my similarly bad experience
here's the letter that i wrote to aa:
"Subject: Dissatisfaction with Customer Service's Ineptitude
The word that best describes seeing your youngest daughter's face light up as she walks across the stage with her college diploma in hand is: priceless. It is one of those moments that cannot be fully captured by photograph or video. Missing such an important event is more than a tragedy, especially if it is preventable, as it seems to have been with the case of our flight, flight 614, on Friday, May 20, 2011.
My wife and I arrived at the airport at approximately 4:30 pm, an hour prior to our flight's departure. We started out at gate A19, but within 30 minutes of our arrival we were told that our gate had been changed to A28. We waited at A28 for our flight to be called, but were informed of a delay. This persisted til 9 pm. At that time, we were sent back to A19, where we were told that the delay was due to there being no pilot for a Baltimore flight. Apparently, that Baltimore flight was impeding the departure of all other flights. We were told to wait. We continued to patiently wait with the hopes that we would still be able to make it to the graduation ceremony. About 11:15 pm, an announcement was made of a final gate change—in terminal D. We rushed to take the next SkyLink, and arrived at gate D23, only to be told that the plane needed to be cleaned and prepped for departure. We waited there until past midnight, only to be informed of our flight's cancellation. 8 hours after we had arrived at the airport, my wife and I had to turn around and return home, disappointed and heartbroken, with no hope of another flight to Boston until Sunday, well after our daughter's 1 pm graduation on Saturday.
I cannot pretend that we were the only people to be disappointed by this turn of events. There were scores of other people with whom we commiserated during the 8 hours of waiting. However, I can only tell you what we experienced. We missed that moment of accomplishment and pride. Additionally, this was supposed to be the whole family's vacation. The last time all of our 5 children and their families were gathered was Thanksgiving. Instead of celebrating with them, we were forced to call our children, letting them know that we'd be unable to make the family reunion.
According to the announcements made about our delay, this was directly the result of mismanagement on the part of American Airlines. While we should have been accommodated on the next flight, at the very least we should have received vouchers for meals, and upon the cancellation of our flight, we should have received compensation for our travel back home. I was told that the full amount of our fares would be returned my credit card, but have yet to see evidence of this.
As a small business owner, I like to support local businesses and have loyally used American Airlines over the years. However, as a direct result of this experience, I am reluctant to ever use American Airlines again. I don't know what could change my mind, but the incentive would have to be significant."
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