Half of one/one and a half of the other: Update on United
November 14, 2007
Since the customer service representative that I was corresponding with so graciously admitted that the circumstances of my complaint were not of the usual sort, I’ve been awaiting to see what my “goodwill offer” had swelled (or not) to. Originally offered 2000 miles, I countered with a bid for 10000 and have been given 5000.
Yea or bleah? All depends on how you look at it. 5000 miles is a third of a short-haul award ticket, or one fifth of a standard ticket. It approximately meets the crime of making me stand for nearly one fifth of my flight to New York, and more satisfyingly, means that not settling for the first offer has paid off in the form of 1.5 times the original price United was willing to pay. Not that giving me a handful of miles actually costs much, for them.
That’s a hard one since they didn’t even meet you halfway, and like you said, it doesn’t cost them much at all.
But in terms of negotiating, they’re in the stronger position since they’re the ones giving and they’ve already made their second offer. I’d probably take it.
~Bart~ Very true. They deposited 5000 miles in my account not long ago, and given the tumult in my life right now, I’ll leave it at that.