[aagalindor]

The letter that I sent to Continental Airlines over a month ago after arriving at nothing with Continentals' Customer Care (they really dont' care) explains the abuse the airline has exercised on me (and I am sure, many more customers).
After hearing nothing from Jeffery A. Smisek, Continental's CEO, today I called the airline's Customer Care again only to hear that my reimbursement has been denied!!! Why should I pay them twice for their service when they were the ones at fault?
Tuesday, January 5th 2010

Subject: Reimbursement of unfairly charged amount due to Continental’s negligence to talk LIVE to customer when airline made itinerary changes.
cc. Continental Airlines Customer Care

Dear Jeffery A. Smisek,

Back in July 2009 I purchased 2 Continental round trip tickets from XNA to QRO with departure day December 22nd, 2009 at 3:15PM and return date of January 4th 2010 at 12:10PM for $1,484.36. Yesterday (Monday, January 4th 2010), the day of my return, my husband and I showed up at the Queretaro airport at 10:10AM only to be told that our 12:10PM flight had been changed to 7:00AM of that morning and that unless I paid an additional $956.80, I would not get back home!! Worse yet, I would not get back home on that same day, but the next day (today), which meant for my husband and I to lose a day of work each (and its corresponding SALARY loss of course!).
Out of humiliation and desperation to get back to work, I paid the asked amount. Paying nearly an additional $1,000.00 to get on the plane when I am not at fault is NOT LOGICAL NOR FAIR, but rather an ABUSE and thus I ask that you refund the full amount. Furthermore, we also incurred additional taxi expense ($450 Mexican pesos = $36 US dollars) and lodging; not to mention losing 2 full days of salary (about $2,250 between my husband and me). I understand that sometimes airlines have to make changes, but the agents (both, the one in QRO and the one in Houston) nor I understand why nobody from Continental ever bothered to call me on my mobile phone (email is not good enough) to let me know of this VERY significant schedule change. As you can see from the attached purchase confirmation, Continental has my mobile number, which I ALWAYS carry with me.
From your own on-board Continental magazine (see attached copy of page 84), you can read that the number one recommended helpful travel tip is for the passenger is to provide the airline with reliable contact information. Quote: “We strongly recommend providing your mobile phone as your primary contact when making your reservation…………..” From the attached purchase confirmation you can clearly see that Continental does have my mobile number. Why then, didn’t anybody from Continental have the courtesy to call me LIVE and confirm that I was aware of the schedule change?
Attached is the receipt for the extra amount I was forced to pay to get on the plane ($956.80), please refund the full amount to my American Express card. Also, attached are the receipts for the 2 extra taxis I had to take. Please refund via a check in the amount of $36 US dollars ($450 Mexican pesos divided by $12.50 pesos/US dollar).
I trust that you value my business and your reputation and that you will reimburse the unfair additional charge of $956.80 to my American Express credit card before the payment becomes due (January 28th). Please also send the check for the extra taxis (receipts attached) within the next 2 weeks.
Looking forward to a satisfactory and fast resolution of this very disruptive experience with Continental Airlines,
Ana A Galindo


Can someone tell me who to write to, talk to, complain with so that Continental reimburses my money and all the money to those people to whom they have done the same thing?

[Jetliner]

I would call American Express and dispute the charge. Also, when you called Continental, did they tell you why the change was made, and when it was made? In the end you shouldn't have had to pay, and it sounds like something went wrong with the agents at the airport in Mexico. That would also explain why they didn't call. The res center is not going to call simply because there was a change on the reservation done by the airport. Changes get done all the time, so there's no way to flag those for a phone call.

That's the other reason you need to find out why the change was made - they may have denied the refund if they saw the change was done by the airport agent, and without digging deeper they may be thinking that you had the airport make the change.

[jimworcs]

It is outrageous. Airlines use the excuse that you are supposed to check or that they sent an email. This is inadequate. Many people do not have, (nor want), email access when on holiday. Continental had the number.. all they had to do was call, but I have no doubt they will seek to excuse their conduct on some spurious grounds.

[Team_OGG]

That's bad! If I were in your shoes, I will not pay for that amount at the airport. They need to show proof that you confirmed the schedule change on your flight. If not, what they did was just steal money from you. You should report this to DOT but I would suggest that you get evidence first when was the schedule change made and if it showed on their system that you were notified (even though you were not!).

Some airlines use the customer's phone number as primary source of contact in situations like this. They would only result to email if they can't contact the customer. One more thing, the schedule change on your return flight was more than 2 hours... and it's not your choice to take the 7AM flight at all. That agent at the airport should have asked you what flight you want to take and not force you to take whatever was given by their stupid system then ask you to pay the difference in fare!

this is really horrible! I don't know what else to say 'coz this is pissing me off! =(

[Ulysses]

The OP has not said if this was marked on her ticket, but airlines usually require reconfirmation three days before the flight and it appears this was not done. However if the airlne brings forward the time of the flight, the passenger must be allowed to opt for the same flight with the new time, or to take a later flight with no penalty or a refund. A complaint to the DOT may be the way to go or a claim in small claims court. $956 is quite a bit of money to lose just like that.

[The_Judge]

Reconfirmations went out with the rotary telephone. Not required and hasn't been for a long time. It's a good idea to do it but not required by most airlines.

[Gromit801]

Ok, just playing a little PHX Advocate here, lol.

I don't know how many flight Continental has on a given day, but there's a lot. Now that's a lot of people for their reservation department to keep track of.

I'd guestimate there were at least 200+ people booked on the flight in question. 200+ phone calls? Not going to happen when a mass emailing is more efficient, and gives the company and the passenger a written notification. Unless they record the calls, a passenger can miss the flight, and simply say they never got the call. An email provides a e-trail.

You can file a complaint about the fees, but I suspect that a court will rule with the airline because they have proof they sent you a notification.

[jimworcs]

Gromit,
That is an utterly unreasonable position. Are we supposed to take our laptops on holiday with us, then subscribe to some foreign wifi services, just so we can keep up with an airlines changes. It is ridiculous and unreasonable. If the airline asks the customer for a phone number, then it is reasonable to assume they will use it. They could programme to send text (sms) to all mobile phones for example. But if they cancel a flight, particularly where there is only one flight a day, then I am afraid they should just do the work.

They particularly should not compound the problem by seeking to penalise the customer.. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS.

[The_Judge]

Airlines use phone numbers. They have a computer call and say that there is a problem with their flight and they should call. If a phone number is given, it is used. I saw it everytime their was a flight delay. The computer notes the passenger's reservation with the number it called, the time and date and if contact was made.

[Gromit801]

Computer calls. Something I hadn't thought of. The thing I would hate about those, is that I hang up as soon as I detect it's a computer. 99.9% of the time it's a charity or politician begging for support.