I wrote an essay...
I bought my tickets about 5 months ago, figuring I'll finally be a grownup and plan things, instead of scrambling last minute. My tickets were booked for 12pm a Saturday for a 5 day vacation. I booked through Air Canada as a partner. While AC is responsible for booking the flight, they are just a front, more or less, they have no actual control over the bookings.
About 2 months before the flight, United emails me that my 12pm flight has been changed to 5am. I 'hellz no' and call the airline back. They say that the flight I originally booked has been cancelled, so I rebook for 1pm.
Three days before the flight, they email me again. My 1pm flight has been changed to 8pm. I 'hellz no' but they tell me there are no other flights, so I'm screwed.
I show up at 8pm, reservation in hand. I couldn't get my boarding pass online. Turns out AC's booking number can't be used to get your boarding pass, and they don't give you the United booking number so no go.
United agent can't find my reservation. Tells me to go to AC. I go to AC, and they find my reservation. I go back to United. They finally find my ticket number and tell me that I'm listed as a no-show for the 1pm flight and I show no bookings at 8pm.
Back to AC, and they say 'nope, here you are on the 8pm flight'. I got them to break down the ticket to the point of showing me the confirmation codes from United for the United initiated flight change. I have the confirmation email from United. United insists it doesn't give a fuck, go away, I missed my flight.
So, 8pm I'm trying to get a flight out to this tiny airport (Monterey, CA). My choices now are fly to SF and get a flight out the next afternoon, or fly to LAX and get a flight in the morning. After calling the friend I am visiting, he says fly to SF on an AC flight and he'll drive 2 hours each way and pick me up.
We do that, I have a nice couple days of vacation, but on the last day, I figure I should check if my reservation is not screwed for the trip back.
I call AC. 90 minutes on hold to talk to an agent. Everything looks fine. I call United. First agent is barely capable of breathing independently and can't figure out how to look up my flight or ticket. I hang up, call back and get someone else. They look it up. I'm listed as a no-show for the flight down, so my return ticket has been cancelled.
I 'hellz no', say put it back. They say they can't. AC has to do it. I ask her to contact AC figuring that they are partners, they should have some way to talk to each other. I ask her several times to stay on the line with me to work this out. She cold transfers me to the AC 800 number and disconnects.
Another 90 minutes on hold, and AC is back insisting that my ticket is fine. I make the AC agent contact United and they figure out that I'm cancelled. Well, now my only option is a 5am flight out. Son of a...
I book the flight, because I have no other option. They book it and verify my email address to mail me the ticket.
I wait 3 hours to get a confirmation number from AC. Nothing. Another 90 minutes n hold to get them to mail me that.
So, morning (very early morning) comes and I show up at the airport.
There's a problem with my ticket. Because of course there is.
Computer can't handle my ticket because I'm booked for the 5am flight AND my original 9am flight that they swore up and down had been cancelled. Takes them 30 minutes to sort that out.
I get to SF at 6am for the 8am flight.
Which is cancelled. Because of course it is.
So I wait 4 hours in SF for a 10am flight. It's packed and OMG, could the seats be any smaller? Every single member of the air crew is rude and aggressive to the customers. I text my friend as I'm about to board that if I don't end up crashed in the mountains or in Mexico then I will count this as a win.
I finally make it to the airport where family picks me up. I'm sure I turned heads as I sprinted out of the arrivals area screaming "I will never fly United again!" at the top of my lungs.
So, to sum up, United views a ticket purchase as nothing more than a vague promise that they might let you fly within a couple days of the original purchase request, if it's not too much trouble for them. If it is too much trouble, they'll just go ahead and cancel your ticket but not reimburse you.
Oh, and to cap it off. Turns out that since I'm a Canadian with a Canadian phone, all those hours sitting on the phone for AC's 800 number are considered roaming. Here, enjoy a giant phone bill. The only bright spark is that Telus actually emailed me afterward to tell me they felt bad about that and reversed all the charges. At least one company I work with understands customer care.