HORROR STORY: Need advice how on to proceed [AA cancels my ticket]
Jun 24, 2015, 5:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
HORROR STORY: Need advice how on to proceed [AA cancels my ticket]
Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum and recently experienced a horror story with AA. I'm hoping you folks can provide some guidance in regards to my current situation.
Below is what I sent to AA Customer Relations and I believe it should explain my situation:
"To whom it may concern,
On Saturday June 20th, I was unable to get on my flight from St. Thomas to JFK due to my ticket being cancelled. The following is an overview of what happened that day.
On the day of my flight I was unable to print my boarding pass via the self serve kiosk and was advised to contact a customer service representative for assistance. Upon talking with the representative at the AA desk I was told that I had cancelled my ticket on June 18th at 11:52am EST and needed to call AA’s customer service support line.
On June 18th at 11:52am, a friend of mine borrowed my mobile device to cancel his partner's flight into St. Thomas. Flight information for both myself and his partner Genevieve below:
John
Record Locator: AAAAAA
Ticket #: 001.........
Flight 936: STT to JFK, 6/20/15 at 1:04pm
Flight 45: JFK to SEA, 6/20/15 at 6:30pm
Genevieve
Record Locator: BBBBBB
Ticket #: 001.........
Flight 524: SEA to PHIL, 6/19/15 at 10:15pm
Flight 892: PHIL to SEA, 6/20/15 at 7:40am
Upon completing his cancellation request for Genevieve's flight somehow my flight was cancelled as well. At least this is what I was told by my AA customer service rep. I was then told by a supervisor that I needed to pay $595 to rebook a flight out of STT. That flight information is below:
John
Record Locator: AAAAAA
Flight 1350: STT to MIA, 6/21/15 at 8:10am
Flight 2407: MIA to SEA, 6/21/15 at 12:25pm
Conclusion: I believe that at a minimum I should be refunded the $595 that I was charged to rebook my flight. I never gave verbal or written authorization for AA to cancel my ticket. In addition, I spoke with an AA rep and was told that it isn’t possible for someone to cancel a ticket without a record locator number and billing address information – all of which my friend did not have and did not disclose. I believe this was a major mix up by AA and should not be expected to suffer the consequences. I fly with AA frequently for business purposes and have had an excellent customer service experience up until this point. I hope that in writing you today, AA reaffirms my continued trust in AA’s customer service standards by doing the right thing.
Thank you for your time,
John"
Below is what I received today (6/24) from AA Customer Relations:
"Dear John,
On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting us. We are sorry you are still disappointed with the charge that was applied when you changed your non-refundable ticket. We certainly understand your position and regret that there was a misunderstanding about this issue. Perhaps we can better explain.
We have reservation procedures in place to avoid errors in reservations transactions, and our Computer Reservations System acts as a safeguard as well. Of course, no matter how well trained or experienced an agent is, we are after all still human, and mistakes will happen. In such cases where we recognize our error, we have mechanisms in place to make adjustments for our customers.
Please know your reservation has been carefully reviewed, and it appears to us that the reservation was canceled as requested. Under the circumstances, we are afraid we must respectfully decline to process a refund.
Please know that the charges (i.e. the fare difference) we apply to change a non-refundable ticket is not meant to deter you from changing your plans or assessed as "penalty" for doing so. It is collected in association with the customer benefit of changing non-refundable tickets and is periodically adjusted to reflect airline operating costs.
Thank you for allowing us to address this matter. We hope this issue won't jeopardize our business relationship. We would consider it a privilege to have your continued patronage.
Sincerely,
Agnes N."
At this point I don't know how to proceed. I feel robbed and AA seems to be unwilling to accommodate my request.
Has anyone been in a similar situation?
Thanks in advance and sorry for the lengthy read.
I'm new to the forum and recently experienced a horror story with AA. I'm hoping you folks can provide some guidance in regards to my current situation.
Below is what I sent to AA Customer Relations and I believe it should explain my situation:
"To whom it may concern,
On Saturday June 20th, I was unable to get on my flight from St. Thomas to JFK due to my ticket being cancelled. The following is an overview of what happened that day.
On the day of my flight I was unable to print my boarding pass via the self serve kiosk and was advised to contact a customer service representative for assistance. Upon talking with the representative at the AA desk I was told that I had cancelled my ticket on June 18th at 11:52am EST and needed to call AA’s customer service support line.
On June 18th at 11:52am, a friend of mine borrowed my mobile device to cancel his partner's flight into St. Thomas. Flight information for both myself and his partner Genevieve below:
John
Record Locator: AAAAAA
Ticket #: 001.........
