Yes, loathe.

I bought a roundtrip U.S. Airways ticket from Seattle to Phoenix over the Independence Day weekend. My roundtrip ticket was $235, and I was ecstatic to see my friend Connie who lives there.

Sadly, I missed my SEA to PHX flight, but before I did I called U.S. Airways to reschedule my flight. I told the lady at U.S. Airways that I needed to schedule a later flight to PHX, and she said for a $100 rescheduling fee I could go later in the day. I was fine with that, it was my own fault I was rescheduling, no problem. She said the next flight would be 13 hours later. I did some quick math – that would be 1/6th of my precious time with Connie. Time I could not waste. I told the lady on the phone that I would book a one way flight with another airline down to PHX, because I wanted to get down there that morning. She was understanding, and quite pleasant, and all in all it was a fine phone call. But, the U.S. Airways attendant at this point failed to mention some important policies.

So, I booked a one way down to Phoenix, flew in only an hour and a half later than originally planned, and had a wonderful weekend with my friend. Then came the trouble.

At the end of my weekend in Phoenix, I called U.S. Airways again on my way to the airport. I tried to confirm my flight on the phone, and lo and behold – this lady from U.S. Airways informs me I no longer have a ticket to Seattle. They canceled my ticket home. Without letting me know, without contacting me, they took what I had paid for and left me stranded in the desert. I asked her why they canceled the ticket I had paid for without notice. She said, well, I should have called to let them know I was taking a one way on another airline to Phoenix. I said, I did. I called on Friday morning before my original flight out, and the U.S. Airlines representative I talked to didn’t said it was fine when I ran the one-way ticket idea by her.

This lady had no sympathy however (she made that obvious). My ticket was canceled, I was stuck in Phoenix. She told me it would be $150 to reschedule PLUS $147 additional because the ticket cost had gone up. I clarified with her that it would cost me another $297 dollars to get on the seat I had already bought, the seat which was originally one half of my $235 roundtrip ticket, the seat which I had not canceled and in fact had called the airline about before I even started my trip. Yes, she insisted, it would be $297.

In my mind, I quickly realized that 1.) U.S. Airways had failed me as a customer, 2.) I could fly one-way home to Seattle for cheaper than $297. So I said to her, “No thank you, I think I’d prefer to just find a flight home with another airline.” And then the coup de grâce: instead of saying “Thanks for donating $235 to U.S. Airways, I’m sorry I could not help you but have a nice day,” this lady hung up on me! She hung up on me! I have never been so rudely treated by any customer service representative in my life. I was not yelling at her, I accepted the policy though I was frustrated, I simply told her I didn’t want to give them another three hundred dollars and she hung up on me.

Now, I manage a tech support team – which is basically geeky customer service. I know customer service, and I know you never hang up on a customer. I saw neither end of my flight, and the lady hung up on me. Way to pour salt in my wound, U.S. Airways.

Luckily, a friend at Alaska Airlines saved my life and put me on a delightful flight home to sunny Seattle. I’m sharing this rant because I wanted to warn my friends about this policy, this airline’s lack of care for their customers, and because I’ve sent them a note regarding the debacle and used my blog to stage my rough draft.

UPDATE: U.S. Airways called me back, months later and after I complained again, and explained to me I still have a credit with them that expires 6/20/09. Credits, especially those that expire, are no good, I explained, unless you tell the person they have them.