Mr. Harrow raises some legitimate points, but destroys his position as soon as he plays the race card. Let's consider his points;
1. He paid for an upgrade. He did not believe that it processed correctly, so he kept making upgrades/payments. He called his credit card company to verify. I believe him, but why didn't he check his reservation to determine if an upgrade went through?
2. He claims he called AC to ensure that he had an upgrade and that his multiple charges were reversed.
Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. AC will have the call logged and it would be interesting to hear that call and the length of time it took. The agent may have reversed all of the charges resulting in the loss of upgrade. Or maybe his instructions were not clear.
3. I explained my whole situation and she said “what do you want me to do? I can’t make up a seat and give it to you...”. I turned to leave-but then said to her “with all the trouble Air Canada caused me, and me being Star Alliance gold, the least you could’ve said is I’m sorry”.
She was right. She couldn't do anything about an upgrade that wasn't there. However, yes, he was owed a sincere apology. Why is it so hard for AC employees to say sorry? Is it because they are frustrated with AC IT and resent catching heat every time IT fails? (Someone should explain to him that *A Gold means nothing. AC only cares about Altitude status.)
He loses my support when he states fraud that was committed by charging my card several times. Sorry Mr. Harrow, that isn't fraud because there was no intent to mislead or to unjustly profit from an illegal act. What was experienced was AC IT, and sadly we all have experienced it.
4. However, this is where he loses me and will most likely upset people who would otherwise be strong supporters is when he states;
they still say “sir this line is for Business class or priority passengers” half the time I’m ready to board-
As irritating as it is, I have had this happen to me and the forums are filled with such events. I find it insulting when people toss out the I was hard done by because I am black or polka dot or a transformer person or whatever. line. No sweetheart, you just had an encounter with a person trying to do the best he/she can by mentioning the line. What Mr. Harrow doesn't appreciate is that a lot of people get confused and mixed up or try to jump the line. Why insinuate that AC is biased against people of colour? It's always the same M.O. Don't have a strong enough case, toss out an allegation of racial prejudice.
Where are the false promises or the disrespect? Ineptitude yes. An unreliable IT system, yes. A very poor phone service with lengthy wait times, yes, but no, the allegation of overt racially motivated prejudice is not supported by the facts of this case.
I expect that everyone here is sympathetic to him, and I certainly am, but just once, I wish we could have a complaint without the hyped up claims of prejudice when here is no evidence of the prejudice.
And yes, I agree AC most likely y screwed up. What else is new with anything related to its IT platform?