American Airlines

Last leg on a long trip.

On 8 August 2007 I had a seat reserved on the 4:10PMflight from Miami to Orlando. I arrived at about 1:20PM on my AA connecting flight from Caracas and checked the departure schedule which listed Flight 1990 as confirmed but with no gate assigned. I waited patiently checking the screens regularly when finally at 3:45PM I decided to ask at a gate if they had any information on my flight. They did and said it had been canceled! I was directed to the re-ticketing counter where after about an hour’s wait I was told I was scheduled to spend the night in Miami at American’s expense as Flight 1990 was out of service. I had just flown from Rome, to Lisbon, to Caracas and I was not interested in spending the night in Miami. I asked about getting me on another flight and the attendant said it had 45 on the standby list. I asked about other airlines and he checked and said they were all full also. Then I asked about a voucher for a car rental and was told to go ahead and rent a car and submit a claim.

So I waited over 2.5 hours because American does not care sufficiently about it’s passengers to list cancelled flights. However that was not the end of the “no service”. I was told my bag would be on the next flight to Orlando that day and I could pick it up at the airport on Wednesday night or have it delivered. I called Thursday morning and the representative said my luggage would be delivered on Thursday. During this time that I was waiting for my bag, I was assigned a lost bag number and told I could check status on the internet. Each time I entered my claim number it reported that the bag had not been located yet. That status continued past delivery of the bag. After no delivery, I again called on Friday morning and was promised my bag by 6PM. That time came and went and no bag. Finally about 11PM I received a call from a delivery man saying he would deliver my bag that evening. I told him to just leave it by the door as there had been a signed note to that effect on my door for 2 days. That was not good enough for the lonseome delivery man. He persisted in calling and waking me at almost 2 AM saying he was ready to deliver my bag.

I submitted the receipt for the rental car and tolls to the American Claims Department and copied the President of American Airlines as well as the Department of Transportation. What I received was 5,000 miles added to my mileage account as well as a voucher for $200 for future travel on American.

Now if they had told me that they would not pay for my rental car I may have decided to spend the night in Miami and have dinner at American’s expense as they so offered. However I was lied to by the attendant about American paying for the car rental.

I really question if the support people that American has working for them are so incompetent, can we not infer that the pilots are of the same nature?

What are they talking about – solid airline? HAH! AA stinks. See my below message. AA ignored me and did nothing!

Sept. 19th, 2007

Dear Representative:

My family and I had an American Airlines flight from Bogota, Colombia to Orlando Florida on 8-12-07. There were 3 of us including my wife and 2 year old son. They charged us a full fare ticket for my 2 yr. old which I thought was abusive. We paid 2,336.00, this was not a discount flight. The flight 914 was scheduled to leave Bogota at 7:30 am, stop in Miami to change planes to Flight 816. It was delayed, supposedly because AA stated there was a 40 minute delay due to a flat tire. At 8:00am they informed us it would be delayed another 2 hours because the brakes had some mechanical issue. At 10:00am 2 1/2 hours late, we boarded the plane supposedly to leave for Miami at 10:30 am. From 10:30am to 3:30 pm we sat on the plane, with no food or drink, because of some other mechanical difficulties they had including: a gasoline indicator light in the cabin, and a fuse burned out in the motor. After waiting 2 1/2 hours to board, and 5 1/2 hours on board for a total delay of 8 hours without food or drink, two arguments started on the plane with the crew. People were furious and rightly so. They then took 8 people off the plane and luggage, presumably because they got them another flight and left us there to suffer more. They loaded the plane with more fuel while we were on board which I thought was very dangerous. At 3:30 pm (8 hours late) the plane finally took off from Bogota to Miami.

In the air, they stated all the flight connections had been made for us, this was a complete and total LIE. When we got to Miami at 8PM, no connections had been made and no one helped us find out how to get to ORLANDO our final destination. We had to go to 3 different counters and wait on lines before we could get someone to help us. We finally got a 10:00pm flight to Orlando and arrived in Orlando about midnight. This is a blatant abusive company and I am totally outraged at how they treated us because we are hispanic and they are racist.

I filed a BBB complaint and AA admitted all of the facts I stipulated, including bald tire/flat, bad brakes, gas light, fuse out, 8 hour delay etc. and still they offered NO COMPENSATION. This plane was unsafe and shouldn’t have been allowed to fly at all.

Cesar Ramirez
7550 S. Blackhawk St., apt. 6-105
Englewood, CO
80112

Has anyone yet successfully sued an airline for holding them hostage on a plane? AA has not yet responded in a satisfactory manner. In fact, even though I’m writing to their officers, the customer service people pick up the emails. See below.

10-09-07

Michelle F. Simmons
Customer Relations
American Airlines

Since you send emails as an outgoing only email address (please see below) I am required to respond in this manner. I have written in the past to AA customer relations 3 times and have yet to receive a single response.

This is an “outgoing only” email address. If you ‘reply’ to this message by
simply selecting the reply button, we will not receive your additional comments.
Please assist us in providing you with a timely response to any feedback you have
for us by always sending us your email messages via AA.com at
http://www.aa.com/customerrelations.

Regarding your offer of 12,000 miles compensation, please rest assured I do not consider this adequate compensation for the pain and suffering of waiting for a flight delayed 8 hours, or being held hostage on a plane for 5 hours with no drinks or food and a 2 year old for whom I paid approximately $800.00 for a safe easy trip to Orlando which I didn’t receive. I wonder if it would be to my advantage to stop wasting my time in attempting to deal with AA in a reasonable manner, and simply hire an attorney? Can I sue for pain and suffering of being held hostage on a plane without food or drink in a violent environement in which I felt threatened for 5 hours do you think? You’ve made it abundantly clear that you neither care for us as passengers nor as human beings by your actions. I fail to see why I would ever consider flying AA again after having been privy to your total lack of caring, your mechanically unsound airplanes and your complete and total lack of customer service. I have taken the liberty to read your BBB report and they stated and I quote:

Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unanswered complaint(s).

Lastly I wrote to Mr. Richardi, hoping he would respond, not you. It’s unfortunate he feels he’s too important to handle this matter.

See below.

We received your October 3 email sent to Mr. Richardi.

I have to say overrall, AA has really deteriorated and I am extremely saddened by your loss of professionalism and courtesy. I used to love AA having flown them many times to and from the caribbean with my family. It’s a shame to see what was once a fine company go down the toilet. My guess is you’ll be going the way of Woolworth’s and K-Mart soon. I’ll give AA one last shot, otherwise, I’ll be speaking to my attorney. You have 72 hours to respond in a satisfactory manner. Judge yourselves accordingly.

