sombrachinesca

I rank the EXP telephone line as the #1 benefit of Executive Platinum status.

That's why the slow but steady drop in quality that I've noticed over the past 5 years is especially upsetting.

It seems that every time I need to call I end up having to make multiple calls just to resolve relatively straightforward issues.

Likewise, many of the agents don't seem too thrilled to be taking the call -- I don't expect them to genuflect when they hear my voice, but if you are going to be answering calls from the supposedly most valuable customers, a little bit of enthusiasm and responsiveness is probably in order.

Is it still the case that EXP calls get shifted to the general queue during busy times? If so, that might explain some of the variation.

JonNYC

Unfortunately, no, that's not the cause of the problem.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I called the EXP line a few days ago to try to apply one of my SWUs to a friend's flight from GRU last night. By miracle the inventory was there and the EXP TA (spoke very broken English) said she applied it. Friend got to the airport last night and SWU not applied but a check in agent somehow still got him upgraded.

JDiver

Unfortunately, I've had experiences where an EP agent told me:

1) I was protected in F on the next available flight after my canceled one. All I have to do is get my new boarding passes.

At the Admirals Club, I was told there had been no action taken, I had no further flights and my option at that point was an available coach seat to a destination nearby my original.

2) A SWU upgrade request had been attached to my flight(s).

No such action had been carried out - more than once.

3) Our incoming flight was very delayed; we would miss our connection. The EP agent said we were booked in F on a flight tomorrow. I made a hotel booking and canceled another after being assured our next day connection was secured.

When I checked with the IAD GA, no such action had been carried out; we were still booked on the flight we would miss due to our delayed DFW arrival. (Thankfully, LUS GA Heln was able to quickly sort it for us.)

These are IMO pretty major customer service failure by what are supposed to be elite agents. They're either not competent, forgetting to complete the necessary transactions - or liars.

GB

The quality, consistency, professionalism and training on the EXP desk has been on a huge downhill slide in the last few years. I also found the EXP desk to be one of the most valuable assets of achieving EXP status-especially during IRROPS.
Now, I frequently get poorly trained, non-proactive agents who have so little knowledge or common sense, it is a very poor reflection on AA.

Time traveller

Perhaps we can blame it on the merger, but there are often long phone wait just to get a phone agent and the quality of my interactions recently has declined significantly.

I had an international F award that I exchanged for an international J award to reduce a connection and save some flying time. The original EXP agent never requested a refund of tax/fees on the original itinerary, when she re-issued the new itinerary.

So a few weeks pass and no refund, so I call the EXP desk back to ask for the status of the refund. The EXP agent puts me on hold for half an hour without ever checking back to let me know what is going on and then disconnects. Then the next EXP desk agent has no idea what to do and says it has to go through the refund department, but their hours are 6am-4:30pm CST and they are closed. The third EXP agent says she can't touch the original itinerary and the tax/fees refund and I have to talk to someone from AA Customer Service. After being connected to the Customer Service, she is totally clueless as to what she needs to do.

Is this an isolated case or has the quality declined?

86gn

https://www.aa.com/i18n/urls/going-for-great.jsp

Doesn't look like a competent EXP desk is part of the plan. New furniture & power outlets seem to be the key.

Even the CK line has waits sometimes now.

fly747first

Sad but very true. Nothing is improving at the new AA.

SkedGuy

I'll add my own anecdotal experience. I crossed the 150k point threshold earlier this month, so I called the EP desk today to inquire about additional SWUs. The agent didn't know what I was talking about, so she transferred me to AAdvantage Customer service. The guy who answered the phone also didn't know what I was talking about at first, but then remembered he had a similar call a few days ago. He finally found the info and was able to deposit the additional SWUs after fumbling around on his computer for at least two minutes. Why wouldn't the new AA want its very best and most senior AAgents speaking to its top customers?

SFO777

Agree. EXP line now features unacceptable wait times and a disturbingly high percentage of inexperienced and clueless agents.

JDiver

This topic has been under discussion already; we've merged your new thread into the existing one. /Moderator

oysterhead43

I can tell if the agent is solid or weak in the first 15 seconds of the call. Sometimes I'm tempted to HUCA at 16 seconds.

SFO777

I know what you mean. I have HUCA'd on a few occasions when I wanted to make a change and just got the feeling that the agent seemed out of her league.

869

The REAL problem is when I have a day of travel or otherwise time sensitive matter and am connected to a newbie. While I may want to HUCA at 16 seconds into the call, I quickly realize I just waited 37 minutes for the EXP desk to call me back!

fotographer

Anytime any change is required for me
I will always ask them to send me a updated email
Found some so so agents and a few very good agents
By the way if the email does not show within 6 hours I do call back