the airline industry. I have to admit that we do have people with bad attitudes. They usually do not last long in their jobs.

One insensitive employee can ruin all the good will that the rest of us try so hard to achieve.

I know how difficult travel in this day and age can be since I travel often. However, do not give up on us. There are so many United employees just waiting to shine.

Sincerely,

Tom Green
B777 Captain
Washington Dulles

-Idiot in coach

Tom Green, pilot, United Airlines

[www.songmeanings.net]

on the interphone!

LOL *grin* IDIOTS OMG LOL ;)

That's EXACTLY how I would have referred to the staff as they handed this idiot his drink.

That said, "no harm - no foul, no blood - no ambulance," as Chick Hearn used to say. The exec email pipeline should be used for things that can and should be resolved. The stews involved have probably self-corrected, in that they'll check whether they are being broadcast before using the comm. As for the opinions of certain service personnel for their customers or certain consumers for service personnel - that's just the way things go, sometimes. Worth a chuckle, but not much else.

They probably were acting like idiots! I wish something like this would happen when I'm on a plane.

Nope.

Were I the pilot, I would have, at best, apologized for exposing passengers to communications that were meant as 'back-stage' (to borrow from E. Goffmann) - not for having offended anyone.

As a result, they seem like they're just repeating each other. They seem like total idiots. I don't think the flight attendant was wrong for referring to customers as idiots on a private channel. However, she should have been more cautious to make sure that it was a private channel, as no one wants to be referred to as an idiot.

Once she was made aware of the situation, she should have apologized. At the same time, however, I don't think most people would be personally offended by this, nor should they be. If a person were referred to specifically as an idiot, that would be wrong. But generalizing about customers in this way is not uncommon, and I would say it's not wrong.

Why would you call someone an idiot unless they're truly fucking retarded? I mean, yeah, I've called a lot of the clients I work for idiots, but that is because they're genuinely stupid, not just because I was pissed off that I had to work for them. The correct phrase in that case is low-balling asshole.

@duckfat: Why?

By the way, in all my years in customer service, I've come to find that there is no such thing as a trained professional in that field. Not even I can claim that lofty title, as I'm still going on a whole lot of misinformation and half-assed training methods. :P

@I_am_Awesome: Hmn. I tend to treat 'em like human-beings instead of lumping 'em all together 'cause some asshole gave me bad customer service somewhere else. But maybe that's just me.

@jake.valentine:

I've never flown on an Asian airline, but British Airways and KLM both gave me stellar service in coach on long international flights. Most of the domestic carriers I've flown on have been one hassle after another.

The flight attendant should have apologized. Just because she thinks everyone in coach is an idiot doesn't give her the right to say it. If she can't handle it, then it's time to start looking for a new job.

@Saboth: I agree. In any given population, a certain percentage of the people are going to be highly intelligent, incredibly stupid, smell bad, irritating, and or sick. This guy just overheard them describing the idiots in the group. There mistake was getting caught...idiots.

@cmdrsass: Some of us actually just expect to get from point A to B, with our luggage. Regarding United, we would also like to leave on the day we scheduled our flight.

@rpm773: It's only because they are.

They probably wanted to apologize but had no idea how to. "Ladies and gentlemen, we deeply regret calling you idiots. You are all perfectly intelligent human beings..."?

Look at how they're lambasted by customers in person and on this site and others. Now remember that they are people too, and at least give them credit for putting on the happy face before they interacted with you (assuming they did, of course).

I personally like listening to the channel that plays the BBC Radio's adaptation of Snoop Dogg's movie "Soul Plane"

ATTENDANT: As a representative of both the crew as a whole and as a part of United Airlines, we want to apologize for calling you all idiots. It was rude and inconsiderate.

NICHOLAS: Damn right it was.

EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANE: Wait? What? They called us idiots? Those jerks! I'm never flying United again!

End scene.

In other words, so few people knew what they said, that the crew would be shooting itself in the foot by announcing it to everyone. Granted, it was a stupid thing to say on their part (if you can't say something nice, don't say it over a headset), but they'd have stirred up more anger if they told everyone about it.
Though now that it's hit Consumerist, I wouldn't be surprised if an apology came along.