Sincerely,

Cesar Ramirez
7550 S. Blackhawk St., apt. 6-105
Englewood, CO
80112

My husband ans I were on our honeymoon and left JFK in New York on the 11th of Jan. Our luggage was sent on another plane to another Island we let management know as soon as we arrived at Punta Cana to learn this and at Club Med . We were told that our belongings would be here later ,then later came still no luggage We were told tomorrow between 3pm and 6pm we sat in our room waiting we were dressed for 30 degree weather and now in 80 degree weather so now we were forced to purchase clothes to get us by till our clothes get there the clothes didn’t fit we didn’t like them we were then told tomorrow your stuff will be here and once again it wasn’t. we sat in our room every day waiting for our bags and they didn’t get there it the day before we were coming home so we ended up having to buy more clothes we asked what was the price in American money they told us we will find out when we put it on our credit card. We ended up spending $1300.00 on colthes we didn’t want or didn’t need we had all we needed in our luggage that’s what we needed. We just want to be compensated for our clothes our vacation was ruined. After reading about other peoples problems this just sounds like AA dosen’t care. Why is that? I guess we will have to get a lawyer involved also. I also got in touch with Tappy Phillips from Channel 7 news All AA need is a little bit more bad publisity. Thanks for listening

The same thing that happened to Susan and Odojoe happened to me!! I was scheduled to leave for Rome from HPN with a connecting flight in Chicage O’hare. Boarding time was 12:45 and we had a close connection time. Nevertheless we were sent to board the plane at about 1:45pm. Once on board, the captain asked himself over the pa why it had taken so long to get us to the gate since the plane had been ready for boarding as of 12:15 (we wouldve had an on time departure) he even went so far as to say we all deserved travel vouchers but that he didn’t have any on hand.

Once on the plane we were stranded at the gate for nearly two hours during which I called AA’s 800 number and tried to make alternate plans. The phone rep told me to get off the plane because there weren’t going to be any flights from ORD to Rome until Wednesday and we wouldn’t receive hotel accomodations because it was “weather related”.

I then proceded to ask if we would be reimbursed for the transportation from HPN back home and the next days cab fare from home to JFK (we were rerouted on a nonstop flight the next day) and she said: “American takes great care of its customers, just save all of the receipts for additional expenses incurred because of the delay and contact customer relations, they will take care of it for you”. I followed her instructions and what did they say? A big fat NO, they say they do not cover expenses for weather related problems but my problem was not weather related it was caused by the gate personnel not sending us out on time and then getting the flight delayed because of other problems. I will keep trying as there are about 500 dollars in additional expenses due to cab fare and 1 hotel night that was charged. Good luck to you all!!

I have a little tip for you now. With a little ingenuity and a lot of luck,
I found the number for the corporate offices of AA in DFW ((972) 425-2469).
Now this number will take you to an unused extension, but by pressing 0 and
then 1, you can dial by name (last then first).

I also managed to get the name of the Claims Department Manager – Debbie
David. Her direct number is (972) 425-6551

Spread the word. AA can no longer rebuff our calls with their phone
sentries who” can’t transfer you to anyone”. Now All you need is a name and
you can get connected right to them and give them an earful if they deserve
it.

Ken

I was scheduled to fly out of SFO to Miami on Wednesday, April 9 (during the grounding debauchle) on the red eye. I was packed, ready to go and then waited 40 more minutes past departure only to be told over the loud speaker that “we have some bad news, your flight has been canceled, we have no staff.”

I was to fly on a 757, so this obviously was a bi-product of all the other cancellations. They could not re-ticket me as I was scheduled for a cruise the next day that they could not get me there in time for. I am now at a loss of one night at a hotel, an ENTIRE cruise and a chance to visit a group of friends that took 6 years to get a trip planned we could all attend. This incident seems like something they could have forecasted with all of the cancellations and I would have had more options to get to Miami!

This was following a horrendous trip with my 2 year old from SFO to West Palm that took 26 hours and included rerouting us, promising someone would meet us in Miami at the gate to get us to the destination (no one was there), waiting almost 2 hours in line and then being put on a super shuttle for 3 hours to West Palm Airport to PICK UP OUR OWN LUGGAGE! Customer service was nil and they had no power to do anything to help us- or so they claimed.

I am over it. This recent grounding of planes scares the crap out of me that they were allowed to be negligent with their fleet. They take full responsibility, but spin it like it’s more of a customer safety issue. If they really wanted us to be safe they would have kept up with their Preventative Maintenance. Now we all suffer. Thankfully, there were no fatalities.

Dear Mr. Elliott
I am looking for some help with , what I feel ,is an unfair charge from American Airlines.
I originally had a ticket from Tucson- Boston, then US Airways Boston- NY and back to Boston, and AA back to Tucson on April 21st.
On the evening of April 20, I fell down a flight of stairs at my daughter’s in Quincy, MA and was taken by ambulance to Quincy Medical Center.
I was in the ER for several hours with a head trauma and 22 stitches in my arm plus several other bruises and abrasions. They did a CAT scan and the Dr said I could not fly for 24 hours and wrote a note to that effect. My daughter, Amy Griswold faxed a copy of this along with a letter when we returned home that night.
Since I was laying in the ER, I had someone call to cancel my flight the next morning and rebook it for April 23.
AA charged me an additional $448.02 for my ticket plus $100. to change the ticket and $15. for the phone call.
I don’t mind paying the change fee, but I feel they shouldn’t charge an additional ticket fee- this was done for a medical emergency- not for fun. Plus that, when you are in the ER what choice do you have but to make a phone call- that $ 15. an insult charge.
I am contacting as many advocates as I can because I think this is entirely unfair- A neighbor of mine had her ear drum punctured a year ago and all she paid was the $100. change of ticket fee.
To top it all off, you cannot talk to Customer Service- you must do it through Email- they call that Customer Service? How about all the people who don’t have computers?
At some point, they contacted my daughter and offered me a $100. voucher on my next ticket. I don’t think that is acceptable.
Thank you for your time and I hope you might have some success on my behalf with an adjustment from AA.
Sincerely
Lucia M Griswold
520-577-1609
5020 N Via Gelsomino

