I just hung up a call with the Manila call center which got me nowhere after a good 20 minutes of circle conversation.

I have an AA award economy ticket from JFK to HKG and I would like to select a seat. It is a rather long flight but I was not able to do so online. So I called to find out whether I am allowed to pre-select a seat.

I gave my name at the beginning of the call and the agent asked me again for the name on the ticket. Since I had already given her my name I thought she wanted the full name, with my middle name. After I gave her the full name, she said the name did not match her record and refused to go on. I told her the name was either my first and last name or my full name with my middle name. She said she could only accept the first answer if it did not match, nothing she could do for me

I was absolutely dumbfounded!