[CWas]

Or is it just old folks that American has a problem with????

Mom flew into Dallas/Ft.Worth from Phoenix (Flight 1962) on Apr. 15, 2009. She had a 1hr layover during which she was to connect w/ a flight (3757) to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, her final destination.

Mom's 78 and handicapped; she has had two hip replacements, as well as a knee. The first leg of her trip went fine - but when she got off in Dallas is when the problems began. As she was being wheeled off the plane, a man driving one of those cart/tram deals asked her if she wanted a lift. And Mom agreed. The driver then took her to a set of escalators and told her she needed to go to the top where she'd find wheelchairs and assistance. She did. But when she got there, she found neither. After making noise for quite awhile, and getting no response, Mom started walking. And walking. And walking. In the end, she walked 6 gates to get to her connecting flight.

The poor thing's exhausted now and in pain, and is going to be in bed for days, recovering from the ordeal.

I called AA's customer service at 6am this morning (4/16) and they got back to me within a few hours. I laid out the story. And the rep assured me that she was going to "get to the bottom of this." I asked her to update me on what she found out. "Sir, we don't do that. You'll just have to trust that it'll get taken care of." To which I replied, 'Trust you? How can I trust you, when you breaking my trust is the crux of the problem! I trusted that American was going to take my mother, in a wheelchair, from one flight to the next. But for some reason, you guys abandoned her. And now SHE's suffering because of it. At this point, the only thing I can trust you to do is to leave my mother stranded.' "I'm sorry you feel that way," says the rep. And then she offers to send me a $125 voucher for Mom's next trip, to make things better. I said, 'Okay, but I don't see what good that will do; because to redeem it I'd have to fly AA again. And I don't see that happening any time soon...'

Now, had this been a story about some cute kid in a wheelchair, traveling alone - AA would have fallen all over itself in an effort to set things right. But because it wasn't, I can't help but think that it's because AA has a problem with seniors. Or senior adults w/ handicaps. Or maybe just the handicapped in general....

[jimworcs]

This shouldn't have happened. The airlines lack of care is a disgrace. But can I ask you what resolution you wanted to this problem? How could this be resolved to your satisfaction? They have offered some compensation (minimal), but really what can they do to fix the problem other than compensation and try to examine what the circumstances were and rectify them. I am not on their side at all, but can't quite figure out what you want.

[mars6423]

i am sorry that happend

did you ask for assistance to be met when you booked the flight? Many airlines require you to tell them before the flight if your in need of assistance, and with your mom getting on the kart, i am assuming that is one of those electric/gas karts your talking about, than she may have believed it would take her to the flight as well as anyone who was supposed to be helping her, making them believe that their job was done (even though they are still responsible and should be with her till she is seated on the plane or at the gate where the flight staff could assist her) and obviously the driver of the kart believed there to be wheelchairs upstairs but due to the karts inability to climb stairs/esculators he provided as much help as he could

no matter which way you look at it, your mom should have been helped out and there is no excuse

however one thing that you went out of line for was your last comment, about handicapped kids......first of all they have to be accompanied until a certain age, second many parents wouldnt allow their child to fly without somesones help which was arranged (usually them fly with the child)....the comment wasnt needed and shouldnt have been said, your mad/upset but the comparison is unjustified

[CWas]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

But can I ask you what resolution you wanted to this problem? How could this be resolved to your satisfaction? They have offered some compensation (minimal), but really what can they do to fix the problem other than compensation and try to examine what the circumstances were and rectify them. I am not on their side at all, but can't quite figure out what you want.

Sorry, I thought I was being clear. What I wanted was to be kept in the loop - informed of results of investigation and subsequent actions (you did read my post, right?) And having been denied that (which is all I really wanted), and offered *money* instead, - which I turned down - I expected American to come up with another/other alternate suggestion(s). Granted, it's a decidedly UN-American thing to say, but money is not the panacea to all the world's ills. Money (if you honestly consider a voucher that's good towards more American travel to be money compensation) is not going to make Mom's experience any more enjoyable or tolerable.

Now, as far as offering my suggestion(s) as to can they do to rectify the problem goes, to be blunt - that is the job of American Airlines. As a paying customer, I've really done all that can reasonably be expected of me. If the best they can do is offer payoffs then they deserve to lose my business....

[CWas]

Originally Posted by mars6423

i am sorry that happend

did you ask for assistance to be met when you booked the flight?

<snip>

however one thing that you went out of line for was your last comment, about handicapped kids......first of all they have to be accompanied until a certain age, second many parents wouldnt allow their child to fly without somesones help which was arranged (usually them fly with the child)....the comment wasnt needed and shouldnt have been said, your mad/upset but the comparison is unjustified

Of course we asked for assistance (which is why i mentioned her being wheeled off the first plane) it's not the first time she's flown. And not merely assistance on and off the plane either, but assistance to her next flight as well.

