zaffer

Sorry for the long post people. Below is my rant and I wanted to see if anyone else had similar issues.

I had 12H & 12J MCE seats for AA 119 (DFW-OGG) but my seats were changed to 29H & 29J during mobile check-in. I called AA EXP line right away to get my seats back but it was too late. The representative tried to push me away with "equipment change" and "schedule change", but I told her that wasn't the case and my seats changed right in front of my eyes. She then called it a system glitch and gave me some compensation for the unauthorized seat change. She also told me to constantly check my seats the day before departure.

I did listen to the representative's advice and checked my seats frantically the day before departure for return flight. However, the same "system glitch" happened again when I used mobile check-in. This time I had to call AA EXP line three times to get someone competent. Graveyard shift = poor service?

First Call: Representative insisted I still have mine MCE seats but refuse to email boarding pass or prove that I still got MCE.

Second Call: Representative said she can only control seat assignments prior to check-in. After check-in she has no idea what happens. No reasonable explanation. What's the point of seat selection if it won't be honored at check-in?

Third Call: Representative was nice and said "system glitch" and offered some puny compensation.

Not sure if this a problem with AA & US reservation merging or just pure bad luck.

DCAstudent

Did you consider the possibility that the agents were not permitted to tell you the reason someone else had to be given 12H?

pa3lsvt

FAM diddly FAM. Blame DHS, not AA.

GNRMatt

The odds of this happening to the same passenger both ways is EXTREMELY slim. Something more is at work here than a FAM.

zaffer

I did consider that when it happened the first time. The representative was providing answers that made no sense at all. At one point, she mentioned there was a schedule change and the system books everyone that were in the front to the back. I told her that will drive all the elites and people who paid for MCE or preferred seating mad. She responded nothing she can do.

It does feel like a system glitch after the second time. I just want a logical explanation but too bad AA can't give one to me.

DCAstudent

Depending on the route and the specific seat, it's actually not that slim...

RogerD408

CSRs frequently make up rules to justify why the system did something. That's easier for them than taking on the task of contacting IT and finding someone that would be able to investigate what the conditions were at the time of the change and why it happened (forget thinking web services can do this). Given some bean counter will probably create a report showing how their productivity was way below that of their co-workers, it makes sense for them to get you off the phone so they can take another call and keep their job.