@Silversmok3: No, nothing is missing. He never said that he believed they were referring to him. Not even once.

See, his problem is that when caught calling their customers idiots, something that was bad enough in itself, and that the employees in question didn't make an effort to apologize for their error in judgment and instead acted as if it had never happened.

;)

@philmin: So basically what you're getting at is that you feel that this isn't woth escalating simply because the issue isn't severe enough. Is that correct?

Is that ever good policy? I mean he probably shouldn't seek the attendant's head for this, but it's not a bad idea to let the airline know about it before it sparks a huge incident.

An apology was certainly in order to the whole cabin, but I can understand why people in service professions can develop an attitude.

Not sure how widespread it is, but when I flew Delta to Florida for Christmas, they had the touchscreen systems in the backs of the chair that had access to the GPS with all the other info (Temps, winds, etc) on it. Check it out, it's neat :)

If this is true, why would anybody be surprised?!? Anyone who has had the chance to fly an Asian flag carrier like ANA, Singapore, or Cathay Pacific has experienced what it is like to fly with professional flight attendants. After you experience good customer service on a well run airline, the US flag carriers just seem so ghetto. I wish it wasn't so.........

Yep.

After working at a newspaper, I am totally incapable of sending in letters to the editor, because I know EXACTLY what the editorial staff has to say about those people! And it ain't polite. But you don't say it when there are people in the office who don't work there!

@balthisar: that was supposed to be

Actually Both are correct:

[www.grc.nasa.gov]

In fact, I would take the word of trained customer service professionals over a random internet poster on this matter. :)

I do it all the time. It alleviates the feeling that I'm trapped in a metal tube at 30,000 feet with only the Bernoulli Principle holding me up. You get to hear the crew talking with the ground control, so there's at least a semblance of a feeling that you're being taken care of down on terra firma.

Out of curiousity,how did the OP know the attendant was referring to him unless he did something to merit the response....

Somethings missing from this dialogue.

I don't think customers expect to be treated like they're the most important people in the world. However, when you're paying (and paying and paying) to fly, check a bag, get a drink...is it really too much to ask that you not be called an "idiot" by airline employees? Granted, she might've been referring to a specific passenger who was acting like an idiot, but it's probably not a good thing to broadcast that message out over channel.

Also, that flight attendant might want to remember that the passengers are helping to ensure she still has a job.

@LastVigilante:
You can choose from a number of chanels on the seat arm for different styles of music, the movie and the cockpit chatter with the tower and Air Traffic Control.
I gained a new appreciation for Dave Brubeck as he seems to have his own channel on United domestic flights.

@Russell Miller:

I would do nothing. If I was really upset by this utterance, which I can't imagine most people would be, I might act all upset and demand an apology on the spot, which would of course be silly.

I'm just questioning what the goal is exactly by escalating this issue. Is it simply for the generic apology, or would they like the flight attendant fired? Does the author of this story really believe this specific issue is related in some way to United as opposed to any other company, and therefore corporate needs to be involved to remedy the problem company wide?

I guess if I was a skywaitress, I would think the customers were idiots also.

So what would you have suggested he do? Demand an apology right there, where the flight attendants would have probably deemed him a risk and called the FBI to meet him on the ground? Who else is he going to talk to once he's off the plane?

@Russell Miller:

Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt like it if someone in a customer service role uttered "idiot" I happened to hear it, but I dont think this is good use of consumerists escalation techniques. If you were truly wronged as a consumer, escalate the issue until it is resolved. If some random employee was rude for about 2 seconds, please dont find this as a reason to "email corporate", leave that for the real consumer issues.

Rule number 1 of customer relations: You know you hate us. We know you hate us. But we expect you to at least *pretend* you respect us.

If you break this rule, at least *pretend* to apologize sincerely, so we can keep pretending to think you like us.

Buyers are their own special breed of ignorant sometimes.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say at least one person working at every major company in the United States has called one of their customers an idiot. Occasionally, we hear it out loud. What response does he want from United, exactly?

If it's any consolation, they probably choice things to say about the first-class people too.

In fact I've probably done so on multiple, if not every, occasion.