a question and request for advice

[legacy-to-LCC]

i was able to secure a companion pass for a friend from bna-chs (via, clt, of course). together we purchased the ticket on the hub (employee travel center). said friend is a 75 year old woman who was travelling to take care of her daughter who was having major surgery. she collects only social security, so a companion pass was integral in enabling her to be with her daughter. the wonderful agents in bna got her off with no problem she did need to change her return date due to complications with her daughters surgery. she called the employee travel line and changed the reservation to return today. upon arriving in chs she was told that she never paid for the ticket (despite having the printout from the etc) and was required to pay $415.00 for a non-refundable ticket to get home. additionally, the agent made some symbol on her boarding pass--she was later flagged going through security and receieved a complimentary body and luggage search from security.
this is a 75 year old woman!!!
most importantly, i need to help her get her $415.00 returned. what is the process? second, how could this happen? and, what recourse(s) does she have with respect to dealing with the agent who treated her so poorly?
many thanks for any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions!!!

 

[kao]

i was able to secure a companion pass for a friend from bna-chs (via, clt, of course). together we purchased the ticket on the hub (employee travel center). said friend is a 75 year old woman who was travelling to take care of her daughter who was having major surgery. she collects only social security, so a companion pass was integral in enabling her to be with her daughter. the wonderful agents in bna got her off with no problem she did need to change her return date due to complications with her daughters surgery. she called the employee travel line and changed the reservation to return today. upon arriving in chs she was told that she never paid for the ticket (despite having the printout from the etc) and was required to pay $415.00 for a non-refundable ticket to get home. additionally, the agent made some symbol on her boarding pass--she was later flagged going through security and receieved a complimentary body and luggage search from security.
this is a 75 year old woman!!!
most importantly, i need to help her get her $415.00 returned. what is the process? second, how could this happen? and, what recourse(s) does she have with respect to dealing with the agent who treated her so poorly?
many thanks for any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions!!!

Gather all of her purchase info from both tickets----contact the passbureau.usairways.com via email pronto!! Seems there are soooo many glitches...were all the flights US metal? If not, could be the tickets needed to be printed to paper? Still contact the pass bureau!

 

[US1YFARE]

Sorry, but welcome to our world! I would say call/email/write Travis Christ, but it does no good.

 

[kao]

i was able to secure a companion pass for a friend from bna-chs (via, clt, of course). together we purchased the ticket on the hub (employee travel center). said friend is a 75 year old woman who was travelling to take care of her daughter who was having major surgery. she collects only social security, so a companion pass was integral in enabling her to be with her daughter. the wonderful agents in bna got her off with no problem she did need to change her return date due to complications with her daughters surgery. she called the employee travel line and changed the reservation to return today. upon arriving in chs she was told that she never paid for the ticket (despite having the printout from the etc) and was required to pay $415.00 for a non-refundable ticket to get home. additionally, the agent made some symbol on her boarding pass--she was later flagged going through security and receieved a complimentary body and luggage search from security.
this is a 75 year old woman!!!
most importantly, i need to help her get her $415.00 returned. what is the process? second, how could this happen? and, what recourse(s) does she have with respect to dealing with the agent who treated her so poorly?
many thanks for any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions!!!

After reading a similar post...it kind of appears that if you call to make a change on east metal-after using the etc-that they are just making new reservations....anyone have any insight as to why? Not sure about the system but can't you just change it and either adjust the ticket or reissue it?

 

[hula-flyguy]

I'm not sure what is happening when calls are made. The original record SHOULD be retrieved and modified, not a new one created.

The woman had proof of payment and should not have been hassled in any way. I'd like to find out more about this one.

In the mean time, DO NOT make any changes via phone especially when there is a service charge involved. Either revise via the ETC when it is available, the ATO, or by contacting a res agent.

 

[legacy-to-LCC]

After reading a similar post...it kind of appears that if you call to make a change on east metal-after using the etc-that they are just making new reservations....anyone have any insight as to why? Not sure about the system but can't you just change it and either adjust the ticket or reissue it?

the agent that she spoke to on the employee travel number told her she was in control of when she returned, the ticket was paid for. and then assisted her in finding flights with the most seats available.
if it is a computer glitch, then it is what it is and i will help her get her money back.
but, the chs agent's behavior is inexcusable!!! and, i won't rest until she is dealt with!!! totally inexcusable!!!

