Broken golf clubs, lost luggage and other tales as United Airlines takes complaints website to court

[AP Photo/Julio Cortez]

A lawsuit by the parent company of United Airlines against a McGill University professor over his website, which gathers complaints against the airline, has begun in a Montreal courtroom.

Jeremy Cooperstock started Untied.com in 1997 and has since collected more than 25,000 passenger complaints about the airline. He’s also received more than 300 complaints from employees or former employees.

One of the airline’s main issues with Untied.com is that it looks too much like United Airline’s own website, which has since been redesigned, and uses its logo.

United first tried, and failed to shut down Cooperstock’s site in 2012. Since then, the site has included a pop up warning stating the site is not affiliated with United.com.

“Over the years, I received various demands that I alter the look of my web page, and numerous references to unauthorized use of United’s trademarks. I pointed out that my mocking of the airline’s logo and ‘Fly the friendly skies’ motto was parody, protected under ‘fair use’ exclusions of the U.S. Trademark Dilution Law,” Cooperstock states on the site. “The more mail I received from other former passengers and employees who had been mistreated by the airline, the more I was determined to continue spending hundreds of hours of my time maintaining the web site.”

Cooperstock started the site after his own frustrating experiences with United Airlines, which were he admits minor in nature but should have been addressed by the company.

“Had either Mr. Greenwald or any of UAL’s Customer Relations employees taken a few minutes to read and reply to my letter of June 13, 1996, they could have saved themselves lots of negative publicity as well as many hours of their lawyers’ time,” he states on the site.

The customer experiences posted on Cooperstock’s site include delays, high fees and numerous accounts of broken or damaged luggage.

Here’s a sampling of some of the experiences gathered at Untied.com.

1. Claude Whitlock tells the story about when he paid United to ship his golf clubs, which were in a special travel bag, and one of the clubs ended up broken.

“To break a golf club, you need to throw it for sure. They are sturdy,” Whitlock said.

Whitlock says he didn’t receive any response from the airline except for mixed messages about how he was supposed to manage his damage claim.

2. John Falcetta flew with United in August 2011 and was surprised by the inaction of staff after a passenger dropped a large knife while exiting the plane.

“First off how did they get it on board? Second your staff did NOTHING about it. They did not call for security or keep everyone on the plane NOTHING, Falsetto wrote. “How does this kind of thing happen? And why didn’t anyone take action? I am shocked and outraged by this breach of security and your staffs lack of response. They told us just to step over the knife. Why wasn’t the terminal locked down?”

3. Betty Wilson wrote about her 2010 experience where her luggage was lost en route to a cruise. Even after filing a formal complaint with United, the company said too much time had lapsed before she filed her complaint.

“When I received my luggage, it had been opened and vandalized. NOT BY TSA, as they leave a message inside the bag. I had an itemized list, which I am checking now. However, as far as I know, they opened my 2 vitamin containers (daily for 7 days compartments) and dumped them in my suitcase…,” she wrote. “Your airline has NEVER offered anything for the inconvenience you caused with this lost luggage. I was in Hawaii for three days with no luggage and they never even offered to buy me a toothbrush. Pretty SAD service, for one of the oldest airlines to offer unsuspecting travelers.”

4. Steve Cohen shared his lengthy tale of struggling with United, first by paying twice for a bag fee — even though he had a receipt — and then fighting, and spending a lot of time on hold, to get the services he paid for after he suffered an injury.

“He told me that there was a computer issue with what I had seen online and indeed I was booked in the economy plus seats I had requested the entire way. Only the second leg was the same middle seat (14E) I had told the previous agent I hadn’t booked nor would I accept. I was obviously being lied to. I had specifically booked a right side aisle seat (more expensive in the crazy pricing world of United) to best accommodate my injured left leg. I again insisted he connect me with a supervisor so we could resolve the situation. He was actually able to do so-but she said there was nothing that could be done. Either I take the middle economy plus seat or, well, take it. There was no option,” Cohen said. “How galling was this? I had a medical condition that required me to book an upgraded seat, I did so (I even had an electronic receipt!!!) and then your computer system doesn’t record or hold the upgrade.”

5. James Daniel experienced some mixed messages from United staff in 2009 when he changed his flight because he was sick.

“Despite informing United that I’d come down with the flu right before my flight, and UAL Reservations saying it was ‘OK’ not to fly and cause concern given the huge sensitivity to the current AH1N1 virus (May 2009), when I tried to rebook my ticket for three days later I was told by Ms. Shannon in reservations that it was my ‘own dumb fault’ for not flying when sick (and coughing on everyone — my comment). I was also told that I should pay $1,100 *more* (beyond my $400 ticket) in fees to fly to join up with my wife and daughter,” Daniel wrote.

He took his story to the media, and someone from United told NBC7 in San Diego, Calif., that Daniel wouldn’t be penalized for staying home.