PTahCha

I'm glad I'm not the only person who experienced this crazy level hold time on AC - I thought it's because I don't have status on AC!

Although, I was able to get seat assignments on a UA award ticket/AC flights via Twitter DM - took less than 10 minutes. ^

24left

As we know, there is no SE line. There used to be a dedicated line some years ago and agents seemed to be more senior / experienced. Then "someone" at AC decided nope, SE's will just be at the head of the queue when calls come in. I've wasted time with agents who had a month on the job, others who had 3, and neither could not answer the question or make the change. I can be patient and wait for them to say "would you mind if I put you on hold and checked with my resource desk?".

Related anecdote: Similarly, I recall a few years ago, there were staff working the SE check-in line at YYZ who did not know process regarding something and I asked for a supervisor and when I commented about how the agent should know these things working in the SE line, the answer I received was: "X person at AC wants the juniors to learn on the job and the best way is to deal with SEs".

I laugh at all of this as I have on more than one occasion suggested billing AC for my time while training or teaching their staff.

Thus, I wonder if some of the reason for the long hold times are calls with agents who don't have the answers and need to go get help, thus delaying answering other calls in the queue.

canadiancow

At least they don't work at the airport.

I remember trying to get a MUC-YYZ BP from a YYZ dom MLL agent. After thinking I was crazy, she exclaimed to her colleague, "but he isn't even IN Germany!" As if the concept of a connecting boarding pass was foreign to her.

She had just gained enough seniority to win a MLL agent position, for the record.

Give me an eager junior over a jaded senior any day.

ffsim

OK I lol'd

nomadic.relief

Still 30+ now. Super frustrating as I would simply add my FF# online myself ... if only that was an option!!

ecc

I had ~35 minutes wait for E35k on the main line today, with a wonderful agent on the other side when she finally picked up. AC for business (formerly corp rewards) seem to pick up immediately, but I made that booking via aircanada.com for the raptors sale, as the discount code didn't work there.

canadiancow

What is going on. I had a 5+ wait on the SE line, so I figured something was broken, and HUCAd, I'm almost at 4 minutes on attempt 2.

I've never ever ever had it take this long.

Edit: 15 minutes before it was picked up

expert7700

Try calling at 3am EST. Recently I waited on hold 45min for a concierge, hung up, then waited 30 min for the super elite desk.

Bartolo

Three calls on same day this week. After 45+ min on first and second attempt, got fed up and let calls go (used Elite #). Third call picked up after 46 min. Many apologies from a great (experienced) agent. Went through all upcoming flights because the thought of calling again was too much.

Agent indicated that it’s been like this all week due to Lufthansa issues. Seemed surprised that I said it’s been like this since at least last spring and the start of the 737 Max issues.

Can't imagine what it would be like without status and/or had an urgent issue.

TechnoTourist

I tried to call yesterday evening and after getting the Lufthansa message and being told to try later the call was terminated.

Called in this morning at 7:30, got a slightly different message about Lufthansa but this time I was able to register for a call back. Got the call 10 minutes later while I was walking the dog so had to cancel and try again once I got home. Called again around 8 and got the call back 12 minutes later.

rufflesinc

when I call 1-800-361-5373 last week, the hold times were over an hour, never got to anyone.

WHen I call today, I can't even get on hold, just a message about high call volumes and to call back later.

How do you ever reach them if you're on travel and need to make an urgent change to reservation?

jomama341

For those looking to get through to customer service, just wanted to share a small success story:

On Saturday evening, I needed to cancel a reservation for the following day and was racing against the clock to get through to Aeroplan customer service. After several failed called attempt and getting put on a hold for over an hour, I failed. The flight departed the next day without me and I thought I had forfeited 55k miles.

I rebooked another flight on the same route for the next day with more Aeroplan miles and returned home on Monday.

Yesterday (Thursday), I decided to call Aeroplan to see if I could get my miles back for the flight I didn't use, fully expecting them to say no. I sat on hold for 1.5 hours and finally got through to a rep who was extremely polite and helpful. She escalated the situation to her manager and called me back an hour later to let me know that my miles would be re-deposited! I did have to pay a $100 fee, but that's the fee they normally charge, so I wasn't opposed and the fact that I needed to change the reservation was my fault in the first place.

Overall, it sucks that I had to spend so much time waiting on hold, but I'm glad and appreciative that Aeroplan made it right in the end.

tcook052

Please note that due to the malfeasance of one member this thread will remain closed.

tcook052
AC forum moderator