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HAB911

(8,811 posts)
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 09:07 AM Apr 2017

The Deeper Scandal of That Brutal United Video

snip

Meanwhile, if customers are shocked by the fine print of United’s contract of carriage, what recourse do they have against the company? Very little. In the last decade, class-action lawsuits have become endangered thanks to a series of Supreme Court rulings that have undercut consumer rights. Disputes over fine-print regulation are increasingly likely to be settled in arbitration, without a judge or jury, where the deck is stacked against the individual plaintiff and the decisions are practically impossible to appeal.

In this way, the United video serves as a stark metaphor, one where the quiet brutalization of consumers is rendered in shocking, literal form. The first thought that I had watching the outrageous footage of a passenger being dragged through an aisle like a bag of trash was that this should never happen. But fundamentally, this is an old story: Companies in concentrated industries, like the airlines, have legal cover to break the most basic promise to consumers without legally breaking their contracts. The video is a scandal. But so is the law.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/united-video-scandal-law/522552/

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MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
1. Ever since the airlines cut back the number of flights
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 09:17 AM
Apr 2017

and now have full planes on most routes, they've been less interested in making customers happy. They seem to believe that if they get passengers from one place to another, intact, those passengers should be grateful and happy.

So, they've steadily been reducing the other perks of flying with their airline company. They do that because they can. People need to travel and, if all flights are full, they have little choice any longer.

It's getting worse and worse, and will continue to do so. These days, the customer relations message appears to be:

"Sit Down! Shut Up! Be Grateful We're Taking You Somewhere!"

question everything

(47,264 posts)
7. I think that it was in the 80s, or 90s when they started reducing seats to squeeze more of us
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 11:17 AM
Apr 2017

when they stop serving free meal that the CEO of American - a really odious person - said that all the customers care are their fricking miles..

And all the fliers who suffer the indignities of Spirit and the rest of them - the "legacy" carriers are trying to compete.

dlk

(11,432 posts)
3. The Constitutional Right to Seek Redress in the Courts Has Been Largely Dismantled
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 10:36 AM
Apr 2017

Over time, our Constitutional rights have been largely dismantled, piece by piece, by the Republicans in service to corporations under the guise of "tort reform." Politicians, bought by corporations, appoint "business-friendly" judges. In many ways, we are no longer the United States but, instead, the united corporations. Maximizing profits has legitimized this travesty. We now live in a country where the most money consistently wins in court and our democracy has been greatly diminished.

PatrickforO

(14,514 posts)
4. I won't ever be flying United again. Ever.
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 10:49 AM
Apr 2017

Fuck them. If they are so fucking militaristic, and they overbook and then brutalize people, then they sure don't need any money from me at all.

Ever.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
11. Companies get by with this shit until a significant # of people say ENOUGH!!
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 12:07 PM
Apr 2017

We can curtail corporation abuse only if enough people take a stand, and do it publicly, and for more than a few weeks.

lindysalsagal

(20,440 posts)
5. a.k.a: fascism. Wrapped in the american flag and sanctioned by god.
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 10:52 AM
Apr 2017

We've seen this film before. It doesn't end well.

lark

(23,003 posts)
8. Boycott!
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 12:01 PM
Apr 2017

If enough people don't book their trips with United, they will get the message. Look what happened to Limpballs and O'Hateful. My husband, my kids and I have all sworn to never fly United again and all of us travel overseas at least once a year. For them it's 3x /year or more including the mom-in-law coming here from Brazil.

I'm also going to see if I can find some email address for PR and let them know what I think of their classless operation.

C Moon

(12,188 posts)
9. And they were just in the news last month about not letting 2 girls fly because of leggings.
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 12:01 PM
Apr 2017

That company has serious issues.

uponit7771

(90,225 posts)
12. +1, I had to go to forced arbitration ... THROUGH AN OPT OUT EMAIL !!!! Meaning the company sent
Tue Apr 11, 2017, 12:13 PM
Apr 2017

... an email and if you don't opt out then that means you agree.

What bullshit !!!

I bet the USSC would NOT enforce the inverse !!!

Meaning if I sent the company an email telling them if they don't answer in an hour I get them close their doors ...

Some bullshit

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