US Airways Horrible Experience, Poor Customer Service, Never Flying With Them Again Tempe, Arizona

I picked US Airways as my airlines to travel for my vacation. After checking in and sitting down waiting for our flight, we were later told that there would be delays because we had a stop in Phoenix which was currently under construction, so everyone had delays. This was no problem at all, as I understand most airlines have delays, although I would've appreciated a heads up, since this delay wasn't all of a sudden. It was known Phoenix was behind, so we shouldn't have been alerted last minute as to so.

Before we could board the plane, we were told that there wasn't enough room to store our bags, so many passengers on the planes were asked to check in their carry-ons. I had valuables and fragile items stored in my carry-on, which is why I brought it with me, but seeing how I had to check it in, I had no choice but to take these items out of my bag, which meant I had to hold them the 4+ hours remaining on of my trip. Once we entered the plane, not only was there space below our feet, there was space in the storage bins as well.

While on vacation, I put my experience behind me, and was expecting a pleasant trip home. Unfortunately I was met with the same service. I had to wait until we were at the boarding gate to find out there were delays. We were asked to check in our carry-ons again, and once again there was room on the plane. So much so that even the flight attendant sad that they may have underestimated how much room they had available. One passenger even left his seat with the flight attendants permission, and got his bag from the gate area to bring aboard the plane. The only rebuttal the flight attendant had was that the bad might already be loaded below the plane, but other than that she had no objections.


Once we finally got to our final destination, late again, after the pilot told us numerous times that we were going to be on time despite the delays, we had to wait on the plane for about 15-20min to exit the plane. We weren't given any reasoning for why this happened either. When I went to get my bag, I came to find that it had been damaged, so I had to report the damages. I was at the airport a whole hour and a half after our scheduled arrival. I was also told I would need to return back to the airport to follow up on my damaged bag claim. This was after I told them that I live 30min from the airport, and it was an inconvenience of having to travel through traffic just to take care of something they messed up. I didn't understand the "thinking" behind this policy.

I eventually wrote a letter to the US Airways corporate office explaining them my experience in full detail, and got some computer generated "explanation". They didn't really apologize in the letter, nor did they address all my concerns. Based on the generic letter I received, I wrote another letter to them, but this time, instead of them mailing me a response, they mailed the passenger that I flew with, a passenger they had no contact with during this whole ordeal. The letter explained that they have procedures and policies and unfortunately couldn't do anything about my experience. They also "hoped" that I would choose them in the future for any other flights I may take.

Talking to my some of my friends after my experience, I came to find out that I wasn't the only one that has had a negative experience with US Airways. They had bad experiences with other airlines as well, but the major difference is that when they approached the airline with the problem, they received actual good customer service in response. Not some generic letter explain policies, but a genuine apology or compensation of some type.


I wouldn't recommend US Airways to anyone based on my experience, you have been warned!