Rant...and some advice needed...
Dec 14, 2007, 10:29 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: FB Silver
Posts: 33
Rant...and some advice needed...
Hi everyone!
I just had what is definitely THE WORST experience I have ever had....
I'll try to make the story as short as possible.
Was booked on AF008 (CDG-JFK) on Dec 12. I had decided to try DL - so I booked a cheap Delta fare in coach (as I was heading home to visit my mom in NY) but it ended being on AF metal. I'm FB silver, so I was able to board with the business class pax. They started boarding, we started walking down the ramp, when they told us to STOP! and we had to wait for awhile. 20-30 mins later, they cancelled the flight, (due to technical problems) and as you can all imagine, it ended up being complete anarchy and mayhem with 2 ticket counters open for rerouting and no semblance of a line whatsoever - it was all pushing and shoving. AF paid hotels only for those who were in on a transfer, and paid taxis for everyone else. The business pax were rerouted first. A bunch of econ passengers were being really rude and kept complaing about how the business pax were getting rebooked before them (FYI, this was the last flight to JFK out of CDG, so they were rebooking people onto the earliest available flights the next day - one that had something like a 13h departure and the other one with a 15h55 departure. I was rebooked before the other econ passengers and after the business passengers and ended up with the rude econ passengers insulting me for the next 15 minutes, even though the gate agent explained that I was FB silver. Got my taxi vouchers, got my luggage, and left.
Next day, I checked in at 14h for the 15h55 flight. Everything went fine. They started boarding; I was behind some business pax, we got onto the plane, a flight attendant comes barreling down the aisle screaming, "NOT YET NOT YET NOT YET GET OFF!" So we waited on the ramp before being told to wait at the gate. I overheard one of the gate agents on the phone, saying, "Yeah, so apparently there's a problem with the air conditioning, but we can't cancel this flight because most of the people on this one are the ones who were on last night's cancelled flight and they are going to freak out if we cancel." She then hung up, saying she would call back in 10 minutes. At this point those of us who had already been on the plane were told to line up and have our tickets reswiped so we could be disembarked. An hour later we started boarding again, but take off was delayed for awhile again.
The thing is, I had reserved a special meal (gluten free) ages ago, and when the flight was cancelled the previous night, I called DL and AF to ask if there would be another GF meal for me on the rebooked flight. Both DL and AF assured me that it was confirmed. So I was pretty pissed off when I spoke with a flight attendant who told me my meal was NOT on board, it was not HER fault, she was quite sorry, but there was nothing to be done because we were going to be "pulling away from the gate sometime soon." I spoke with the cabin chief and explained that there wasn't anything I could eat on the menu on account of my GF diet. She apologized profusely, said that I wasn't supposed to be on this flight anyways, and that was why my meal was not onboard. I told her I had confirmed with AF and DL and she said that was really strange, since the flight had been cancelled, all special meals had been cancelled too. She finally offered to prepare a fruit plate for me, so when the other pax had their meals, she gave me a plate that had an apple, 2 clementines, and a handful of lychees. She then said she would file a complaint to AF on my behalf, and it would be signed by herself and the head pursor. She even came around to show me what she had written, as well as the signatures, and said, "So, you should be receiving a letter of apology from AF." "And....?" I prompted her. "Well, the rest is up to the discretion of AF, if they want to give you any sort of compensation. But you should at the very least receive a letter of apology."
Arrived at JFK 2 hours late. Went through customs only to be greeted by giant AF board at baggage carrousel with a long list of names on it and at the bottom, instructions to report to baggage agent. Of course, my luggage did NOT make it on board and was told to file a claim with baggage claims outside arrivals. The baggage claims agent was quite nice and funny, asked to look at my baggage tags, and said, "Aha! Your luggage didn't make it because the AF gate agent didn't change your luggage tags - she left on the tags from the cancelled flight!" He shook his head, started tapping on his computer, and told me the relatively good news that my luggage would be arriving the next morning at JFK so I should receive delivery sometime in the late afternoon. I couldn't write my contact information down, as my hands were shaking so badly from the lack of sleep and food. He added that a lot of strange things have been going on with AF lately, saying that they have been changing airplanes at the last minute, cancelling flights left and right at the last minute as well, and that there had been more and more baggage problems going on. I was told I could spend up to 100 euros on essentials but I was SO tired and the only essentials I really needed were my contact lenses and glasses, which were all in my toiletry bag, which was, unfortunately in my checked luggage. I ended up just going to mom's house, eating, then going straight to bed.
