How United Airlines’ Customer Service System Ruined My DMA07 Conference (and What Catalogers Can Learn from My Experience)

In my last call to New Delhi Sunday night, the rep said my bag hadn’t been found at O’Hare, and the Westchester Airport was closed for the night but would be open the next morning at 7:00 a.m. So I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. (central time) and tried to get some sleep. Less than four hours later, the alarm went off. I called the 800 number once more, and the rep actually was able to reach the White Plains Airport (or so the rep said, after having me on hold for five minutes), only to find out my bag wasn’t there. Nobody seemed to know where my bag was.