Just wanted to let you guys know about an absurd situation my wife and I encountered when trying to check in for a flight from Newark, NJ to Cancun on Friday Dec 14, 2007:
My wife (a South Korean citizen and non-immigrant to the U.S.) was initially denied check-in due to the fact that their “computer” stated that she was required to have a Visa to enter Mexico. We quickly informed the attendant (Donna [redacted]) that the Republic of Korea aka South Korea aka NOT North Korea, is a treaty nation with Mexico and that tourist Visa’s for minimal stays are not required.
Instead of an expected, “we apologize for the confusion and we’ll look into it”, we received a lecture on how the PASSENGERS are usually wrong in cases like this and that we should just go home. If we were completely spineless we might have listened but after bringing in three more Continental attendants to assist, all of whom looked at the same ‘holy computer’ and stated that my wife needed a Visa, we were moved to a supervisor’s counter and the process of deciphering the ‘Countries Requiring/Not Requiring Visa’ list took another 20 minutes. (I think a list of known UN countries in alphabetical order is probably less than 300 so a quick scan in my book would take about 20 seconds). After some quiet side conversations where we overheard the discussion about the “Democratic People Republic of Korea” (NK) and the “Republic of Korea” (SK) I reminded the Continental rep not to confuse North and South Korea (again). I (again) was told to ‘tone it down’. After about another five minutes we were handed our passports back with two boarding passes without a word – no apology, no ‘enjoy your flight’.
To add to the wonder of it all, Continental dedicates an entire section of check-in counters for travel to tourist destinations in the Caribbean at Newark’s Terminal C. Why they also don’t dedicate employees with a passing knowledge of countries in the world for their INTERNATIONAL check in agents is beyond me. I guess that’s asking for too much behind courtesy and professionalism for their front-facing customer service reps.
Ted
We think you should forward your complaint to Continental’s executive customer service team, and the Department of Transportation as well. It’s a good thing you stood your ground and refused to be bossed around, but other travelers might not be so self-confident in the face of Continental’s rude employees.
(Photo:Google Maps)
More From Consumerist
-
Do You Get More Satisfaction From Cheap Airlines Than Legacy Carriers Because You Expect Less?
-
United Airlines Now Responsible For One-In-Three Consumer Complaints
-
Million-Miler Sues United For Being Downgraded To Second-Tier Status
-
Court Rules Passengers Can’t Sue Continental For Sex Toy Taped To Outside Of Bag
-
Why One Traveler Says He’ll Never Fly United Airlines Again
re: States of denial
For all those who think they know were the US states are, try this puzzle:
[www.sheppardsoftware.com]
I just scored 88% (44 out of 50 perfect) with an average error of 28 miles. The interior ones are the hardest while those that border oceans and lakes are easy; the game usually hits you with centre states first.
re: Which one’s Pink…er, Red.
Here’s an easy way to remember which countries are communist, folks: only communist countries put the word “democratic” in their names (eg. DR Germany, DR Congo, DPR Korea, etc.).
North Korea *is* a democracy, with one man, one vote…except that only one man ever gets to vote. ^_^
@KJones:
Yup, it’s the old rule: “People’s Democratic Republics aren’t.”
@yg17: Actually, Hyundai is the lead player in the massive (and growing) Gaesong Industrial Complex, managed by South Korean companies, but located just over the border in North Korea.
So while it is unlikely that they come from the North, you never know….
My wife has worked for Continental at Newark Liberty Airport for nearly 14 years. She claims it is likely the fault of the traveller for not disclosing her nationality at the time of purchase of the tickets. The computer issuing the boarding passes references these aspects of the traveller and defaults as an American.
There is no way that a gate agent could possibly know the treaties that exist between all of the nations of the world. The people griping about this person’s experience just like to complain.
@92BuickLeSabre: My car was built in Ulsan which is a city in South Korea (and in the southern part of the country, nowhere near the NK border)
@LTS!: “Christ, even vendors send me seminar alerts for events in NYC. I live in Rochester, generally I could get to Cleveland before I could get to the Jacob Javitz Center in NYC.”
