Brian and Sarah Bessey
XXX XXX XX
Abbotsford, British Columbia
XXX XXX
Canada
July 2, 2007
American Airlines Customer Relations
P.O. Box 619612 MD 2400
DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612
USA
RE: Treatment at Omaha Airport, AA Call Centre Ineptitude and a Dreadful Experience
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter just hours after one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever undergone at AA – which is saying a lot. We have been loyal AA fliers for years (AA # XX). After today, we will use our airline points up and never fly American again.
We had been on holiday in Omaha, NE to visit my husband’s family with our 10-month-old daughter for the past two weeks from Vancouver. Our original flights (Record Number XX) were for late in the evening and so I called the AA Call Centre to see about changing our flights. The attendant (named Elaine, around 3 o’clock on July 1, 2007) was very helpful. Since it would cost over $1,000 to change our tickets, she recommended that we fly stand-by. We went over all of the flights loads on the phone and she not only suggested, but recommended, that we fly stand-by for our flights.
On her advice, we changed our plans. I woke up my baby daughter at 4 in the morning to go to the airport. When we approached the counter, the agent (Deborah D.) was obviously frustrated and agitated. She was short with the customers ahead of us, slamming drawers, heaving sighs and generally being as unpleasant as possible. Everyone in the line was rolling their eyes and saying “Gee, why didn’t you just call in sick if you’re that miserable?” (Nobody likes to be at the airport at 5 in the morning but we all had to shell out $1,000 or more to be there, while she was getting paid…)
When we approached the counter, my husband told her “We are on the afternoon flight from Omaha to Vancouver, BC. Our connection is in Dallas. We’d like to fly stand-by for the earlier morning flights.” She seemed upset by our request and tapped away at her computer for a few moments. Finally she shoved our passports back at us and told us that because we were flying stand-by we weren’t a priority for this flight and to step aside while she checked in everyone else for the flight. Despite our bags and a stroller and a tired baby, we did as she asked. We stood to the side for 20 minutes while she not only helped other passengers but fixed printers and rearranged her work station. Finally (when she figured out we weren’t going anywhere?), she deigned to assist us. She grabbed our passports again and proceeded to type madly for 10 minutes, muttering and complaining under her breath. She eventually asked us if we could split up which we rejected. This seemed to bother her. Then she asked us why we were flying stand-by through Chicago when it was a later flight. We said, “We’re not going to Chicago. We’re going through Dallas to Vancouver.” She flung her hands in the air and yelled “You told me you were going to Chicago!” We never once even mentioned the city of Chicago. She was very angry and rude with us, gesturing wildly and almost calling us liars. We went back and forth for several moments with her repeating “You said Chicago!” and us saying “No we didn’t!” (Why would I want to lie about that? I had been in line for almost an hour with my baby and our luggage waiting to get checked in – would I lie to her just to be a jerk? It makes no sense.) She snatched up our things again and said “Well, now I have to start over.” By now, the people behind us in the line had also been waiting for some time. I was embarrassed and irritated by the delay but what made it even worse was her attitude.
The crowning moment of that encounter (because there’s more…) occurred 10 minutes after she clacked away at her computer, once again muttering and glowering. She looked at us and accused “You’re going to Vancouver!” We replied “Of course we are.” She then shoved our passports at us and said “You can’t fly stand-by on an international flight. That’s the rules.” At that point, I had a weepy baby and we’d been dealing with this awful woman for an hour. I said “Well, I spoke to an agent yesterday on the phone for more than 30 minutes and I was told to fly stand-by on these flights. How were we supposed to know that we can’t?!” She just kept saying that those were the rules and she couldn’t do anything about it. The fact that those were the rules and that the call centre agent had made a mistake paled in comparison to her treatment. She acted like we knew the rules and were just doing this to annoy her. She acted like we were to the blame for what we had endured for the past hour. Eventually we had to check our bags through for the later flight, call my father-in-law to come back to the airport (another hour drive for him) and pick us up. When we left the line-up, the other passengers said “That was awful! Good Lord!” and other similar platitudes. Even the people who waited for an hour behind us saw how appalling this type of treatment and situation was.
