Optiontown with Aeromexico with 787 to 737 equipment downgrade
Apr 19, 2014, 6:21 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Posts: 265
Optiontown with Aeromexico with 787 to 737 equipment downgrade
In February, I booked AM flights from JFK to MEX and MEX back to JFK for travel in Sept. When I booked, the outbound JFK-MEX flight in Sept. was scheduled to be flown on a 787, the return on a 737. I went to Optiontown, and was offered an upgrade to Clase Premier on the 787 flight at $250, and on the 737 flight at $102. Even though the outbound upgrade option on the 787 was more than twice the return option on the 737, I decided it was worth it because of the aircraft and the lie-flat seat. So I bought both options.
Since then, AM has downgraded the outbound 787 to a 737 (they're pulling the 787 off of the JFK-MEX route as of Jul 21.) I contacted Optiontown to request either an adjustment in the $250 option for that flight (since what I paid to option, an upgrade to a 787 with a lie flat seat wasn't what would now be delivered if the option clears) or a cancellation and refund of the option on that flight, so I could try again later --- and make a decision based on the equipment and option price offered if it was an option I wanted to take.
I've had multiple conversations with Optiontown, and they refuse to make any adjustment or cancel the option. Their position is that I bought an option for an upgrade to Clase Premier, with no guarantee about aircraft type. I've talked myself blue in the face that the $250 option I accepted was based on an upgrade to a lie-flat bed international product, and now it was just a regular single aisle 'domestic first' product. My position is that the option should be priced similarly to the $102 I paid for the option on the return 737 flight. I doubt I would have paid $250 for an upgrade option on a single-aisle 737.
No give on Optiontown's part at all. They say they can't do it, but I confirmed that Optiontown and not Aeromexico was holding my money, so they could do it. I've gotten all of this gobbleyspeak about dynamic pricing and terms of service. I said let me take my chance that the option isn't pricing lower, refund my option cost on that flight and let me retry for it --- at whatever the current 'dynamic' pricing is. I expect it's lower, because the higher price offered was most likely due to it being a 787. No dice.
I'm outside the 60 day window to dispute the charge with my credit card company. I guess my next course of action is to file a consumer complaint with the Mass. Attorney General's office (since they're headquartered in Mass.) Any thoughts?
Since then, AM has downgraded the outbound 787 to a 737 (they're pulling the 787 off of the JFK-MEX route as of Jul 21.) I contacted Optiontown to request either an adjustment in the $250 option for that flight (since what I paid to option, an upgrade to a 787 with a lie flat seat wasn't what would now be delivered if the option clears) or a cancellation and refund of the option on that flight, so I could try again later --- and make a decision based on the equipment and option price offered if it was an option I wanted to take.
I've had multiple conversations with Optiontown, and they refuse to make any adjustment or cancel the option. Their position is that I bought an option for an upgrade to Clase Premier, with no guarantee about aircraft type. I've talked myself blue in the face that the $250 option I accepted was based on an upgrade to a lie-flat bed international product, and now it was just a regular single aisle 'domestic first' product. My position is that the option should be priced similarly to the $102 I paid for the option on the return 737 flight. I doubt I would have paid $250 for an upgrade option on a single-aisle 737.
No give on Optiontown's part at all. They say they can't do it, but I confirmed that Optiontown and not Aeromexico was holding my money, so they could do it. I've gotten all of this gobbleyspeak about dynamic pricing and terms of service. I said let me take my chance that the option isn't pricing lower, refund my option cost on that flight and let me retry for it --- at whatever the current 'dynamic' pricing is. I expect it's lower, because the higher price offered was most likely due to it being a 787. No dice.
I'm outside the 60 day window to dispute the charge with my credit card company. I guess my next course of action is to file a consumer complaint with the Mass. Attorney General's office (since they're headquartered in Mass.) Any thoughts?
