I once filed a claim with United for an item stolen out of my bag. They had an email address for receiving documents, but a policy to refuse to provide status u

I once filed a claim with United for an item stolen out of my bag. They had an email address for receiving documents, but a policy to refuse to provide status updates by email. Status updates required a phone call. It seemed to be the same people answering both. I'm having trouble imagining a reason for such a policy. If it was structured to make filing the claim harder in the first place, it would be evil, but at least rational. Incompetence seems more likely.