Originally Posted by
PhillyFive
Called the US Gold line (now answered AA Plat) with a US-related issue. On hold 10 minutes and decided to call again.
Called the main US number - after a long BS announcement about prohibited items in carry-on (when will they finally get rid of that..??), an AA agent answered. Since the issue related to the US DM M/C Companion Certificate, I got transferred. Luckily, I got the best US agent I have spoken to in a very long time, so the issue was 100% resolved.
You'd think they'd realize we call a specific number for a reason instead of wasting everyone's time.
Yes, I had to endure the hazardous materials BS as part of my hold time. Someone claimed that's an FAA requirement, but I haven't experienced it with other carriers.
As inefficient as this experience was, the worst part for me was ensuring one of those old-school AA agents (that remind me of the old days of the people you'd encounter when calling the phone company). No matter how many times I clearly started my issue, she kept plugging away in SABRE with no hope of resolution. I'd normally admire that sort of tenacity if it was actually working towards resolution. This just seemed either downright stubborn (like she would get a demerit if she had to transfer me) or completely unintelligent.
And I guess it would be sour grapes if I mentioned that anytime I had this sort of issue in the past, all I had to do was email the gold address with the confirmation number. Didn't even need to include my DM number since they had my email on file. I didn't realize what an apparent luxury that was!