[bstone]

1/5/2003

To whom it may concern:
I write you this letter out of frustration and sincere disappointment. I flew American Airlines on December 30 to Ft Lauderdale Airport in Florida from Boston Logan. According to the flight information given to me at the time of booking, I was on flight #1103 departing at 1:26pm EST. Despite confirming at least once, I was shocked and horrified to find out I had missed my flight as it has been reassigned for an 8am departure. Additionally, my future flights were all cancelled due to my failure to show up. The ticket agents had me assigned to a 6:15pm EST fight, getting in at 10:17pm. Over seven hours later than my originally scheduled arrival time. Naturally, this was entirely frustrating and ruined that evenings plans with my family. One would hope that would be the end of the story, but it gets exponentially worse.


My return flight was to have been from Ft Lauderdale Airport to Boston, flight #572 at 11:34am EST, arriving at Logan Boston at 2:40pm EST. I arrived at the airport at 9:30am. What I saw shocked and horrified me. The lines for both the curbside check in and the regular ticket agents was the longest I have ever seen. Having a bag to be checked and seeing the ticket agent line going out the door and onto the sidewalk, I began to stand in line and wait. I continued to wait, with the line moving horribly slow, for over and hour and a half until I finally reached the Superior Skycap service. I handed them by bag and drivers license, only to be told 10 minutes later that the computer would not issue me a boarding pass or check my bag as my flight was to leave in less than 30 minutes. Looking at my watch I saw I had 27 minutes. I pleaded and begged for an allowance, mentioning my requirement for attendance in school, only to have my pleas fall on deaf ears. They informed me I would be required to wait in the regular ticket line, over 2 hours long, and at this time was backed up through the ticketing/x-ray area, through the double doors, outside and into the street with elderly women and entire families dodging cars, clutching their luggage. I saw a ticket agent roaming the crowd and begged for help, only to be told very sternly and matter-of-factly, �I cannot help you. You will have to stand in the back of the line.� I did and became one of the many to clutch my luggage while dodging cars. At no point did my pleas to the ticket agent for some sort of line rerouting or police help be taken seriously. As an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), I feared my skills to be required to be put to use. Standing in the most chaotic and haphazard line ever, more than once other to-be passengers almost breaking out into fist fights, watching an 80 year old woman stand for hours and drag luggage (another man did help her with her bags, however she should certainly have been offered expedited service yet never was, despite pleas and tears). It was entirely apparent that American Airlines simply did not have enough staff available to handle the volume of passengers. These passengers did not make their reservations that morning. This number was well known and should have been planned for. I finally reached a ticket agent and again was treated in the most rude, apathetic and uncaring manner ever. I informed the agent of my two hour wait at the curb side check-in, only to be denied by a mere 180 seconds and additional stated by requirement to be present for school that evening. You see, I am a medical student and had 4 hours of final review lecture. These reviews are absolutely essential to gaining high marks. The woman stated there would be nothing she could do for me until 7pm EST (two hours into the review lecture). Seeing no other alternative, even other airlines, I sighed and resigned myself to missing the lecture. I checked my bag, moped around for several hours and I write you this from flight #2068 (which left at 7:30, not 6:54pm like was on the ticket). Lastly, as an observant Jews I felt entirely out of place and moreover very hungry at not being able to receive a kosher meal. At the time of the ticketing I inquired, but was told all such things had to be done at least 24 hours in advance. Here I am tired and hungry. I should have left at 11:30am but instead did at 7:30pm, for a total of an 8 hour delay. The only saving grace was Michelle, a Flight Attendant on the flight. She was undeniably the kindest and most wonderful flight attendant I have met to date. I flew to Florida not as a personal vacation, but rather to attend the memorial service and gravestone dedication for my beloved grandmother who passed away in late 2003. Per our religious tradition, this is done one year after burial. Last year, however, I flew United and had absolutely no problems. This is not, however, the end of my complaint.


In early September, while moving from Chicago to Boston in order to attend school, I took another American Airlines flight from Chicago O�Hare to Boston Logan. The morning of the flight I called and asked what the requirement of bringing a bike in place of a checked bag. The customer service agent I spoke to said there would be a $20 fee for a bike box or $15 for a vinyl bag. I then asked about any other possible fees at all. The agent further checked and said, �There are no additional fees. Upon arriving at O�Hare just the opposite was true. Yes, $20 for the bike and a $100 �handling� fee. I spoke to two managers, stating I am a student with little in the way of money and had asked ahead of time very specifically. They said I would have to leave the bike behind if I did not have the funds. This is what is called entrapment- with no one at the airport to take the bike from me and not wanting to give it to a perfect stranger as an early holiday gift, I paid the $100. For $120 I got the opportunity to ship a $150 bike across the country. Had I instead rode it from Chicago to Boston I probably would have spent less. An email to AA�s Customer Service yielded no help, but rather a very fresh explanation of the passenger�s requirement to investigate all possible fees ahead of time.