Now, what I was wondering was, do you all think that the claim filed by the cabin chief on my behalf is fine, or should I write an additional letter of complaint? I realize that things go wrong on flights, and I'm usually very patient and understanding about these kinds of things, especially when I'm flying on a (cheap) coach ticket, but I don't know, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed and shocked about the whole incident. My husband thinks it would be a good idea to write a formal letter of complaint once we get back to Paris after the holidays (he's coming next week) but I'm not sure that it's going to do any good at all...I mean, if I were AF management, I probably wouldn't really care at all...Any advice?
I just had what is definitely THE WORST experience I have ever had....
I'll try to make the story as short as possible.
Was booked on AF008 (CDG-JFK) on Dec 12. I had decided to try DL - so I booked a cheap Delta fare in coach (as I was heading home to visit my mom in NY) but it ended being on AF metal. I'm FB silver, so I was able to board with the business class pax. They started boarding, we started walking down the ramp, when they told us to STOP! and we had to wait for awhile. 20-30 mins later, they cancelled the flight, (due to technical problems) and as you can all imagine, it ended up being complete anarchy and mayhem with 2 ticket counters open for rerouting and no semblance of a line whatsoever - it was all pushing and shoving. AF paid hotels only for those who were in on a transfer, and paid taxis for everyone else. The business pax were rerouted first. A bunch of econ passengers were being really rude and kept complaing about how the business pax were getting rebooked before them (FYI, this was the last flight to JFK out of CDG, so they were rebooking people onto the earliest available flights the next day - one that had something like a 13h departure and the other one with a 15h55 departure. I was rebooked before the other econ passengers and after the business passengers and ended up with the rude econ passengers insulting me for the next 15 minutes, even though the gate agent explained that I was FB silver. Got my taxi vouchers, got my luggage, and left.
Next day, I checked in at 14h for the 15h55 flight. Everything went fine. They started boarding; I was behind some business pax, we got onto the plane, a flight attendant comes barreling down the aisle screaming, "NOT YET NOT YET NOT YET GET OFF!" So we waited on the ramp before being told to wait at the gate. I overheard one of the gate agents on the phone, saying, "Yeah, so apparently there's a problem with the air conditioning, but we can't cancel this flight because most of the people on this one are the ones who were on last night's cancelled flight and they are going to freak out if we cancel." She then hung up, saying she would call back in 10 minutes. At this point those of us who had already been on the plane were told to line up and have our tickets reswiped so we could be disembarked. An hour later we started boarding again, but take off was delayed for awhile again.
The thing is, I had reserved a special meal (gluten free) ages ago, and when the flight was cancelled the previous night, I called DL and AF to ask if there would be another GF meal for me on the rebooked flight. Both DL and AF assured me that it was confirmed. So I was pretty pissed off when I spoke with a flight attendant who told me my meal was NOT on board, it was not HER fault, she was quite sorry, but there was nothing to be done because we were going to be "pulling away from the gate sometime soon." I spoke with the cabin chief and explained that there wasn't anything I could eat on the menu on account of my GF diet. She apologized profusely, said that I wasn't supposed to be on this flight anyways, and that was why my meal was not onboard. I told her I had confirmed with AF and DL and she said that was really strange, since the flight had been cancelled, all special meals had been cancelled too. She finally offered to prepare a fruit plate for me, so when the other pax had their meals, she gave me a plate that had an apple, 2 clementines, and a handful of lychees. She then said she would file a complaint to AF on my behalf, and it would be signed by herself and the head pursor. She even came around to show me what she had written, as well as the signatures, and said, "So, you should be receiving a letter of apology from AF." "And....?" I prompted her. "Well, the rest is up to the discretion of AF, if they want to give you any sort of compensation. But you should at the very least receive a letter of apology."
