[AADFW]

Originally Posted by ecarrazana

When I was exiting the plane I informed the captain I was going to file a complaint against the crew.

Why did you feel compelled to do this? What were you hoping to accomplish? Did you really think the captian would be in a position after the aircraft was already parked to remedy your customer service complaint? What was your demeanor between the time you approached the captain and when you reached the gate agents inside the airport? Is it possible that the captian didn't react because he felt your emotional state and tone were not proportionate to the severity of your complaint?

If you had to guess, where do you think the "six month" accusation came from once you were in the terminal? Is it possible that while you were on board the aircraft speaking to the captain after landing that you made a statement to the effect that you'd been taking your dog on board AA flights for that period of time without any similar incident? Is is possible that, if indeed you made that statement, the flight attendant in question overheard it and interpreted it as meaning you'd evaded paying their (outrageous) pet fee each time?

Believe me, I know firsthand just how rude and abusive these AA flight attendants can be. I wasn't there, so it would be totally wrong of me to pass judgement. It's just that I'd have handled the situation much differently. Sharing my feelings of mistreatment with the onboard crew immediately upon landing would certianly not have been my approach. Instead, I'd have recorded the name of every FA on board, including the readhead, and I'd have then gone immediately to the nearest gate agent upon landing. At that point, I'd have demanded to speak with the APO manager (AA hubs such as ORD, DFW, and MIA actually have dedicated dispute resolution officers) and asked that person for the name of the purser manager for that particular flight. I'd then have started a letter-writing campaign describing the mistreatment, naming names, and demanding corrective action. I think this would have been a far more effective strategy from what you've described, and something to consider in the future.