Ticketing error--what should I ask for in return?
 

I ordered two tickets recently--one for my husband and one for me. Mine went through fine. My husband's ticket didn't come in the mail. I phoned AAdvantage (we were using miles to upgrade). They said there was no credit card # in the record, and assured me the ticket price, etc. was still okay. I gave them CC #. Today, the ticket arrived and it was $290 more than my ticket.
I phoned AAdvantage and they said not to worry, just take it to a City Ticket Office. I did and they reissued it, but the BA portion was $74 more than the original price. Because of my two phone calls and having to go out of my way to have it reissued, plus paying more than it would have been if the original agent had done it correctly, I'm going to write to AAdvantage.

My questions are: who exactly should I write to and is it out of the question to ask for some compensatory miles to be put into my husband's AAdvantage account? If not, what do you think is reasonable to ask for? Thanks for any input you can give me.

The silence is deafening!

I just did a search of past posts on this subject and came up with the following answers to my own question:
a) don't complain because they put it in your record and you'll be labeled a complainer.
b) at most, all you'll get is a limp handshake of a letter in return.

So I got off with $75 more than I should have paid and little of my time wasted. It's less than many of you have had to put up with, I'm sure. It's all relative.



[This message has been edited by Nanook (edited 02-10-2001).]

I would expect AA to square the deal with you for the money but to ask for miles I think is a bit much.

I've always found AA to go overboard in trying to accomodate difficulties.

Nanook;

Send your email with all of the information to Customer Relations. Explain that not only did they err by changing the fare, but you have been out considerable time trying to get their error corrected. Give them ticket numbers, dates, amounts, etc so they can research it. Request them to correct their mistake and see if the other takes care of itself.

I do not believe assumption "a" above is correct. Vent as you like. Usually the only time "personal" comments are put into a record is when there is some type of threatening response to the representative that should be documented just for just common sense. All exceptions are usually commented in an account to back up the rep during QC for why they made some type of decision to deviate from stardard procedure, like posting a flight without documents. Its CYA for the rep, not to the member.

Have a nice trip. Hope you get a huge refund and many miles. And I hope your lights are on.

[This message has been edited by Island (edited 02-10-2001).]

Please keep us posted about AA's response. I had a run in with AA last year and I did complain and was able to resolve the matter. However, I think I have been tagged a complainer and sometimes I can feel the iciness at the oter end of the line from aa agents

I tried to fill in the online form on the aa website. 1000-word limit. After a few minutes of typing and a few more minutes of editing it down to 1000 words, I clicked on submit and it told me my session had been timed out. AArrgghh!
So I phoned AAdvantage customer service and explained the whole situation to the nice woman who answered. After getting on the phone with someone for a minute or two, she came back on the line and said they would send me a voucher for the difference in what the ticket should have cost and what it did cost. I felt that was fair.
But she read me what the City Ticket Office agent put in the record, which said, "Customer misunderstood and thought the ticket would cost the same as when reserved." It went on to say other things, which were totally wrong. You just never know what's in the record. I did not misunderstand, but as someone on the Hilton board said, sometimes it's better not to know what's on your record. Less stress.

Nanook:

I am not surprised at AA's clarification. I had a similar experience. AA customer service rep was suffering from selective amnesia and had indulged in CYA tactic. I had to refute their record point by point to resolve my situation which could have resulted in $350 worth of extra charges on my CC.

MSP2000, what is the CYA tactic? Sounds interesting.

CYA

Cover
Your
A**

As in protecting yourself by making sure that
everything in your control shows you in the
best possible light...

drewman

Ah so...thanks drewman. I've used that tactic once or twice...