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Dear Stefania Meyer,

First off, at least let me say Thank You for giving me a response.

Having been denied a flight on Thanksgiving, I have already checked your pet policy and have seen that the dog breed is now on there. Let me start by saying that my past experience has led to my personal decision NOT to fly your airline again. I do not believe offering me a ticket that I have no inclination to use is even close to compensation for the experience nor is it resolving any issue. Furthermore, your well groomed email with no substance also does not attempt to resolve any issues your company failed to address that day. This is extremely disappointing in your capabilities to help and I reject your response as a sufficient resolution. I now demand that your supervisor or manager make a significant effort and set up a time to call and discuss these short comings. I have no faith in this generic electronic wall you have set up.

Lets begin with the pet policy as a response to your email. I will not argue what you can have on your policy, but you should be informed that my dog is not a snub nosed dog and in fact flew on your airline only four months ago, during the hottest season, when it is most dangerous for a snub nose dog to fly. This is a direct contradiction to your statement that your policy change is for the safety of the dog; otherwise the policy would have been changed over the summer. Also, you should know that United had no problem taking my business the following day and transporting my dog.

The REAL issue is that your policy changed with NO notification to customers that there is a policy change. Let me be very clear, when I bought my ticket on September 20th, I checked your pet policy and followed the website to ensure completing all steps for a smooth trip with my pet. Changing the policy, a week before I fly does NOT constitute a lack of preparedness on the customers part. Let us assume that in the hypothetical case where I instinctively knew that there was a change in policy and I called the airport and asked if my dog could fly, which was the suggestion of the ticket agent at the counter (if I knew why would I call?), I would have needed to clearly and specifically ask if my dog was on your restricted breed list (again, why would I call then?). It just does not make sense! I would also like to add, if your agents are going to give nonsensical advice such as this, at least let them back up their statements with something on the website that a customer should have followed. For example, please contact American four hours prior to flying. With no notification, there is no way I would know that there was a policy change, and the airline industry is not set up to allow me to just go to a competitor and simply get the same fare and travel on the spot. You need to be held accountable for such irresponsible behavior as this.

Let us talk about losses, both monetary and personal, that resulted from your lack of customer service and responsibility. Transportation back home was $67, a very tasteless Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant without family was about $100 ($50/ person set course dinner), purchasing United tickets took 50,000 miles and additional $220 for two seats, $100 for the difference between a checked-in-pet-price on United and American, $60 for parking since we parked when we flew out on Friday. All because you would not take a dog that traveled with your company four months prior. I consider, at a MINIMUM, the monetary loss of $550 sufficient.

Finally, I can not tell you how disheartening it is for me to read this email. You clearly did not pick up on your faults, you give me a generic apology, and frankly it seems as if you do not care. I reiterate my complaint to you once more in more detail for you to understand:

* Your policies changed with no notification to the customer.
o I was not informed that the policies have or will change prior to my flight. I was not told that I needed to monitor American Airlines and their policies.
* Your agents at the desk provided ZERO customer service.
o It was indicated that it was my fault for not calling before arriving at the airport. There was nothing they can do.
* Your customer service does not resolve issues when they need to be resolved. (i.e. getting people on flights when they should be on flights)
o I need to email customer service that will not respond within 72 hours when I need to fly now?
* The management at the counter offered ZERO customer service.
o The management at your counter would not even come out to talk to resolve the situation. How and what do they honestly manage?
* American Airlines considered it a sufficient resolution to leave my girlfriend, my dog, and myself stranded at the airport.
o How can you as a service company consider this reasonable?
* Your customer service can not keep the promise of when I will receive a response.
o I was told 72 hours and it has taken you 144 “business hours” or 192 consecutive hours. At best, its still bad.
* Your responses lack sincerity and a genuine willingness to resolve the issue.
o I have now taken an additional 2 hours because you have not addressed any of my concerns and complaint.

In conclusion, I expect a complete response, and I expect a phone call. I have also contacted the BBB as well as the FTC and filed a complaint. I am looking into avenues for legal recourse and making my experience available to any media outlet.

Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 16:19:10 -0600
From: AmericanAirlines.wecaare001@aa.com
To: msn.com undecided_thrice@msn.com; undecided_thrice@msn.com
Subject: R2010/11-28549-00290-001-00

December 2, 2010 Dear Mr. Cooper:

We are in receipt of your email dated November 25 and apologize for the delay in our response. It is disheartening to learn that you were unable to travel to St. Louis with your dog as planned for Thanksgiving.
For their safety, we do not allow brachycephalic or snub nosed dogs and cats to be transported as cargo. For a complete list of breed restrictions, please visit http://www.aa.com/pets.
We are truly sorry that you were not aware of the change in our pet policy until you arrived at the airport. While we do not cover monetary expenses in such situations, as a gesture of goodwill and to encourage your continued business, we’ve made arrangements for an eVoucher (see details below) for you to use toward the purchase of a ticket to travel with us.
Mr. Cooper, it would be our pleasure to welcome you on board future flights. Please choose to travel with us again soon.

Sincerely,
Stefania Meyer
Customer Relations
American Airlines

I had a direct flight to JFK from SFO on Thursday 10:50 pm – flight 18 – American Airlines

I took the red eye flight just so that I can be in New York for the whole day on Friday to see my friends leaving the day after – on Saturday

Our 10:50 pm flight was delayed to 11:25 pm

Then the flight was delayed to 1:00 am

Then the flight was cancelled without giving any reasons for cancelling the flight

Only two counters were opened for “helping customers” – the whole flight was in line

A number was distributed so we can call and “reschedule”

I called the number to talk to a representative

The representative offered me only AA flights – the only nonstop being at New York at 10 pm (about 15 hours later than I planned to)

When I told him I can see other flights online he refused to work with me on finding another flight – online flight searches showed plenty of flights out of SFO in the morning – some getting to NY as early as 3:40 pm – at least saving part of my day

The agent I talked to asked me to make a decision right now giving only two AA flight options – one with a connection (a 9 hour trip) and one direct flight but being there at 10 pm

When I asked about other options he told me that there are no other options

I asked to talk to a supervisor and she told me they already looked at other options and there are no other options

I was very professional and polite during my conversation despite being very tired (1 am in the morning) and spending the last 4 hours waiting in the airport

When my turn came to talk to the agent on the floor she was a lot more willing to help and she did look at the other options

She booked the Continental flight I found online – however refused to put me on a Virgin America flight leaving earlier

I was given a hotel voucher and meal coupons for the night

I reached the hotel room at 3 am (again the original schedule was to depart at 10:50 pm)

I slept for 4 hours to be back at the airport at 7:30 am

Continental charged again for the checked baggage (AA knew about the baggage but did not mention refunding the money at all) and told me there is nothing they can do about that

I am spending my vacation day flying to NY wide awake but incredibly tired and typing this message on the Continental flight to NYC – arriving at 5:00 pm instead of 7:00 am –

Conclusions:

It is hard to believe that American Airlines is in the service business – or still is in the business of what ever they think they are doing. I received insincere apologies from the agents I talked to last night – the same sentence being repeated like a broken record. More importantly, American Airlines agents were only trying to help the airline to get away with minimal cost to the company instead of really helping and looking out for the customers. They have done this to the extent of being dishonest and rude which I conclude to be deeply ingrained in the culture of American Airlines by looking at the consistent incompetence across agents. This was not my first bad experience with American Airlines, however their flights were “cheap” enough that I got this one from them. Apparently they have compromised from customer service while trying to cut costs. Fortunately there are plenty of airlines which still offer great service with competitive pricing such as Southwest Airlines and Virgin America. It is my hope that the market plays out faster so that the incompetent players in the airline industry drops out and gets replaced sooner than later. I hope that you will not have this horrible experience to decide for your self; my personal conclusion is to avoid flying American Airlines whenever possible. I don’t think that is going to be hard at all for me…