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AA Debacle

Posted on
September 22, 2005

American Airlines has been my preferred airline vendor for many years. I’ve flown literally hundreds of thousands of miles with them. I’m a Platinum member with them, and have been Gold or Platinum for about 4+ years.

After a recent debacle over the matter of a $50 fee that I shouldn’t have had to have paid, I decided to put American to the test. I’m giving them one chance to retain my business and my loyalty. I just emailed the letter below to them.

So what amI looking for? Well, at minimum a $50 refund (or credit). That’s a starting point…. beyond that, let’s see what they do to prove that I’m worth keeping as a customer. In case they visit, and in case they need some crib notes, here’s a few acceptable options (in level of desire):

I’ve added a counter to the sidebar to the right to see how long it takes to get a response. Tick, tock, tick, tock. And to make this fun, I’m taking a page out of John’s book and offering a prize for the person that guesses the length of time it takes to resolve this. Closest guess will win a prize package of fun stuff. Details coming soon.

Here’s the letter I sent in via AA.com. It was actually much better written (and 2x or 3x as long, but the AA site only accepts messages of 1500 characters - problem number 325).

My name is Jake McKee. I’m a highly loyal AA member (#80E04C2) since 11/18/98. I’ve acquired 415,000 miles. My AA number is one of the few numbers other than my wife’s birthday and my social security number that I actually know by heart. I typically spend anywhere from $10K-$30K USD/year with AA. I travel all over North America, and have used AA to fly to Europe a number of times this year.

I’ve encourage many to fly AA, and skipped cheaper tickets. With my status, I believed that if I had problems AA would treat me right.

After a call to American to redeem miles for a ticket, I’ve decided that my loyalty has been clearly misplaced. The cause is outlined below:

I booked an award ticket, and was told by the rep that I could pay the fees up to the day of the flight without fees. I called in to settle the fees and was told there was an extra $50 charge becausee I was under 21 days. After talking to a supervisor (who knew my status), I was told the fee was required, regardless of what the orginal sales agent told me. The supervisor said that knowing my status, I should know the policies. I said "so basically you’re punishing me for having flown a lot with you", she said "If you’d like to think about it that way".

She made $50 off of me, she effectively lost tens of thousands of dollars. United Airlines has assured me that my status would transfer.

This letter is an offer to save my business. I will be blogging this experience at communityguy.com

Jake McKee

UPDATE: Issue has been resolved - more info here.


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Viewing 22 Comments

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    Though your situation with AA proves much more valuable, several months ago I was in a similar situation with Borders (where I used to spend $500 month). They did call me to ask if they could use my letter for future training - but that's it.


    I'm rooting for the "suprise that blows you away,", but would bet on a written (form) letter.
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    I'm in. Eight days, four hours, 12 minutes, and 20 seconds (approximately *grin*). Repeat the following mantra every hour until then: "comp ticket", "comp ticket"...
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    Jeff,
    I work for AA and will try to forward this to someone who may be able to do something. But they don't listen to me much either. I work as a flight attendant. Let's hope for the best, and please know that we really don't want to lose you as a customer because of someones poor customer service, we on the frontline as was as thousands behind the scenes do value your business. I hope to see you in the skies.

    Take care,

    Raisa
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    I hope AA is able to do something (anything) that helps retain a loyal customer - and it's not like you're asking for much other than a statement of "we care" from somebody in a position to make a difference to you.


    Loyalty seems to be a fading concept, be it between company and customer, company and employees, or what have you. My own experience in recent times of granting my loyalty to a company (as employee) was paid off by being let go during the first round of (unnecessary) layoffs. I hope your experience turns out better than mine.



    Oh, and for the record... hmm, let's see, it's Saturday now, I'm betting that since Google got hold of this your email will escalate by about Tuesday, so I'll go for a Wednesday response. 7 days, 9 hours. If you don't get one by Thursday, I'm thinking you never will.



    Good luck!
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    Jeff I also work for AA and I will fwd also, but as Raisa said please don't judge us by the few. We are the only legacy carrier to have NEVER filed for bancruptcy so your tax dollars are not funding our recovery, as they are the other legacy carriers that have thrown their pensions on the taxpayers backs.
    While I understand your ire at being treated as you were please understand that the burden we feel at the pump is magnified many times for AA and as an airline we are trying to eke out every dollar we can so we do not have to go to the taxpayers.



