Has anyone else noticed the customer service staff at American Airlines becoming more and more sassy?

I called this morning about a reservation of mine that had changed, and the agent was scatterbrained and didn't know what she was talking about. So, I requested to speak with a supervisor. I got one on the phone, and boy was he rude!

The result was that my reservation was changed like I wanted it to be, but he was short and snappy throughout the process. He even criticized my decision to have a longer layover when I explained to him that I'd taken the same flight before, had the 1st leg be delayed, and then almost missed the connection, hence why I was choosing the layover with a little more time.

I know the airlines are down in the dumps, but for the love of God, they're still collecting (a lot of) people's hard-earned money and could try to be nice if they're a "customer service" associate. I guess they're forgetting that the stress of high gas prices doesn't only effect the aviation industry.

They were sassy as far back as 10 years ago! That's how long it's been since I've flown them.....they were just sassy enough to turn me off forever!

I really don't think there's ever an excuse for a customer service rep in any business to be rude. I know they have to put up with a lot. And, of course, they shouldn't have to put up with abuse from customers. But dealing with customers problems is what they're being paid to do. Being rude to people who're just trying to sort things out is inexcusable.

IMHO AA has always had the worst service staff in the business (at least since the demise of PanAm). I have a gazillion FF miles - no choice due to a client location - and even though I'm usually at least in business, they are rude, surly - and not at all helpful when there's a problem.

My belief is that this is how AA treats them, makes no attempt to instill customer service - and this is the result.

I've had pretty good luck with American, and fly them preferentially. It seems whenever I fly United, on the other hand, that I have problems. I was trying to book seats to Kallispell--they have the only nonstops from ORD--and the rep just kept insisting they did not fly there! It's pretty bad when the reps don't even know where they fly!

I was having a similiar conversation with the American rep, Marilyn-- she was telling me that there were no options connecting through DFW to CDG. "Hmmm, A) I've flown that route before, and B) Isn't DFW your main hub?"

Apparently, her school of thinking was that since it was a FF ticket, I wasn't able to be rerouted even though they changed my itinerary.

After telling the "supervisor" that, he informed me that she should've offered me the option to be rerouted, and that she had been spoken to about this same thing before.

I could just imagine him yelling at this poor person after he got off the phone with me, and while I was happy he begrudgingly gave me what I wanted, I still felt bad for the 1st girl who probably just made a mistake. He, on the other hand, was just a jerk.

CAPH52: Agreed. If you can't service customers, then find a new profession. It's kind of the name of the game in that role

They are getting worse??? I admittedly haven't flown them in the last 3 months, but as a Dallas resident, I routinely list having to fly American a few times a year as one of the things I like least about this city (Southwest has earned all of my short-haul business).

Well, that's the trouble-- if Southwest or Jetblue flew transatlantic, they'd gladly have all my business too, especially for a longer flight.

Instead, I'm left with leftover polyester uniforms from the 1970's, with upholstered seats to match, and attitudes that just plain suck.