A mother of two who desperately needed to use the restroom on a United Airlines flight says she was “humiliated” by an attendant who told her to urinate in a cup.
During the recent trip, which departed from Houston, Texas, Nicole Harper, a Kansas City emergency room nurse, got up to use the bathroom; however, a flight attendant told her to sit down.
“They started doing drink service, and other people [were] getting up at this point,” Harper, who did not return Yahoo Beauty’s request for comment, told Missouri local news station KCTV5.
According to Harper, the restroom was already occupied and people started getting up to move around. The mother has an overactive bladder and told the attendant that her need was urgent. However, at that moment, the plane experienced turbulence and the attendant “told me very rudely I was not allowed to get out of my seat,” she told KCTV5.
Harper then made a split-second decision. “Well, I’m going to need a cup then,” she said, adding, “I was thinking I was on ‘Candid Camera’ or being punked at this point.”
With her husband beside her, Harper filled two cups with urine and afterward, an attendant told her to empty the cups in the bathroom, that she would be reported, and that the pilot would meet with her after the flight. Harper was also informed that her seat would need to be professionally cleaned. “She was basically reprimanding me and talking down to me through the aisle with other people listening,” she said. “There was just no customer service, no compassion.”
A United spokesperson sent the following statement to Yahoo Beauty: “Customer safety is always our first priority. Initial reports from the Mesa Airlines flight attendants indicate that Ms. Harper attempted to visit the lavatory on descent and was instructed to remain seated with the seat belt fastened per FAA regulations. At no point during the flight did flight attendants suggest that Ms. Harper use cups instead of the lavatory. We have reached out to Ms. Harper to better understand what occurred and we continue to review what happened.”
However, on Harper’s Facebook page, she disputed the airline’s version of events, writing, “United Airlines lied about reaching out to me. I attempted to reach them multiple times over the past two weeks and was repetitively told customer service would not take my call. They also lied about the incident happening during the descent … this all happened mid-flight, while flight attendants were providing drink service.”
It’s been a rocky few weeks for United Airlines. The company issued an apology to a woman who didn’t speak English after allowing her to board a plane to San Francisco instead of Paris. The airline had changed departure gates without notifying passengers via email or in either French or English.
In another incident, the airline apologized to a man for canceling his reservation after he argued with an attendant about the cost of his checked luggage. When the man began taping the interaction because the representative was being “rude” to him, she whipped out her own camera to record, then canceled his trip.
And in April, a 69-year-old physician was forcibly dragged off a flight, causing him to develop a concussion and to break his nose and teeth. The incident was captured on video, which quickly went viral. While United apologized and the aviation officers were placed on leave, the doctor filed a lawsuit against the airline, which was recently settled for an undisclosed amount, according to NBC.
That same month, a 3-foot rabbit named Simon who was competing in a giant rabbit contest in Iowa was allegedly placed in a freezer during a 16-hour United flight from London and died after the plane landed. However, United denies that the rabbit was placed in a freezer. “He was cared for the United PetSafe kennel facility, which is kept at room temperature (on average 70°F),” the airline said in a statement to People.
.Below is Nicole Harper’s facebook encounter with United
United Airlines forced me to pee in a cup, and then shames me…
I wasn’t sure I wanted to share this story… but #UnitedAirlines refuses to take my call, now I can’t sleep and just keep thinking about how wrong this situation was. I really don’t want to be known as the ‘girl who peed in a cup’ but if telling my story shakes #United a little more than so be it!! Anyone who knows me, knows my overactive bladder, here’s another story to add to the books.
“On the same day United Airlines drags a passenger off an overbooked flight, they forced me to pee in a cup… and then shamed me.
While allowing other passengers to get up and use the restroom on a seemingly uneventful flight, United Airlines crew wouldn’t allow me to get up and use the restroom until the pilot turned off the seat belt sign. After explaining that I have an overactive bladder and would either need to use the restroom or pee in a cup, I was handed a cup by flight attendants. Bad enough? No, crew then escorted me to the restroom (now it’s safe to get out of my seat), shaming me down the aisle while other passengers overlooked. The flight attendants treated me like I had committed a crime, stating they would be filing a report, calling in the hazmat team to clean the entire row (let me mention there was no mess involved) and told me I would need to talk with the pilot after the flight! I guess they would have preferred me to pee in the seat? After all they were the ones that gave me the cups knowing what I was planning to do with it. You would think peeing in a cup on an airplane in front my family and strangers, would be the worst part of this story. But the way I was treated by the flight attendants afterwards was worse. They were absolutely horrible to use the rest of the flight! And to top it all off, once on our final descent… a gentlemen got up from first class (yes the seat belt sign was on, and the plane was flipping tilted) walked right by a smiling flight attendant and entered the bathroom. What!?!?! Was I on candid camera? Where are the cameras right now!!!
There is absolutely no customer service on United Airlines, on or off of planes. Once we landed and got settled, I understandably submitted a complaint. After several weeks of no response, I called to talk with customer service, seeking at the very least an apology. After multiple attempts of resolving the issue, all I have been given is the run around. You can’t even call and speak with a customer service representative unless they “accept your call.” The employees that field the calls work for the reservations department… I asked to speak with customer service several times and was told repetitively this was not an option. They said they had not received my complaint (sounds like a great reason to have a human being take complaints, rather than relying solely on electronic submissions). So here I am, writing my complaint once again… this time being sure to submit it to United Airlines as well as other media sources, just to be sure it goes through.
As an emergency room nurse, I completely understand having a bad day on the job and having to deal with undesirable bodily fluids. What I don’t understand is ZERO customer service, if I treated a patient this poorly I would surely have consequences…
Rest assured, I will no longer be flying united, I will be cancelling our credit card, and I am hoping this goes viral. Because, quite frankly this was the worst flight I have ever been on and there are plenty others to choose from, others that treat people with human freaking decency.”
.Source: Yahoo.com