A United ticket agent in New Orleans cancelled a man’s ticket for pulling out his phone and recording her during an argument over baggage fees.
Watch the video–
I guess @united harassment isn't limited to the unfriendly skies. #unacceptable #united #lackofcustomerservice pic.twitter.com/A5P6A8XJjC
— N25 (@Navang25) May 8, 2017
Apparently the man had paid $125 for his oversized bag on his trip from San Francisco to New Orleans but was quoted $300, more than double, for the return trip. He protested, an argument ensued, and he pulled out his camera to record the conversation.
The agent become angrier, demanding that he cease recording and then cancelling his ticket as a result.
Was it Legal to Record Ticket Counter Agent?
United’s prohibition (I should know…) covers onboard photography, not in a public place such as an airport check-in lobby. The man was not legally prohibited from taking pictures.
United offered this commentary on the event–
The video does not reflect the positive customer experience we strive to offer, and for that we apologize. We are reviewing this situation, including talking with Mr. Oza and our employees to better understand what happened.
Who knows — maybe his oversized baggage cost only $125 on the way out because the agent did not weigh it correctly. Perhaps he added additional weight to it for the trip home? We just don’t know so it will do not good to speculate.
But even if we assume the worst–that the passenger was still tipsy from last night and unfairly confrontational, the ticket agent’s reaction was unprofessional.
CONCLUSION
United once again finds itself in the news…with another customer service dustup that undermines the airline’s new service guarantee. What do you think about this latest controversy?
The customer-unfriendly culture that rules United Airlines will be difficult, if not impossible, to change. I just avoid United as often as I can. My decision has made me a more pleasant person. Perhaps more people should consider doing so as well?
That’s why their planes explode! Boycot!
Does a check-in agent have the authority to cancel your ticket for recording her on your cellphone?
It’s a pretty sleazeball move to whip out your phone and start recording people like that.
Imagine how you’d feel if – in your job – anytime the slightest tension arose … the other person held their phone up in your face to record you. Whether a customer, a co-worker, anyone.
There was a disagreement over fees. That happens. There are lots of avenues for recourse and effective escalation without stuffing a camera in someone’s face and, essentially, threaten public humiliation via social media if the other person doesn’t concede.
Mr Oza behaved like an immature ass when he whipped out the video camera. The United agent unfortunately escalated it with the ticket cancellation threat.
That doesn’t change the fact that Oza acted like an immature ass.
Pretty sad times when people feel that recording/posting video of others is appropriate when they believe they’ve been wronged. It seems that police officers and airline employees are the favorite targets these days, making thankless jobs even tougher.
Mr Oza: put your phone away and grow up. There are lots of ways to dispute an airline fee without escalating by filming people and trying to shame them.
Agreed 100%
Mr. Oza is just an asswipe on the search for a cash settlement from United.
Why not? Security cameras are recording us everywhere nowadays without warning. Why is suddenly bad when a person takes out their own camera? I’d venture to guess there was a camera at or near the check-in counter
Another Munoz lapdog.
It is not illegal to tape someone in a public area. There have been cases where motorists and pedestrians have taped cops, and arguments and even arrests have taken place, as a result. The courts have always dismissed such charges, as it is not illegal to tape cops in public, as long as one doesn’t interfere with their duties. The cops, and the United ticket agents know this. However, they try to use their power to harass people. In this specific case, the United ticket agent threatened to call the cops, even though the passenger wasn’t doing anything illegal.
We’re not exactly talking a Rodney King injustice here. It’s a guy with an oversized bag who disagreed with the fee.
No, videotaping someone in public is not illegal. But it sure as hell is an immature way of trying to get a dispute over baggage fees settled in your favor. In this case, it’s clearly an implied threat to the woman: concede to my view immediately or I’ll post this video to shame you. Immature, sleazeball way of dealing with something so trivial (where so many other avenues of recourse or escalation exist).
Stuffing a camera in someone’s face to record them – in the middle of a heated discussion, and simply because they are disagreeing with you – is a pretty sleazeball move. Perhaps he could have been the grown-up and tried some mature, level-headed ways of resolving the disagreement.
Could the agent have handled this better? Sure. Did the guy escalate unnecessarily? Absolutely. Are there better ways, as a customer, to handle a disagreement like this? Absolutely.
Grow up, folks. Leave your phone in your pocket.
Hey, Rob, as President Harry S. Truman once stated, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. If the United ticket agent in this incident, doesn’t know how to treat customers with courtesy and respect, then she shouldn’t be in a position to deal with the public. She had a snotty attitude, and the customer was trying to document that. Otherwise, it would have been his word against hers. The flying public is sick and tired of being treated like cattle, by ticket agents, gate agents and flight attendants. It is bad enough that we have to deal with abuse (and even thefts) by the TSA. We certainly don’t have to put up with an attitude, as was evidenced here. It is not just the baggage fee, that is a problem. I’ve observed ticket agents who deliberately take their sweet time on their computers, and won’t even acknowledge a customer’s presence. I’ve seen them refuse to help passengers check in on new kiosks, which passengers were not familiar with. I heard one of them state “read the directions”. At that time, there were no less than eight of them standing around b.s.’ ing with each other, near a check in area, of a now defunct airline. I once saw a Southwest gate agent, who was too lazy to initially help an elderly lady in a wheelchair onto a flight. She stated “It’s not my job”. When she finally did so, she mouthed off to the poor woman. In retrospect, I wish that I could have videotaped that horrible incident, to have shared with Southwest executives. My Physics professor told us that “for every action, there is a reaction”. Hence, if airline employees want to act like animals towards the public, then they will be treated like animals, and held accountable.
There are many laws agains recording a conversation with a person without their consent. So if the agent did not consent to the recording, the passenger could be the one committing a crime.
Those laws apply to a telephone conversation; courts have not interpreted those laws to include the use of video recording equipment.
United has forgotten the words of Henry Ford, “An employer does not pay the wages, employers just hold the money.Customers pay the wages.”