Abusive Treatment by Continental Airlines--How to Make Complaint be Heard?

[kaytieeldr]

BTW, the incident was witnessed by other employees of Continental, or whoever hires the drivers. They were the ones who called over their supervisor, who assured me that immediate action would be taken. Apparently, nothing was done.

You don't know that. I realize you saw the driver several more times in your five hours at the airport, but unless you were with her the entire five hours, you don't know if she was dealt with, or how.

She was actually hateful--what about speeding off with my cane in the cart, then throwing it out without stopping,

I have to be honest, I have my cane in my hand before exiting any vehicle.

I realize they can probably do more without accusations of being under the influence of drugs/alcohol, racism etc

Especially since those are opinions/judgments, and companies tend to act better when provided with facts.

What I want is to see better regard for the safety of airport passengers. The drivers of the carts should at least observe the same safety rules that the driver of any vehicle on a public road observes, primarily that pedistrians ALWAYS have the righ-of-way. You simply don't run people over while operating any motorized vehicle.

First you'd need to become informed on airport policies regarding the operation of the carts. Second, I don't know necessarily if the 'rules of the road' apply INSIDE an airport terminal, or any building - given that these are not roads. And finally, did you experience or see any driver running over any people?

 

[Snowysmom]

It is too bad that you were treated this way. If the employee were only allowed to take the OP in the cart, she should have said so, not act the way she did. All she needed to say was, I am sorry that I cannot take your whole family but I am able to take you where you need to go and your family can meet us there. Throwing the cane out of the cart was rude, and could have hurt someone nearby. Also, there is no excuse for foul langauge or obscene gestures in front of children (or anyone actually.) I do agree that you should write a brief, factual letter to the airport itself. Give names where you have them and mention what airlines you were travelling on. I doubt much will be done but at least you will feel that you have tried to help others who may unfortunately meet up with this cart driver. Even if things did not start out well between the OP and the cart driver, the cart driver should not have acted the way she did.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Airlines contract with ground handling companies at airports to provide assistance in transporting baggage and passengers who need assistance throughout the terminals. The names on the carts they drive have no bearing on who employs them. Airlines and other services companies they contract with are tenants of the airport itself.

You will need to get the name of the company responsible for ground handling at IAH. Write a letter calmly detailing your experience and expressing your disappointment with that particular employee. Make sure you mention the unsafe practices of all cart drivers you observed. This will not get anyone fired, but it will place the company on official notice. When someone actually DOES get hurt, it can be shown the company was aware of the dangerous practices.

You will not get plane tickets or vouchers as compensation. Hopefully, you will get a letter of apology along with a promise to review performance and policy in light of your concerns.

Good luck.

 

[vhoffman]

Just for those of you who think I shouldn't have asked for transportation for my family, just myself, just what am I supposed to do with two small children? Let them wander the airport looking for Mommy? Also, dh has a heart condition which makes walking long distances difficult, so he needed the transportation as much as I did. Did we explain all this to the cart driver? she didn't give us a chance, she was so busy snapping our heads off. I didn't even realize until after we got off that both children were on the back, facing backwards. They told me later they were hanging on terrified they would fall off, she was driving so fast and erratically. She was obvioulsy mad that she was driving us and having a temper tantrum with the cart. When she stopped I told her to give us enough time to get off safely, to which she said "shut up. I should have just let you walk". Another poster seemed to think it was somehow my fault she took off with my cane, because he always takes his cane first. Well, I was quite unsteady on my feet, needed both hands to steady myself to get off, then picked up my purse and carry on bag. So what if I took the cane first, then she sped off with my purse? My point is, she not only drove unsafely, she didn't give us hardly enough time to get off the cart in a safe manner, along with an abusive manner. My kids said they barely had time to hop off the back before she sped off. Also, what about throwing the cane out of the cart? What if she hit someone with it? Also, she was looking backwards while driving, so the safety of other passengers wasn't even something she was considering.

There is simply no excuse for her actions. There's not much I can do about it over the weekend but I will start a complaint process tomorrow. Like I said, I do have her name--she was identified by 3 other employees. Perhaps some of you think I was not treated in an abusive manner, however, you'd have a different opinion if it was you or a loved one who was treated in such a way. what if someone really were hurt? Or does a serious accident have to occur before a complaint is justified? To hell with the walking passengers, they can just get out of the way or that's their tough luck!

BTW, I'm not looking for free tickets, or any such compensation. where did I ever say that? Insofar as getting her fired, the supervisor who was called over by other employees who witnessed the incident said he would take action, and she would be fired. I got his name, actually, he made an issue of showing me his badge. Other employees told me he was the head supervisor of the cart drivers. I didn't realize at the time that he wasn't an employee of Continental, I didn't get the name of the company he worked for, guess I should have. It should be possible to track him down. I was so shook up with the whole thing I guess I didn't think to ask for contact information, such as a business card. However, I still state that that woman is dangerous. Should someone be injured or killed before any type of action is taken?

 

[rhiannonwales]

never mind not going to go there!