    Thanx
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    We are supposed to feel good about AA not taking taxpayer dollars because they are not BK? Tell me, AA folks, do you know how many billions AA took after 9/11? Jake, start flying Jet Blue. Stuffing yourself on a plane is a bit of a commodity, these days. At least at JB you get free TV and better prices......and an airline that functions on the laws of the market, not an open hand to the government.
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    Do you have proof of this alleged incident? Didn't think so. You are no different than the 1,000s of other freeloaders that file frivilous lawsuits against companies or complain about non-existent problems in the hopes of getting something for nothing.


    A true business professional does not whine on a blog and try to harm the reputation of a company that he alleges loyalty to. Kind of like a wife beater that goes to the bar and brags to his buddies in a twisted attempt at gaining approval for his actions - even though he knows what he has done is wrong.



    If you transact business with companies other than AA, ask them how long you would retain a relationship if you aired your grievances in a public forum. (please post the results of that survey here)





    Be a professional and confine your grievances, alleged or otherwise, to private channels. The real question should be; Why is Southwest afraid to operate from DFW?
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    Welcome to the site everyone!


    Just a quick bit of clarification - I'm Jake, not Jeff :)



    To the AA employees, thanks for your help in getting this resolved. I'm not judging the company at large by the actions of a few, necessarily. That said, like it or not, there are a few main touchpoints that consumers form opinions of your company buy, including ticket agents, flight crews, and customer service.
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    Bob K said: "While I understand your ire at being treated as you were please understand that the burden we feel at the pump is magnified many times for AA and as an airline we are trying to eke out every dollar we can so we do not have to go to the taxpayers."


    Bob, welcome to the site. I'm not sure that I buy that the gas prices are making customer service reps testy. Maybe so, but it's hard to hear as an excuse/reason.



    But to your point about eeking out every last dollar - the entire point of my postings is that short term thinking is as dangerous to the business as gas prices or anything else. The fact that in the pursuit of $50, AA may well loose tens of thousands from me is scary. This is the time to be EXTRA nice to your loyal consumers, not trying to find additional ways to squeeze pennies out of them. And if you must, squeeze, but do it on the normal consumers, not platinum members.
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    Hey Jake:
    All of the airlines prospering today took their que from Frankie Lorenzo who sank Trans Texas (aka Texas Air) after using it to leverage himself and his little group of gnomes in to ownership of Continental and later Eastern.

    He took Continental into bankruptcy and liquidated Eastern.

    His strategy was simple:treat 'em like dirt,pack 'em like pigs,and laugh and give them vouchers when they bitch.

    Right now the old airlines have enough frequent flyer miles outstanding it would sink them if even 10% were converted at any given time.

    Delta long held high standards of customer satisfaction as a standard.Agents were made to do whatever it took to make a customer happy.Jet Blue,Air Tran,and Southwest steamrollered them right into bankruptcy,but not until they had cut wages and benefits to Wal Mart levels.

    So accept your fate,get on the airplane,sit in your cheap seat (cheaper than Greyhound),shut up.
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    point of clarification to T VonM who asked about "how many billions AA took after 9/11?" If you're asking about how much AA took from the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act the answer is $0.00. Unlike America West and US Airways, which submitted applications and got loans, and unlike United Airlines, which submitted an application and was denied, denied, denied (yes, 3 times), AA never applied for assistance from Air Transportation Stabilization Board. Of course this is not to say that AMR never received money from the gubbmint after September 11. It was, after all, the gubbmint that grounded our fleet, making it impossible for us to make money. We were repaid for that temporary forced closure of our business. Yes, I work for AA and yes, we are the only national carrier in existence before deregulation not to file for Chapter 11. That being said, I hope Jake returns to us. Soon.
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    GET A LIFE!!!
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    Wow! I am so surprised at the emotions involved in this issue! I used to work for a company owned by American, but was not on the frontlines. That being said, I have always believed in the mantra that the customer is always right. I would certainly complain if this happened to me. Why shouldn't grivances be aired in a public forum? Is it really going to cost AA that much in PR? Well, I don't know the answer to that, but I think public discussion is great for any compay. Kudos!
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    I've been in the travel industry for 23 years working for agencies and airlines and now I'm a corporate travel buyer. The complaint is a valid one but on the other hand the attitude that I'm going to take my ball and go home seems childish and isn't going to make points with the carrier. Don't inflate your importance: $10K isn't that much, we spend that on just a couple of tickets. Just because one of the customer serivce reps got it wrong doesn't necessarily mean that the airline should shovel a bunch of free stuff at you. Waiving the $50 would be wise and being glib is not good customer service. In 23 years I've learned a) rules made by the airlines can be broken/bent by the airlines b) you get more bees with honey than vinegar c) keep calling the airline until you get the answer you want or ask for a supervisor until you get satisfaction; sooner or later they'll figure out it's cheaper to give you the $50 than keep spending expensive time saying "no."
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    This is what I don't get. This is over a $50 fee, that apparently a very high status frequent flier member didn't know about. Fair enough. It happens. It's even fair to say that the problem solving skills weren't even present with that CSR.


