AA customer relations does not receive calls
 

I had an issue where AA messed up our flights and caused us to incur costs. I was told by the AA agent in the airport that the costs would be refunded if I submit the receipts and send the information to the AA customer service department. In order to get any sort of refund, you must send an email via the website and wait five days for a response. They offered me something that is not what I lost (cash) and are unwilling to refund me. Vouchers are useless to me since my business travel is on a corporate credit card and my personal travel for the next year can be covered with miles - why should I be required to spend more money to get back what I lost? I requested that they call me back and they won't do it, they just send another email 5 days later repeating the same thing.

I won't bore people with the details of the situation, but I did explain them to the Platinum Pro representative who felt they were more than reasonable, but he is not empowered to refund anything - only the customer service people who have no telephones can do it and make decisions without speaking with customers. I have had a similar situation with another airline who sent me a check without even asking - AA needs to step it up and reach out to customers to resolve complains. Especially elite members who spend a lot of money with them.

I had something similar happen with a delayed international flight, where the agent at the airport told me I could submit receipts up to a certain dollar value. AA Customer Relations refused.

Agree with your frustrations about not being able to speak with a live human, but it's been this way for as long as I can remember. AAdvantage Customer Service is a different matter, and you can speak to them by phone, but they only handle AAdvantage account issues.

I would say you were pretty lucky to have an airline send you a check. My general understanding is that airlines will rarely provide cash compensation for expenses incurred due to delays/cancellations even when it is there fault unless it is mandated by law (EC 261/2004). My limited personal experience in asking for a reimbursement involved being given a hotel voucher by DL for a hotel that was full and ending up booking my own hotel. Was turned down for reimbursement and given a $200 voucher instead (the hotel was less than that by a decent amount, and didn't care enough to escalate it). The CoC's are pretty clear about disclaiming liability in these cases --

"We'll do our best to ensure delayed passengers are as comfortable as possible. Gate agents are asked to look after customers with special needs including unaccompanied minors, customers with disabilities and the elderly.

In the event of long delays on the plane, we'll make every reasonable effort to ensure you have food (such as crackers or biscuits), water, access to the restroom and basic medical assistance if needed.

We are not responsible for any special, incidental or consequential damages if we're unable to meet this commitment."

You actually are contacting AA Customer Relations. They’ve not been available by phone for a number of years. See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html.

There are no “Platinum Pro representatives”; there is a Platinum Pro line to call that provides a higher priority than Platinum, Gold or no status AAdvantage numbers, but they all share the same call center representatives. (Only Concierge Key and Executive Platinum members have dedicated call center representatives.)

Another option:

Customer Relations

Our Customer Relations department is dedicated to addressing customer comments and unresolved concerns. The Customer Relations department will respond to our customer’s written complaints within 60 days. Customer Relations can be reached at:

U.S. Mail/Overnight Mail:
American Airlines Customer Relations
4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85034

But one can not call them, and they’re known for reliably not returning calls.

Ask for a Supervisor
 

I had a similar situation last year. Our first flight was delayed, which would have caused us to miss our flight to Seattle. AA re-booked us on a non-stop flight with Alaska Airlines (I knew my backups and asked for this, after the AAgent's several attempts came up with very late arrivals). There were several factors causing us inconvenience. Although our flight landed only a few hours after our original schedule, we were not allowed to check our bags in with Alaska for 3-4 more hours and were confined to the pre-security area. This gave us 1 restaurant option. We also had to pay $25 each for bags. (We waited at the airport for the better part of 8 hours for our re-booked flight). The AAgent assured us that AA would reimburse us if we wrote to them.

On the first reply, they offered to cover our meals if we emailed them receipts and give us some bonus miles. But they said they didn't cover bag charges of other airlines. I had to politely write them again and explain yet again that we used the other airline because of a delayed flight. Then I asked to speak with a supervisor if they couldn't resolve it. In the next message, I got a direct reply that no supervisor was needed and they offered to cover both meals and the $50 bag fees.

I hope your situation is resolved to your liking quickly.

There are two basic principles at work here. First, airline airport personnel will say literally anything to get you to go away, regardless of how truthful it may be. Second, airline customer service will try to do as little as possible to reimburse or compensate you after the fact. All airlines do this, it's just that AA is more hardcore about not deviating from these principles.

Interesting - I did write back a couple of times and ask them to either provide the reibursement or call me back, they did neither and wrote this:

I'm not seeing any additional information in your most recent correspondence that would change our handling of this matter. After additional and careful consideration, our position remains unchanged. I recognize that you may disagree with our decision. Let me assure you that our position does not lessen our regard for you as our customer. It is always our pleasure to serve you, and we are eager to do so again soon. Please give us another opportunity to earn your business.

Pretty sad customer service (or lack thereof).

I know this doesn't directly answer your issue with AA/the airlines, but this is why travel insurance is worth its weight in gold.

The one that comes with the Chase Sapphire Reserve has covered the annual fee for the next 5 years in terms of reimbursements.

I don't see that it is sad - just seems to be the response that you don't want - it looks like the person has read the details, not seen anything to change the position and just said so

Perhaps if you were prepared to let people know what happened, there may be a view that AA is wrong and perhaps look at how to word it to the airline

I went through this earlier this year - AA denied reimbursement via email, follow-up emails were unhelpful, I requested/insisted 3-4 times via email to speak with a supervisor by phone. I eventually received a call back in which they left a message with a number, and eventually (after multiple tries) was able to get a live person on the line.

I wrote down the number but have it only at my office, will look for it on Monday.

The only way to give them "another opportunity" would be to pay them money, therefore instantly "earning them your business." This is one of the more smug fake customer service phrases out there.

Let me translate that last email for you: