pdx1M

I actually cut the airlines a lot more slack than some folks here but AA managed the most outrageous screw up I have ever seen yesterday. My wife (gold) and I (EXP) are returning LGA/ORD/PDX on tickets upgraded with VIPs purchased and upgraded 2 months ago. Check in at LGA and given a pretty tight connection in ORD ask about the hour earlier flight LGA/ORD. Probably says agent and issues boarding passes (5AB) for ORD/PDX and stand by cards for the earlier LGA flight. Get on the earlier flight (in coach - fine). Go to board PDX flight at ORD - bizz. GA says our reservations have been cancelled and flight is sold out - go stand over there while I board rest of plane. No concern that she is about to IDB a EXP or that AA seems to have royally screwed up. Asks for supervisor to come up. No super - boarding continues. I call EXP desk where woman is agast at what she sees in record. Someone just cancelled tickets for no apparent reason. Still no super and plane almost boarded (agent seems to be using the "maybe they'll just go away" approach). EXP woman calls agent directly at the gate who seems annoyed that EXP agent is wanting some action. It is holding up flight departure. Super finally appears - attitude is basically "tough". Now - after all this time GA says that she has 2 non-revs on board but that she doesn't want to remove them! EXP agent apparently tells her to get us on the plane. Ultimately she send us on the plane but doesn't bother getting the non-revs off resulting in more awkwardness. We get to sit separately in 2 of the worst seats in the plane - non-reclining exit and a middle. No meal of course when we had been planning to eat in 1st (bistro bag doesn't suit my diet). No apology - no regret - 2 of the worst customer service people I have seen in 2.5+ million miles of flying. Super actually said to me at one point that if I intended to stop flying AA over this incident then why should she even bump the non-revs to get us on the plane. Letter goes to AA today - need to figure out who it goes to. I have seen a lot of things in 30 years of business travel but never anything like this combination of screw up and garbage customer service. I can't even imagine what compensation AA could offer that will make me want to see the inside of one of their planes again given any reasonable alternative.

pb9997

Screw-ups happen. Royal screw ups as yours, should never happen and I'm sorry it happened the first place.

Your profile states UA UGS (top revenue flyer) so I assume you're an EXP with high yieldsw for AA as well. Being the case, I'd expect AA Customer service to bend backwards for both the above reasons.

Screwups happen - it's how they're dealt with afterwards that may reinforce one's loyalty.

Please keep us posted and have a nice 2005.

nrr

(1)If they didn't get you on the plane, as you noted, would be IDB, and they would have to pay you "real money" (as opposed to vouchers="fake money".) [Unless they got you to your destination within 2 hours...]
(2)Probably the non-revs were friends of the agent and/or supervisor--why should paying customers be treated better than friends?
(3)It seems that people in the service industry, look at the people they "serve" as a nusance that should be dealt with at their whim--of course they would not have a job if it were not for the paying customers!
(4)In addition to a complaint to AA higher ups--probably the president of the airline, file a complaint with the FAA (on their web site they have a nice form.)
(5)From you message the EXP desk was on your side--a plus for your complaint--did you get the name of the EXP agent?

chuck1

The thing I find most unsatisfactory about writing to the airlines with issues like these it you get a standard letter saying something like sorry we didn't do well on the day in question and we will promise to do better next time. Here is your $ off voucher.

While I appreciate the reply, I wish that they would specifically address my situation and really explain what happended.

yyzflyer

While in no way excusing the error or your subsequent treatment, the problem likely occurred earlier in the day when you failed to board your original reserved flight. If the records were not updated to show you taking the earlier departure from LGA, the computer would automatically cancel your remaining segment(s). Despite your treatment at ORD, the blame likely goes to someone in LGA.

millionmiler

Those employees should be fired today. I'd give them my boot up the @ss on the way out the door as well.

dallasflyer

This happened to me once. Took an earlier flight DFW-ORD, then was connecting to LHR-PRG. Was upgraded with VIPOW. When I took the earlier flight they cancelled my reservation when I then missed the schedule flight. The Flagship lounge people in ORD fixed it and got me a Biz seat on my ORD-LHR flight, which was great work from them. I think it is a glitch in the AA system or a failure of the agent who changes you to the earlier flight to fail to update something.

bstndance

I agree with what one FTer said, "a lette to the president". I had a major customer service issue with Sprint once and my friend suggested a letter to someone really high up in the company. I pulled their annual report off their website and got some names and addresses. It was handled promptly and efficiently. When a letter arrives at such a high place, the people that work their really don't have the time to deal with it and send it on to "get taken care of". It works well.

Dr.Buffy

Only a TEXAN could say that with feeling!! LOL!!
I had a similar incident happen to me after Thanksgiving on DFW-LAX with a tight connection.. they gave away my upgrade. Send your letter both snail mail and with an email to customer service. I also called, and got 4 upgrades posted to my account with the call, and another 4 when CS answered my email. Let us know how you do.. and yeah, they definitely deserved the old boot!!

azmmza

what use will upgrades be to this exp member?

stevekoe

I would be royally ripped, as well. I can only imagine that the GA was having a pretty rough day (no excuse, mind you) -- as they must have been pretty busy if IDBs were happening. I usually try to check my attitude (which I am quite aware of) at the door when I get to the aiport, but I imagine that I would have come absolutely unglued.

I don't know what they could do to make it right, either, but am curious as to how they will try to resolve. Please keep us posted.

Regards,
Stevekoe

pdx1M

I agree that the screw up was undoubtedly the immediate fault of the LGA staff. I figure that contributory blame has to go to AA's ridiculous computer system which doesn't seem to flag transactions that are likely to be erroneous (cancelling a flight for which boarding passes are already issued should be an infrequent enough event to warrant an "are you sure?"). I'll send a letter to Customer Service through the normal addresses but would also like to send one to either the office of the President or to the VP of Customer service. I have searched the AA site and FT but can't find an address or fax number for AA corporate offices - do any of you happen to know them? As I said at the outset I generally cut the airlines some slack because screw ups happen - what counts is how they respond to them and in my case AA failed miserably on that count. I suppose what I really should have done was to smile at them, let them close the door, and then point out that they now owed a minimum of $400 to each of us for an IDB (we would have been stuck overnight) and then asked what hotel they were planning to put us up in, my meal vouchers, . . . In reality, we just wanted to get home. I really agree with the poster who said that the most frustrating thing about deals like this is the &()(*U& canned response that comes back and the "garbage" points that go into your account as though that somehow addressed the issue. I'll update the saga when I get a response from them.

dphmicn

[QUOTE=pdx1M]......... I have searched the AA site and FT but can't find an address or fax number for AA corporate offices - do any of you happen to know them? .......QUOTE]

Here's a name/number I pulled off a recent SEC filing.

GARY F. KENNEDY, ESQ.
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
AMR Corporation
P.O. Box 619616
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Texas 75261-9616
(817) 963-1234

and one other name of note, but no address/phone.

Gerard J. Arpey Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

I'm guessing the first guy can find the second. Happy Hunting.

ijgordon

Unless you indicate in your correspondence that you are planning to sue, I don't think the General Counsel is the right contact. You probably want these folks:
Dan P. Garton Executive V.P. Marketing, AMR Corp. (probably head of AAdvantage)
Ralph Richardi Senior V.P. Customer Service, American Airlines
and of course:
Gerard J. Arpey Chairman, President, & CEO, AMR Corp.

I think you can use the PO Box 619616 Address, or alternatively the street address is: 4333 Amon Carter Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76155

I would send the same letter to all three, addressed to Arpey and cc'd to the other two.

Good luck.

sipples

It would have taken about two seconds for an intelligent gate AAgent to figure out that somebody in LaGuardia probably screwed up. (It happens. Happened to me recently, that an airline's computer hadn't been told exactly which initial flight I was on. No big deal -- it was quickly and very satisfactorily resolved.) You're holding first class boarding passes, and you're presenting yourselves for the correct onward flight at O'Hare. How did the agent think you got there in time to make the connection -- Amtrak?

Although your story doesn't quite rise to the worst I've heard. In the exact same circumstance (somebody didn't get the computer updated correctly on the first leg), a couple friends of mine (one top-tier on United) were holding first class boarding passes for Paris to Chicago. The gate agent denied them boarding and went so far as to rip the first class boarding passes out of their hands and tear them up. (And no, they in no way incited such behavior.)

She left United permanently. So did the entire major corporation she worked for. Can't say she had that direct impact, but her experience didn't help.