American Airline Inc.
Agent 10 Jun /20.31 /2 N Y.
JFK, JFK 42 NY 1931 10 Jun 2008 6B 55 EB
File locater= SK JOL X
Subject: Tagging luggage to BAHRAIN and giving boarding card to PESHAWAR
Dear Sir,
While going from London to J F K as mentioned my bag was delayed. Forget about that.
But now once again, it is quite surprising that your agent at JFK (flight no. 104 12 sep. 635 p m) made a blunder by issuing me boarding card (4 072 5699304571) for London, Bahrain and Peshawar; while tagged my luggage (four pieces for two passengers) upto BAHRAIN.
The inconvenience caused me great pain and financial loss; besides setback to your reputation. Mind it, my family and I use this airline over a decade.
I would request you to hold proper enquiry and take severest disciplinary action against lady who tagged luggage at JFK. I may also be compensated within the ambit of you laws.
I reserve my legal rights.
Hazrat Sultan
Ticket no. 07256699304573
Newyork to London to Bahrain to Peshawar
September 12, 2008 Fight no, A A 104 V
Board. Card= 4 072 5699304571 1

reading thru this crap,makes me laugh, i was a 20 yr American airlines employee,
folks,you did this to yourself.
you wany to fly for free and want a full service too.
In my time at American ive seen it all,
do you remember the early years of flying
up to the 70 s people dressed to fly,and had respect for each other,
now you have slobs and people that think the world owes them
Im not saying American is totally innocent cause their not,
but you get what you pay for.
Ive seen flt attendants punched,pilots spit on
and it wasn’t cause they were rude
job cuts,pay cuts downsizing,
but joe traveler wants to fly from ny to los angeles for $100 and have prime rib
for dinner on an airplane not gonna happen.
so lets stop playing the race card,lets stop blaming the front lines employees of any airline and remember this
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

In response to what Nick wrote on Dec 13, 2008:

Hello! The airlines didn’t have to cut prices. They didn’t have to stop providing service. They could have maintained prices, reduced market share, but maintained profitably–if indeed they were ever profitable. For a long time, airlines depended on the government to make ends meet. I dressed up when I flew until the 90s when the seats became so cramped that sweats were needed for the contortionist positions required just to get from the window seat to the aisle to use the restroom.

Most businesses set a price based on cost. Why can’t airlines do that? No one forces an airline to lower its prices. There are some people who would pay a little more if service was provided. Alternatively, knowing I am only paying $200 RT to fly ORD to RSW, I expect to have no room and to have to bring my own food. I do get what I pay for. However, I do not pay to be treated rudely, I do not pay to be held hostage on the tarmac, I do not pay to have my precious vacation time wasted because the airline is incompetent and doesn’t deliver my bags upon my arrival. If an airline can’t deliver what is purchased, it shouldn’t be in business.

Today my daughter and her fiance boarded a flight from Vancouver B.C. to Dallas Ft. Worth with a connecting flight to Puerto Rico where they will overnight and then catch a flight to Tortola BVI to be married. We are leaving on Monday to join them via Delta Airlines.

They arrived in Puerto Rico tonight to discover that neither of their checked bags arrived with them. Nor did any bags for anyone else who had flown from Vancouver on the same flights. My daughter & fiances luggage contained items they need for the wedding and reception as well as an entire brand new trousseau for her, all the groomsmen’s clothing for the wedding, and other personal items.

How can this happen? How can you take an entire planeload of luggage and not get it on the correct plane????????? I am furious. I am upset. We are stressed to the max with planning this long distance wedding and now you have potentially ruined months of planning, buying and prepping.

That luggage had better be found in the next 12 hours and be waiting for them when they return to the airport to fly to Tortola. If their wedding is ruined because of you, I won’t rest until you pay.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Dear Mr. Arpey,

I am writing to express my disappointment and irritation regarding a trip I took on March 27th of this year. I hope you will take the time to continue reading and will take steps to see that this type of treatment of passengers never occurs again.

I first flew with American Airlines in the 50’s aboard a DC-6’s and DC-3’s and flew often with American through the 60’s. That said I have not had to do a lot of commercial flying since 1975 up until about 5 years ago. During that time on I was flying myself privately. Most of my airline flight time since then has been on SWA and occasionally American or Delta. I am sure that not being a customer who flies daily as some do I would not be a bright red light on anyone’s board when I am unhappy.

My Lady friend and traveling companion however is a different story. Ms. (name deleted) of Overland Park, KS did fly daily and sometimes more than two to three flights a day over the past 3 years. She was kind enough to trade 200,000 frequent flier miles for us to go first class from MCI to FLL to take a cruise. I think she could have actually taken us to Europe for that amount and had I known that at the outset I would have stopped her and we would have made other arrangements.

We were originally scheduled to fly out on Saturday morning, March 28th but the weather forecast on Thursday the 26th of March for MCI was one to two feet of snow. We made arraignments to board a 3:00 PM flight on Friday the 27th instead. Here is where our trip started to fall apart.

We arrived and checked out luggage and went to the gate. We boarded the plane at 2:30 PM in light drizzle with a temp a few degrees above freezing. Normal deicing procedures were followed and we taxied to the runway where we were at the Hold Short line when we were called back to the gate due to ATC having shut down to one runway at DFW due to winds. That’s weather and no one can control that. We taxied back to the gate and sat aboard the aircraft for approximately an hour. We were then advised by the Captain that we would be another hour and he would see if he could get us something to eat. About 45 min’s later we were brought bagels. We sat for another hour and were told we would be wheels up in about 45 mins. That time came and the Capt. advised us that because of temps we would have to deice. The failure on someone’s part to plan for deicing caused us to miss our take off block time to be metered into DFW. That’s not weather and someone can control that. I would have thought that the supervisor would have understood ATC block times and made sure that we were deiced and in position for take off. Not a chance and we ultimately missed 2 take off windows.

We never left the aircraft as we were told they “really would prefer you not leave as if the window opens up we have to go in a hurry. If you leave the jetway area we will consider your seat vacant.” As 9:00 PM came closer several of the passengers had enough and got off. So, the ticket agent began to bring in more passengers causing the Flight Attendants to deal with getting their luggage aboard or in a bin. On top of that they had to do the mandatory evacuation procedures drill for the 3rd time on that flight. To the best of my recollection we got off the ground somewhere around 9:30 PM. Some seven hours after initial boarding.

We arrived in Dallas at approximately 11:00 PM to find that all the food vendors had closed. We slept in the DFW airport having had nothing more than a bagel since 4:30 PM until breakfast Saturday morning. We were put in coach for the trip to Fort Lauderdale and honestly that was fine as long as I made my cruise on Sunday. I remarked to my lady shortly after take off that everything happens for a purpose and nothing could happen from this point forward could ruin my vacation. Oh Lord, I wish I had never said that. Needless to say our luggage was lost.