Flight 936: STT to JFK, 6/20/15 at 1:04pm
Flight 45: JFK to SEA, 6/20/15 at 6:30pm
Genevieve
Record Locator: BBBBBB
Ticket #: 001.........
Flight 524: SEA to PHIL, 6/19/15 at 10:15pm
Flight 892: PHIL to SEA, 6/20/15 at 7:40am
Upon completing his cancellation request for Genevieve's flight somehow my flight was cancelled as well. At least this is what I was told by my AA customer service rep. I was then told by a supervisor that I needed to pay $595 to rebook a flight out of STT. That flight information is below:
John
Record Locator: AAAAAA
Flight 1350: STT to MIA, 6/21/15 at 8:10am
Flight 2407: MIA to SEA, 6/21/15 at 12:25pm
Conclusion: I believe that at a minimum I should be refunded the $595 that I was charged to rebook my flight. I never gave verbal or written authorization for AA to cancel my ticket. In addition, I spoke with an AA rep and was told that it isn’t possible for someone to cancel a ticket without a record locator number and billing address information – all of which my friend did not have and did not disclose. I believe this was a major mix up by AA and should not be expected to suffer the consequences. I fly with AA frequently for business purposes and have had an excellent customer service experience up until this point. I hope that in writing you today, AA reaffirms my continued trust in AA’s customer service standards by doing the right thing.
Thank you for your time,
John"
Below is what I received today (6/24) from AA Customer Relations:
"Dear John,
On behalf of American Airlines, thank you for contacting us. We are sorry you are still disappointed with the charge that was applied when you changed your non-refundable ticket. We certainly understand your position and regret that there was a misunderstanding about this issue. Perhaps we can better explain.
We have reservation procedures in place to avoid errors in reservations transactions, and our Computer Reservations System acts as a safeguard as well. Of course, no matter how well trained or experienced an agent is, we are after all still human, and mistakes will happen. In such cases where we recognize our error, we have mechanisms in place to make adjustments for our customers.
Please know your reservation has been carefully reviewed, and it appears to us that the reservation was canceled as requested. Under the circumstances, we are afraid we must respectfully decline to process a refund.
Please know that the charges (i.e. the fare difference) we apply to change a non-refundable ticket is not meant to deter you from changing your plans or assessed as "penalty" for doing so. It is collected in association with the customer benefit of changing non-refundable tickets and is periodically adjusted to reflect airline operating costs.
Thank you for allowing us to address this matter. We hope this issue won't jeopardize our business relationship. We would consider it a privilege to have your continued patronage.
Sincerely,
Agnes N."
At this point I don't know how to proceed. I feel robbed and AA seems to be unwilling to accommodate my request.
Has anyone been in a similar situation?
Thanks in advance and sorry for the lengthy read.
Last edited by JDiver; Jun 24, 2015 at 5:50 pm Reason: Redacted PNRs, ticket numbers, employee & flyer last names: privacy
Jun 24, 2015, 5:58 pm
#2
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
It would appear from the date and time stamp your friend cancelled your flight somehow, using your mobile phone. Whilst I can understand your angst, I can also see AA's perspective: they have a record that your booking was cancelled in what they see as a deliberate act. Did you have your PNR showing on the AA app or a web browser page? Somehow, an act was taken on your phone to cancel your return flight. (BTW, was Genevieve's flight canceled?)
What does your friend, the mobile borrower, say? In the end, it sounds like it's going to come down to his word and AA's time and date stamp on the cancellation.
There's little possibility this "just happened" by some arcane bug in the Sabre system; and that's the rub here. You may have to appeal to a higher authority, but you may not get any love. The amount charged seems correct, given the cancellation.
Very sorry you had this experience.
It would appear from the date and time stamp your friend cancelled your flight somehow, using your mobile phone. Whilst I can understand your angst, I can also see AA's perspective: they have a record that your booking was cancelled in what they see as a deliberate act. Did you have your PNR showing on the AA app or a web browser page? Somehow, an act was taken on your phone to cancel your return flight. (BTW, was Genevieve's flight canceled?)
What does your friend, the mobile borrower, say? In the end, it sounds like it's going to come down to his word and AA's time and date stamp on the cancellation.
There's little possibility this "just happened" by some arcane bug in the Sabre system; and that's the rub here. You may have to appeal to a higher authority, but you may not get any love. The amount charged seems correct, given the cancellation.
Very sorry you had this experience.
Jun 24, 2015, 6:01 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2004
Programs: AA 'kettle', Marriott Gold, ICH Gld, Hertz 5*
Posts: 5,258
Was Genevieve's ticket listed in your account?
