FindAWay

Has anything similar happened to anyone else? Who should I contact to ensure I receive the miles reinstated to my account that mysteriously disappeared?

Background and Timeline: (all bookings were from my account; I was a passenger on PNR1 and MIL is sole passenger on PNR2)

8/9/22 - PNR1 - Redeemed 9,500 AA miles x 5 pax for a 4/1/23 AA n/s xxx-zzz

10/5/22 - PNR2 - Redeemed 14,000 AA miles x 1 pax for a 4/1/23 AA xxx-yyy-zzz

---intervening schedule changes to both PNR1 and PNR2---

1/7/23 - PNR1 & PNR2 - called AA to change both PNR1 and PNR2 to same 4/1/23 AA xxx-www-zzz itinerary

3/29/23 - cancelled PNR1 online. Miles instantly reinstated. Activity of redeposited miles appears in AA Account Activity.

3/29/23 - cancelled PNR2 online. Miles instantly reinstated. Activity of redeposited miles appears in AA Account Activity.

4/1/23 - flights from PNR1 & PNR2 fly (leg 1 slightly delayed; leg 2 slightly early)

4/9/23 - 61,500 AA Miles (associated with reinstated miles from PNR1 and PNR2 cancellation) and display of Activity of redeposited miles for PNR1 and PNR2 mysteriously disappears from my AA account - the cancellation activity no longer appears.

4/12/23 - Call AAdvantage Customer Service. Agent can see the cancellation and refund processed; but, confirms he cannot see the corresponding mileage activity in my account. Works with Web Services Desk to no avail. Agent submitted a request to a "different department" and expects I should have the miles reinstated within 5-days. Offers to "loan" 61,500 miles to me (I decline thinking this creates more confusion for anyone looking at my account). I ask for a case number and am provided a 15-digit "certificate number".

Any chance these miles come back to me without additional escalation and follow-up? With whom should I follow-up? I searched FT for similar experiences and was not successful (but, of course, I could have missed thread(s))

Antarius

Call AAdvantage customer service

JJeffrey

Yea, and just to clarify OP when you say you contacted AAdvantage Customer Service you are referring to the real AAdvantage Customer Service that Antarius mentioned above, not just the normal reservations number, correct? 800-882-8880

They're the ones who can ultimately fix it, so if you don't see any resolution in their expected timeframe just give them a ring back.

FindAWay

I've called twice regarding this issue.

First call (was on 4/11 and omitted from timeline above as it was not productive) I started with EXP desk hoping they could transfer me appropriately. EXP desk transferred me to AAdvantage Customer Service desk. After a half-hour on the phone, I had to hang-up so I could attend a meeting. The agent claimed they would continue to follow-up on the issue and "open a ticket"; but, I doubt anything happened after I hung-up.

Second call (on 4/12 mentioned above) was to 800-882-8880. I had more time; so, I spent another hour and, eventually, the agent understood (the problem is that AA appears to have different systems that show the cancellation and refund versus the system that actually shows the activity in the member's account; so, the agents check the first system and try to tell me that all is fine, then, I have to re-explain and they check the other system and, like me, are confused).

If the only way to try to resolve is truly third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, etc. calls to the AAdvantage Customer Service desk, then, I'll settle in for more hours of my time wasted to remedy an AA error. But, I was curious whether anyone on FT had a better contact or had experienced something similar and, if so, how it was eventually resolved.

MikeBOS

Deleted; misread the original post.

Antarius

I don't think this is the same situation. The OP said that the REINSTATED miles from a canceled ticket (by them) vanished.

It's likely a glitch of some sort. A fraud redemption wouldn't take away a canceled ticket's miles.

MikeBOS

OK, rereading the timeline I see you're right. Sorry for the false alarm...

FindAWay

UPDATE (no resolution yet, though) - After waiting about 2 weeks from when the case/certificate was created, I called again today. Most of the 75-minute phone call was spent trying to have the agents actually understand the issue. Once a supervisor did understand (55-minutes into the call), their tone changed completely (from telling me that everything on the account is correct to describing what seems to have happened in more detail than prior calls).

It appears that my 3/29/23 award flight cancellations were processed with miles reinstated on 3/29/23, but, that the process was "completed" on 4/9/23 and the completion was erroneously processed as a redemption instead of as a reinstatement (thus, re-deducting the miles from my account instead of refunding them).

They confirmed the case/certificate number is being processed; but, said it can take up to 30-days from initiation to be resolved (unlike the 5- days I was told when it was opened). So, more information, but, no resolution yet.

FindAWay

This afternoon the miles returned to my account back-dated to the date the reservations were canceled.