Questions and Answers

Curious to your view on this one.I think it _has_ to be related to the management/employee disputes. Interested if Lucky or anyone has had something like this happen.

I paid a decent premium ($500 for the leg) to fly on a premium economy from London to Chicago this past July. I purposely picked a 787 Dreamliner since I’ve never flown one. The objective on this 8 hour return leg to Chicago was to work. (daytime flight).

Upon seating, I noticed nothing was working, no video, no electric operation of the seat, no electric at all. The issue affected was me and a few rows behind me. Flight attendant said she was told the engine start-up would fix it. It didn’t. After take off the attendants were going to my seat and the ones behind and offering 4,000 award miles for the trouble. After leveling off, since this was a Drealinerall the windows go dark, so here I am sitting in the dark, no power, and no power for even the seat light. I do a lot o book reading and writing with pen/paper, so obviously miffed. The flight attendant was very sympathetic and told me I should talk with the purser. the purser sat with me for a good 30 minute conversation. He stated he was just as upset as I was, for the plane already had a few business class seats are broken that were deemed unavailable, and at least 12 seats in the rest of the plan that were unavailable (the seat next to me was one ). He further explained that it was known that there were issues with my seat and the others behind me, but staff were told that the engine turn up might fix it, so he was upset that the staff was lied too. He further added that the plane was listed as “in-deferral” for the two weeks prior to my flight for all the issue it had. (pardon the wording on airline lingo, this was taken from handwritten notes in the dark, he might have said internment too, not sure). I learned a good deal on how airlines choose when to fix issues.

The purser further talked about the frustration of the flight staff unable to accommodate passengers and fix issues due to management. It was an interesting conversation, but in a nutshell, the staff are not happy with management at all. Staff have no control to fix issues. The purser did stress that safety was top priority, and he was very sympathetic to my plight.

I had 8 hours to sit in the dark and contemplate what to do. What really ticks me off is that this seat issue was apparently known, if AA could have notified me, I could of taken a different flight, I could of downgraded to coach, or at the very least (not joking here) could of purchased a flashlight so I could at least read a book .

Following info from this site, I Fed Exed a letter to the CEO asking for a refund on this flight. No response. After 10 days I sent an email, and the next day received a phone call from the general AA customer service. They listened, and all they offered was a $375 flight credit.

Here’s my dilemma. I sick of getting nickel and dimed when flying, its the new norm. If your airline has you pay for every little feature, then you better deliver. AA fails to deliver and only offers a token flight credit, that’s an insult to everyone.This incident and AA’s handling truly has made me to never fly AA again. So the credit offered is useless. It’s not so much about the money for me, its the principle. My credit card won’t dispute that charge, since in their terms the ticket is only to get you from A to B. I’m also considering small claims court to make a point.

The email from the customer service cearly state, sorry, thats the best we have to offer.

What are your thoughts?

With your 4,000 mile inflight compensation and $375 voucher I think you did well all things considered. I’ve had a broken seat in a paid business class transatlantic flight where I’ve only netted 15,000 miles. I’d much rather have the $375 voucher. It’s easy to walk away from an airline after a bad experience but I’ve held elite status with AA, DL and UA over the years and this stuff happens with all of them. If you fly enough, you’re gonna have bad days no matter who you’re flying. Chances are if you book with AA again and use your voucher, your flight will probably go off without any problems.

[QUOTE=”luvtofly, post: 66479, member: 5971″] […]
I’m also considering small claims court to make a point.
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What are your thoughts?[/QUOTE]

Read the T&C’s of the ticket you bought. I haven’t read AA’s in a while, but I would not be surprised to find terms that state all issues such as yours need to be arbitrated. And that if you bring a claim in small claims court, that the airline is entitled to seek its attorneys’ fees from you if you lose (which you will, because the only thing a ticket gets you is transport from A to B, not the right to work or read).