    But, what I don't get is why one of the items on the list of "expectations" is a free ticket? Where have you bought a ticket for $50 before?



    I seriously doubt that this man is going to post when this company responds. Why not have a little fun with it, right? Have you ever emailed a business before and got a response back right away? You're talking about a company that has probably had to shut down several airports in the past few weeks and deal with thousands of customers who were affected by this and the hurricanes. C'mon! ...or is it that the world revolves around Jake McKee?



    Give me a break.
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    Nancy, welcome to the site!


    First off, please don't mistake the specific details for the core issue - service. It's not just about $50, it's about the treatment that a company I've been highly loyal to over many years had shown me. It wasn't even one unskilled CSR, it was about her, her supervisor, then the person who responded to my email.



    And to say I had a list of "expectations" shows clearly that you didn't read my post. I didn't say I "expected" all or even any of those things. That list was a list of items (in prioritized order) of things that would make me feel important to AA again. A free ticket wasn't simply a way to recoup my $50 outlay - it was a POSSIBLE way that AA could have said "We're sorry, we should have done better".



    And despite your doubts about me posting when AA responds... well, sorry to disappoint. I've posted every stitch of communication I've received.



    As far as the whether I think the world revolves around me... well, that's just silly. I fully understand that there's a national emergency on, and that has caused problems. As I originally posted, it's about much more than that.



    But more importantly, this has NOTHING to do with why they acted like they did. Even if it did (which I don't believe for a second had anything to do with the first 3 CSRs), it brings up the famous quote about how anyone can behind when there's no pressure, but true nature shows through in time of crisis.



    I truly appreciate your comments, even if I don't agree with them much. Hope to see you back on the site soon.
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    Jake --


    I work in AA's Customer Relations Department -- and have looked through our system... nothing has been received from you since December, 2002 -- incidentally, our response was sent ten days after we received your letter!!



    Did you submit via AA.com?



    If not, try this link next time -- www.aa.com/customerrelations



    At     any rate, I've gone ahead and entered your letter in our system, and we will respond using the contact information in your AADVANTAGE account.



    Contrary to popular belief, we do respond -- individually -- to every piece of correspondence we receive. Bear with us, though -- the heavy summer travel season, along with two hurricanes, has put us in a bit of a backlog!




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    I will guess never. With few exceptions, I rarely get a response without going very high in the organization. I had a problem with sprint a few years back. I had to send a letter to the office of the president at the company in order to get anything done about it. They finally came through.


    However with airlines, it's about deal. Here's my response to an article written in TradeWind's, the flight attendant union magazine. How strange it has come to this.
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    AA CR, thanks so much for your help!


    I'm not sure why you're not seeing the contact, considering I received a response to it. Ping me offline (jakeATcommunityguyDOTcom) and I'll happily forward it to you if that would help track down the error.



    Thanks for helping me though - the fact that AA is responding here makes me feel that much better about the company! (That was one of my requests
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    AA CR, thanks so much for your help!


    I'm not sure why you're not seeing the contact, considering I received a response to it. Ping me offline (jakeATcommunityguyDOTcom) and I'll happily forward it to you if that would help track down the error.



    Thanks for helping me though - the fact that AA is responding here makes me feel that much better about the company! (That was one of my requests for resolution)
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