The box contained:
My great uncle Frank’s army watch from WWI (I not II, as in 1919)

My father’s discharge papers from WWII (1945)

A photo of my uncle Albert J. Hoffmann’s home coming party from WWII – my uncle, a Catholic priest was one of the most decorated chaplains in WWII. He lost his leg in the Italian campaign.

It also had the watch my father had bought in Service in Iran during WWII as well as his college watch and college photos, the memorial cards from my grandfather’s funeral in 1955, a school essay my sister had written about my father in the 1960s, photos taken of my mother along the Mississippi River in the late 1930s ….

I left Moline, Illinois Sunday morning May 30 at 7AM and arrived in I flew to New York, LaGuardia on American Airlines a little after noon. I have been calling American Airlines baggage claim every 3-4 hours ever since. They seem unable to do anything. I am amazed, but they said they don’t track their bags, so they have no way of knowing where it is. They think it’s still in Chicago because it was logged in there and hasn’t shown up anywhere else, but they’re not sure. Everyone is solicitous, but seemingly helpless. I’m ready to get on a plane and fly to Chicago. Would that help? What can I do? I HAVE to find this bag.

I’m frantic and I don’t know what to do. Last Sunday I returned from visiting my father, a WWII veteran, for Memorial Day. My dad had recently moved into an assisted living facility and gave me a box of family memorabilia.

The box contained:
My great uncle Frank’s army watch from WWI (I not II, as in 1919)

My father’s discharge papers from WWII (1945)

A photo of my uncle Albert J. Hoffmann’s home coming party from WWII – my uncle, a Catholic priest was one of the most decorated chaplains in WWII. He lost his leg in the Italian campaign.

It also had the watch my father had bought in Service in Iran during WWII as well as his college watch and college photos, the memorial cards from my grandfather’s funeral in 1955, a school essay my sister had written about my father in the 1960s, photos taken of my mother along the Mississippi River in the late 1930s ….

I left Moline, Illinois Sunday morning May 30 at 7AM and arrived in I flew to New York, LaGuardia on American Airlines a little after noon. I have been calling American Airlines baggage claim every 3-4 hours ever since. They seem unable to do anything. I am amazed, but they said they don’t track their bags, so they have no way of knowing where it is. They think it’s still in Chicago because it was logged in there and hasn’t shown up anywhere else, but they’re not sure.

Everyone is solicitous, but seemingly helpless. I’m ready to get on a plane and fly to Chicago. Would that help? What can I do? Has anyone tried something that worked?

I HAVE to find this bag.

Keep trying. If you call and get a bad agent, thank them for their time, hang up, call back and hope that you get an agent who is having a better day.

Hope your daughter is better.

ATTENTION: AMERICAN AIRLINES Customer Relations

2010-05-25

I had booked a flight for the 24th day in August, 2010 departing from Minneapolis, MN to Cozumel, Mexico. I had received a voice mail and phone call on May 18th, 2010 to advise me that my flight has now been cancelled and I would have to make other arrangements. I briefly spoke with a female who made me aware of this situation. I was upset that no other date could be accommodated and my options were extremely limited. She gave me the customer service number to contact at a later time to make alternative arrangements or receive a full refund; as I had to speak to others who were also travelling with me on the cancelled flight.
I called customer service the evening of May 19th 2010, and after being on hold for several minutes, spoke with a man who I have been told was Mike Ali. He was extremely ignorant while assisting me, and even went as far as saying “I’ve been on the phone with you for eleven minutes already” while accusing me of something that had been untrue in a previous discussion which he said was documented. I also made arrangements with him during that phone call to have flight #2063 from Dallas, get me as far as Cancun. At the end of a very rude phone conversation with this man, he then confirmed my flight changed and proceeded to confirm my e-mail address for the new itinerary to be sent. All information was correct.
On the afternoon of May 21st, still not having received my email confirmation or flight information as assured, I called back to customer service. I then had been advised that no changes have been made to my flight and I was still booked on the cancelled flight to Cozumel. Mr. Mike Ali obviously had a few communication issues that evening of May 19th, including not making the changes as requested to my flight and also ignored to document the fact that we even spoke. I now have just got off the phone with a customer service supervisor who was trying to understand how or why this has happened.
This day in age, it is truly disappointing that a little bit of respect and assurance in doing a job is too much to ask for. It is frustrating that I’ve had to re-schedule my original flight TWO times already; however it is even more frustrating that your employees behave in such a manner. Unfortunately after this incident I will give greater consideration to alternative air travel in the future.
I strongly insist you evaluate this situation appropriately so other customers are not led into false promises regarding their travel plans through your company.

Sincerely,
Ashton M. Yawney

To no avail, American Airlines was not going to provide that service nor offer to help us get to our final destination.

