platbrownguy

Not in this thread. Not sure why you are disputing a basic fact of OP's narrative.

Diet coke.
Mod 1: cherry syrup
Mod 2: lime
Mod 3: easy on the ice
Mod 4: tall glass

Antarius

Coke usually comes in a tall glass anyway. If easy ice is deemed a modifier, I don't know what to say - I don't know a single bartender that would struggle with this or be surprised by it.

Regardless, this post summarizes why American has ...... standards. Qatar can make me a martini in the air, but it's too much to ask for a tall glass and easy ice because it's a "drink modifier".
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nineworldseries

No dive bar I've ever been to has snacks, soda machines, clean bathrooms, people in suits and ties, and a membership fee of $650 a year. A closer equivalent would be a very downscale country club with no golf, only airplanes.

777lover

Surprised someone hasn’t suggested a credit card chargeback to AA for the flights he was traveling on due to inability to secure a diet around Rogers and a lime. 😂😂

vasantn

Man, this is such a simple concept. I can't wrap my head around the fact that so many are just not getting it.

1. A bartender's job is to tend bar (yeah; radical definition, I know). Tending bar involves fulfilling reasonable customer requests in the area of drink service.
2. Yes, there are usually two (or more) sides to every story. Another radical thought: I tend to give credence to the stories of long-time FT members, unless they have an extensive history of whining.
3. The OP is fluent in English but clearly not a native English speaker. Therefore, one has to make allowances for the use of certain words that may seem exaggerated. For example, the French say "Je suis désolé" as a simple "I am sorry." The literal English translation "I am desolated" would seem completely OTT. We can apply the same understanding to the OP's use of the word "humiliated".
4. Whether or not the OP was indicating that he was going to leave a tip has ZERO relevance. Tippers and non-tippers should receive the same service. Before the self-service machines, I always tipped a dollar or two for a Coke with ice. I don't remember it ever being refused because of the triviality of the task.
5. When I'm paying $500/year for a membership at a "club", I'm entitled to get "service with a smile" to all service requests.

That is all.

Adam1222

The triviality of the complaint matters.
Most of us agree this probably wasn't the best customer service in the world! The question is whether it truly reflects "humiliation" and a major gripe, and such an outrage to support some of the awful responses, calling for automatic termination to "asserting dominance" because someone didn't understand why a customer wanted "cherry sirup" in a diet coke when there was a machine that puts "cherry sirup" in a diet coke.

For those comparing this to a fancy private club, I'm not sure what private club is $650 a year and provides free well liquor.

As most normal people have noted, miscommunication and maybe not handled wrong. A great affront to the delicate sensitivities which warrants summary execution? Lord.

Antarius

The fact is that any competent bartender in any bar anywhere can handle this without incident. And any competent member of the service industry can handle this without escalation.

How is it that other airlines manage to pull it off while we bend over backwards justifying crappy service here?

If AA was a bastion of excellence and this was an anomaly, then sure, I'd understand skepticism for the dramatics of the situation. However, AA isn't that and many replies on this thread show why and how that continues to be tolerated.

Adam1222

If you read any of the airline fora on FT, you will find people making similar comments. Some people are just extremely demanding.

Antarius

That is true - but it is also true in every industry. I've had demanding tech clients, demanding marketing clients, demanding service industry clients etc.

AA has below average service standards. That's the difference here, not the customers.

TarquinMontague

Having a PA to deal with such things is much easier, I don’t have to worry about learning to use those machines.

m907

Why have 10 pages been expounded over a glass of soda?

apeortdz

And I have read every post. It's been an interesting thread.

AAway

Posts like this (and mine) that clog it up <?>

TravelLawyer

Not commenting on OP's specific situation, but I just want to clarify that the Freestyle machines actually do use a syrup, and are not premixed. They are loaded with base soda mixes (like Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc.) with nothing else added to them, and there are separate syrups that get added during dispensing. That's how they are able to get 100+ different combinations. IMHO, the Freestyle machine cherry cokes are fairly decent compared to the premixed ones and I'm quite picky about my cherry colas (<--being 100% serious here).

LINDEGR

That could be correct but so few on this thread ever worked for tips/in the service industry so it always disappoints to read comments like that. It just baffles the mind that someone thinks that the use of a voucher means the employee (who is working just as hard as if it was a cash purchase) need not be tipped.