[lwalsh]

I booked myself and family on a flight to JFK from London Stansted in Feb 08 leaving Aug 08, then on to Tampa. The airline decided to stop flying from Stansted in June 08, but were still taking bookings for flights that were never going to leave up to JUne 08. My friends were joining us for the holiday of a lifetime and booked another 5 seats on the same flights, followed by another two friends trying to book too but were unable to do this. I then wondered why and found a small note on the website, no email, no explanation that all our flights were cancelled.
This is when the rudeness of the staff begins.
- rang for explanation and ask when we would have been told our flights were cancelled. Operator said we would be told the following week, in the mean time my other two friends have booked with AA to Tampa via Chicago. Now we are all on different flights!
- AA said no compensation for disruption like it or lump it! They claim not to have known the Stansted route was being cancelled
- I noted the new flights were £230.00 cheaper so asked them to refund this, I was told no I would have to cancel and rebook, which I did. I then asked her to rebook the flight, the operator wanted to charge me £45.00 for booking on the phone! hence i booked on line .
- AA refunded my card twice!! then a week later debited my card without my permission.
- I complained by e mail, no answer. I phoned and was told there is a backlog of complaints you will have to wait for your replY!
- I was then told my call was to be cleared as another caller was waiting like I was a piece of dirt.
_ sent another complaint and guess what no answer.
I have not put full details of the rudeness and lack of customer care as I would be here all night! I want to write to the AA chairman but you cannot find any address or contact details just their inadequate complaints service who do not answer anyway!!

[airhead]

Flights cancel for many reasons. Mostly due to things that are beyond anyone's control. When the ticket is purchased you should be aware of that possibility. The agents don't have much information about why a flight cancels. The reservation computer only shows available seating or no available seating. Why do you need to know WHY the flight canceled? The fact is, that flight did cancel and you have the choice of a refund or rebook another flight in the same fare. If the fare is higher then the price will go up, if the fare is lower then you will get a partial refund for the difference.

If you bought your ticket online and then you decide on a refund, then the ticket is no longer valid. You are now starting from scratch. Which is why the agent was charging the processing fee over the phone.

I agree that rudeness is not appropriate. More often than not, when the customer attacks the agent with questions about why and wants everything to be fixed at no charge, then the agent may not be very helpful. They are there to help but you have to keep in mind that they have a job to do and giving away more expensive fares and waiving fees due to a schedule change is not what they do.

If you still feel like you have been cheated then you need to contact the Department Of Transportation and file a compliant. Make sure you include all the facts as the incident will be investigated.

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm

[shovern]

Originally Posted by airhead

Flights cancel for many reasons. Mostly due to things that are beyond anyone's control. When the ticket is purchased you should be aware of that possibility. The agents don't have much information about why a flight cancels. The reservation computer only shows available seating or no available seating. Why do you need to know WHY the flight canceled? The fact is, that flight did cancel and you have the choice of a refund or rebook another flight in the same fare. If the fare is higher then the price will go up, if the fare is lower then you will get a partial refund for the difference.

If you bought your ticket online and then you decide on a refund, then the ticket is no longer valid. You are now starting from scratch. Which is why the agent was charging the processing fee over the phone.

I agree that rudeness is not appropriate. More often than not, when the customer attacks the agent with questions about why and wants everything to be fixed at no charge, then the agent may not be very helpful. They are there to help but you have to keep in mind that they have a job to do and giving away more expensive fares and waiving fees due to a schedule change is not what they do.

If you still feel like you have been cheated then you need to contact the Department Of Transportation and file a compliant. Make sure you include all the facts as the incident will be investigated.

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/problems.htm

Your reply and the information you give is pointless??

[sknapp]

I won't feel better until I get this off my chest. My daughter and son-in-law was traveling with a 6 month baby and a small dog from NY to CA. They were delayed over 4 hours in LaGuardia - understood. Obviously late for any connecting flight so had to stay over in Dallas - in a hotel that was over $300 a night and American only paid for half. Now they are starting to run low on formula and diapers. AA customer service suggested watering down milk ........... Why don't major hubs have formula and diapers in their convenience stores. It only seems to make sense. She can't have been the only baby in the world stuck in an airport. Don't they get ready to leave Dallas today and the plane has a power failure and there isn't another flight possibly until morning!! My god, just how long can you manage a small baby and a dog in an airport. No support from Customer Service at all. Plus the dog is a service dog and they still had to pay for it to fly. Sorry, as a mother I am so upset. I will never book with AA again. I just really needed to vent...........but I am still interested in getting major hubs to carry infant/baby supplies. I don't think we need as much of the candy they carry as we do diapers, wipes and formula. I appreciate that these is a forum to ventilate this through. I wonder if I should complain to teh official AA site or DOT or whomever? S.

[jwp]

Originally Posted by airhead

Why do you need to know WHY the flight canceled? The fact is, that flight did cancel and you have the choice of a refund or rebook another flight in the same fare. If the fare is higher then the price will go up, if the fare is lower then you will get a partial refund for the difference.

What?? Canceling due to weather or mechanical issues, ok. Cancelling because the airlines decide they didnt make enough money on that flight is something completely different. Why is it that only Airlines get away with this kind of nonsense?!? If you ordered a new car from a dealer, sold your old one and went to the dealer to pick up your new one, only to have the dealer say "sorry, we decided we didnt want to sell you the new car at the price we told you, so we are just going to cancel the deal". Oh, and by the way, the "deposit" you put down on the new one is not refundable or only partially refundable, you wouldnt have a problem with that?? There is NO other business that I can think of that is allowed to operate this way. Airlines treat all passengers as if they are doing them a favor by allowing them to fly on their airplanes. Amazing.... They must have really good lobbyists....

[azstar]

Plus the dog is a service dog and they still had to pay for it to fly.

This definitely doesn't sound right. Service animals, by law, must fly free with the passenger. Was it an official service dog with proper harness, markings, and documentation, or are you just calling it a service dog?

If it's an official service animal you need to get your money back from AA.

[screennamie]

Originally Posted by shovern

Your reply and the information you give is pointless??

The same could be said about your's. He was at least trying to help. If its a valid complaint submit to the DOT or some regulatory agency with in the airline.

If not, blow off your steam and move on with life.

[graylady]

I travelled from NYC JFK to Paris France in September this year.
This trip will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
The rudeness and aggression of the ground crew, the difficulty checking in, being charged an extra 100$ to check a cabin bag in because I was injured and couldn't lift it after being told at one check in to transfer my belongings from one bag to another in front of a long queue of other passengers, then having labels ripped off because I was too slow. Having to trek right across the airport to find another check-in clerk who might have been a bit more sympathetic (and whose computer worked) The filthy state of the aircraft inedible food, lack of decent entertainment (earphones didn't work anyway) Then on arrival at Paris finding one of my bags completely trashed but no-one wanted to know.
The 100$charge is NOT stated on their website.
After at least 10 emails of complaint (and several letters that have been ignored) all they could come up with was a travel 'voucher' to fly with them again....as if!!