Alfredog,
I apologise on behalf of the company I work for. There were so many instances that your problems could have been easily fixed if one of my colleagues had actually cared to go the extra mile. Be assured that those employees are looked over when it comes time for raises and recognition.
To answer your query how the first row could not be assigned to you: The first few rows and last rows are blocked until the day of departure. The reason we do this is so that if we have passengers who have limited mobility we can move them to the front of the aircraft so they're not walking from row 34. Also the last few rows are undesirable and are the last to be given out if the flight is absolutely full. So they were correct in telling you that they could only be given out at the gate, and perhaps another passenger who needed the seats were given to them before you.
Unfortunately, we did stop flying out of Stansted and focused our service through Heathrow. The agent you asked if everything was in order, should have picked up the discrepancy at that time. Yet, as policy, the company will never pay for taxis. However, if you can finesse the agent or get to someone higher, you could try to get a PS (passenger service) voucher. Just keep in mind that the agent is a person as well and has probably been through the wringer already that day, so if you don't scream at me, I will be more apt to go out of my way to help you.
As for your baggage, there are certain types of damage that we do cover. If there is a large tear or hole in your bag that actually does not protect what inside, then you can make a claim. For an international itinerary you have 7 days to make your claim. For a domestic itinerary you have 24 hours. The best case, is as soon as you receive your bag tell them immediately and they can give you a damage number proving what time you reported it and then you have 45 days to actually make your claim. As for buying clothes and toiletries, from the time you make your lost baggage claim the company has 24 hours to get your bag to you before we can authorise compensation for clothing. In that instance you would have to provide the receipts of the items you purchased and bring that to the airport.
As a last resort, I have seen that when passengers explain their experience on aa.com in the customer relations section, that they do in fact get a response and have gotten compensation. Although, I cannot guarantee anything.
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