We went to luggage claims were a description of our luggage was taken by a young lady who quite honestly didn’t seem to care at all. I know that they are covered up with this by the amount of luggage sitting in the area, but I would have loved to have felt that they were actually taking progressive measures to find our luggage or were the least bit sympathetic. She gave us a phone number that she said was to her desk and we would be able to call her or her relief for further information. However we later found out that this was an automated number that got you through to no one at all. The lost luggage agent also said she would call my cell phone when our luggage was located. We found out the number she had provided went nowhere because we went to the ticket counter to speak to a supervisor because I was upset with the entire experience in the lost luggage area. No, I never ever talked to a supervisor because he/she would not leave the secure portion of the airport as he/she was “busy”. So much for making us feel better. The ticket counter representative tried the number I had been given and could not get an answer. At that point I knew I was in deeper.

I asked if they were unable to find our luggage what would happen. We were told that the luggage would be forwarded to our first shore destination. That Sir would have been on Wednesday as Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk do not have airline service. We were told if it was not located we would be compensated to a maximum of $100 dollars. That amount almost covered the $98 dollars worth of meds for my cardiac condition for the week. We bought about $200 worth of clothing to get us through until that point where our luggage might find us in Grand Cayman, 4 days out of the 7 day length of the cruise.

At 10:30 that night after trying the automated number repeatedly Lynn became distraught over the fact that she had over $2000 dollars in shoes and ball gowns, not to mention the regular items in her luggage. I was upset because my meds were missing and my clothing was not going to be a wardrobe that would allow me to enjoy the amenities I had wanted. I called the reservation desk and found someone, and I sure wish I had her name because of my entire experience other than the FLL ticket counter agent, she was the only one who even had a remote appearance of giving a damn. After talking to me for quite a while she found that our luggage had been found. As a matter of fact it arrived at around 7:30 earlier that night. Her going out of her way to handle something that was far from her area of operations was impressive. Had the luggage recovery agents been true to their word I would not have had to spend the money nor would I have had to deal with a distraught traveling companion.

Our luggage arrived at our hotel at 3:00 AM Sunday, March 29th. The hotel notified me as directed and I finally got my first 3 hours of uninterrupted, unstressed sleep in over 24 hours.

My Lady friend called customer service about her miles that we had traveled coach and the problems day before yesterday. She was given 50,000 miles back and I was issued a voucher for $150 dollars which honestly I didn’t want. I talked to agent, Lynn P. Ferguson, in your customer relations department (whom my Lady visited with yesterday) this morning who told me that she could not give her back the miles for the $150 amount and for me to use them. She said the problems were weather related. As a pilot and talking to the Captain on board I know that the ATC was metering aircraft into DFW. We had a block arrival time yet due to the ineptitude of the MCI supervisors we missed it repeatedly. I am really having problems even thinking of flying your airline ever again.

I can tell you exactly what would make my day better but seriously doubt that you can or will be able to accommodate me. I would like to see you return the entire 200 K miles to My Lady friend. She wanted to show me the great service she had received from your airline and to spoil me a bit. I just don’t see it. The fact that no one except a telephone reservation agent and a ticket agent on the ground in FLL seemed to care at all is not conducive to my wanting to “Fly The American Way” as we used to hear in the 60’s.

Sincerely,

Just thought I would give you a heads up.

Daniel P. Garton
Executive vice president
(817) 963-1234
daniel.garton@aa.com

When I use the email address above, I get this back:

A message (from ) was received at 8 Jun 2009 13:09:54 +0000.

The following addresses had delivery problems:

Permanent Failure: 554_:_Recipient_address_rejected:_Access_denied
Delivery last attempted at Mon, 8 Jun 2009 13:09:55 -0000

Conditions of Carriage vs. Contract of Carriage. Chris, thanks for the link to the Contract of Carriage, which AA calls Conditions of Carriage on its Web site. I searched for “contract of carriage” on their site, and only came up with “AAdvantage Terms And Conditions.” Thanks for all of the extremely useful information on your site.

COMPLAINT REPORT

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

DEAR SIR/MADAM,

THIS IS A LETTER COMPLAINT OF THE TREATMENT OF THE STAFF OF THE AMERICAN AIR LINES AND MANAGEMENT AT THE MIAMI AIRPORT.

ON THE 19TH AUGUST 2009.I TRAVEL ON AA-AMERICAN AIR LINES FLIGHT AA 1723 AT 6.00AM FROM HARTFORD SPRINGFLDAA TO MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. TO CATCH A ANOTHER FLIGHT TO MY HOME LAND BARBADOS .WHEN I ARRIVAL AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT I SONIA LORDE WENT TO THE IMFORMATION DESK AT AMERICAN AIRLINES. THERE WAS TWO LADIES STANDING AT THE DESK. I SHOW THEM MY BOARDING PASS AND ASK”,WHERE DO I HAVE TO GO TO CATCH THE FLIGHT
TO BARBADOS .THE AMERICAN AIRLINES CUSTOMER AGENT ASK ME SONIA LORDE ,WHAT TIME IS YOUR FLIGHT LEAVING .I SONIA LORDE TOLD HER 7.00PM TONIGHT.
THE AMERICAN AIRLINES CUSTOMER AGENT TOLD ME SONIA LORDE TO GO TO GATE E9. WHEN I GET TO GATE E9, I SAW TO AMERICAN AIRLINES AGENTS STANDING AT THE DESK. I WENT TO THE GENTLEMAN AND I TOLD HIM THAT I CAME IN FROM HARTFORD SPRNGFLDAA TO GO TO BARBADOS.I ASK IF I WAS AT THE RIGHT GATE ,HE WENT THROUGHT THE COMPUTER AND HE TELL US TO GO TO GATE E11.SO I WENT TO GATE E11. I SPEND THE HOLE DAY AT GATE E11 AND CHECKING THE MONITER FOR THE DEPARTURE OF THE FLIGHT TO BARBADOS.WHEN ABOUT 4.00PM THE MONITER HAD UP MIAMI DEPARTURE FOR BARBADOS 7.20PM.I WENT BACK AND SIT DOWN.
1.WHEN ABOUT 6.05PM I WENT AND ASK A LADY IF THIS FLIGHT IS GOING TO BARBADOS. THE LADY SAY THAT THIS FLIGHT IS GOING TO FRANCE.I SONIA LORDE WALK BACK TO THE IMFORMATION DESK .TWO GENTLE MEN WAS STANDING AT THE DESK. I ASK ONE OF THE MEN WHERE DO I HAVE TO GO TO CATCH THE FLIGHT TO BARBADOS. HE RUN IT THROUGHT THE COMPUTER AND HE TOLD ME THAT I WAS TO LATE FOR THE FLIGHT SO HE MADE A PHONE CALL .HE TOLD ME SONIA LORDE THAT THE FLIGHT WAS CLOSE OFF. SO I ASK HIM WHAT I AM GOING TO DO NOW .HE TOLD ME THAT MY BAGS IS SITTING IN BAGGAGE AREA AND HE TOLD ME TO GO AND COLLECT THEM AND COME BACK TO THE IMFORMATION DESK AND GET A NEW FLIGHT TO BARBADOS .I SONIA LORDE WENT TO THE IMFORMATION DESK I SPOKE TO A SUPERVISOR AT THE IMFORMATION DESK EXPLAINING TO HIM HOW WE MISS THE FLIGHT . HE TELL ME SONIA LORDE THAT HE WOULD GIVE ME A PASS FOR A FLIGHT ON THE 20TH AUGUST ON FLIGHT AA1089 THAT LEAVES AT 9.00AM THE NEXT MORNING.I TELL HIM THAT I WAS IN THE AIRPORT ALL DAY AND I AM TIRED AND I DONT HAVE ANY MONEY TO GET ANY TO EAT .I ASK HIM IF THE AMERICAN AIRLINES DONT PUT PEOPLE IN A HOTEL.I WILL GIVE YOU A $60.00 VOUCHER FOR THE HOTEL BUT YOU MISS SONIA LORDE WILL HAVE TO TAKE TAXI THERE.I TOLD HIM I DONT HAVE ANY MONEY AND I DO NOT KNOW ANY PLACE HERE AND HE SAY THAT I AM ON MY OWE NOW .I TELL THAT I FELT REAL SICK AND HE TOLD ME THAT THERE IS NOTHING THAT HE CAN DO FOR ME. SO ASK THE AMERICAN AIRLINES AGENT TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER.HE TELL ME THAT I CAN GO AND TALK TO THE MANAGER .SO I LEAVE THE SAME TIME AND WENT TO THE MANAGER .THE MANAGER TOLD A AMERICAN AIRLINES AGENT TO SEE WHAT I WANTED.THE MANAGER REFUSE TO SPEAK TO ME .AFTER HE REFUSE TO SPEAK I WENT BACK AND SIT ON THE CHAIR AND CRY.