The one thing I noticed about your post is that you've mentioned quite a few suppositions -- lots and lots of assuming going on. The bottom line is that American's proccedures for handling handicapped customers (*assuming* they actually have any in place) broke down somewhere along the way. And simply shrugging it off w/ an "Oops!" and a, "Gee, we're sorry," is just plain unacceptable.

As far as my comments about handicapped kids go: (out of line or not) my comparison, in my opinion, is a valid one and therefore stands. And just so we're clear - children 5-17 yrs may, in fact, fly unaccompanied on American, for a fee (an extra $100 ea. way). Certain restrictions do apply, such as a child btwn. the ages of 5-7yrs cannot fly unaccompanied if they must change planes, and/or btwn ages 8-14 if they must change airlines. Otherwise they need not be escorted. http://tinyurl.com/5apgqq

In light of her experience, perhaps I'd be inclined to pay an extra $100 if my mom was assured the same level of care they offer children. But as it were (and as I pointed out) old and/or handicapped folks just aren't valued as highly as children are at American Airlines.

[jimworcs]

CWas,
Do walk with a limp? Just wondering how you manage to walk straight with that massive chip on your shoulder. Lets just get my position clear... you read my post right? AA fell down on this and treated your mother badly. Now, you drew this to AA's attention. They told you they would investigate, get to the bottom of it and take care of it. Let me just quote it so you are clear...

I called AA's customer service at 6am this morning (4/16) and they got back to me within a few hours. I laid out the story. And the rep assured me that she was going to "get to the bottom of this." I asked her to update me on what she found out. "Sir, we don't do that. You'll just have to trust that it'll get taken care of."

So AA got back to you, agreed it was a problem, agreed to investigate it and take care of the problem (which a reasonable person would assume to try to make sure it doesn't happen again). They also offered you a voucher for future travel as a way of saying sorry (a token, without a doubt, but at least they made it).

No employer is going to call you back and say they either fired the employee, gave them verbal warning, put it on their file, etc.... When you complain about the conduct of an employee, you do have to trust the employer will take action. You are not entitled to know that action took place.

You have a chippy attitude, as evidenced by your reply to me and to mars, both of whom expressed sympathy for your mother's situation and made mild comments asking for clarification or pointing out the obvious pitfalls in trying to pit one disadvantaged group against the other. Frankly, I don't think AA could have done or said anything which satisfies you.. and when you are directly asked what might, your answer is childish.. "that's not my job, it's yours". Perhaps you might try sticking your tongue out at the same time...

As you can't seem to come up with any ideas about appropriate actions AA might take, perhaps I can suggest some...

1. Waterboard the driver until he promises never to do it again
2. Send him to Guantanimo
3. Torture him and photograph him in a humiliating position and post them on the web
4. Worst of all, put him in a room and make him listen you you whining for 4 hours...

That will teach him.

[Leatherboy2006]

If they did call the poster of the post back and let them know what they did to the employee, couldn't the employee possibly turn around and sue both AA and possibly the poster? Especially in today's sue happy environment. If I complain about something I would rather the employee not know who did it, besides lawsuits...people today are just crazy and vengeful (look at the increase in shootings lately in the news.

[mars6423]

I wasnt sure about the AA unaccumpanied minor program, but every airline i have flown on have required that a minor be accumpanied by an adult....i dont know if it was the airlines regulations or if it was due to the flight being international, i barely fly domestic in the US.

My cousin who has autism went to go visit family in Australia from UK (Singapore Airlines) and his helper was going with him, the lady checking him in thought he was a flying alone so they had a accompanied adult to fly with him within a min, but when she realized that his helper was flying with him the other guy left. There was no fee for the service or anything......also a elderly woman was next to them and she was disabled and she was ravving about how incredible the service was (especially since she didnt know about it) and how they had a gentleman accompany her all the way to her final destination....the helper of my cousin saw the gentleman see the elderly woman be placed in a taxi....thus showing that elderly people recieve the same amount of care so your point has been misproven

if your wondering why his parents didnt fly with him its because they were scheduled to fly with him but something happend last minute and they had to fix it, so he arrived in australia and stayed with his grandparents

[snowlane]

Hey, at least someone called you and apologized AND in a timely manner. My flight was on Apr. 3rd, and I contacted them Apr. 5th with complaints AND to tell them that they had overcharged my partner and I by $100. They have yet to fix the problem.

I agree with the other people in that perhaps you were asking for too much. You are not legally entitled to know what actions are taken against an employee and the company is risking a lawsuit by providing you with such information. You simply have to let the airline take care of the situation. I do agree with you about the $125 voucher. Following such service, I would not want to fly with AA again. I would then request a refund for the flight your mother took. If they truly are sorry, providing you with such a refund should be something they do.