 

[Dog Wonder]

but, the chs agent's behavior is inexcusable!!! and, i won't rest until she is dealt with!!! totally inexcusable!!!

You must be pretty important.

 

[legacy-to-LCC]

You must be pretty important.

i am as important as you are ignorant...so, yeah, i am important!

 

[robbedagain]

good luck to you legacy. i wish her daughter well. it is sad to see a 75 yr old go thru the he!! that she went thru. good luck

 

[Dog Wonder]

i am as important as you are ignorant...so, yeah, i am important!

It was a compliment, sorry for my ignorance.

 

[US1YFARE]

You must be pretty important.

Maybe not, but L to L's demand for compassion is important. This is just another example of a self-absorbed ticketing agent being too lazy to figure out a problem...hopefully, we will all be old one day, and I hope that I am treated the same way I try to treat the elderly...

 

[flyingcat]

Two big things from your story are clear:

1. She bought a ticket when she was told she had too. It might be difficult to get her money back because technically she actually bought a seat. But due to the circumstances you might have a decent chance at a refund. BTW you don't need to call the nonrev line to change your reservation. Have the agent at the airport change it so that they cant complain that someone else messed it up.

2. The agent did not punish an old lady by sending her through secondary screening.

Anytime someone books a one way walk up ticket TSA figures you are a possible terrorist.

It was not intentional so if I were you I would not mention it in the letter/email otherwise you will frankly come off as a nut.

 

[tadjr]

the wonderful agents in bna got her off with no problem she did need to change her return date due to complications with her daughters surgery. she called the employee travel line and changed the reservation to return today. upon arriving in chs she was told that she never paid for the ticket (despite having the printout from the etc)

The agents in BNA should have printed out her return ticket for her. All Companion travelers are to get their entire ticket printed at the first city in their trip. If you check in at a kiosk, it prints out the return. If you check in with an agent, they are supposed to print out the return. One reason for this is if you dont use the return right away and the reservation the eticket is in is purged, it can be a pain to find it. With the printed ticket, all you have to do is make a new reservation and present the paper ticket to the counter agent. She should have had her original receipt showing ticket number and paid, not just something from the ETC. Was it an itinerary print out only or a full receipt with ticket info? The agent should have been able to do an eticket search if she didnt have it printed out. She would have needed to know when she was originally listed, or how she paid for it to try to do a search. This doesnt always work, especially if they dont know what they were originally listed on, but it should have helped.
As far as getting the refund, I would send in a copy of the original ticket and the purchased ticket along with the info about the agent in CHS advising customer did not have a ticket even though you have proof she did and mention that the agent in CHS was not helpful in getting the original ticket located and required her to buy a new full fare ticket. I would try to do it tomorrow so the record is still obtainable fairly easily.
Another possibility is that the original ticket was printed out and she lost it? Is this a maybe? If so, then she should have been required to fill out an LTA (lost ticket application) which costs $100, but if its the return she shouldnt have had to purchase an entirely new ticket.
I'd be interested in seeing some more info on what exactly she was given in BNA and presented to the agent in CHS. If she had the correct info or could have had her info found easily, the I would definitely let them know about the agent in CHS.

 

[USstew23]

After reading a similar post...it kind of appears that if you call to make a change on east metal-after using the etc-that they are just making new reservations....anyone have any insight as to why? Not sure about the system but can't you just change it and either adjust the ticket or reissue it?

I had a problem with booking a buddy pass on the ETC. After taking almost 2 hours to book the ticket (because of the ETC running very slow and going up and down), the ticket never issued. I called the employee travel line and pressed the button for buddy passes and after sitting on hold for 35 minutes spoke to someone in San Salvador who had no idea what a buddy/companion/guest pass was and said that my cousin was CONFIRMED on the flight and no problem. Luckily I know enough about Sabre to ask the right questions and asked if the PNR said HK or MM. He said oh it says MM--hold on and I'll fix that. I told him just leave it alone and do not change a thing. I hung up and called AWA res and they managed to call someone in INT and get it fixed. I'm and East employee and it was for East metal so thank god for the res people in PHX who took the time to help when they didn't have to, I can only imagine what our passengers put up with when the call the old USAir res number.. GOOD LORD! Anyway I hope you get this taken care of and get your friend's money refunded.

 

[Fly4Free]

That's a real shame. On a related note, I just learned (thankfully not by experience!) that if you're unable to get to work because of a booked flight, it's immediate grounds for termination! Wow!