I AM NOT PLEASE WITH THE SERVICE I receive IN MIAMI .
THE STAFF OF THE AMERICAN AIR LINES MAKE ME MISS MY FLIGHT.
I HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE AIRPORT ALL NIGHT TO 7.00AM IN THE MORNING.
PLEASE RESPOND TO MY LETTER OR NOT I WILL BE TAKING OTHER ACTION.
I WILL BE SEND THIS LETTER TO MEDIA AND THE NEWS PAPERS TELL THEM OF
MY BAD TREATMENT IN MIAMI

FROM SONIA
IN BARBADOS.

Thank you for the information. I have submitted my complaint and hope to hear from AA. I do not see anyone’s reply from the airline in this blog.
——
I had an unfortunate experience last weekend. I misread the departure time making my group miss our flight from CUN to MSP. Upon addressing this with your reservationist, we were told there were several seats remaining on the next flight. We would need to pay additional monies to take that flight. Two of us would need to pay $470. and the other two would need to pay $570. That was a steep penalty for an error when there were seats available on the next flight which was leaving in an hour and a half.

We choose not to take the American Airline flight. Instead, the four of us purchased one way tickets via US Airways for nearly half the AA price. I feel AA missed out on some additional revenue. We were willing to pay for an error, but $2,000 was unrealistic. The AA flight left with those four seats empty.

Had your flight been an hour late, we would have taken the flight whenever you were able to offer it. Plus, we never would have expected you to pay or reimburse us for such error. This demonstration of AA customer service was nonexistent. We are planning additional international travels where I have researched AA has fine rates and times. I am rethinking that choice based on a silly mistake.

– We have unused tickets for the second half of our trip. What can you do at this point? –
I will look for a response and let you know…….

Plain and simple – on 18 January 2009, the gate agent at Miami International forced me to surrender my $1300 Louis Vuitton Keepall, which housed all of my belongings from a cruise vacation. I argued with her and was refused boarding without checking the bag, which fits overhead (and there was room on the plane).

Surprise, surprise, the bag never makes it to LaGuardia in NYC. It was my only luggage item. I completed all the paperwork and submitted it by the deadline (this is very time-consuming). Then, there is the three-month wait.

In the meantime, I filed a police report with Miami PD because I honestly believe the gate agent stole my bag. It is no coincidence that she forced me to surrender a bag, meanwhile there were other people allowed to board with duffel bags much larger than mine. Also, according to MIA airport security, there is no camera surveillance at this particular gate. Coincidence? I think not. The last I was told, the investigators were going to interview the people who worked the gate when I boarded. Apparently, American Airlines staff at Miami Int’l were unwilling to provide information about who was working then. I was also told that the “gate agent” may have been an imposter. This is POST-SEPTEMBER 11th America, right?!

In April 2009, Ms. Terenza Townsend sent a cold letter indicating that my claim was fraudulent and that it was denied. There were no specifics given, nothing. The verbage stated, “some of the information you stated is not accurate,” and that they may prosecute ME for fraud. Imagine that!

I needed to be cool, so I waited before I called her. This Terenza Townsend states she did not believe the items could fit in the bag. Also mind you, if there is even the smallest of typos, then your entire claim could be denied. For example, if the bag was 9.7 inches deep and I put 9 inches or 10 inches, then my claim is deemed inaccurate and thus, false.) She also told me that although American Airlines acknowledges my bag was lost in their care, they will not take responsibility. Does that make any sense? No.

I wrote letters to the entire Executive Board. Surprise here – not a single reply. I sent emails. Imagine this – no reply other than “Contact Baggage Services (i.e. Ms. Terenza Townsend).

I lost everything! My entire vacation was in that one article of luggage and it is all gone. I waited for hours at LaGuardia, hoping my bag would appear, but knowing it would not. The moment I surrendered it in Miami I knew I would not see it or my things again. I had a bad feeling from the start, when she singled me out and denied me to board the plane. Next time, I will get ALL the gate agents’ contact information before I surrender anything. I will also take their photo with my phone. These people are hard to locate, believe it or not.

It is now October 2009 and my complaints and appeals have gotten me nowhere. I am making the next move – legal intervention. This experience has caused significant emotional distress. In addition, losing over $6k worth of material (luggage included) cannot go away quietly. It seems that suing American Airlines will be the only viable option.

A small follow-up to a comment I sent yesterday about a lost item on American.

Today, I finally got a call from the claims agent at American. Within three minutes she was yelling at me over the phone, saying it was MY fault I left the phone on the plane and that therefore American didn’t owe me anything…I should be grateful they were offering me anything.

