American Scam

Quick post from the road: American Airlines continues to earn my enmity as an airline. It's bad enough, the time I've spent on runways at DFW waiting for a gate or the time I've spent in baggage claim at DFW waiting for my bag. Yesterday was sweet: Stuck in 28F, where the seat back pocket took two inches of my "seat pitch" away from me and added the joy of a metal bar that pushed right into my knees, reminding that I didn't have the full seat pitch available. See the picture for what it looks like to be 6'3" in an American airplane!

This morning was even better. We check in at the self-service kiosk for the next flight and the kiosk offers me an upgrade for $90 to first class. I say yes, but during the process it decides it can't complete the upgrade. Meanwhile, standing right next to me at another kiosk, Gilman (my business partner) does exactly the same thing and gets the upgrade. Given that it's just coming up on 5am my time (7am in Dallas), I can tell you that I feel fairly pissed off at American Airlines for offering me something that it couldn't deliver. And those human beings standing around the self-service kiosks: They said they couldn't do anything about it.

Comments

[Brent Schlender]

Last time I flew on American, they lost my bag. Really lost it. Forever. It took six months and at least a dozen calls to baggage service to try to get partial reimbursement for my stuff. It was lost on a trip to NY in February, and I had packed my prized cashmere overcoat, favorite suit and sport coat, a digital camera, and a couple of books, some expensive medications and a medical device, not to mention the bag itself which I was using for the first time. Total value, $4,200. All lost. My reimbursement from American -- $0 because I had the audacity to file claims with my homeowners' insurer and American Express, too, which together paid me about half that amount.
On top of all that all but a couple of the customer service people were downright rude and wouldn't give a straight answer. It took four calls just to get a letter explaining why my claim was denied, and it didn't tell me whether or not it paid anything to my insurance company. No one would explain this to me over the phone, nor would they even fax the letter to me.
The bottom line: NEVER fly American if you can avoid it. They don't deserve anyone's business.

Is that flamey enough without resorting to four-letter words?

[Rusty Hodge]

Last time I flew American (and the last time), while the final seating was bring done, and I was in my aisle seat, a flight attendant wen to get something from the overhead compartment above me, and the next thing I know, I was smacked in the face with a large, hard serving tray that the flight attendant lost control of when taking it down. "Oh, I'm so sorry" he said, and I touched the brim of my nose which hurt the most, and noticed I was bleeding quite a bit. "Maybe I can find you a napkin or something to stop that bleeding as soon as I'm done stocking the cart."

So not only did I get a nasty cut on my face (and a scar still!) but the flight attendant didn't even think that bleeding face was more important than stocking the snack cart.

Eventually, I talked to another flight attendant who instead of offering me a free drink or something nice like that, gave me this long involved form to fill out and give to the gate agent. I filled out the form, gave it to the gate agent, no one was apologetic, no one offered me a free upgrade coupon... they just said, we'll fill this.

No one from American ever contacted me. No one said, we're sorry we smacked you in the face in a rush to get a snack tray out of the overhead.

I don't believe in frivolous lawsuits, but in retrospect I should have tried to sue them at a minimum for the embarrassment and inconvenience of having to wear a bandage on the bridge of my nose for a few days.