AA pilot to pax: "You can't see the stripes"?
Do all American Airlines pilot have this type of attitude? I was at DFW Terminal D18 last Friday for a trip to Seattle. AA canceled my flight at the very last moment, ruined a one-day trip that I had meticulously planned months ahead of time, AA refused to rebook me even on sister carriers or non-direct routes, and then AA refused to offer any refund or credit back and then had the audacity to proceed to continue to charge me extra money for the nonexistent premium aisles seats that never materialized on the plane that was never sent and never showed up, for a flight that was canceled but not rescheduled.
No one from AA called me to rebook flights. I received a terse last minute email stating that the flight AA2449 was canceled, and that if I had questions to call their 800 number. The number ended up being an automated answering machine that said agents were too busy, and instead of putting in on hold or in a queue it would force-ably hang up and disconnect on me each time I called. So I had no choice but to wait in line at their customer service in hopes of speaking with someone in person.
The funny thing is later we found out that they actually never even sent the plane. Since the flight from DFW to SEA is about four or five hours, AA must have known way ahead of time that there was no way AA2449 from DFW to SEA would be able to make it. Since it was AA who never even dispatched the plane in the first place, yet they still sent me fraudulent "on time" notices all the way up to almost the last minute prior to boarding, directly depriving me of the reasonable opportunity to seek other travel options and arrangements, perhaps even last minute books with other airlines.
Dallas being one of AA's major hubs, I was surprised to find out that they only had one customer service center at Terminal D and it was only at Gate 24. At the time it was manned by one only AA rep and then later on increased to a measly grand total of two AA customer service agents. The line was literally hundreds of people long and I stood for two hours before speaking with anyone from AA.
Finally when it was my turn, I encountered a rude customer service agent (Connie) who stated that she didn't want to deal with me and called for a manager. When the "manager" finally arrived he wouldn't tell me his first name (badge only said Mr. M) and stated that I had purchased a standard fare which was a non-refundable ticket. He admitted that there was no flights they could put me on that night. I told him if they couldn't get me out there would be no point in my still going and that I wanted a refund. He then proceeded to shove me a piece of paper with another 800 number for me to call once I got home.
I was effectively turned away without being helped, without being rebooked, and without given any credit or refund. As irony would have it, on my way out of the airport, at around Gate D18, I saw what appeared to be an AA representative at one of the gates /counters that didn't have a long line. Having been tired and exhausted, I still wanted to ask one last time and perhaps give it one more attempt. When approaching the counter, I realized the AA personnel was repeatedly pointing to what appears to be his watch, but he was wearing one of those over-sized jackets and it would have covered any watch that he would have worn. It seemed like he was pointing to the time, but I was tired and confused and so approached closer to ask him if he could help me out. It was then that he remarked that he was a pilot, and before I could even apologize for misidentification he retorted: "you don't see the stripes?" while angrily pointing at his long sleeve. I bet he treats the flight attendants the same way. The guy forgets that it is because of the passengers that he even has a job or a profession in the first place. Why do AA pilots have this sense of conceited self-entitlement and haughty "I'm too good for you" attitude?
When I finally got home and called the 800 number that the AA "manager" M had given to me on a piece of paper, I found that it was an invalid number! Go figure. I then called Orbitz (I originally booked the AA flight on Orbitz online) and spoke with an Orbitz rep who tried to contact AA on my behalf to give me a refund, only to find out from the Orbitz rep. that AA was going to put Orbitz on an hour hold so he told me sorry but he wasn't able to be on hold for AA for one hour. I also went online to AA website to file a complaint and to request customer service via an online form but never heard back.
To add insult to injury, I woke up the next morning to find out that not only did not give me any credit or refund, they proceeded to charge my bank card for an additional extra charge of $50 (beyond the base ticket fare that I already paid for) for nonexistent "premium" aisles seats that never materialized on the plane that was never sent and never showed up, for a flight that was canceled but not rescheduled.