Jun 24, 2015, 6:04 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
Hi JDiver,
My friend has confirmed that he provided the AA rep his record locator information ONLY (he didn't have my information) and successfully cancelled his flight. I've responded to AA's declination for a refund by requesting the audio from his phone conversation. He insists that no point in time did he disclose my flight information or hint that multiple flights needed to be cancelled.
If I were to raise the issue to a higher power, how would I go about doing s?. Is there anyway I can get a customer relations representative on the phone to further explain the situation?
No it was not, It was listed under my friend Adam's account. Completely separate.
Apologies but what is a PNR?
My friend has confirmed that he provided the AA rep his record locator information ONLY (he didn't have my information) and successfully cancelled his flight. I've responded to AA's declination for a refund by requesting the audio from his phone conversation. He insists that no point in time did he disclose my flight information or hint that multiple flights needed to be cancelled.
If I were to raise the issue to a higher power, how would I go about doing s?. Is there anyway I can get a customer relations representative on the phone to further explain the situation?
No it was not, It was listed under my friend Adam's account. Completely separate.
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
It would appear from the date and time stamp your friend cancelled your flight somehow, using your mobile phone. Whilst I can understand your angst, I can also see AA's perspective: they have a record that your booking was cancelled in what they see as a deliberate act. Did you have your PNR showing on the AA app or a web browser page? Somehow, an act was taken on your phone to cancel your return flight. (BTW, was Genevieve's flight canceled?)
What does your friend, the mobile borrower, say? In the end, it sounds like it's going to come down to his word and AA's time and date stamp on the cancellation.
There's little possibility this "just happened" by some arcane bug in the Sabre system; and that's the rub here. You may have to appeal to a higher authority, but you may not get any love. The amount charged seems correct, given the cancellation.
Very sorry you had this experience.
It would appear from the date and time stamp your friend cancelled your flight somehow, using your mobile phone. Whilst I can understand your angst, I can also see AA's perspective: they have a record that your booking was cancelled in what they see as a deliberate act. Did you have your PNR showing on the AA app or a web browser page? Somehow, an act was taken on your phone to cancel your return flight. (BTW, was Genevieve's flight canceled?)
What does your friend, the mobile borrower, say? In the end, it sounds like it's going to come down to his word and AA's time and date stamp on the cancellation.
There's little possibility this "just happened" by some arcane bug in the Sabre system; and that's the rub here. You may have to appeal to a higher authority, but you may not get any love. The amount charged seems correct, given the cancellation.
Very sorry you had this experience.
Last edited by JY1024; Jun 25, 2015 at 12:09 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts - please use multi-quote feature
Jun 24, 2015, 6:14 pm
#5
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Passenger Name Record (itinerary), on AA listed as six alphabet characters.
You could try a snail mail with a succinct explanation of the issue, with PNRs and ticket numbers (which I redacted above, for privacy) to:
Sean Bentel
Vice President Customer and Relations
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
(817) 967-2116
sean.bentel <at> aa.com
You could try a snail mail with a succinct explanation of the issue, with PNRs and ticket numbers (which I redacted above, for privacy) to:
Sean Bentel
Vice President Customer and Relations
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
(817) 967-2116
sean.bentel <at> aa.com
Jun 24, 2015, 6:24 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: stl
Programs: AA LT Plat/8.1mm now with 1350 miles left in my account and proud of it.. SPG LT Titanium.
Posts: 3,082
If AAs phone system recognized your number it may have pulled up your flight for the agent answering the phone and that could explain where the confusion began.
Jun 24, 2015, 6:25 pm
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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If the friend calls AA from the OP's phone, will AA's system recognize the phone number and enter OP's account for the convenience of their phone agent? If the agent takes the call and sees OP's account on his/her computer screen, the caller requests to cancel a ticket, and the agent sees only one ticket (or one ticket for the right date), it's easy to imagine a careless agent ignoring what's said on the phone and cancelling the ticket on the screen.
So I would want to know how AA's phone system behaves when a call is received from a phone associated with a FF account?
I'd start by checking whether Genevieve's ticket was really cancelled or not.
So I would want to know how AA's phone system behaves when a call is received from a phone associated with a FF account?
I'd start by checking whether Genevieve's ticket was really cancelled or not.
Jun 24, 2015, 6:52 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
If the friend calls AA from the OP's phone, will AA's system recognize the phone number and enter OP's account for the convenience of their phone agent? If the agent takes the call and sees OP's account on his/her computer screen, the caller requests to cancel a ticket, and the agent sees only one ticket (or one ticket for the right date), it's easy to imagine a careless agent ignoring what's said on the phone and cancelling the ticket on the screen.
So I would want to know how AA's phone system behaves when a call is received from a phone associated with a FF account?
I'd start by checking whether Genevieve's ticket was really cancelled or not.
