I'm on hold now while a FF ticket is being reissued and I have to say, the rudest person is helping (and I use that word loosely)me. I always fly AA and this is the first time I have encountered a totally unfriendly agent who sounds like she is pissed off that I called! I almost feel like contacting AA customer service to complain but I will give her the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully she is just having a bad day.

Oh, I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. That's never happened to me with AA & I hope they don't change.

Given the recent news of the substantial bonuses being given to AA management, there are a lot of rank and file employees that are more than a bit upset with the company.

I haven't heard anything about bonuses to AA management. What's going on with that?

I used to work in customer service for a major airline and it's really, really hard work. A lot of people call and are soooooooooo nasty and rude. I can honestly say it was the very worst job I ever had. Even almost free flights, usually business or first class, didn't make up for it. The people working there are only human so try to give her a break, please.

As I said, I was giving her the benefit of the doubt on the chance that she was having a bad day. I'm sure there are alot of rude people who call but I was not one of them. I also feel that if you are in a customer service position, you should be pleasant. After you get off the call, you can go crazy and talk about your horrible caller but let the customer have the pretense of pleasantness. That' s just my 2 cents.

Once I got a rude AA phone rep. I don't know if the call was answered in the US or India but she was not at all nice. I just hung up and tried again. The next person I spoke with was very nice and helpful.

I had a similar experience on Easter. I chalked it up to being Easter.

But it was my first time ever dealing with a really rude agent at AA (two, actually- the first transferred me to her mgr- without me even asking). I mean, stuff like cutting me off mid-sentence, etc. I was shocked.

We have always had good customer service with AA, but I think if I encountered a rude rep, I would also hangup and try again. Bad days are bad days but the customer should not have a bad trip because of one.

Regarding the bonuses awarded to management and the response by the rank and file.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070418/ameri...abor.html?.v=2

Orangetravelcat, in an ideal world everyone would be sugary sweet at all times. However, sometimes that job can't help but get to people. There is no break at all between phone calls, people yell, scream & cuss, the airline is constantly monitoring your "stats" to make sure you don't spend too much time with callers, sell tickets, etc. There are also very nice people who might get an agent who is just too weary to give a good crap at that time.

So many times you hear about the poor service from the airlines but I had a great experience with United. I called to book a flight using my FF miles and had a great representative. Her name was Hira - I wrote about it at http://www.bombasticlife.com - under the catagory "people". After talking with her I was happy to see that great service isn't a thing of the past.

orangetravelcat,

The coin always has two sides (not counting the edge). The approach you get from an AA person, right or wrong, often is a response to the attitude you are projecting to the service person (and not just AA either).

I've been in customer service positions in the past, so I have great empathy for those poor souls that have to deal in retail customer service.

If the customer starts off acting in a rude manner or is p#$%ed off, the willingness to help that customer diminishes. At least this is only on the phone.

I've had customers throw products they wanted to return at me, and hit me, if only because of the store's return policy. I didn't make the policy, however I was the person who had to enforce it.

I've been in AA's FF program for 18 years and have never had one bit of problems with their customer service. When I call, I try to put myself in their shoes and act on my best behaviour. I have an FF trip to France next week, and AA went out of their way to help me, even calling me back a day later with a better route; and they didn't have to.

I guess it's a variation of the Golden Rule, but it works for me every time.

This was my first experience, as I said, with an AA rep who was rude. I maintained a friendly, calm attitude despite her abruptness. Hopefully this will continue to be an exception.

Just another scenario when having problems:

I didn't think Orangetravelcat had been rude but another thing I do when I am upset about some screw-up & am dealing with a customer service person is to stress that I'm not yelling at them or blaming them & that I realize they didn't cause the problem but I'm just frustrated.

Once they understand you're not attacking them & just the situation you usually get more help.

Another totally stressful job is working the front desk of a hotel. They get hit with every problem every guest has PLUS lots of people cannot be satisfied no matter what.