Welcome to the 21st Century, United!
Many airlines now offer a call-back option so you do not have to sit on hold, sometimes for hours, with a stale sound track that eventually drives you mad.
United’s digitized version of Rhaposdy comes to mind…
Delta and American, for example, offer this and it comes in handy during bad weather or busy evenings. I’ve never had a problem actually receiving the call back. In fact, in many cases it comes sooner than promised (the system will generally give you a small window of when you can expect the call back).
To United’s credit, hold time are rarely bad, particularly on the elite line. But this morning hold times were about 20 minutes…and the system asked if I wanted a callback.
I said yes and the system recognized my call back number (Delta also automatically recognizes this, while American does not) and promised a call back in 20-22 minutes. Precisely 20 minutes later I received the promised call.
While I cannot say how long United has had this option available, it is available and makes dealing with United just a bit earlier.
The better solution: no holds at all. But we know things happen: weather, cancellations, and other events that mean waiting for more agents. Callback technology makes the hold process remarkably smoother.
is this just for elites?
??
No, for everyone.
Well, I’ve called twice today with holds of well over 20 minutes and no callback option. It feels as though the offices are just closed.
Seems like when holds get extremely busy, the callback does not work. Same with Delta and American. Perhaps a way to discourage calls.
The holds were supposed to be 5-10 minutes. FYI