BTW, Do you have the number they called you from? I would LOVE to have it to call them myself!

[CWas]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

CWas,
No employer is going to call you back and say they either fired the employee, gave them verbal warning, put it on their file, etc.... When you complain about the conduct of an employee, you do have to trust the employer will take action. You are not entitled to know that action took place.

If you’ll allow me to wade through your ad hominem garbage pile for a moment, I’d like to address this one point (BTW - using ad hom is never a good sign that your argument’s going in the direction you’d want it to):

Where in my post did I ever complain about the conduct of an employee? If you are talking about the driver… Why do you assume that I hold him accountable? And how did you arrive at the conclusion that I wanted him punished? Granted, I realize that may be exactly what does happen to him. I realize also, that lesser managers often resort, first, to using terminations, reprimands, or even torture to get the job done – despite its being the sign of a poor manager, it’s also about as imaginative as throwing money at the customer in lieu of fixing the problem. Regardless, in my experience, coming down heavily with punishment is always counterproductive; it’s never good for morale, nor as a motivator; it does nothing to foster loyalty, nor does it instruct. And so, why do it?

Yes, I realize that I’m not ENTITLED to know anything internally. But you asked me what I wanted, what would satisfy me. And I told you. What goes on inside American Airline regarding its personnel is none of my business. Still, don’t tell me that businesses never provide information or status updates apprising their customers as to steps taken (progress) to resolve an issue. I know for a fact it’s done. I’ve done it myself for clients/customers. How difficult (or out of line) would it have been for AA’s customer service to have said to me, “We’ll check into that Mr. W. and get back to you,” – and then actually check into it and get back to me? How difficult (or out of line) would it be to inform me that, “Yes. We have investigated the problem. And because of our investigation, we have determined that ___________ was the cause. And so, to ensure that this problem will never happen again, we have taken certain preventative measures; instead of __________, we now _________ and ___________. The flight attendants, cart drivers, and various other airport personnel have all been notified and/or have received appropriate in-service training, and as such, they have been brought up to present standards. The problem appears to be fixed, Mr. W. And, as a token of our appreciation for you as a customer (and for bringing this problem to our attention) we want to send you a $125 gift voucher, good towards your next flight with AA.” Instead of throwing cash, at me, hoping that doing so will work as a soothing balm… Why not simply address the problem head-on? How difficult a thing can that be? Had they done this, AA would still have me for a customer.


And wading even deeper into your ad hominem ****e (and hoping to clarify any misconceptions your have in the process)….

*Waterboard the driver??

No, I hold American Airlines’ management squarely to blame for problems my mother experienced (and I said as much in my post). Any sizable company MUST have some sort of quality assurance program in place, or else it will ultimately collapse under the sheer weight of its own incompetence. Standards are key. In manufacturing, I know they use ISO guidelines. I’m not sure what, if anything, airlines use to assure quality. But whatever it is, once you have your system in place, if something happens - if there’s a breakdown somewhere - then you investigate the problem (not the employee). And once the problem’s been identified, then new and/or modified protections and procedures are put in place which will address the issue. The only time an employee would be at fault, would be in matters involving gross negligence of his or her duties. And so, as long as employees are trained, understand, and are fully capable of doing their jobs (and associated ambiguities are kept to a minimum) then the system can and will run smoothly, and do so with minimal supervision. So easy…

Hope this helps to clarify things.

Oh, and be sure to have a nice day, arsewipe!

[CWas]

Apparently, from reading the other posts in this thread, you're not alone in assuming I want someone's *head on a platter* - I do not wish that at all. All my complaints about AA are directed at AA' management and only its management.

Generally speaking, any time an employee makes such an error in judgment, it's usually because he or she doesn't know any better - because he or she was not trained to know any better! And lack of proper training, well, that's not the fault of the employee, but rather the fault of management.

Originally Posted by snowlane

BTW, Do you have the number they called you from? I would LOVE to have it to call them myself!

No, but I do have the number I called originally.

Taken from their website. (Note that this only applies to handicapped related problems...)

Past Date Travel Experience
If you are a customer with a disability and have recently experienced a problem on a previous trip, we invite you to call us directly at (817) 967-3000. Please provide your full
name, a daytime phone number, and mention that you are calling to discuss a disability-related matter. We will return
your call no later than the end of the following business day.

If your comments are not related to a disability, please see our Customer Relations section.

[jimworcs]

If you’ll allow me to wade through your ad hominem garbage pile for a moment

be sure to have a nice day, arsewipe!

Chippy... can I introduce you to a pot and a kettle?

[CWas]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Chippy... can I introduce you to a pot and a kettle?

...says the pot, and the kettle.