Part of being beautiful is how you feel on the inside. Part of having style is how you treat others. In the following letter I share with you why I didn’t feel beautiful and how one airline doesn’t have style…
Dear American Airlines,
I had the experience of flying your airlines today for the first time in a very long time. I now remember why I don’t fly your airline: You put the all-mighty dollar before customer service. You’ve truly taken on what many people fear is becoming the “American” way by selling out. You sell my rights to my prepaid seat to another so that your corporation can make more money.
First, I was quite surprised that I had to pay for my first checked bag. Your clients aren’t even allowed to check one bag for free? Instead, we are left to fight for sacred luggage space in the overhead compartment, tote our bags as we run through the airports to make our next flight and strain our backs because we stuff our too heavy carry-on just to avoid the $15 per bag charge? Excuse me but don’t you think the expensive airline ticket is costly enough? Do you really need to suck up our monthly Starbuck’s budget with your ridiculous baggage fees? It’s possible, but highly unlikely in your case, if you improve customer service you will increase your business, then you wouldn’t have to charge for baggage.
Second, I have a pressing question to ask you and I hope you have to answer: since when is ten minutes early too late? Giving credit where credit is due, our pilot did a sensational job making up time that was lost waiting on the tarmac at takeoff. He made up nearly an hour in the air, getting us to the connecting airport in time to make our next flight. In doing our part, we ran through the airport, doing our best to dodge those leisurely walking to their gate, to arrive at our gate with 10 minutes until takeoff. Upon arrival we were told our seats had been given away and we would not be boarding the plane for our flight home.
If I was 10 minutes early to coffee with my girlfriends they’d be thrilled. If I was 10 minutes early dropping my son off at school he’d love that he had 10 more minutes to play before class. If I was 10 minutes early for my hair appointment, I’d be the one waiting. When I arrived 8 minutes before departure with another airline, I was graciously allowed to board and given my seat without hassel. But if I’m 10 minutes early for my flight with your airlines, I’m denied the seat I already paid for.
The bottom line is that you, American Airlines, got greedy and messed with our lives without our permission. You sold our seat to another traveler (who was probably 10 minutes early but too late for their flight, too).
I blame you for the red, puffy eyes I had from the tears of frustration I shed. I blame you for the way your agent made me feel so worthless and unimportant. I blame you for the tears my daughter shed because mommy and daddy were not home in time to see her before she went to bed for the night (she had been waiting all day for our arrival). I blame you for not putting the needs of your customers before the all-mighty dollar.
You’ve lost a customer, for good this time. You got your second chance with me. There will be no strike three. I won’t be back and I’ll be sure to spread the word to anyone who listens that American Airlines is not a customer friendly company. In the future, I’ll fly with an airline that may cost more but treats their customers with respect and compassion.
Because of your company’s incompetence, I’m sure you will soon be begging the government to bail you out like they have so many others because of the “economy”. Well, you and I both know it won’t because of the economy, but it will be because of your incompetence. Hopefully, the government will wise up and just walk away.
So long,
Tammy Gibson, unhappy flyer
P.S. It’s interesting that my bags were able to make the flight that I was not allowed to board. Maybe next time I should pay another $15 and I’ll be treated as important as my luggage!
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Thanks for sharing Tammy. I have come to resent this trend with corporations and I will fully be on board with banning their company and spreading the word on where their priorities lie….
You can’t put a price on customer service.
* Did they let you have a seat while you waited for the next flight, Or did you have to pay extra for that too??!!?
haha, we took a seat in TGI Fridays and had dinner because, as you know there is no complimentary food when you fly (but we could have bought a cc cookie for $3…)!
Thanks for your support and encouragement!
Bravo! We have sworn off American Airlines as well. The last time we took the flight the twins were about 3 and they had us separated in seating assignments. Not even two and two but one, one and two. Uh…hello!! they were three years old???
Finally after a lot of arguing on our part they managed to move other passengers to sit us together as two and two…still not together! That was not the way we booked our flight. We wrote a letter and received a “gift voucher” but I’m not sure we’ll ever use it again. Flying is not the glamour event it use to be ….sad
That’s pretty poor! If they would just use some common sense, they might get somewhere but really it doesn’t seem that they care about the flyer. As I’ve often heard, you get what you pay for. Just like stores where you have discounted prices but you have to dig and wait in long lines…it’s just not worth it. I’d rather pay more and be treated with respect. What happened to the customer is always right?!