Finally, I just got tired of being berated so I told her to send me a check for the amount she had quoted (her “final offer.”), that I would never willingly fly on American again (in spite of the almost 3/4 of a million frequent flier miles I have accumulated) and I hung up.

About five minutes ago I got an email stating that she would need copies of all my receipts from the purchase of my phone. I responded with a copy of my original email from two months ago that started this fiasco. Attached to that email are the receipts that were also submitted with that original email. I made one addition, in my email to her I wrote, “Attached you will find the same receipts I sent you two months ago. It isn’t my fault that you lost them.”

Petty? You betcha. Did it make me feel better? You betcha!

Upon arriving at JFK and going through the US Customs process and retrieving our luggage we proceeded to American Airlines / Eagle Bag Re-check in for our final leg home to Washington Reagan Int’l (DCA). At the counter we encountered a male “customer service rep” (from here on designated as CSR) who began processing our ticket information. It took him several minutes to access the necessary information for us. After app. 10 – 15 minutes of this CSR fidgeting with his computer another CSR (a female CSR) asked if she could assist and the male CSR responded that he had it under control. After another few minutes of fidgeting on the computer he told us the flight had been over booked. After we questioned him and told him we had booked the flight since September 12, 2009, he re-entered the computer then informed us the flight had been canceled. Please understand that after a flight of 4.5 hrs, the Customs process and waiting to retrieve luggage, admittedly our patience level was limited but not exhausted. To hear TWO (2) different stories about our final flight (over booking and cancellation) we were less then thrilled and began to inquire as to what the real story was. Again the female CSR asked if she could help and again the male CSR said he had it under control. I asked what remedy there could be for the issue to which I was told “nothing”. The reason for the cancellation was weather related. I asked again for clarification of cancellation or over booking. The male CSR again said it was cancelled. Again I asked for remedy of the situation and he again said there was nothing that can be done, could be done or would be done. In anger I asked again for remedy. The male CSR said he would call his “supervisor”. The male CSR dialed the phone but walked away from the desk and turned his back on us so that we would not be privy to any of his conversation with his “supervisor”. After hanging up the phone he informed us he would be right back. The female CSR behind the counter said she felt that there might be remedy once the “supervisor” got involved. The “supervisor” and the male CSR eventually walked to our area after a 5 – 7 minute absence. The male CSR left the area completely. The “supervisor” whose name tag read “Patricia” walked over very abruptly and aggressively asked “WHATS THE PROBLEM”? Once again explaining our plight she informed us the flight was cancelled and NOTHING will be done, could be done or would be done. She never even went to the computer to check the situation but was very inflammatory in her demeanor. I asked her AGAIN for remedy to the situation and she said arrogantly re-iterated that American Airlines DOES NOT assist in weather related cancellations. After I again asked for some sort of remedy she again, in a very contemptuous and haughty tone asked “DO YOU WANT ME TO PUT A COT IN AN UPSTAIRS AREA OF THE AIRPORT FOR YOU”!!!????. Even the female CSR was embarrassed and seemingly taken back by Patricia’s’ (supervisors) comment. Realizing that at 10:00 pm on Saturday night that nothing would be accomplished by a protracted disagreement concerning remedies, we opted to find lodging, food, etc. This presented another unforgiving process for us that I will address later in this letter. Upon FINALLY finding available lodging, we called American Airlines “800” toll free number to sure up a return flight to DCA. The representative I spoke with offered us a return flight for 8:30 pm Sunday evening (24 hrs beyond our original return time). I inquired of ANYTHING sooner and she recommended we go to the airport early Sunday morning and hope for something in “stand by: After a very unrestful evening, we opted to call American Airlines prior to leaving the motel to inquire about possible flights we spoke with Ms Sheila Johnson out of your Dallas location. Ms. Johnson is the ONLY person in your organization who understands customer service and for that matter understands her job. In a matter of 2 minutes after hearing my plight she had us set up through a different carrier. She gave us two (2) different time options as to which flight we could most easily make and both options were significantly earlier then the 8:30 pm flight we were offered from the previous phone operator. This now raises many serious questions which add to the already serious problems your company has with its customer service
My questions are:
1) How come the original male CSR had so many problems figuring out what the real issue was with the flight and why he did not accept help from the female CSR who was willing to help? Lack of customer concern?
2) How come an alleged “supervisor” is allowed to act so belligerently, heinously and egregiously towards American Airline Customers? Lack of training or concern?
3) How come an alleged “supervisor” is not properly trained to assist in such circumstances? Lack of training dollars?
4) How come an alleged American Airlines “supervisor” can be allowed to make such an abrupt smart ass comment or suggestion about “putting a cot in a separate area of an airport”? Is this evidence or indictment of AA CSR / supervisor training?
5) How come an alleged “supervisor” is not trained to immediately attempt to remedy such situations such as looking for another flight like Ms. Johnson knew to do right away? Let me guess, she was excused from that particular training class?
6) Is it customary for your alleged “supervisors” to gloat about saving American Airlines time and money? I understand each employee’s fiduciary responsibility to their company but what about fiduciary representation for American Airlines customers?
7) How come the original phone rep we spoke with on Saturday night did not look for other flights like Ms. Johnson did? Oh oh.. Let me guess again… another training issue?
8) Does AA own such a travel / airline monopoly that customer service, customer representation and over all performance does not need to be addressed? Has the fragile economy forced AA to dispose of training dollars that might further enhance increased sales in order to better secure their stock and financial standings?
I am dismayed, disgruntled and extremely disappointed that in this day and age, bottom line dollars has brushed aside customer service. I am not naïve to the fact that customer service issues are dissimilar based on various issues but to allow a situation(s) to accumulate when doing exactly what Ms. Johnson did may very well have disarmed this entire situation from its onset. Perhaps Ms. Johnson should be in a far greater position then she is so that maybe she can exact proper training. Ms. Johnson is the epitome of customer service. Unfortunately what she did albeit fantastic was in my estimation too late. This is something your alleged “supervisor” should have handled IMMEDIATELY instead of her condescending and denigrating tone and attitude!!!!!
Do the CEOs’ of both American Airlines and American Eagle truly know what goes on beyond the numbers? Do the Board of Directors? Or does smiling at enhanced stocks and saved dollars make up the understanding of how your customers are being treated? Perhaps the fragile economy has forced AA to cut training dollars since baggage fees are down? I have to really wonder if middle and upper management really knows how pathetic their version of training and customer service is. Does American Airlines really care about its customers beyond swelling stocks and bank accounts? Or maybe faltering stocks and bank accounts are indicative of your version of customer service?
Please spare me the typical and rhetorical pabulum you may spew to those who may not really care. I have never been so insulted and disposed of by anyone or company. Thank goodness for Ms. Sheila Johnson from Dallas. She is / was the ONLY one who seemed to know what was supposed to have been done from the onset. Even she asked why we had not been offered an immediate search for another flight. (She prefaced her comments professionally by saying she could only speak based on not having been present the night before). I will be passing along this incredibly execrably handled situation along to many. It amazes me that one simple gesture of assistance to help YOUR customers would have spared my wife and I $75.00 cab fare, $176.00 lodging (ONE NIGHT) and $72.00 parking fees! I am enclosing copies of the bills for documentation of my statement(s). I am also sure the media will have a feeding frenzy on this as well, especially if there is no significant response on your part. If you feel as though you are justified by not properly addressing this then again it is just another indictment to your philosophies on business and customer service. Interestingly and as a point of interest, The airline Ms. Johnson put us on informed me that had the CSR’s the previous night done their jobs properly my wife and I could have been home either that evening or early the next morning. Although I thought this might just have been propagandized conversation, after a little investigating I discovered that what was being told to us was correct.
I certainly hope that this never happens to anyone else as I would not even wish this on someone I dislike. Unfortunately American Airlines makes more frequent trips to Barbados where we have family but we will be searching for other airlines. I feel confident that this letter just like other similar customer service issues will be brushed under a rug but I will make sure that this incident as well as others we’ve encountered through AA is well documented.