So I would want to know how AA's phone system behaves when a call is received from a phone associated with a FF account?
I'd start by checking whether Genevieve's ticket was really cancelled or not.
If I might add, I never received a cancellation confirmation email for my flight. Are we supposed to receive a correspondence if our ticket is cancelled?
Last edited by J_Traveler; Jun 24, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Jun 24, 2015, 6:59 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
My response to AA's refusal for a refund below:
"Dear Agnes N.,
I too am sorry to hear of this disposition. Can you possibly help me to better understand the situation? Are you able to provide evidence of my cancellation and are you able to reference the recorded audio of the phone conversation that took place? This is very puzzling news and I'm struggling to understand the processes and procedures you have in place to protect against instances such as these.
I insist that this was a mistake on AA's behalf and I can't help but feel robbed.
If you could provide the requested evidence and a contact to which I can speak to verbally it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you"
"Dear Agnes N.,
I too am sorry to hear of this disposition. Can you possibly help me to better understand the situation? Are you able to provide evidence of my cancellation and are you able to reference the recorded audio of the phone conversation that took place? This is very puzzling news and I'm struggling to understand the processes and procedures you have in place to protect against instances such as these.
I insist that this was a mistake on AA's behalf and I can't help but feel robbed.
If you could provide the requested evidence and a contact to which I can speak to verbally it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you"
Jun 24, 2015, 8:28 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,159
Wow, horrible. I've never been in that situation (knock on wood) but I'd be furious, too.
Try going to Elliot.org and seeing if they can escalate this for you? Last resort, perhaps do a credit card dispute if AA won't play nice?
Try going to Elliot.org and seeing if they can escalate this for you? Last resort, perhaps do a credit card dispute if AA won't play nice?
Jun 24, 2015, 9:19 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Texas
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Posts: 2,669
By mobil device you mean your friend called on your phone or electronically cancelled by a phone ap or what? I would be concerned "your" device could be pulling up your ticket from cache or pre-populating your information.
Your friend, Genevive, or yourself should have a confirmation e-mail what actually processed. Which if it only shows Genevive should be helpful in arguing your point.
Your friend, Genevive, or yourself should have a confirmation e-mail what actually processed. Which if it only shows Genevive should be helpful in arguing your point.
Jun 24, 2015, 9:35 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 7
Thinking about filing something with the BBB as well.
By mobil device you mean your friend called on your phone or electronically cancelled by a phone ap or what? I would be concerned "your" device could be pulling up your ticket from cache or pre-populating your information.
Your friend, Genevive, or yourself should have a confirmation e-mail what actually processed. Which if it only shows Genevive should be helpful in arguing your point.
Your friend, Genevive, or yourself should have a confirmation e-mail what actually processed. Which if it only shows Genevive should be helpful in arguing your point.
Last edited by JY1024; Jun 25, 2015 at 12:10 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts - please use multi-quote feature
Jun 24, 2015, 9:44 pm
#13
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
Thanks for the advice. I just sent an email to the folks at Elliott.org
Thinking about filing something with the BBB as well.
The Ombudsman service at Condé-Nast Traveler magazine might be helpful, as well.
Originally Posted by J_Traveler
Thinking about filing something with the BBB as well.
Jun 24, 2015, 11:15 pm
#14
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: AA EP, Hilton Diamond, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 636
BBB is not a governement agency and has no control/authority over the airlines (or any other business for that matter).
Your best bet if you truly feel that you were charged the fee in error would be a a credit card dispute as another poster mentioned.
Jun 25, 2015, 12:38 am
#15
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP...couple hotels and cars too
Posts: 4,548
I would do a chargeback with your credit card, explaining that you are contesting the charge as you had a valid ticket (attach the confirmaion); AA cancelled it by mistake; and they should not have charged you. This is the best path as all other paths will involve AA jerking you around.
You need to be VERY CLEAR. Your post was confusing ... "mobile device"? Why? why not just 'cell phone'? Keep your concepts well defined. "He called and cancelled his flight, the agent made a mistake and cancelled both". Since he was using my cell phone, the AA system somehow pulled up my reservation."
Add "AA has recordings of this transaction, these recordings will clearly prove neither I nor anyone acting on my behalf cancelled my booking"
GL
You need to be VERY CLEAR. Your post was confusing ... "mobile device"? Why? why not just 'cell phone'? Keep your concepts well defined. "He called and cancelled his flight, the agent made a mistake and cancelled both". Since he was using my cell phone, the AA system somehow pulled up my reservation."
Add "AA has recordings of this transaction, these recordings will clearly prove neither I nor anyone acting on my behalf cancelled my booking"
GL
Last edited by Exec_Plat; Jun 25, 2015 at 12:59 am