Should I bother to complain to AA?
Aug 1st, 2003, 09:51 AM
#1
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Should I bother to complain to AA?
I'll try to give you the short version...
My dh and i just returned from a vacation in honolulu. our flight from honolulu to LA was delayed due to a mechanical problem, and thus left 1.5 hours late. the gate agent told us that we would miss our connection to boston, but that she would book us on a flight that left one hour later, the only other direct flight that day. so we were so happy that she helped us out, and went on our way to the gate. once we got there, we noticed that our baggage receipts said "AA" to LA, but "UA" to boston. sure enough, i called united and found out that she had booked us on a united flight from LA to boston.
when we got to LA, we found that they had held the american flight to boston for the passengers from honolulu. we tried to get on, but they told us that our luggage was on united and we had to go with our luggage. we grumbled but didnt put up too much of a fuss.
a very unpleasant airport worker told us to go outside the airport and catch the A bus to the united terminal. we carted two carry ons, a stroller, a car seat, and our 9-month old to the front, only to wait for 30 minutes to catch the shuttle bus. once we got to the united terminal, we had to wait in line to check in all over again.
by the time we got to the counter, our flight was leaving in 35 minutes. the united agent took the paperwork given to us by the gate agent in honolulu, only to tell us that they were only boarding passes for our original american flight, not the vouchers that were supposed to be supplied by american. so basically, we had reserved seats, but NO TICKETS. she called american, got hung up on, disconnected, out of service... and finally got a person, who put her on hold. when she finally talked to the american agent, she was told to make us GO BACK TO AMERICAN and get the vouchers for ourselves. our flight was now 30 minutes from departure, so we told her that we werent going back to the other terminal. she agreed that it was ridiculous and told the american agent to get the vouchers to her, pronto.
she printed boarding passes for us, and we had to race through security (bypassing the line, since the final boarding call came over the PA system), sprint to the plane, and then frantically install the carseat so we could sit down for takeoff.
obviously, there are numerous issues here, but i've recently been so disappointed in company customer service that i dont know if should waste my breath complaining. it was the most hectic 2 hours, we almost missed our flight (and who knows which airline would have ended up flying us home), and we could have ended up on our original flight after all.
should i call and complain, or just let it die?
fiasco
My dh and i just returned from a vacation in honolulu. our flight from honolulu to LA was delayed due to a mechanical problem, and thus left 1.5 hours late. the gate agent told us that we would miss our connection to boston, but that she would book us on a flight that left one hour later, the only other direct flight that day. so we were so happy that she helped us out, and went on our way to the gate. once we got there, we noticed that our baggage receipts said "AA" to LA, but "UA" to boston. sure enough, i called united and found out that she had booked us on a united flight from LA to boston.
when we got to LA, we found that they had held the american flight to boston for the passengers from honolulu. we tried to get on, but they told us that our luggage was on united and we had to go with our luggage. we grumbled but didnt put up too much of a fuss.
a very unpleasant airport worker told us to go outside the airport and catch the A bus to the united terminal. we carted two carry ons, a stroller, a car seat, and our 9-month old to the front, only to wait for 30 minutes to catch the shuttle bus. once we got to the united terminal, we had to wait in line to check in all over again.
by the time we got to the counter, our flight was leaving in 35 minutes. the united agent took the paperwork given to us by the gate agent in honolulu, only to tell us that they were only boarding passes for our original american flight, not the vouchers that were supposed to be supplied by american. so basically, we had reserved seats, but NO TICKETS. she called american, got hung up on, disconnected, out of service... and finally got a person, who put her on hold. when she finally talked to the american agent, she was told to make us GO BACK TO AMERICAN and get the vouchers for ourselves. our flight was now 30 minutes from departure, so we told her that we werent going back to the other terminal. she agreed that it was ridiculous and told the american agent to get the vouchers to her, pronto.
she printed boarding passes for us, and we had to race through security (bypassing the line, since the final boarding call came over the PA system), sprint to the plane, and then frantically install the carseat so we could sit down for takeoff.
obviously, there are numerous issues here, but i've recently been so disappointed in company customer service that i dont know if should waste my breath complaining. it was the most hectic 2 hours, we almost missed our flight (and who knows which airline would have ended up flying us home), and we could have ended up on our original flight after all.
should i call and complain, or just let it die?
fiasco
Aug 1st, 2003, 10:55 AM
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If you got the fone number of the person who would be receiving your letter,and actually got a humnoid to answer,you would be asked to "write" in your comments.If you called reservations,it would be a total waste of time for you.You can get an address to write/email on the AA.com website.But a letter is a better shot at receiving some sort of 'compensation" for your "fiasco" as it were.
