[Luis 11]

The staff at the airport in Mexico City told us to go to the wrong departing room which caused us to miss our fly to Cancun on Wednesday, 7/22/09 at 2:45 PM. After this happened, I asked the Aeromexico personnel what should I do and with no willingness to help from the staff at the booth we were told to wait on “stand by” and see if there were any empty seats available on the next flights. Two flights left and all I noticed that my "stand by" tickets were always put at the bottom. I noticed that 4 to 6 people were called when empty seats were available on each flight. I asked the person at the booth again, why they called other people and not my name. I was told that the persons on the waiting list had priority (no one told me that before!); I asked them how do I get on the waiting list. They told me that I need it to pay to have our tickets printed (NOTE; this is in addition to what I had already paid). I went to the ticket booth and they charged me $120.00 dollars!!! to “print” 3 tickets (one for my wife, one for my 21 month old baby, and mine). When they were doing that they told me that I also needed to have my return back tickets re-instated because they "automatically" cancelled my flight back!!! They claim that they have the right to do that. They don't care if you had book your hotel and car rental and that you would lose money when they cancel your trip. Needless to say that they also charged me for doing that an additional $380.00 dollars!!! Aeromexico took advantage of my predicament. I would've lost more money if I had to cancel my hotel reservation and car rental. I finally left 8 hours later on a flight at 9:45 PM. Let's this be a lesson for everyone. I would never flight in Aeromexico again and I would strongly advice against anyone who plans to do that. Aeromexico have no costumer service at all and they totally take advantage of people's situations when possible. I hope that more people realize what a mistake would be to use their services.

[rudybjr]

Read the boarding pass next time and you won't have to be told where to go. There are signs posted everywhere its not that difficult to find your departing flight if you actually read the signs.

[mars6423]

you put yourself in the situation by taking the check in counter agents word on departure gate, if you looked at your ticket and the screens that list the flights and their gates you would have been fine, also when you were in the departure lounge didnt you look at the gate at the sign which says where that plane is going to? and im not sure on the procedure there, but if you had to show your boarding pass to get into that lounge than wouldnt they have nofified you that you were in the wrong place?

but they did seem to take advantage of taking all that money from you, write up a complaint and see what you can do if you used a credit card

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by mars6423

you put yourself in the situation by taking the check in counter agents word on departure gate, if you looked at your ticket and the screens that list the flights and their gates you would have been fine...

He never said it was a ticket or airline agent. He said it was...

Originally Posted by Luis 11

The staff at the airport in Mexico City told us to go to the wrong departing room which caused us to miss our fly to Cancun on Wednesday, 7/22/09 at 2:45 PM.

For all we know it could have been a restroom matron or a coffee shop clerk! This is one of those posts where I feel there's much more to this story. Taken at face value, however, my advice is to be careful who you ask directions from!

[Paul]

The unfortunate missing of the flight is one thing, the treatment of a paying customer (with a small baby!) by the company is another thing, and the "automatic cancellation" of the return flight and reprinting of the tickets worth hundreds of dollars do not need any comments. I am glad that Luis shared this story and wish all the smartasses such as PHXFlyer to appear in the same situation.

I am usually against regulation since it often causes more problems than it solves but after reading posts like this one, I am starting to think there should be more regulation in this market.

[jimworcs]

Re-regulation is the only answer. The airlines are operating a complex monopoly which distorts the free market. It needs a comprehensive anti-trust investigation and the "fortress hubs" need to be broken up and the monopolistic and abusive practices banned. What happens now is crazy.

Only in the mad world of aviation can a carrier go bankrupt, deprive honest businesses of their due, (causing some suppliers to go bankrupt with them), strip benefits and pensions obligations from long standing employees and then re-emerge from bankruptcy as the largest air carrier in the world having taken out a competitor in the process. (Delta).

We reward FAILURE and we protect corrupt practices because their lobbying power is so great. It is pathetic and frankly unbelieveable that it has been allowed to go for so long. The US protectionist system isn't working... if it was, ask yourself why all the best airlines in the world are non US?