I agree. I had a flight on United in early December of last year from Newark Int'l to Miami for a sail on Oasis. The flight was the first flight to Miami and when I get to the gate, I'm told that my flight was cancelled, and they could not guarantee me a seat on any of their flights until 8PM. Now mind you, there are lots of flights to Miami and Ft Lauderdale from Newark but of no help. Frustrated, I was about to give up and then I remembered Jet Blue. Sure enough after trekking with bags to a different terminal I got one of the few seats available.
No texts and no emails, even though I have the United App on my phone.