Wednesday, June 21

Jonathan, Emily, and I decided to attend the National Square Dance Convention in Mobile, AL. Marc and Georgia passed this year. We had a 10:30 flight from LAX, and I decided to take the Flyaway bus from the Valley, rather than ask Marc to make the long drive to LAX and back. It’s typically a 20 minute drive to the Flyaway, and an hour from the Flyaway to LAX. Add in a half hour to check bags and a half hour to get through security. So to get to the gate an hour before my flight, I should leave at 7am. We actually left the house a few minutes earlier than that and got to the Flyaway a little before 7:20. Turns out that the buses were running every 20 minutes, not every half hour like I thought, and when I bought a ticket, it said 7:40. But when they boarded the 7:40 bus, there were more people in line than there were seats, and I didn’t make it onto the 7:40 bus. Next bus at 8am. I realized that I was used to flying Southwest and leaving out of Terminal 1, but this flight was American and Terminal 4 and I should have allowed extra time for the bus to drop people off at Terminals 1, 2, 3, and Bradley. And the drive to LAX was more than an hour this morning. I was thinking that my flight was at 10am, rather than the 10:30 that it actually was and I started to panic. I called Marc and said, “pick me up and take me to LAX!” But he pointed out that it would take him 20 minutes to get there, and then I could just get on the Flyaway. So I decided to stick with the original plan. I was texting with Jonathan, and he and Emily were running late too. Emily’s mom was dropping them off. We talked about whether I should get off at Terminal 1 and have them pick me up, but we decided not to do that. That turned out to be a good decision, because I actually arrived at Terminal 4 slightly before them.

I checked my bag and went to security. There was no line and I got to the gate in plenty of time – Whew! The flight was full, so they were checking carry-ons for free. I suggested that Jonathan and Emily check their carry-ons, because we were going to have to wait for my bag anyway. So they did – won’t do that next time!

Our flight to Mobile involved a plane change in Dallas. There was *weather* in Dallas, and,after circling for a while, the plane was diverted to Waco, because they were running low on fuel. Then, once it landed, it could not take off due to mechanical issues. It was clear we would not make our 5pm flight from DFW to MOB, and American automatically rebooked us on the 9pm DFW to MOB flight.

Since our plane could not take off to get us to DFW, we decided to take a Lyft to DFW so that we could get to MOB that day rather than the next day. We had been told that they were going to unload our luggage, but after a couple of hours, and a lot of asking what was going on, they finally admitted that Waco doesn’t have the equipment to unload luggage from a plane the size of our plane. The delay caused us a LOT of stress because the delay leaving Waco because we were waiting for our bags almost made us miss our flight. We arrived only 5 minutes before they shut the gate.

While we were driving from Waco to DFW, I tried to call and file a lost baggage claim. It was an hour before I could talk to an agent, and when I did, she told me that I had to file the claim at the Mobile airport when I arrived. We arrived in Mobile at 11pm and there was no one at the baggage claim office. Fortunately, there was someone at the customer service desk, who informed us we would have to wait an hour for the manager to finish helping another flight upstairs before she would come down and take our lost baggage claim. When she finally arrived, we filed our claim and left for our hotel, a 35-minute drive away. When we arrived at the hotel, we immediately ran into Io, and a bunch of other people in the Rowdy Crew. The hotel gave us an emergency kit with toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb, so at least we could brush our teeth and comb our hair.

The next day we went to the SSD hall, because Emily had only learned the SSD calls. But the problem with the SSD hall is that most of the other dancers in that hall are also beginners, and can’t help each other. It’s actually better for a new dancer to dance in the mainstream hall. Even if they don’t know all the calls, there are enough dancers who do who can pull them through. So at some point we switched to the Mainstream hall and Emily did much better there.

All day, I had been watching the baggage tracker, and our bags arrived at the Mobile airport slightly before 7pm. After an hour, I called and learned that they were not going to deliver our bags until the next day. We had not bought any clothing because we expected to receive our bags that day. I was unwilling to sleep in the same clothes that we had been wearing for 36 hours already. Fortunately, this was the National Square Dance Convention. We’ve been coming for years, and we have made a lot of friends over the years. Square Dancers are the best! One of my friends took me to the airport so that I could get our bags. We arrived only half an hour before baggage claim was scheduled to shut down for the night, and I would have been out of luck! Between the calling to find out when they would deliver our bags and the trip to the airport, I missed most of the Thursday night dancing. You are supposed to wear square dance attire in the evenings, and I wondered if anyone would say anything to Jonathan and Emily (and give them the opportunity to pour out their story) but I don’t think anyone did. Nobody wants to be the clothing police!