I then asked to speak with a supervisor. I expected that a supervisor should be able to work to get an acceptable resolution to this problem. I shared numerous times that I would NOT CHOOSE American Airlines in future purchases if they chose not to assist with the process of getting us to our final destination on this trip. To no avail, American again only offered to get us from Chicago to Cancun. With no accommodations or assistance in getting us to our final destination of Cozumel, Mexico. (This took over 2 hours on the phone with Expedia.)
The result: I was disgusted and cancelled the entire trip, as I felt I had no other options. BEWARE: the next time you plan to fly you might be told we’ll get you ¾ of the way and you can figure out your own way the remainder of the distance…and no the travel provider is not responsible to give you what you paid for!!!

Background information: I am a teacher who travels with three other teacher friends (two of which are now retired and on fixed budgets).
I began traveling every October (teacher’s convention weekend) with my friend Sherri ten years ago. October was going to be a difficult month for her (in 2000, it was the first anniversary of her husband’s death). Since then her son also died unexpectedly, in a car accident, also in the month of October. We continue to plan October vacations as something to look forward to. I felt bad that I had to tell her I cancelled the trip. Of course, I will begin the process of finding us a new trip not with American Airlines and probably not through Expedia either!
Just a Teacher Who Wants to See the World

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.

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!

On Dec. 26, 2009 my husband and I were scheduled to fly out of Fort Meyers, FL with a connecting fllight (on American) in Dallas, TX to our destination of Portland, OR.
We arrived at the airport 6 hours prior to departure, as we dropped off by relatives on their way home an hour and half drive from the airport (we had been on a cruise out of Miami).
We checked in (and was assisted by what I now know to be the ONLY professional that American Airlines employees). We went through security and located ourselves at our departure gate.
Fortunately I had taken the time to register online for flight status updates (as this would be the ONLY communication we would recieve).
At 1:30 pm (5 hours before we were scheduled to depart Fort Meyers) I received a text telling me that our flight was delayed 20 minutes. As we only had a 50 minute layover in Dallas I was concerned about our making our flight (I was able to check gate information on line and knew that we would have to change terminals in Dallas).
At that time there was a man at the counter (although it was evident he was a tech person who was just checking the computer system); I went to the counter to ask him if he had any information. While he confirmed my original thought that he couldn’t give me much information he told me someone would be at the counter soon as the flight that was expected for Chicago had been delayed and someone would be there to handle that flight…. in the next 5 hours there was NEVER another person at that counter.

At 3:02 I received not one but 4 consecutive texts that told me that our flight would be delayed an additional 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. Still no one at the counter and the marquee still indicated the flight was on time, even though the time for departure was changed.

Since we obviously were not going to make our connection in Dallas and we had to get to Portland Oregon as my husband had a flight scheduled for departure on Dec. 27th for Singapore.

I spent the next hour and half on the phone with an American Airlines agent who not only told me that this was not a problem she could deal with it really wasnt’ her problem that she could not find a flight that could get us out of florida and to Oregon for atleast a week.
I asked her to try flights into Seattle, Eugene and Medford…. according to her there was not a seat available.
According to her this was a weather issue…. in Dallas (hmmm Dallas was 62 and clear skies… that is certainly some weather); then it was weather in Denver… they were 32 and partly cloudy – can certainly see how Denver couldn’t handle that weather; no it was weather in Chicago – okay granted there was weather in Chicago. So it was because of the weather in Chicago that the flight crew that we were suppose to have had logged too many hours to fly from Dallas to Fort Meyers (BUT they knew that at 11:30 AM – an hour before we ever checked in).
IF they had told us (COMMUNICATED TO US) that there was going to be an issue we could have got on a flight out earlier in the afternoon on a Delta flight; a Southwest Flight; even a Jet Blue flight…. but by 5 pm it was too late; there were no more flights out.

The fact that there was no one at the desk to deal with this situation seemed to be irrelevant; according to her someone should be there (they weren’t).
In the end Delta was able to get us on a flight out the next morning, that would connect in Atlanta with a flight to Portland that would get us there and hour before my husbands flight. They booked our seats, but needed AA to call and confirm that transfer (AA couldn’t seem to get through to an agent even though we had called Delta several times and only had to wait minutes).

The fun continued when we attempted to speak to a supervisor about getting a room for the night (my husband had 33 hours of fly time ahead of him 8 hours in an airport was not acceptable… especially when it could have been avoided), who despite being told we were waiting almost walked right by us to go out to await a plane that wasn’t due in for 2 hours. It wasn’t until I showed her the text messages on my phone that indicated the ONLY communication that there was a delay and the fact that we were aware of what the delay was that we finally received a voucher for lodging.

then there was the issue of getting our bag back, getting refunded for the bag fee…. more fun and never a sorry about the inconvience, although it did give me an opportunity to hear them tell 3 other groups of people that this flight was delayed and that there was nothing they could do to help them rebook and that missing their connecting flights was not their problem

The real irony came the next morning; aboard a Delta flight that would take us to Atlanta to then connect to Portland; a Delta flight that AA told us had NO seats available; a Delta Flight that had 35 empty seats.

Never an apology; never a ‘I will see what I can do’ …. that is okay I will NEVER fly AA again and will tell the story as many times as necessary. Customer Service people…. IT GOES A LONG, LONG WAY.