I just had a bad experience with AA yesterday. Two items in one of my baggages were stolen. The two items were gifts and were all in its origal packaging at the bottom of the suitcase. It looks like that the thief had the knowledge of the X-ray image so it only went after the suitcase with the items. The suitcase was mostly undisturbed so the theif who works at AA apprently knew exactly where the items were located. In addtion, the theif only took the camera and the charger out and left other accessories(USB cables) in the box. It seems that the thief has done it many times and professionally.

I called AA last night and the agent asked us to contact airport office. Airport office then asked us to contact customer relations. Today I just found out that AA does not even publish the phone number for cusotmer relations, I called AA’s main number again and the agent this time told me that I had to personally make a trip to the Airport office to file a report! At this point I can only file a complaint through the web form.

Has anyone experienced similar theft in the past? Any tips or suggestions on how I should proceed with AA? Thanks.

Those bastards lost my luggage coming back from Africa. It took them almost a whole week to find my luggage and my hairdryer was missing as well. I did not have my clothes for my brother’s wedding and could not get back upstate to get any. I travel extensively overseas so I packed my special outfit in my carry-on (I am not stupid). They kept telling me at JFK they found my luggage, we would pay to go all the way out there, airtrain, etc then to find NOTHING. When I started crying (you would too if you did not have the clothes you wanted to wear for the weekend) the man at the desk told me I better settle down. F*CK YOU AA, I WILL TELL MY HORROR STORY TO EVERYONE THAT WILL LISTEN AND EVEN IF I TAKE $1 AWAY FROM YOU A**HOLES THAT IS MONEY YOU DID NOT GET BECAUSE OF ME. ONLY THE PEOPLE IN BUFFALO, NY AND OKLAHOMA WHERE MY SUITCASE ENDED UP HELPED ME. THE 3RD WORLD SH*TS THAT YOU HIRE TO DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS AT JFK ARE THE REASON WHY YOU SUCK AND I WILL NEVER BUY A TICKET ON YOUR SH*TTY AIRLINES AGAIN! TRY HIRING SOME REAL AMERICAN’S INSTEAD OF PEOPLE FROM COUNTRIES WHERE CUSTOMER SERVICE DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING.

This will read as a fictional horror story, but it is not. This actually happened to us this past weekend!

Had I known that AA had become down right derelict in their duty to their customers or lacked total empathy and humanity I would have never planned my family or friends travel through AA.

We had a family event and an important business meeting to attend in Lubbock TX that required us (9 people) to be in Lubbock on 2/12 no later than 7:30PM CST. We booked our flights from Burbank CA, and anticipated being in Lubbock in time for the business meeting on 2/12 and the family event on 2/13. Our flight from Burbank CA (Flight 1366) was scheduled to leave at 11:05AM PST on 2/12 and arrive in Dallas at 4:05PM CST; our connecting flight from Dallas (Flight 2901) was scheduled to depart at 5:35PM CST and arrive in Lubbock at 6:45PM CST. Due to technical issues with the Aircraft we were taken off the plane after 2 hours and 20 minutes (part of the time without any air) only to be told every ½ hour that we will receive another update shortly. We had arrived at the airport at 9:00AM PST for the flight that was scheduled to depart at 11:05AM PST. We did not depart until 8:00PM that evening having spent the entire day at the gate! During the 10+ hours of ordeal no food or drinks were made available to us and upon initial inquiry were told (very rudely) that there were no food concessions. After 6 hours we asked again and were given $10 food voucher which was not adequate to buy a sandwich and a drink at the one and only small food place in the terminal. My husband who is on a strict diet as he is a diabetic and suffers high blood pressure developed suffered from being subjected to the unreasonable condition. All in all we ended up spending over $200 (for 9 adults at the outrageously overpriced deli in the terminal) of our own money to buy water and food before we received the insufficient vouchers.

We were told that if we had a connecting flight from Dallas that we will need to rebook and recheck our luggage. The ground staff at the gate was extremely rude and did not offer any help in the rebooking process, instead we were simply told to call the 800 number and deal with Customer Service! Rebooking was another nightmare as they told us that everything was booked and the earliest flights available would be on the 14th which was our original return date!!! After escalating to a Supervisor we were told that if we get into Dallas there was a flight from Dallas to Lubbock the morning of 2/13 which would get us into Lubbock at 8:30AM CST. Although this would mean that we would miss the business meeting, we could still make the family event for the evening of 2/13. Since we now anticipated getting into Dallas after midnight we asked if we would be provided food and lodging and were told that we will be provided both and to check in with the ground crew in Dallas upon our arrival. We finally arrived in Dallas at around 1:30AM CST on 2/13, our connecting flight was not scheduled to depart until 7:20AM, everything was closed in the terminal and the TSA’s were gone. We checked in with the ground crew as instructed for hotel and food only to be told that we were given incorrect information and that there is nothing they can do for us!!! We would have to spend the night in the terminal and the best they could do is provide some cots and blankets. The cots and blankets were un-sanitized, stained and smelled. We could not risk leaving the terminal to find our own accommodations or food as we would not be able to re-enter the terminal until the TSA’s returned in the morning. It was below freezing outside so we could not risk leaving the terminal. We were basically held hostage in the terminal without proper food or resting/sleeping facilities. Additionally, we were told that we would have to collect our checked in bag and re-check it which also could not be done until the TSA’s return. We spent the entire time in the terminal. We finally arrived in Lubbock at 8:45AM CST on 2/13 having missed our business meeting the night before.