Aug 1st, 2003, 11:24 AM
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I agree with BeachBoi. There were many issues and if you're going to complain, I think it would be best addressed in writing. Try to outline and detail the primary service failures. You may want to include what you believe is fair compensation. I don't know whether it's worth it to you to spend the time to do this. You may end up with only a form letter.
Aug 1st, 2003, 11:39 AM
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I re-read your original post. I think if you fly AA often (possibly AA elite) or have future flights planned with AA, in which case I would also state that in the letter, then it may be worthwhile to write. But it also seems to me that the agent at HNL did what she thought would be the best solution at the time. And although several problems occurred during this process and it was certainly a hassle, ultimately you made it on a direct flight back to Boston without being stuck overnight in LA.
Aug 1st, 2003, 11:49 AM
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Patti-
that's why i was wondering if it was worth my time at all. if they look at it from your perspective, we did get back on a direct flight. but i'm soooo mad, we wouldnt have made it if we werent so persistent and busting our asses to get there. i agree that the agent in HNL did what she thought was best, but she did it incorrectly by never giving us the voucher. the united agent didnt have to give us the boarding passes, she did it because we were obviously frazzled and traveling with an infant.
i dont usually fly AA (i've been screwed by them once before) so it's not like i want a free ticket... but i am just so tired of crappy customer service that i kind of want to make a stink just to make myself heard.
fiasco
Aug 1st, 2003, 12:46 PM
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You should write a letter, but I would not expect free tickets. At best AA will give you some miles, and if you're not a member of AAdvantage, you may get a voucher good for future travel in the amount of $100, or something similar. Or they could surprise you and ............
AA is my favorite airline, but I'm not taking any sides here. I can't imagine what a pain in the butt it must be to run around LAX with an infant, do what you were told to do, only to find out that somebody forgot to finish the job. At the same time you have to understand that you and I are no more than some number in the computer, and as sad as it sounds, it's reality. AA or any other airline transport millions of people every day, and occasionally there will be a screw up. I always try to think that the people behind that desk are just like you and me, they do try hard to resolve issues that come up to the best of their ability, and yes, sometimes there will be employees that do not give a s**t, just like any other business. Overall I would say that most of the time airline employees are trying their best, but I also realize they are not perfect, and also I fly enough to see the "other" side of the story. The customer may be always right, but it doesn't give them a right to abuse somebody, which I've seen on many occasions.
Recently I had to fly to LA so I flew Tampa to Miami and connected to LA. Well my MIA to LAX flight was delayed about 2 hours, and to top this off, MIA is one of my least favorite airports, just because it's a zoo on any given day, and I always have some problem flying through there. The ONLY reason I wanted to fly through there was because I like the plane for the 5 hour flight. Anyway, I did not complain, did not write any letters, I basically just accepted the fact that I was going to be 2 hours late. About a week later I received an e-mail from AA with apology and informing me that the CS rep deposited 7000 miles into my account as a possible remedy for my time wasted. I heard of that happening to others but never experienced it myself, so it was a nice surprise. I thought it was a nice gesture on the AA's part and gave me reason to think that occasionally we are NOT just a number.
AA is my favorite airline, but I'm not taking any sides here. I can't imagine what a pain in the butt it must be to run around LAX with an infant, do what you were told to do, only to find out that somebody forgot to finish the job. At the same time you have to understand that you and I are no more than some number in the computer, and as sad as it sounds, it's reality. AA or any other airline transport millions of people every day, and occasionally there will be a screw up. I always try to think that the people behind that desk are just like you and me, they do try hard to resolve issues that come up to the best of their ability, and yes, sometimes there will be employees that do not give a s**t, just like any other business. Overall I would say that most of the time airline employees are trying their best, but I also realize they are not perfect, and also I fly enough to see the "other" side of the story. The customer may be always right, but it doesn't give them a right to abuse somebody, which I've seen on many occasions.
