Quote:
Originally Posted by jimworcs
but I fear you are not in listening mode either... which is part of what I am complaining about with airline employees. I stated quite clearly that the airline should not require their own customers to do all the running around if they cancel the flight. The airline should do it. They failed to communicate properly with the customer, failed to even tell them that their seat reservations had been cancelled. This is arrogant and disrespectful to their customer and is typified by your response. There is absolutely no DOT regulation which stops an airline communicating properly with their customer, and the way you respond using this fiction is typical. The flight was cancelled and they sent an email to the passenger telling them that their flight was rescheduled. Which regulation exactly would have prevented the airline from telling the passenger that their seat assignments had been cancelled. This simple courtesy could have potentially saved the passenger all the grief. The truth is, there is no regulation about that.. and as usual, the airline employee tries to hide behind the DOT/TSA/Uncle Tom Cobley as an excuse for pisspoor service.
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You are right. The airlines need a lot of work, and there are many circumstances where there is lack of communication between airline, and paying customers. I am aware of this, and certainly do not think that the airlines are perfect, by any stretch of the means. But, I have witnessed this with companies of all kinds, not just the airlines.
I missed the part where the complaint was about not being informed about their seat assignment being cancelled. I thought they were aware of this fact, and called to have the seats re-assigned, and were told that it could not be done, at that time. I am sorry if I mis-read the original complaint. I was simply backing up the fact that it is a DOT regulation that certain seats be blocked until 24-hr before departure. That is fact, not an excuse. I never said that it excused the airline from communicating with the passenger. That is unacceptable.
The airline I work for does try their best to communicate with passengers. However, you'd be surprised when looking at reservations, just how many passengers fail to provide contact information, such as a phone number, or email. I once spend a good hour at work calling people to let them know their flight was delayed, and to please come early, if possible, to get on an earlier flight, that would allow them to make their connections. Thankfully, I was able to get ahold of the majority of the flight, and they came early, and went on their way. Unfortunately, some of the flight didn't provide contact information, whether they booked their reservation online, and didn't fill out that field, or through Orbitz, or some company like that. Of course, those passengers complained, and accused us of not contacting them. How were we supposed to? Sometimes complaints are not always valid, and there are circumstances where people complain and accuse the airlines of things, without knowing the whole story, or reasons why things happen the way they do.
I can assure you the airlines do not purposely go out of their way to inconvenience customers. I think if you went to work for an airline for just one week, you'd quickly gain an understanding of why certain things happen the way they do, and that they aren't always within the control of the airline. I understand the airlines need a lot of work. I agree with that 100%. But I can't tell you the number of times I've been chewed out by passengers of things that are completely outside of my, and the airlines control, as a whole. The problem is, and I don't mean this the wrong way, but people who have never worked for an airline, and don't understand how the airlines work, and operate, and why, think they know, because it is what seems convenient to them. Next time you are in a book store, pick up a book called the FAR/AIM (Federal Air Regulations & Airmens Information Manual). It is a very thick book, of very small print that is full of the regulations that the airlines, and pilots must follow, pertaining to everything from weather, security, maintenance, and just general air regulations, just like there are traffic laws. You'd be surprised how many delays are due to things straight from that book, but people blame the airline for it.
Communication is key. I agree. There is no regulation that prevents communication with passengers. That needs work.