smallmj

Here is CBC's AC horror story of the day.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-...ight-1.4083558

I'll put my thoughts in the next post.

Guava

Maybe AA indeed made a mistake but the subsequent actions of AC likely broke US Law on IDB. Oversold or not, there is no justification for such a poor customer service.

This is an interesting story in that it is not dramatic yet many travellers can easily relate to. It does make you wonder if there is something terribly wrong with the culture at AC

smallmj

So they were supposed to be flying AA, but missed their flight due to long check-in lines. I don't know how valid this was, but AA thought it was valid enough to book them on the next available AC flight. I wonder if long TSA lines were also a factor.

There was some sort of IT foul-up between AA and AC. The mother didn't get properly ticketed, but the other three did. I doubt we'll ever know what happened there or whose fault it was.

AC claims that they took the Dad and kids off the flight because the family stated that they wanted to stay together. The family "vehemently denies that." This is where things fell apart from a customer service viewpoint. The family feels that the were treated very poorly by the AC staff, both during the incident and during the complaints process.

For those wondering why CBC is posting so many AC horror stories, I imagine the UA fiasco and the previous CBC AC articles are generating enough reader submitted horror stories that they can run with the juiciest ones for new articles. I expect another one of these stories every few days for a long time to come. Remember the beginning of the Galapagos story:

(emphasis mine)

Low Roller

I noticed that it's the same reporter on alot of these stories. Looking to make a name for herself?

YYT82

Likely an AA ticketing screw up. Similar thing almost happened to my friend this past weekend (also rebooked from AA to AC). Luckily for her I asked for the ticket info and I checked for her to find out the coupon wasn't attached properly, so she got on the phone with AA to get that fixed. Had that not taken place, she probably would have gone through what the mother (Kelly Moore) went through.

Whether AA problem or not, the way it was handled was not satisfactory. There is no doubt AC lags behind in customer service. There are ways to make customers feel like you've done a lot for them when in fact nothing was done. If AC is contractually in the right, their agents should be trained to do just that. Asian airlines CSRs are incredibly good at making you feel you've received excellent services, perhaps AC should send some managers to be trained there.

YYT82

And she is exposing her lack of fact-checking or investigative abilities and lack of knowledge on airlines industry/tickets with the string of stories that she's run.

smallmj

This sort of thing seems to happen all too often. There are lots of similar stories in the Aeroplan threads, especially with flight changes on *A airlines other than AC. Is the ticketing process really that convoluted and arcane? We complain a lot about AC IT systems, but this makes it look like the entire industry has completely fubar'd IT.

(SFW version of fubar = fouled up beyond all recognition)

ffsim

It's almost like airlines go out of their way to come across as "the bad guys." You know, like taking a simple ticketing error and snowballing it into a (arguably non-newsworthy) national story while stealing $100 in checked baggage fees from people who never even flew with your airline.

Absurd.

YYCCL3

Totally agree with this. I'd be inclined to believe the customer is incorrect in this particular situation - but the way it was apparently handled by AC is terrible. When you are in the customer service business, your main opportunity to swing customer opinions one way or the other is in "exceptions" - not normal operations!

I also agree with something I read in another one of these threads - CBC's site should have a quick link along their top navigation bar entitled "Air Canada". They're well on the way to having AC as vilified as the oilsands industry. Couldn't happen to a more deserving organization

james dean

CBC is hoping for a major "real" story like the UA/AA so their priming the pump with these silly everyday mishap stories..

Northern Canuck

CBC doesn't need a major story about AC. AC is already done in the minds of a lot, if not majority, of Canadians. We are now at the point where the gov't has to get involved to protect the consumer because AC could care less..

vernonc

More interesting is the six weeks to respond to the original complaint and $100 compensation. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. I bet CBC is getting a lot of clicks and keeps running these stories.

rankourabu

If the family had valid tickets issued by AA - they should take AC to the cleaners for this, hire some ambulance chasing lawyer and get their proper IDB compensation and then some. Thats the only language AC will understand.

Stranger

However the answer from AC clearly indicates that they are unwilling to take the blame. In contrast with other recent cases. They also claim the flight was not overbooked.

As usual, we don't really have the complete and exact actual facts.

ffsim

We know that AA took care of the family after they got the boot from the AC flight. So while AC totally messed up the the the communication-with-their-pax department, it's entirely possible that they're not to blame.

Except for stealing the $100. They're totally at fault on that one