Arrived at JFK 2 hours late. Went through customs only to be greeted by giant AF board at baggage carrousel with a long list of names on it and at the bottom, instructions to report to baggage agent. Of course, my luggage did NOT make it on board and was told to file a claim with baggage claims outside arrivals. The baggage claims agent was quite nice and funny, asked to look at my baggage tags, and said, "Aha! Your luggage didn't make it because the AF gate agent didn't change your luggage tags - she left on the tags from the cancelled flight!" He shook his head, started tapping on his computer, and told me the relatively good news that my luggage would be arriving the next morning at JFK so I should receive delivery sometime in the late afternoon. I couldn't write my contact information down, as my hands were shaking so badly from the lack of sleep and food. He added that a lot of strange things have been going on with AF lately, saying that they have been changing airplanes at the last minute, cancelling flights left and right at the last minute as well, and that there had been more and more baggage problems going on. I was told I could spend up to 100 euros on essentials but I was SO tired and the only essentials I really needed were my contact lenses and glasses, which were all in my toiletry bag, which was, unfortunately in my checked luggage. I ended up just going to mom's house, eating, then going straight to bed.
Now, what I was wondering was, do you all think that the claim filed by the cabin chief on my behalf is fine, or should I write an additional letter of complaint? I realize that things go wrong on flights, and I'm usually very patient and understanding about these kinds of things, especially when I'm flying on a (cheap) coach ticket, but I don't know, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed and shocked about the whole incident. My husband thinks it would be a good idea to write a formal letter of complaint once we get back to Paris after the holidays (he's coming next week) but I'm not sure that it's going to do any good at all...I mean, if I were AF management, I probably wouldn't really care at all...Any advice?
Dec 14, 2007, 1:37 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 154
My advise: write a separate letter (quoting the report filed by the FA).
Although those inflight reports do get sent to the Customer Relations department of your country of residence, they hardly ever result in contact being made unless you are FB PLAT or C2OOO or they have spare time on their hands (highly unlikely at the moment with the strike of October). Did the FA make a note of your address or FB card number? If not, AF would have difficulties getting in touch with you anyhow...especially since, as I understand, you booked with DL. If so and the flights were sold as DLXXXX (iso AFXXXX), your records will be held on DL's system and cannot be accessed by AF.
On the subject of the meal, I'm surprised that both AF and DL apparently confirmed that your GF selection would be available on the new flight. Special meals must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance and ad-hoc requests cannot be catered for.
Finally, on the baggage issue, make sure you do not write to AF in the US, using your US address. They will consider that you were heading home and did not therefore need to make any purchase whilst waiting for your delayed baggage to be delivered.
Voila...good luck
Although those inflight reports do get sent to the Customer Relations department of your country of residence, they hardly ever result in contact being made unless you are FB PLAT or C2OOO or they have spare time on their hands (highly unlikely at the moment with the strike of October). Did the FA make a note of your address or FB card number? If not, AF would have difficulties getting in touch with you anyhow...especially since, as I understand, you booked with DL. If so and the flights were sold as DLXXXX (iso AFXXXX), your records will be held on DL's system and cannot be accessed by AF.
On the subject of the meal, I'm surprised that both AF and DL apparently confirmed that your GF selection would be available on the new flight. Special meals must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance and ad-hoc requests cannot be catered for.
Finally, on the baggage issue, make sure you do not write to AF in the US, using your US address. They will consider that you were heading home and did not therefore need to make any purchase whilst waiting for your delayed baggage to be delivered.