This ordeal does not end here… we were scheduled to return on 2/14 departing Lubbock at 5:55PM (Flight 3420) arriving in Dallas at 7PM and departing at 8:00PM (Flight 1865) from Dallas to Burbank. We arrived at the Lubbock airport and proceeded to the check in counter to check our bags at 5PM only to find an unmanned counter. We waited for 15 minutes before an agent finally showed up only to tell us that the flight was delayed. By now there is a long line of people waiting to check in. We asked if we would be able to make the connecting flight out of Dallas at 8PM and his response was ‘most likely not’ and that there were no other flights to Burbank that day. We would have to stay in Dallas (at our own expense) and catch a flight next morning. The alternative was that we could fly into LAX on a flight that leaves Dallas at 9:30PM. We explained that we parked at the Burbank airport and asked if AA would transport us from LAX to Burbank? We were told that it was not his problem and that we need to tell him if we wanted to go on that flight as there was a long line (a line that was a result of him being late was now our problem!!!). So with much apprehension and delay we finally departed Lubbock only to land in Dallas at 8PM which was the scheduled departure time for our Burbank connection. We quickly ran off the plane and asked the ground personnel at the next counter (since there was no ground crew at the gate that we landed at) if our connecting flight was still on the ground and if the gate was still open before running across terminals (A to C) to try to catch the flight. The agent shouted for us to start running as she can see on the computer that the gate was still open, when we asked her to call she rudely shouted for us to start running like we did not hear her the first time. So we ran like crazy fools through the terminal to the skylink and get to the gate only to be told that the flight had already taxied out of the gate when we landed at 8PM!!! So it was never at the gate when we asked the first agent who told us to run!!! So now we have to wait for the 9:30 flight to LAX, so we asked the ground crew again if we can be flown into Burbank on another airline as we were parked there or provide transportation from LAX to Burbank. The answer to both was no. We then asked if at least they could retrieve our luggage and place it with us on our flight to LAX. Again the answer was no and were told that it would be on the next flight out to Burbank the next morning. So we asked if it could be delivered to our home and were told that they will take care of that (so we think there is one thing that AA will do to accommodate all the mishaps… or so we thought). We arrive at LAX and end up having to rent a shuttle to Burbank which cost us $90 and eventually make it home at 2:30AM on 2/15 (when we were supposed to be home at 9:30PM on 2/14). On 2/15 at around 11 AM we called AA to see when our bag would be delivered only to be (rudely) told that we would have to pay for delivery unless we had submitted a claim form! No one had asked us to submit any claim forms when we asked if the luggage would be delivered to our home. We ended up having to drive to the Burbank airport to pick up the luggage ourselves!!! AA managed to cost us over $300 in addition to paying for the tickets (in excess of $2,700) and caused a great deal of pain, anxiety and frustration. We also lost an investment opportunity and all of this was due to no fault of ours!!! We do not normally complain for minor mishaps we fully understand that things happen, but the ordeal and inhumane treatment that we received was in excusable and warranted this complaint! Rest assured we will NEVER fly AA again! We no longer believe that Customer Service and satisfaction means anything to AA!

Oh, you MUST be kidding. I have the horror story to top the list, but will save the details for my day in court…my moment in the sun. This was the most perposterous, insane, and premeditated crappy trip of all time. In fact, most people do not even believe me, except for the fact that I have over 300 witnesses.
I would have preferred some info re. whom to contact with American Air so I do not have to take extra time searching for a relatively sane human to speak with re. this disaster movie in real life. However, I shall continue to search. THIS time I will NOT give in…not now, not ever. This was nothing short of abuse of power. One for the record books, & when it’s all finished, I will be happy to submit the entire horror story to you. Thanks for your article….at least it was very informative, and now I have a road map, which I was told did not exist. THANK YOU!!

I should have known better than to fly on the day daylight savings went into effect. Compound it with the advent of spring break and even though I give American Airlines some leeway for this disaster, they really pooched the travel both to and from Washington DC on March 14th of 2010. My 7:00 am flight checked out on time as I drove to airport. I made it through security and the gate only to find a 2 hour delay due to mechanical reasons that would prevent me from connecting in Chicago.

The gentleman at the gate told me I might as well head home because there was no way I’d be making it to Washington today. Being it was so early I persisted, which seemed to annoy him even though there was no one behind me. I asked him about other airlines and he again said there was no way to get me to DC tonight.

I called American Airlines. The Hotel and training and multiple taxi fares home and back would mean I was standing to lose over $1100. After being hung up on twice I got a fantastic lady who gave me some suggestions on how to procede. Going online with my computer I found a couple flights with other airlines and also tried checking routes anywhere to get to DC that day.

I went back to the counter and when the same guy tried to tell me he couldn’t help I asked him to step back and let the other gentleman, Tom something try. I gave him my suggestions and he he actually tried. I really appreciated the effort. At first they wanted me to fly from St Paul then to Dallas and the to Phoenix. I would still get to DC before my training but I’d be shot by then. I suggested St Louis and …wow.. imagine that. I was gone in 25 minutes. i didn’t get to DC until late nite but got there.

I left the following weekend. I checked the flightbefore heading to the airport and all seemed well. At the airport I was told my flight would be delayed to a mechanical problem and I wouldn’t be getting out of DC until the next day. They said they were not resposible for mechanical delays.

I got back on my computer and found what I thought were a couple alternatives and suggested these to MR Yee. I was heading to St Louis again 2 hours later and a 3 hour flight turned into another 14 hour ordeal. I did get home though.

Sadly my bag did not. Thery said they delivered it and actually had a signature. It wasn’t mine though. Here we sit almost 3 weeks later. Ther Attorney General’s office says I might actually get reimbursed. My work asked for my travel receipts. They were in the luggagae. they asked for poof that I filed with American Airlines. My correspondence has been through thsir Customer Service email. The only people I have talked to say I have my bag, because they have a signature,though it isn’t mine. I never signed anything that said they could leave it at my door. They said they didn’t leave it my door. They have the signature of someone who isn’t me.

The saga continues. I wrote American Airlines about both both delays and lost baggage and other than the people I have spoken with on the phone, they have never offered any form of compensation.

Being in Purchasing for my company, I’ll never sign a Purchase Order for American Airlines if I can help it.