Recently I had to fly to LA so I flew Tampa to Miami and connected to LA. Well my MIA to LAX flight was delayed about 2 hours, and to top this off, MIA is one of my least favorite airports, just because it's a zoo on any given day, and I always have some problem flying through there. The ONLY reason I wanted to fly through there was because I like the plane for the 5 hour flight. Anyway, I did not complain, did not write any letters, I basically just accepted the fact that I was going to be 2 hours late. About a week later I received an e-mail from AA with apology and informing me that the CS rep deposited 7000 miles into my account as a possible remedy for my time wasted. I heard of that happening to others but never experienced it myself, so it was a nice surprise. I thought it was a nice gesture on the AA's part and gave me reason to think that occasionally we are NOT just a number.
Aug 3rd, 2003, 01:24 PM
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Next time install the car seat, as opposed to frantically install the car seat.
Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm
Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm
Aug 4th, 2003, 12:03 AM
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Unless you are a big time user of AA (ie, gold status frequent flyer or whatever AA call their best paying frequent flyers) I would not bother complaining.
You are unlikely to get anything other than a couple of low value vouchers which are pretty restrictive. Most vouchers that airlines dole out can only be used if buying your ticket directly from the airline or through certain travel agents who 90% of the time are not the cheapest agents.
So unless you are unemployed I doubt it is financially worth your while complaining.
You are unlikely to get anything other than a couple of low value vouchers which are pretty restrictive. Most vouchers that airlines dole out can only be used if buying your ticket directly from the airline or through certain travel agents who 90% of the time are not the cheapest agents.
So unless you are unemployed I doubt it is financially worth your while complaining.
Aug 4th, 2003, 05:56 AM
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UKUKUK.....It appears that you are new to this board......Newbies are required to follow rules....
Rule Number One......Name calling is NOT acceptable
Rule Number Two......Challenging a poster's command of ANY language is NOT acceptable
Rule Number Three....Screen Names may NOT be in upper case...Shouting is frowned on.
Have a nice day.......S
Rule Number One......Name calling is NOT acceptable
Rule Number Two......Challenging a poster's command of ANY language is NOT acceptable
Rule Number Three....Screen Names may NOT be in upper case...Shouting is frowned on.
Have a nice day.......S
Aug 4th, 2003, 08:02 AM
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BeachBoi
1) I have entered into some jovial name calling with AA, who initiated it in the first place. I am sorry if it offends you.
2) Challenging language - I am afraid this is necessary as some people do not write clearly or coherently and their posts do not make sense. AA falls into this category sometimes. As a general rule I do not comment on people's grasp of the English language but when someone attempts to insult you (like AA) one has to challenge it to find out what he is going on about. Unfortunately he remains unable to convey his thoughts clearly.
3) Why must screen names be in lower case? Fodors allowed me to choose this screen name and bopth you and AA have some characters in upper case in your screen names.
4) Shouting is frowned on. I assume you mean using upper case?
"Under no circumstance should you CALL....but write,concisely and unemotionally....."
Please practice what you preach.
1) I have entered into some jovial name calling with AA, who initiated it in the first place. I am sorry if it offends you.
2) Challenging language - I am afraid this is necessary as some people do not write clearly or coherently and their posts do not make sense. AA falls into this category sometimes. As a general rule I do not comment on people's grasp of the English language but when someone attempts to insult you (like AA) one has to challenge it to find out what he is going on about. Unfortunately he remains unable to convey his thoughts clearly.
3) Why must screen names be in lower case? Fodors allowed me to choose this screen name and bopth you and AA have some characters in upper case in your screen names.
4) Shouting is frowned on. I assume you mean using upper case?
"Under no circumstance should you CALL....but write,concisely and unemotionally....."
Please practice what you preach.
Aug 4th, 2003, 09:58 AM
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Calm down folks.
Am I to understand you did'nt miss your flight and were just a couple hours late? I just can't see AA doing anything about that, especially since it was mechanical.
I have ended up at a destination a day late and all I got(from Delta) was an at-a-boy response for dealing with them.
Am I to understand you did'nt miss your flight and were just a couple hours late? I just can't see AA doing anything about that, especially since it was mechanical.
I have ended up at a destination a day late and all I got(from Delta) was an at-a-boy response for dealing with them.
Aug 5th, 2003, 05:00 AM
#17
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yep, we made the flight. so i'm going to let it die. it's not worth one more second of my time to bother drafting a letter. thanks for all your input...
i'll continue to avoid american at all costs. they're 2 for 2 in my book for making mistakes and leaving out crucial details.
fiasco
i'll continue to avoid american at all costs. they're 2 for 2 in my book for making mistakes and leaving out crucial details.
fiasco