We returned to the airport for our regularly scheduled flight at 3:55 PM. We checked in at 2 o’clock and waited. Then the flight was cancelled by the desk clerk. She gave out a phone number for people to call. When we all called that number, the people at the other end claimed that the flight had NOT been cancelled and if any of us wanted to change our ticket, we would be charged $500. My husband and I were standing at the front counter trying to get rebooked onto another flight when the pilot came off the plane, frustrated, and exclaimed “I’ve got clearance to go! Why aren’t these people on board?” The desk clerks were flustered and admitted to cancelling the flight. They all shrugged and basically said “Oh, well, too late now.” Needless to say, it’s incredibly frustrating to be completely put out for someone else’s mistake!
We were rebooked onto a Northwest Airlines flight. We had to leave the secure area and go down to the baggage claim to pull all of our luggage off again (which, when you have a baby, includes a stroller, a car seat and more bags than I’m used to traveling with to be honest). We trekked over to the Northwest counter and were checked into a flight that left near 7 o’clock that evening. We had to go back through security again (thanks for that). Then we had another 3 hours to kill in the Omaha airport with our 10 month old baby.
By the time, we finally got on the plane, we had been trying to get out of Omaha for more than 14 hours. We had to fly through Minneapolis in order to get to Vancouver. We didn’t arrive in Vancouver until 1 in the morning. We weren’t home until 2 in the morning. You can imagine how much my daughter enjoyed this. What should have been a quick day from Omaha to Vancouver turned into a 24-hour odyssey.
(By contrast, the people at Northwest were courteous, on time and helpful…)
There are several things that bother me about this experience:
- The attitude and behaviour of Deborah D. in the Omaha airport. She was an absolute shrew. I have never been treated like that by anyone in the customer service industry. We had paid $861.32 USD (which is almost $1000 CAD) for those tickets. Yet we were treated terribly and like an inconvenience. She was angry and accusatory and difficult. I’ve never been so shocked.
- The fact that we couldn’t fly stand-by doesn’t bother me. If those are the rules, then I certainly understand. What I don’t understand is why the agent at the call centre not only told me that the option was there but actually recommended that I do so. If it’s such a “rule”, why was the customer service agent so completely clueless? I could have avoided this entire episode if your staff was adequately trained and had the first clue about travel.
- The very first words out of our mouth at the ticket counter were that we were flying stand-by to Vancouver with a connection in Dallas. At that point, the agent (Deborah) could have said “I’m sorry – you can’t fly stand-by on international flights.” I would have been frustrated with the call centre agent but would have understood that these things happen and adjusted our plans. Instead I spent an hour fighting with this dreadful ticket agent, blocking the flow of other passengers and aggravating myself and my husband along with a very discouraged little baby.
- The lack of communication between the pilots, desk clerks and the call centre for AA. When we called to rebook flights, we were told the flight wasn’t cancelled and that we would be charged for changing the flight. If the flight had been cancelled, then the call centre should be notified before we are given their number to deal with.
- The flight from Omaha to Dallas did not need to be cancelled. It appears that an overzealous desk clerk was the culprit for putting out hundreds of people and being the “straw” that broke our camel’s back. I could have sat down and cried at that point. I just wanted to be home.
This situation was frustrating to the utmost. At every single contact point, your company not only didn’t provide adequate service but were actually more fury-inducing than anything else! How ridiculous and appalling.
We have always flown AA. Despite often sub-par customer service, we have been very loyal even though we don’t fly as often as some people. But after this experience, I doubt that we will ever fly on your airline again. We will use up our points and then go to Northwest or another carrier when we have to fly to visit our American family.
Please address these issues. I do expect a prompt apology. My address is at the top of this letter. My home phone number is 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
But we did get a bag of mini-doughnuts and a sunburn. We've always had a weakness for small town festivals. I'm not sure why. I think it's because we're both city people. born and bred, so when a small town nearby happens to have a festival, we think it's quaint and interesting. We've been to everything from the Porter Peach Festival to the New Braunfels Wassilfest and Wurstfest ("The 10 Day Salute to Sausage"...you can't make this stuff up.). There's something wonderful about time spent, wandering through small towns, sampling wares and hearing the little girls warble through a song from "Oklahoma!". 
So we have an excellent collaborative team - one person does events, we do home groups etc. It's a great system although new to us. I'm interested to see how it will work. 
As the day draws closer, I'm becoming more and more despondent and achy. I return on August 27. Pray for me? And for Brian - he'll be staying home with the girl when what he really wants is to quit school and get a job so that I can stay home with her. It's hard to lay down your desires even for just a season. 