In summary, I am profoundly disappointed with the consistent horrible service I have been receiving from American Airlines. I pride myself on being a fair person and giving the benefit of the doubt, but at this point I have been so ripped off by AA that I do not feel I can ever fly your airline again. With the exception of a miles-redeemed flight I will be taking in late January, you can expect me to avoid AA in the future. I am copying this letter to the Federal Aviation Administration in hopes that they can keep a better eye on AA in regards to the handling of a large influx of passengers, and epically how AA handles the long lines and the path of those lines. Making elderly women and young children stand almost two lanes deep into the road is beyond excusable. Entrapping a crash-strapped university student is entirely tactless.

If you should wish to contact me further I can be reached by the following methods-
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell phone: (555) 5551212
Home Address: 123 Main St
Anytown, USA 12345

I am, sincerely yours,

Bradley H Stone, EMT-B

[Randman]

It's uber, not ubber.

If you're that pissed, I'd call someone and complain via voice. A long e-mail like that might be good to let off steam but no one is going to read the entire thing.

Also, is that the only e-mail address? Makes it seem less "adult" than having a "[email protected]".

[bstone]

Originally posted by Randman:
It's uber, not ubber.

Heh, fixed.

If you're that pissed, I'd call someone and complain via voice. A long e-mail like that might be good to let off steam but no one is going to read the entire thing.

It did help me a lot to blow off the steam. I felt a little guilty writting it on the plane with that really nice flight attendant there. I am gonna send this to them as a real snail mail letter, certified to the CEO of the airline.

Also, is that the only e-mail address? Makes it seem less "adult" than having a "[email protected]".

I changed my personal info in order to protect me from 1) being spammed, 2) being scammed and 3) I don't trust my info on the web.

[Synotic]

I'm sorry to hear that � I've had my own problems with airlines... missing baggage... changed airports, etc., but nothing that bad. From my own experiences, contacting the company usually yields some results, so hopefully something will come of this.

If you haven't already sent it.. I just noticed a few typos...

With the date... did you mean 1/5/2005? In the first paragraph, you wrote "fight," instead of "flight." In your second paragraph, you put "and hour" instead of "an hour" in "over and hour and a half." This sentence, "I informed the agent of my two hour wait at the curb side check-in, only to be denied by a mere 180 seconds and additional stated by requirement to be present for school that evening," is a little confusing. Did you mean "in a mere 180 seconds"? Should "by requirement" be "my requirement"? Maybe you should put the third statement after the first one? "I informed the agent of my two hour wait at the curb side check-in and of my requirement to be present for school that evening, only to denied in a mere 180 seconds" Were you meaning for the singular form in this sentence? "Lastly, as an observant Jews I felt entirely out of place"? Perhaps, "Lastly, as an observant Jew, I felt entirely out of place . . ." Note the added comma as well. In the last paragraph, "epically" should be "especially" (I think; unless you meant as in an "epic"). I also think that "path" in "the long lines and the path of those lines" should be plural.

Are you looking for any kind of recourse? money? a response? If so, ask for it� it's better that they know what you want rather than what they think you want, if anything.

Good luck.

[ambush]

my friend waited for 8 hours... in the aiport...

[SouthPaW1227]

It's the holidays + airlines. Expect nothing better.

[torsoboy]

sorry to hear about your troubles.

before you send your letter, you will probably want to proof read it. there are various wording errors such as "crash-strapped" instead of "cash-strapped", "that evenings plans" instead of "that evening's plans", and "as an observant Jews" instead of "as an observant Jew". there are most likely more of them.

i'm not trying to be a punk, i'm just saying that they will think of you differently if your letter has lots of mistakes in it. good luck with whatever you are trying to accomplish with this.

[Cubeoid]

Originally posted by Randman:
It's uber, not ubber.

it's �ber, not uber

[busterhide]

That does sound like a nightmare, if it is a consolation to you you were not alone, thousands of people were stuck all over the country. American Airlines is facing going under along with Delta. There are many stories like yours. Many people never made it home at all. On the plus side numerous people never made there connecting flights to their holiday destinations. I know of 4 people that missed their flight to Thailand, they had planned to spend xmas on the beach. They are now glad they missed it. A good friend of mine got stuck at Denver airport. He was going from Vegas to Chicago he was stuck in the airport for 3 days, he finally gave up and came back. He said all and all he had a pretty good xmas. He met lots of new friends and they all celebrated xmas in the airport. He figured if he would have gotten home he would have been in a fight with his family sooner or later just like all the other holidays he's been home. When it turns into a fubar that big you know it's not against you personally. You did get home safely and eventually so did everyone else. When you get a lemon make lemon aid.

[Xeo]

I had a flight on Dec. 27th from Minneapolis to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Osaka. Everything was on-time and ran smoothly. This was on United Airlines. I even had an Economy Plus aisle seat with no one next to me. I couldn't have asked for a better plane trip (unless they had upgraded me to first class for free).

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It does sound like they were thoroughly unhelpful.

[msc]

That really sucks. It's nice to see another mac fan that's also a medical student. What school do you go to?