One of my friends told me about a Mardi Gras museum nearby, and I decided to go. Jonathan and Emily passed. It was interesting. I learned that Mardi Gras originated in Mobile, and that it is a very different affair from New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. I always thought of Mardi Gras as just parties and debauchery. The Mobile Mardi Gras season starts in November, with exclusive parties held by mystic societies. A LOT of money is spent putting on these parties (and on the clothes people wear to them!) Some of the societies are open to anyone who pays dues, but the traditional mystic societies are social clubs (some white, some black) with secret membership lists. To be in one of these societies you have to be born into one of the society’s families (or you can marry in). In Mobile, during the last two weeks before Mardi Gras, at least one major parade takes place each day.

We ate very well in Mobile. My favorite was the Bananas Foster French Toast at the Spot of Tea. We also had beignets (at Mo’ Bay Beignet Company).

On Saturday, I was able to get into some hex squares, and that was fun. Jonathan and Emily moved to the plus hall, where Emily did well despite knowing essentially no plus calls. Of course, when she ended up in a square with two other people who also didn’t know plus the square broke down a lot. On the other hand, my square was also breaking down a lot despite everyone in it knowing plus. At the end of the night, we did the traditional Rowdy Crew circle, count off, and picture, and went back to the hotel for the after party. The after party was fun, but we didn’t stay until the end this year.

Our flight home was uneventful and no luggage got misplaced – Hurray!

My original complaint

On June 21, I was traveling from LAX to MOB with my son and his girlfriend. Our travel involved a stop in DFW with a planned plane change. The flight from LAX to DFW was diverted to Waco, due to weather. Once it landed, it could not take off due to mechanical issues. It was clear we could not make our 5pm flight from DFW to MOB, and American automatically rebooked us on the 9pm DFW to MOB flight.

Since our plane could not take off to get us to DFW, we decided to take a LYFT to DFW so that we could get to MOB that day rather than the next day. We had been told that they were going to unload our luggage, but after a couple of hours, and a lot of asking what was going on, they finally admitted that Waco doesn’t have the equipment to unload luggage from a plane the size of our plane. The delay caused us a LOT of stress because the delay leaving Waco because we were waiting for our bags almost made us miss our flight. We arrived only 5 minutes before they shut the gate.

We slept in our clothes that night, because there was no place open to buy anything. The next day, I was watching the baggage tracker, and our bags arrived at MOB slightly before 7pm. After an hour, I called and learned that they were not going to deliver our bags until the next day. We had not bought any clothing because we expected to receive our bags that day. Sleeping in the same clothes that we had been wearing for 36 hours already was not acceptable, and I arranged transportation to the airport to get our bags.

I would like to respectfully request that we be compensated for the inconvenience, stress, and disruption that this incident caused. We found it irresponsible that the agents in Waco waited hours to tell us that they could not unload our bags, causing us to almost miss our rebooked flight. It was annoying that we had to wait an hour to file the lost baggage claim, and that it had to be done at the airport and not online, or via a phone call. It was frustrating that 7pm was too late for our bags to be delivered to us. We also think It is unethical that there was no attempt to tell us that our bags would not be delivered until the next day. The only reason that I knew was because I took the initiative to call. Not to mention that I called American for help numerous times and found that *short* hold times were 15 minutes and I sometimes waited half an hour or an hour.

We are not requesting that you reimburse us for our expenses, but I would point out that because we paid for transportation from Waco to DFW and managed to get to MOB to pick up our bags, you were saved the expense of two hotel rooms in Waco, and the expense of delivering our bags to our hotel.

American Airlines trumpets how “Providing exceptional service is crucial to American’s success” on its website. I hope you “put your money where your mouth is” and provide us some compensation for our most unpleasant experience.

Respectfully Yours,

Jackie Zev

My revised complaint because I was only allowed 1500 characters:

I was traveling from LAX to MOB with my son and his girlfriend. Our flight to DFW was diverted to Waco, due to weather. Then it could not take off due to mechanical issues. We decided to take a LYFT to DFW to catch the 9pm flight to MOB. After 2 hours, Waco admitted that they don’t have equipment to unload the luggage from our plane. The delay caused us a LOT of stress because the delay waiting for our bags almost made us miss our flight. I tried to call and file a lost baggage claim and I was told I had to file the claim at the MOB airport. We arrived in MOB at 11pm. There was no one at the baggage claim office, and we were told we would have to wait an hour for the manager to finish helping another flight. When she finally arrived, we filed our claim and left for our hotel, a 35 minute drive away. The next day, I was watching the baggage tracker, and our bags arrived at MOB slightly before 7pm. After an hour, I called and learned that they were not going to deliver our bags until the next day. Sleeping in the same clothes AGAIN was not acceptable, and I arranged transportation to the airport to get our bags.

I would like to respectfully request that we be compensated for the inconvenience, stress, and disruption that this incident caused. American Airlines trumpets how “Providing exceptional service is crucial to American’s success” on its website. I hope you “put your money where your mouth is” and provide us some compensation for our most unpleasant experience.