Talk about a joke for a airline...look no further than American Airlines. No wonder they are one of the worst airlines still in business. I have flown them twice in the past couple month. Aside from their flights being very uncomfortable, they have not a clue on how to handle baggage.

My first experience I was flying from Miami to New York. We were waiting for curbside check-in. it was CHAOS! Guests everywhere. they had no control of anything. no orginization. It was so bad that I turned to my girlfriend & said to her "there is no way our bags are getting to NY". Guess who was right...ME. Not sure where they wound up but they were lost & had to be delivered to my home two days later.

Next go round...much worse and scary. I landed in Atlanta and only had a duffel bag as i was only travelling for a few days. While waiting for bags to come out of the baggage claim, they were being THROWN out of the drop. I am sure anyone who had fragile items had them broken. Finally my bag came in. I grabbed it and after a few steps, i noticed it was wet. I smelled it and as I am still not sure what it is, I insist it was urine.

When I opened my bag, all my clothes smelled! i went to baggage services, the agent smelled it and said PUE!!! She said they would pay for my dry cleaning. I had 30 days to file my dry cleaning bill and she said I could do it in NY. As it was now 7PM and I had an 8AM meeting, leaving no time for dry cleaning (overnight dry cleaning does not exist in Atlanta), I had to go purchase new clothes.

My expectation was that they were going to cover the additional expenses. I had my clothes dry cleaned the next day, got around to contacting American about two weeks later. after a "wait time" (as told by the automated service) of 69 minutes, I finally got through to an agent. I was told that i had to file my bill before leaving Atlanta and would not pay. after going back and forth, I finally got in contact w/ the head of baggage services for American Airlines.

He finally said, you're lucky but I am only going to pay you for the dry cleaning. No sympthoy. No understanding. No caring. No Apology. He said he would not pay for my additional expenses (which was only about $125). No compensation for the time & inconviences I went through. He demonstrated that the reason American Airlines Baggage Services department is a joke from the top down. I am a director for a luxury hotel chain and know customer service. Save yourself some time, sanity & grief...stay away from American Airlines.