QueenOfCoach

You're thinking in terms of the impact on the customer, not the impact on the business. Any business can (and should) fire a customer who is a drag on their bottom line, so long as they are not doing so for protected reasons. (Race, national origin, religious affiliation, gender, etc.) The threshold for this determination would be a highly guarded company secret.

So... the guy living in Dallas might think twice about excessive complaints if he risks getting fired by AA.

jordyn

Obviously it wasn't clear, since I wasn't the only person that didn't interpret it this way.

The rest of my post stands, in any case. In the case of the $4000 of clothing, it seems like the lawsuit resulted in an outcome where both the passenger and AA were satisfied with the result (since they settled), so it's exactly the sort of dispute that's designed to be handled through small claims court.

IADCAflyer

The question then becomes what happens to the miles in the FFs account. The airline is effectively acting as a bank for those FF miles and they are not fiat currency that Delta or United would accept.

JonNYC

You might as well make up your own answer to that question since none of this is actually happening.

QueenOfCoach

The airline is not a bank. Frequent Flyer Miles are not the same as a bank deposit.

An airline can zero out accounts if they so choose and terminate membership in the frequent flyer program.

QueenOfCoach

Jon, there are known cases where an airline has "fired" a problem customer. Ginsberg v Northwest Airlines comes to mind. It can happen. Ginsberg is an extreme example of an extreme chronic complainer who "went public" as opposed to accepting a confidential settlement.

The question in this thread is what is the risk of getting fired as a customer (terminated FFM account) if a certain course of action is taken. Risk and risk-tolerance can be difficult to measure in this situation.

If one has a very low risk-tolerance, then one might be well advised to skip the small claims court.
If one has a moderate to high risk-tolerance, then one might be well advised to go ahead.

Personally, I would take this matter to a competent attorney and ask that person about my chances of winning the court case, then make a decision about next steps, rather than relying on an internet message board. (My own attorney offers a free-of-charge half hour consultation. He often refers people to other attorneys who might specialize in the matter of interest.)

IADCAflyer

But they are a form of currency - you can use them for plane tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, magazines, gift cards, vacation stays, etc. So they have value. Parties fight over them in divorce proceedings all the time.

JonNYC

There are cases of people climbing to the top of clock-towers and showering bullets at the people below. And yet a decided majority of people walk the streets, uninjured, every day-- weird right?

Herb687

And open themselves up to further litigation if they do so capriciously.

On the whole, this is a stupid thread. An airline is not going to retaliate against you for suing them unless the suit was completely frivolous or something much more serious was going on behind the scenes (i.e. fraud). And if you take an airline to court, small claims or otherwise, and win or receive a settlement, then that makes it pretty clear that the suit was not frivolous.

AA runs a crap operation and treats its customers with utter disdain while providing terrible service. That being said, they're not so unethical as to double down on losing a lawsuit by then turning around and retaliating against a plaintiff. Courts don't look kindly on that sort of thing.

QueenOfCoach

It's all a matter of risk tolerance.

QueenOfCoach

True, a "form" of currency. But not real currency and the airline is not a bank. Thinking of FFMs as "money in the bank" is fallacious.

They are not regulated by banking laws. The entire program can be discontinued. They can be devalued.

My motto: Earn, church, burn. I don't think of them as money in some kind of bank. I think of them as something I should use within a year or so of earning them.

QueenOfCoach

In that I think we all agree.

My advice to the OP stands. Consult an attorney to see what are the realistic chances of winning the suit. Then proceed on that advice.

ijgordon

If attorneys knew what suits were winning and what suits were losing, why do we even bother with judges and juries?

QueenOfCoach

CHANCES of winning or losing.

"You have a very good case. You have a good chance of winning."

"You have a case with a poor chance of winning."

mvoight

If you get a loaner car from the Mercedes service department, it is NOT going to be a Honda. The law limits the amount you can claim for lost or damaged bags.
If the bags were lost for 2 days, I would not expect reimbursement for 3 days worth of clothing, but I would expect full payment for 2 days worth of clothing up to the value of the clothing I would normally wear.
I don't wear expensive clothing, so I would never be claiming that much, but if I wear Levi's, I am not going to replace them with Wranglers. If I am going to the beach, I am not going to replace my Birkenstock's with 88 cent flip flops from Walmart