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-   -   AA Agent and PHL Passenger Get Into Major Tussle (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1917429-aa-agent-phl-passenger-get-into-major-tussle.html)

jcatman Jul 1, 2018 8:32 am

AA Agent and PHL Passenger Get Into Major Tussle
 
Allegedly, the passenger's cell phone was thrown to the ground and original tickets were cancelled:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/passen...ncellation-aa/

CHOPCHOP767 Jul 1, 2018 8:34 am

Good on the pax for refusing a BS $100 voucher, but the story is kind of all over the place. Still, I read pHL and thought no surprise there, the GAs are generally ambivalent, lazy, etc.

enviroian Jul 1, 2018 8:36 am

"I tried to take a picture of his name tag"

This is when everything went south. Too bad one can't do this without fear of retaliation and that's exactly what happened.

I'd like to see the video too bad it's not posted.

YtravelF Jul 1, 2018 8:37 am

Ummm, how does someone like that have a job?

enviroian Jul 1, 2018 8:47 am


Originally Posted by YtravelF (Post 29925823)
Ummm, how does someone like that have a job?

Hopefully soon to be "had" a job.

DavidDTW Jul 1, 2018 10:28 am

IMO, everything "went south" when the pax failed to review his travel documents at time of booking. Had he verified the name was correct at that time, this situation would never have happened.

Of course, that is still no excuse for the AA employee to behave the way they did!!

CPRich Jul 1, 2018 10:59 am

"That's strange, the agents in PHL are always cooperative and friendly"

- said no one who has ever flown through PHL

Finkface Jul 1, 2018 11:21 am


Originally Posted by DavidDTW (Post 29926097)
IMO, everything "went south" when the pax failed to review his travel documents at time of booking. Had he verified the name was correct at that time, this situation would never have happened.

Of course, that is still no excuse for the AA employee to behave the way they did!!

It wasn’t a spelling error, it was an entirely different name, which the guy was well aware of. Was the guy trying to scam and let someone else travel on a different person’s ticket? Probably why he doesn’t want his name used. Regardless, even if he was trying to scam, there’s no excuse for out of control behaviour.

TPG issued a clarification:
This story originally stated that the passenger’s name was spelled incorrectly on the ticket, while in fact it was a different name entirely. We have amended the sentence that referred to that aspect.

DCP2016 Jul 1, 2018 12:11 pm

"But, but, PHL gate agents are so friendly and helpful" -Nobody ever

CHOPCHOP767 Jul 1, 2018 12:32 pm


Originally Posted by Finkface (Post 29926233)
It wasn’t a spelling error, it was an entirely different name, which the guy was well aware of. Was the guy trying to scam and let someone else travel on a different person’s ticket? Probably why he doesn’t want his name used. Regardless, even if he was trying to scam, there’s no excuse for out of control behaviour.

TPG issued a clarification:
This story originally stated that the passenger’s name was spelled incorrectly on the ticket, while in fact it was a different name entirely. We have amended the sentence that referred to that aspect.

So, in the rush to get the matter to the "presses", TPG omitted a dispositive fact... Like loutish PHL GAs, hard to contain my surprise that the credit card shills over there pumped out click bait before verifying this crucial fact... :rolleyes:

btonkid12345 Jul 1, 2018 1:27 pm


Originally Posted by CHOPCHOP767 (Post 29926424)
So, in the rush to get the matter to the "presses", TPG omitted a dispositive fact... Like loutish PHL GAs, hard to contain my surprise that the credit card shills over there pumped out click bait before verifying this crucial fact... :rolleyes:

Even despite this - it is unacceptable for the check in agent to unilaterally cancel the tickets, especially after the $275 was paid.

The check in agent should be made to pay IDB to the 2 pax out of his own pocket.

Finkface Jul 1, 2018 1:51 pm


Originally Posted by btonkid12345 (Post 29926573)
Even despite this - it is unacceptable for the check in agent to unilaterally cancel the tickets, especially after the $275 was paid.

The check in agent should be made to pay IDB to the 2 pax out of his own pocket.

Again, I think there is a lot more to this and TPG is trying to paint the situation in a better light than it possibly deserves. First, not initially reporting the attempted scam. Second, were the tickets cancelled because they arrived at the gate after the flight was closed? The timeline makes me wonder.

Right at T-45:
So, another agent assisted in making the name change, charging the fee and checking the passengers’ bags, just before the 45-minute cutoff.
The passenger described in an email to TPG, which we reprint here unedited, what happened next:
Upon trying to leave, I expressed my unhappiness with the initial agent’s attitude. I tried to take a picture of his name tag. The agent gets irate, lunges across the counter, punches my hand, snatches my phone and throws it into the floor.


Then after all that happens:
After the recording stops, the agent threatened, in the passenger’s telling, to cancel their tickets. Again, a manager was called, who apologized for the situation and handed the passengers their boarding passes. The passengers rushed to security and got to their gate only to be stopped at the boarding door saying that the tickets were cancelled.

So at T-45, they start arguing again with the agent, trying to photograph him and the altercation occurs, which they start recording. They again call a manager, wait for him to arrive, tell the story, probably show the video, presumably the agent tells his side etc, etc. How long does all that take? Remember, they only had 35 minutes left. Only then do they head through security to the gate. Did they make it to the gate by T-10? Or did the altercation, filming, argument, manager intervention, more argument, security, and run to the gate all take longer than 35 minutes and they missed the boarding cut off? If so, then I am not surprised they stuck to the letter of the boarding time law and the agent cancelled the ticket once they missed it and he saw they werent boarded by T-10.

That is my suspicion based on the pax own account of the timeline. And if TPG originally omitted the fact that it was entirely different name on the ticket (which is what caused the inital delay to reissue the ticket at check in), then I can also see him omitting this part of the story as well. As I said, just my suspicion but the timing seems awfully tight for all that to happen.

Uncle Nonny Jul 1, 2018 2:09 pm

Not unique to Philly. I had a ticket cancelled on me at DFW in May when I was told to "fly another airline" by an agent. I told him i was taking a pic of his ID and writing a letter to customer service. He came at me, ripped my tags off of my bag (I was transferring from a TPAC to domestic flight, trying to get an earlier connection) and told me he was canceling my ticket. He did. Station agent wouldn't tell me why it was canceled but said I could buy a new ticket on the same flight. $600 later I got home. Twitter was no help. No there isn't anything sordid to the story. I'm still in shock two months later.

FlyerJT Jul 1, 2018 2:20 pm


Originally Posted by CHOPCHOP767 (Post 29926424)
So, in the rush to get the matter to the "presses", TPG omitted a dispositive fact... Like loutish PHL GAs, hard to contain my surprise that the credit card shills over there pumped out click bait before verifying this crucial fact... :rolleyes:

TPG author here glad to explain this situation. When I turned in the piece, that sentence noted that the "last name was wrong on the ticket". My editor misunderstood this and changed it to "last name was spelled incorrectly on the ticket." Unfortunately he didn't check with me before publishing the story, so it wasn't caught until after publishing.

Finkface Jul 1, 2018 2:22 pm


Originally Posted by FlyerJT (Post 29926691)
TPG author here glad to explain this situation. When I turned in the piece, that sentence noted that the "last name was wrong on the ticket". My editor misunderstood this and changed it to "last name was spelled incorrectly on the ticket." Unfortunately he didn't check with me before publishing the story, so it wasn't caught until after publishing.

Can you clarify what time the pax actually arrived at the boarding door?


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