Last edited by rgdave; Apr 19, 2014 at 6:57 pm
Apr 20, 2014, 10:54 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
Update: Posting on FT and tweeting seems to have gotten some results. After posting, I found the twitter address for the CEO of Optiontown, Sachin Goel (@iamsachingoel) On Saturday night I tweeted him with a link to this post, and within an house got a tweet back that he was going to have someone look into it. This morning I had another tweet from him:
"airline did change aircraft on yr flight. Our team will reprice the option. Thanks & best of luck for upgrade. At your service"
I'll post on here what the ultimate outcome on this is.
"airline did change aircraft on yr flight. Our team will reprice the option. Thanks & best of luck for upgrade. At your service"
I'll post on here what the ultimate outcome on this is.
Apr 23, 2014, 10:57 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
I got a voicemail from Optiontown yesterday saying they had repriced the upgrade option for my flight JFK-MEX, and it repriced at $126 (down from $250), and they'll be refunding the difference to my cc. I'm waiting to se if the refund actually posts.
May 2, 2014, 4:58 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
Got an email that the refund was posted. But a customer shouldn't have to go through this --- tweeting the CEO, posting on Flyertalk and other blogs, to get a resolution. Optiontown seems cut out of the same bolt of customer service cloth as Ryanair --- the answer is always 'no' unless somebody causes enough of a fuss that the cost of the bad online publicity could be worse than the hundred bucks it costs to make nice nice.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
May 2, 2014, 5:52 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
Got an email that the refund was posted. But a customer shouldn't have to go through this --- tweeting the CEO, posting on Flyertalk and other blogs, to get a resolution. Optiontown seems cut out of the same bolt of customer service cloth as Ryanair --- the answer is always 'no' unless somebody causes enough of a fuss that the cost of the bad online publicity could be worse than the hundred bucks it costs to make nice nice.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
Oct 26, 2014, 4:12 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: AS, UA, WN, IHG Diamond Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, CET 7*
Posts: 3,299
How did this turn out? Were you upgraded on any(all?) of the flights?
I'm curious as I'd never even heard of them until last month (thanks to this forum) and am waitlisted for SFO-MEX-SFO in November.
(Edited to add - I just realized you were the one who gave me the tip about saving bp's for sky miles credit, so evidently at least one of yours did go through. Did the miles eventually post after you submitted to DL?)
I'm curious as I'd never even heard of them until last month (thanks to this forum) and am waitlisted for SFO-MEX-SFO in November.
(Edited to add - I just realized you were the one who gave me the tip about saving bp's for sky miles credit, so evidently at least one of yours did go through. Did the miles eventually post after you submitted to DL?)
Got an email that the refund was posted. But a customer shouldn't have to go through this --- tweeting the CEO, posting on Flyertalk and other blogs, to get a resolution. Optiontown seems cut out of the same bolt of customer service cloth as Ryanair --- the answer is always 'no' unless somebody causes enough of a fuss that the cost of the bad online publicity could be worse than the hundred bucks it costs to make nice nice.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
In fairness to Optiontown, I think the CEO did see what the actual issue was --- that the value of the upgrade I bought, because of the equipment change, was different than the 'current value' with the equipment change. But with like so many companies, the flexibility to deal with situations that may be outside the script at the frontline isn't there. I appreciate that Optiontown in the end did the right thing. But I have no idea if any internal policies changed. If they did, my rants and posts were worth it. But if they didn't, Optiontown just decided to cut its pr losses and give me some money back.
It would be interesting to see if someone from Optiontown would chime in on this post.
Oct 31, 2014, 3:56 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AAdvantage, Skymiles, Priority Club, HHonors
Posts: 265
Yes, the miles did eventually post, but it took about 2 weeks after I sent the boarding passes to DL. So not sure if it would have posted 'automatically' without me sending in the boarding passes. Noted your post on another thread about your Optiontown upgrade coming through. I agree, it's a great deal and it seems to work.