American Airlines, Inc. Complaint

During a direct flight between...

Reviewed by Krista
Please Improve

During a direct flight between Des Moines and LaGuardia, half of my luggage was lost. After numerous phone calls to AA's customer service line, we located the items at O'Hare and had them forwarded to LaGuardia where they arrived Sunday afternoon.

I was traveling to compete in a dog show which happened on Monday. I was very clear with the last rep that the luggage needed to be delivered Sunday evening, because if I didn't have it Monday morning, I would replace all the contents so I could groom my dog (the lost luggage was ALL my dog stuff, from food to a leash to all his show supplies). He assured me it would be at my hotel that night.

Because I know luggage gets lost and because no damage had really been done at that point, I happily accepted that.
Monday morning came, and the luggage was not at my hotel and I replaced all the contents.

American recompensed me for this with a $75 voucher and refuses to do more because I hadn't received "authorization" to replace my belongings. I paid $50 to ship the items in the first place, never used them, spent hundreds replacing the contents, and spent another hundred shipping the duplicate items home.

I returned the voucher after no fewer than seven letters asking nicely (mostly) for them to reconsider. I cannot reach any customer service rep but the one who blows me off, and I'm incredibly frustrated that I can't speak directly to anyone. I have emailed, faxed, and mailed letters and I've asked a friend's relative (who works for American) to get me a number or a person, but I just can't let this go. It's not right.