ashase

I apologize in advance for the length of this post. Last year I took the Platinum challenge. I specifically asked (multiple times) that if I completed the challenge in July, would my status be good through 2018?. I was reassured that absolutely that was the case. Coincidentally, The Points Guy came out with an article confirming as long as it was after the 1/2 way point status was good through 2018. I paid $180 and commenced flying. All of my flights were strictly to meet the challenge. You are just stating the obvious. When I finally met the challenge, I got an email stating I would have status through 2017. Obviously, I was concerned and called. Once again, I was reassured that I would receive a new Platinum package at the beginning of 2017 good through 2018. The other day I received an email telling m that to extend status through 201828 it would be $899. I was concerned but not overly as I was sure that once I spoke with the AAdvantagr desk and explained everything they would sort this out.

I could not not have been more wrong!

in a nutshell, they said no that it is the date i signed up that determines (even though you don't get status that day). They also said it would have been $240 if I was getting it through 2018. I offered to pay the $60. I also asked them to pull up the conversations as I know they record all conversations. By this time I was speaking to a manager. She actually told me I should have known better despite what the agent had told me.
Yes, you read that correctly. I even asked her to clarify what she was saying and yes, I should have known. I clarified...I said "you're telling me that your in the practice of not standing behind what your employees say? It went on like this for a while. She said, well you took advantage of the benefits. Of course I did. These circular arguments continued until I jumped off. Inasked to speak to her supervisor and she said she didn't have one. What? To add insult to injury she offered me 5000 miles. Clearly, had I known I would have waited until June to start the challenge. Bottom line, no matter what proof I presented it did not matter. Although on a 6 month break from fly a lot and flew American. If they don't make this right, I will avoid American at any cost. I will also be posting anywhere and everywhere making sure nobody else falls into this trap.
Does anyone here have any advice on anything else I can do?

Thanks for reading this long post!