Bingo. And that's the problem. Crap inflight service is indeed routine.
I don't bother complaining about bad service or bad food anymore since I now realize that no one at USdbaAA really cares.

What irritates me is that American provides mediocre service, yet they call it a premium product. What further irritates me is that these transcons have been hit with higher mileage redemption levels for J (32,500 miles instead of 25,000) and F (50,000 instead of 32,500) under the new rules.

The twitter DM is a much better way to resolve the issue or at least, present the issue. You feel like you've been listed to which is pretty pathetic standard. Speaking of pathetic, I feel for the OP: I too would be bothered that you're made to feel like you're inconveniencing an FA simply by asking them to their job. Going for great, for sure.

The response from AA is just fine. What more would you want said and why would it make any difference if someone sat there and came up with however many different iterations there of, "sorry you believe that the service was subpar."

What matters is what AA does with the complaint. If it's forwarded to a crew base manager who speaks with the individual and that person realizes that passengers do complain, that's more than sufficient. If it's the individual's Xth complaint, perhaps AA does something.

Just send in a webform and it will all get addressed in the same manner.

Respectfully, I disagree.

What matters most is how AA's response makes the OP feel/think about future business with AA. Gold standard customer service demands AA demonstrate they understand OP's beef and its significance to him, take ownership and apologize for the failing, and make a reasonable and practical gesture to keep/earn his future business. Bonus if they include a human/non-robo-worded intention to investigate and correct the staff behavior (though this relies on OP's good faith).

Had a bad purser on a recent FRA-CLT flight in J. Didn't both mentioning this to AA since it just seemed like a waste of time with them lately. Who knows what they do with the "complaints".

I agree with you. However, how AA deals with the complaint is not within the customers' control. Giving honest, straightforward feedback is the best we can do. How the company treats it will eventually reflect on how much they value it.

No harm putting in a mention. Whats that sports analogy about missing every shot you don't take? Perhaps, they will have heard just about enough after your complaint and act upon it!

Well, respectfully, that's all well and good, but there was nothing inherently wrong with the reply, IMHO. That it happened to use the identical wording to address another customer's (identical) complaint is kind of irrelevant in my view.

When a customer gets a robo-reply that has little to do with the complaint, THAT'S a reason to be miffed.

:rolleyes:

i know, thats why they've worked so hard to not make any changes to the catering...oh wait lol.

Then again nothing pleases you so i can see why they wouldn't bother. No matter which thread it is, can be completely off topic lets bash the US management team. Nevermind the people writing these responses are most likely LAA employees, and this purser is a LAA employee.


Form replies are the standard response, doesn't mean nothing is done about it. These people have to read hundreds of emails every single day, they don't have the time to write something unique everytime. What else are they supposed to say anyways? as long as they addressed your complaint and copy/pasted it and forwarded it along, what else does everyone want? someone to hold their hand and coddle them and write them a love note telling them all will be okay and they're dreadfully sorry?

Types of complaint-filers:
- The Indignant ("a note telling them all will be okay and they're dreadfully sorry")
- The Idealist (enough feedback may make a difference)
- The YMMV points-hound ("...a goodwill gesture would be appreciated")
- The Vindictive Name-Dropper ("fire the poor sod!")

Does AA deposit miles into someone's AAdvantage account (like Delta does) when someone sends in a complaint like this?

Nope, not any more. You don't like it, fly someone else. The only comp worthy complaints these days are mechanical issues like malfunctioning IFE or lights or delays. Crap service and food won't get you any miles.

This is a really didficult subject to deal with, because unfortunalely certain people will make a habit of frivilously complaining if they feel doing so will elicit "compensation." As a result of that abuse of the system, service levels go down and legitimate complaints fall on deaf ears and get canned responses. In a perfect world, people would not complain frivilously to score miles or $ compensation, there would be far fewer complaints, and when people legitimately complained AA would be able to meaningfully respond.

I hope that, at a minimum, complaints about FAs and other employees go into a database, and if certain individuals get an unusually high number of complaints, AA will actually investigate the matter and take remedial action.

My solution when traveling, especially on airlines like AA (which I love by the way), is to just be as self sufficient as possible, and not react when I get bad service. IFE broken, I have my ipad and Bose headphones. Food disgusting or nonexistent, I bring a snack on board. FAs surly and rude/hostile, I just ignore them and focus on the many good AA employees instead.

I don't like having to accept that as the norm, but the best thing to do, I find, is just neutralize problems so they don't affect me as much. And just brush it off.

AA is not going to turn into SQ, CX, TG etc... But there are other reasons to love it, and it is operationally a very good airline. So take the good with the bad.

I disagree. They do provide compensation miles for service complaints.

Last month was on an Express flight (CRJ-7) and was #1 on the upgrade list. There was 1 open seat in first as boarding was being completed. Had the FA bring the GA on board and I requested the seat. GA refused to allow me to sit there, and plane went out with one seat empty.

I sent a complaint letter to AA just advising them of the incorrectly followed upgrade procedure, and they gave me 3000 miles.