Thanks for the heads up. We are looking for flights to Jamaica and word of mouth works because I will not even give them the time of day for the way they treated you. Not sure what they are thinking charging for bags, that’s crazy!
Did you send this letter to Customer Service with your statistics of how many will read this? This is poison for them!
And customer service on the WHOLE needs to improve. If I even get one nasty look, bad service or a lack of caring about my time and money, the company is history! And I tell people about my crappy experience with them. Word of mouth is QUEEN.
I think that American Airlines gets the most bad press online than any other company!
I haven’t mailed the letter yet but I will and I am including the link to the post. I want them to read the comments by others and know that it wasn’t just me. I’ve gotten comments here and on facebook reflecting my same feelings from others who have been treated poorly.
From the comments I’ve seen here and on my Facebook comments, many others feel the same as I do about AA. They certainly can’t chalk it up to my having a bad experience when so many others have indicated the same!
I hate to be the voice of reason here, but it seems someone needs to be. Our U.S. based airlines are operating on razor thin margins and are not even profitable. They can either raise rates or charge you $15 dollars for a bag. Suck it up and pay it. It isn’t just AA that charges these fees, every domestic carrier with the exception of Southwest does.
Secondly, it sucks that you did not make your connecting flight, but all airlines oversell seats. They all do it. This could have happened to you on any other airline. I realize it sucks to be stranded, but it isn’t like it is just AA’s policy to do this. When you arrived 8 minutes early for you flight on that other airline, my guess, and i am probably right, is that the flight was not overbooked. They had room for you. It isn’t like they were being nice and held your seat. That is just how it worked out that time.
Being stranded stinks. Bad customer service stinks. But honestly you could apply your issues to any US based airline. So it isn’t like by avoiding AA or badmouthing them that you will avoid these issues. Your gripes should really be with the industry as a whole.
While you may have a valid point in that it is the airline industry having a problem with customer service, I’ve only had a problem with AA. I’m not a frequent flier but I’ve not had the problems with other airlines like I’ve had with AA, on this occasion and in the past. I may not have reacted so strongly to the situation had we been treated with respect and compassion by the gate agent.
I did indeed “Suck it up” and pay the luggage fee but I was surprised that the first bag was not free. Again, I’ve flown other airlines and the first bag was free. It really doesn’t make sense to me that each customer can’t have one bag free. And if they are going to charge the price for luggage then they should do a better job of checking the carry-on luggage to be sure it truly fits in the overhead with wheels first and that those flying only bring the one bag and the one personal item. The overhead is completely packed and those boarding last have difficulty finding space.
I’d say the same if the service I received was equally as bad for any other airline but since I didn’t fly any other airline, I stand behind my complaint of AA.
Angie!
Please do not use them for your trip to Jamaica. They single handedly turned my dream trip last summer into a NIGHTMARE! We got to the airport 2 hours early. We stood in line for 2 hours…NO PLANE IN SIGHT!
Long story short… we waited in the airport for 6 hours before we were told our flight was canceled. To this day they have YET to tell us why… then they put some people up in the Ritz, others in another resort and others at a CRAPPY HOLIDAY INN! The next day…. same rigmarole! We stood in line for 4 hours and we STILL barely made our flight. I vowed to NEVER fly American Airlines again!!
Oh Nicole, I’m so sorry that happened to you! Thank you for sharing your story!
I had a bad experience with AA. MY son and i went to orlando last summer,and on the flight back home, i had to fly to chicago and then onto heathrow. Anyway the flight leaving orlando was delayed,and i was worrying about getting the connecting flight. I went up to ask them, if they could do anything to help.And was told no, that if i didnt make the flight,i would have to get the next one. So i said when is that,and they said 10 in the morning. So i said and will you put us up at a hotel over night ? ( My mum had said that was all airlines policy) . And was told no,you will have to pay for one.
Thank god we managed to catch the connecting flight. Otherwise myself and my son who was 12 years old at the time.Would have had to stay in an airport over night.
I will never fly with them again,after there rudness.
Yes Alexandra, the rudeness was the problem. Had they been sincere, apologetic or empathetic I could have felt a bit more understanding but since the customer service was so bad, I really felt put out. I guess you have to “hard” when you are rebooking all day long…!