Voila...good luck
Dec 16, 2007, 10:52 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,074
I'd say a 300 EUR travel voucher and some 10k miles plus $200 for the luggage issue is in order. This should be governed by EU rules and what you describe is not an 'act of god' either. Last time I had a major issue with AF I got a refund and a bottle of champagne in the mail ... but I am FB Plat and I am sure they look at this when it comes to such issues.
Sometimes AF CS is horrible and will not get back to you, it took me 2 additional fax messages to get things going. Don't give up!
Sometimes AF CS is horrible and will not get back to you, it took me 2 additional fax messages to get things going. Don't give up!
Dec 16, 2007, 2:30 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 154
I'd say a 300 EUR travel voucher and some 10k miles plus $200 for the luggage issue is in order. This should be governed by EU rules and what you describe is not an 'act of god' either. Last time I had a major issue with AF I got a refund and a bottle of champagne in the mail ... but I am FB Plat and I am sure they look at this when it comes to such issues.
Sometimes AF CS is horrible and will not get back to you, it took me 2 additional fax messages to get things going. Don't give up!
Sometimes AF CS is horrible and will not get back to you, it took me 2 additional fax messages to get things going. Don't give up!
When it comes to the baggage issue, I believe they'll just refund whatever was spent replacing items whilst waiting for the bag to be delivered. No random amount based on commercial considerations.
Dec 16, 2007, 3:08 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
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Posts: 32,074
Miles, certainly but I doubt that they'll also throw in a travel voucher. It's normally one or the other (or, as they say in French: fromage ou dessert). Unfortunately, technical issues with an a/c are still considered to be beyond the airline's control and circumstances where compensation is not actually due. While many disagree with that, AFAIK, no-one has actually been successful in challenging this in a court of law.
When it comes to the baggage issue, I believe they'll just refund whatever was spent replacing items whilst waiting for the bag to be delivered. No random amount based on commercial considerations.
When it comes to the baggage issue, I believe they'll just refund whatever was spent replacing items whilst waiting for the bag to be delivered. No random amount based on commercial considerations.
Dec 17, 2007, 9:19 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: FB Silver
Posts: 33
Thanks for everyone's replies and advice!
I've calmed down a lot since the fiasco...and have reverted back to my usual self which is that I'm relatively cool with disruptions and stuff like that, and being that I travel mostly in coach these days (I'm not working right now) and I'm merely FB Silver, I'm not going to expect any sort of compensation except for a letter of apology!
Anyway, my husband says he'll help me write up a letter in French for AF once we get back to Paris after the holidays - he says even if I'm not going to be receiving anything, it's more for the principle.
Re: the inflight report, yes, the FA did take down my name and FB#. And re: the special meal, I'm still relatively new to all of it since it's been somewhat recent that I've developped the gluten intolerance (which admittedly makes traveling a huge pain). I know that special meals need 24 hrs in advance, but I wasn't sure what the protocol was when a flight is cancelled, which was why I had called AF and DL to see if the meal would be on board, or if it would be cancelled. I mean, if they had said it would have been cancelled, I would have prepared my own food/snacks to bring on board, but as they told me it was confirmed, I merely ate a really large meal before leaving for the airport and didn't bring any snacks with me (I can't even find things to eat at the airport!).
Re: the delayed luggage - I didn't bother buying anything. My luggage arrived the night after I arrived, and I'm staying with my mom, so I had back-up items including a few extra pairs of contact lenses, so I was fine.
However, one problem is that I've been living in France for about 2 years now, but I never bothered to change my address on my FB account (my FB account lists my US address, since I didn't think it would become somewhat permanent, my living in France!). My husband and I are planning to move to the U.S. sometime next year (once he receives his green card, which should be sometime in January, but he's stuck at his work until March), so should my letter go to FB in the U.S. (since my FB address is in the US) or should it go to FB in France?
I've calmed down a lot since the fiasco...and have reverted back to my usual self which is that I'm relatively cool with disruptions and stuff like that, and being that I travel mostly in coach these days (I'm not working right now) and I'm merely FB Silver, I'm not going to expect any sort of compensation except for a letter of apology!