I have the same problem in downstate Illinois (sort-of) — apparently there’s “Chicago” and then “the rest of Illinois” which means I routinely get recruiters calling me for jobs in Carbondale and then sounding shocked — SHOCKED! — to discover it’s NOT COMMUTABLE from Peoria and I’m not moving.
I grumblingly tell them if they’re recruiting outside Chicago they should probably look at a map if the area code between the company and the recruit don’t match. But I doubt they take my advice, because I keep getting the calls.
Not only does Scotland issue its own notes, it IS a separate country from England.
@92BUICK: Jersey, the Outer Boroughs, and Nassau are where actual New Yorkers live. The Westchester and Suffolk counties are part of Connecticut, and upstate is actually just Eastern Michigan. Manhattan is for Eurotrash, and Iowans who want to pretend their Eurotrash.
@iqag: “Outer Boroughs…are where actual New Yorkers live.”
Yeah, my in-laws try to tell me that all the time. My wife however, contends that it’s only where real NY’ers live if they can’t “move on up….to the east siiiiide.”
And no, Jersey is not where actual New Yorkers live. I’ve passed by way to many B&T bars to believe for a second that those are real New Yorkers. Jersey is for suburbanites who want to live “close to New York!”
@hc5duke: don’t be scared…there is also a New England
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a situation to confuse N. Korea with S. Korea…ahhh…the people look just alike to me!
But seriously…Geography is NOT about rocks and stalagmites. I am a university student and during a persuasive speech I set everyone in the class up to be stupid by talking about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and then showed them a map and randomly picked 3 students from the class and said, “I’ll give you $10 if you can find either of these countries.” I ended up giving the $10 to someone who at least got the continent right.
I don’t know what we are teaching students today, but it does not include learning maps.
USPS gets confused too. I had a package sent to Cambodia once, but it was first sent to Colombia, then Japan, then China, before finally making its way to the right country.
@Jaysyn: Oh, prolly. Give a girl some credit for remembering MOST of the quotation a whole ten years later, willya?
@Eyebrows McGee: Having grown up in Champaign, I know this problem well. Wait…there’s an Illinois *outside* of Chicago? Shocking! (Ironically, it was while living in the UK that I started telling people I was from “near Chicago,” because none had ever heard of Illinois.)
@metroplexual: besides the fact that you have a completely unbiased view of continental… your comment basically made them look worse as you are validating that continental a) defaults to American because of course, if you’re not American, we have to assume you are an idiot for not telling us you aren’t, b) continental defaults ‘fault’ to the customer first – great business practice btw and c) it is too much to ask international check-in agents to know about international requirements for the country they are sending their passengers to… which is besides the point because the issue isn’t that the gate agent didnt know whether south korea was a treaty/non-treaty country, it’s that the gate agent didnt know that north/south korea were two different countries. actually what is your point other than the fact that you should be the new face of customer service for continental?
When are people that use airplanes ever gonna figure out that the airlines are in the business of moving CARGO! Cargo is best when it doesn’t make any noises or shift during travel. Please try to act appropriately!
@metroplexual
I agree with you to some extent but this story is more of a sad statement of people’s knowledge of global affairs than anything. Anyone who knows a thing or two about the world knows that North Koreans are, except for very special government cases like if they’re the shameful sons of Kim Jong-Il, not allowed out of North Korea. Furthermore, regardless of whether or not this woman has read a newspaper in her life, from a customer service perspective, the airline counter should have double-checked when the customer, who likely has more experience on matters of his own nationality, argues a point.
I had a nearly identical experience earlier today flying to Japan from (South) Korea when they tried to tell me that I needed a visa to enter as a tourist. Nevermind that I live in Japan and that I had SIX long-term and four short-term visas already in my passport, the woman was so insistent that I had to have her supervisor call the Japanese department of immigration.
@kjones: Thanks for sending that geography test. It was fun and it made me humble: 78% with an average error of 51 miles.