Will NEVER use American Airlines EVER again

[gnXfan]

2 fridays ago it snowed. I called AAs 800 number and as of 7am it was indicating that my 9:30am flight was still on time. I logically knew that that flight could not be leaving on time and also that I couldn't get there at that time - their system was messed up.

Long story short - didn't make it, flight was delayed 6 hours, requested a refund and instead got this pleasant reponse from them:



Thank you for your email. Normally we use a sophisticated computer system to provide
accurate flight information. When irregularities develop, however, manual updates are
necessary by personnel at various locations. Sometimes there can be delays in
updating pertinent information when flights are affected by unexpected air traffic,
weather or other operational problems.

Your flight was not departing at 9:30 a.m. as the departure time was changed to 10:30
a.m. You were not only sent a schedule change notice about flight 1508 to Chicago
when the departure time changed to 10:30am, you also contacted our office about the
change and you were advised to contact our reservation personnel. I regret any
confusion in this matter.

Nevertheless, in order for us to be able to continue to offer deeply discounted fares
during these difficult economic times, limiting some of the flexibility associated
with discounted tickets has become all the more necessary. At the same time, instead
of not allowing any changes at all to nonrefundable tickets issued on/after August 30,
2002 for travel on/after October 1, 2002, changes can still be made prior to the
departure date of the ticket (changes subject to certain restrictions and fees). If
changes aren't made in accordance with this policy, the ticket will have no value.

I'm sorry you were unaware of this change in policy. We made certain this issue was
well-publicized via the media. Unfortunately, I must respectfully decline your
request for a refund. We are making no exceptions in this regard.

Again, thank you for contacting us about this issue. We hope to have our customers'
understanding and continued loyalty as we move forward in our return to profitability.


This is a "post-only" email response. Please don't click "reply"; such messages won't
be immediately directed back to me. If you'd like to contact us again, please do so
via http://www.aa.com/customerrelations/, and we'll be back with you as soon as
possible.


More Room Throughout Coach, only on American Airlines

Sincerely,

P. Barnholdt
Customer Relations
American Airlines

[UNGN]

American is HUGE around here. Probably more than 50K people work for it or work because of it in the Dallas Fort Worth area. That said, my personal feelings are that they are going out of business. Stick a fork in them, they are done. If anyone here works for AA, start updating you resume, yesterday.

[jy211]

if you bought the ticket on a credit card less than 60 days ago, just call the credit card company and dispute the charges.

[gnXfan]

Originally posted by jy211
if you bought the ticket on a credit card less than 60 days ago, just call the credit card company and dispute the charges.

I had purchased the stupid things back in 2002!

United for me - never have let me down before.

[jdodman]

I did a big vacation thru American Airlines 3 years ago that was a disaster. Spent Big $$$ -I spoke to several customer service folks, Wrote letters, spelled out all the crap that occured over a 7 day period, and I finally got a form letter back offering a 15% discount to go on the exact same vacation but I only had 12 months to use it. I hate AA and hope they go out business. Not that I want to see all those people out of work, but they are the worst !!!

[49-blues]

in jfk nyc-they are in the process of building one of the largest individual terminals i ever saw-its gonna have 80 jetways where the planes dock at-whew.

[polishwarrior]

I really don't ever want to fly again so I don't care if they all go out of business. I am really tired of these billion dollar companies complaining they need federal aid to stay in business because they can't pay their bills and their CEO his 7 figure salary. Run your business better and you won't need help. I don't receive federal assitance if I can't pay my bills do I?

[GN One Day...]

I agree. If the market can't support so many airlines, then some will go out of business. That's called business. Do what you can to make sure it's not you and get as much of the customers as possible. Do the small businesses in towns get federal assistance to stay in business when Walmart moves into town? Nope. Hate for that many jobs to be lost, that's the downside. Run the business right, get creative making more money, or suffer being put out of business. Emails like the one in this thread aren't a good way to win over repeat business, which, to my understanding, is what the airlines are really relying on these days. Business travelers are the backbone of that industry.

[2QUIK6]

I get fed up with them everytime I fly, but I don't have much of a choice here in DFW unless I want to spend all day trying to get to my destination. They don't understand the first thing about customer service and I've been a Platinum member in their freq flyer pgm for the last 9 years! For a while when I was going to NYC every other week for a year I flew Continental, they were great and very friendly.
In a time when they are struggling you would think they would do everything possible to make you want to come back to them......not so with AA.
Wouldn't bother me a bit to see them go under and a better airline emerge in their place, except I would loose all those flyer miles....oh well, I'm tried of traveling anyway...

[TType84]

you dont see southwest airlines bitching or asking for help from the government.. why.. because they make good decisions. they are the only airline to make a profit lately..

[Lee_Burough]

No sympathy here for the airlines....

The airlines knew the threat to their security before September 11, and ignored common sense anyway....They have earned a slowdown in their business, maybe they have earned the right to go broke. The federal baillout is disappointing, maybe a result of the then Senate majority leader's spouse being a Washington lobbyist for the airlines?

United airlines took my money for a ticket from Kimpo Airport in Korea on Dec 23, 1995. When I got to San Francisco, they went on strike. I spent my military leave time getting home to Denver via Continental....Have not flown United since.

American flight attendants have treated me poorly, along with the now defunct Western airline attendants, they are on my list too. Its a good thing I love to drive cross country

As a retired military pilot, I think I understand some of the security issues that the commercial airlines ignored prior to September 11th. Mainly, a pistol in the cockpit with a secure door will stop these cowardly acts of terrorism. The worst case scenerio becomes the loss of that aircraft, not a building or expedient target of opportunity when the coward sits in the seat and flys the aircraft. The passengers on the plane crashing in Pennsylvania on Sept 11th figured that out in time to save Capital Hill....

[JasonD]

That situation sucks. I would raise all kinda of hell it it were me.

Originally posted by TType84
you dont see southwest airlines bitching or asking for help from the government.. why.. because they make good decisions. they are the only airline to make a profit lately..

I head that JetBlue is also making money. Wish they had a terminal at Detroit Metro.

I hate flying anyway, though.