Anyway, my husband says he'll help me write up a letter in French for AF once we get back to Paris after the holidays - he says even if I'm not going to be receiving anything, it's more for the principle.
Re: the inflight report, yes, the FA did take down my name and FB#. And re: the special meal, I'm still relatively new to all of it since it's been somewhat recent that I've developped the gluten intolerance (which admittedly makes traveling a huge pain). I know that special meals need 24 hrs in advance, but I wasn't sure what the protocol was when a flight is cancelled, which was why I had called AF and DL to see if the meal would be on board, or if it would be cancelled. I mean, if they had said it would have been cancelled, I would have prepared my own food/snacks to bring on board, but as they told me it was confirmed, I merely ate a really large meal before leaving for the airport and didn't bring any snacks with me (I can't even find things to eat at the airport!).
Re: the delayed luggage - I didn't bother buying anything. My luggage arrived the night after I arrived, and I'm staying with my mom, so I had back-up items including a few extra pairs of contact lenses, so I was fine.
However, one problem is that I've been living in France for about 2 years now, but I never bothered to change my address on my FB account (my FB account lists my US address, since I didn't think it would become somewhat permanent, my living in France!). My husband and I are planning to move to the U.S. sometime next year (once he receives his green card, which should be sometime in January, but he's stuck at his work until March), so should my letter go to FB in the U.S. (since my FB address is in the US) or should it go to FB in France?
Dec 17, 2007, 1:02 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 154
Now, there's a difference between compensation which is prescribed by law and commercial gesture which is entirely down to the goodwill of the airline. What you receive in the past (and I hope will not receive again...-nothing personal here, just wishing you do not have to endure any more extended delays ) was a commercial gesture, which I hope the OP will also receive.
Dec 17, 2007, 1:15 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 154
However, one problem is that I've been living in France for about 2 years now, but I never bothered to change my address on my FB account (my FB account lists my US address, since I didn't think it would become somewhat permanent, my living in France!). My husband and I are planning to move to the U.S. sometime next year (once he receives his green card, which should be sometime in January, but he's stuck at his work until March), so should my letter go to FB in the U.S. (since my FB address is in the US) or should it go to FB in France?
Good luck
Dec 17, 2007, 7:13 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,074
With the baggage issue out of the way, I would recommend that you keep your US address for at least one good reason: it will be a bit easier to renew your Elite status (Silver) since members with a French address require more miles/flights than the others. It will also save you from having to ask your husband to write the letter for you. Finally, while I have no experience of AF's US customer relations department, they cannot be worse than their French counterparts. But someone else on this site might have more "hands-on" experience...
Good luck
Good luck
Dec 21, 2007, 9:47 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: FB Silver
Posts: 33
Thanks so much to everyone for their patience and their replies!!!
I will just keep my US address for FB, as my husband was just approved for his US green card this week, so we should be back living in the US within the next 3-4 months. I'll send in a letter to FB this week or the next....
Anyway, my husband is on his way to NYC today...hopefully he won't have any major problems like I did, though he did mention that there are some strikes going on, but they seem to be affecting ORY rather than CDG. Also, he's flying AA CDG-LHR-JFK so I have my fingers crossed that there won't be any baggage problems!
Happy holidays to all!
I will just keep my US address for FB, as my husband was just approved for his US green card this week, so we should be back living in the US within the next 3-4 months. I'll send in a letter to FB this week or the next....
Anyway, my husband is on his way to NYC today...hopefully he won't have any major problems like I did, though he did mention that there are some strikes going on, but they seem to be affecting ORY rather than CDG. Also, he's flying AA CDG-LHR-JFK so I have my fingers crossed that there won't be any baggage problems!
Happy holidays to all!
Dec 21, 2007, 11:12 am
#11
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 6,790
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that airlines always claim that technical problems are not something that can be foreseen, but any competent maintenance manager will tell you that's a crock -- and that they do in fact keep statistics and know "mean time to failure" for parts, etc., so they can figure out which spares to keep in stock, and how many.