
April of San Jose, CA on Sept. 14, 2010
To summarize, we had a terrible experience on our way home. We were stranded in Mexico City with no cooperation from any of the Aeromexico representatives. We spent hours having to deal with the most inconsiderate and rude staff. In the end, we managed to get Aeromexico to get us on a plane to Los Angeles; but in LAX they were no more helpful than in Mexico. They would not re-accommodate us for a flight to our final destination, SFO, for which we had prepaid. With no other choice, we rented a car from Hertz and started our 7-hour drive home. This fiasco was not only of the greatest inconvenience, but now we were also cheated out of the portion of the fare from LAX to SFO and also had to incur the extra expense of the car rental that should not have been.
On August18, 2010, our flight on Aeromexico from Cancun to SFO, which left on time at 5:25 PM, with a connecting flight in Mexico City at 8:45 PM, was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 11:25 PM. However, as we were arriving in Mexico City, the pilot announced that due to rain, the airport in Mexico City was closed and no flights were allowed in or out; so, therefore, we had to be diverted to the airport in Leon, Guanajuato. We arrived in Guanajuato at 7:40 PM. The pilot said that we were landing to refuel and to wait for clearance from Mexico City. We waited for over 2 hours, with no sign of refueling taking place and they even allowed passengers to get off the plane to shop.
Finally, at 9:55 PM, we left to return to Mexico City. We were lead to believe that our connecting flight would be waiting for us, and in fact, when we arrived in Mexico City, at about 10:45 PM, the pilot announced that those of us going on to SFO should go to our connecting gate. As we searched for our gate, we were stopped at a security counter and told that our connecting flight to SFO had left without us at approximately 9:15 PMa whole hour and a half before we arrived. 15 people were left behind by this flight that was supposedly grounded due to the weather.
The men at the counter told us they had no idea on what to do or where to go; they could only suggest that we try to book on another flight. We wandered around the airport trying to get help from anyone at the gates. At about 11:30 PM, we were at the Aeromexico check-in counters. We explained our situation and said we needed to get on the next flight to SFO. The agents at the counters said no flights were available until Friday, August 20 at 8:45 PM.
We then asked for a supervisor, who was rude from the moment he stepped out. Before we could get a word in, he came out saying, "You're not getting any hotel vouchers, any food vouchers or any flight vouchers, so don't ask." He said that it wasn't his problem we were stuck there. We explained that we paid for a flight home to San Francisco and that we should be accommodated. We further explained that it was Aeromexico's fault because they left us behind despite that we were told it would be grounded when in fact it was only delayed hour and because we felt we were in Guanajuato much longer than was necessary.
He said there was nothing he could do and turned around and walked away. We never saw him again. He claimed his name was Raul **, but we later found out from another employee that Raul ** was not even working that night.
Another Aeromexico agent told us that there was a flight leaving to Los Angeles the next day at 7 PM. We agreed to take that flight because that was all that was being offered and it would get us back in the States and closer to San Francisco. The agent told us we were booked on that flight, but that we had to go to Delta, an Aeromexico partner, at 4:30 AM to get a boarding pass printed out. It was 12:30 AM at that point, so we had to wait until 4:30 AM, sleeping on the floor of the Mexico City airport. Among those of us left behind, there were 5 little children that had to also sleep on the floor, using their dirty clothes as padding.
At 4:30 AM, we headed over to the Delta counter, as instructed. They told us that we were not booked on any flights to Los Angeles and that there weren't any available. We stated that Aeromexico told us that we were booked on the flight and to go to Delta. Delta representatives told us to go back to Aeromexico and talk to them again, but that we had to wait until 5 AM for them to open. Once they opened, we had to explain again to the new Aeromexico representatives all that had transpired and they managed to book us on the flight to Los Angeles on Thursday, August 19 at 7 PM.
Those representatives were also very rude and acted as though they were helping begrudgingly. They said that once we got to LAX, we were on our own. It was a very stressful situation because they even threatened to not issue boarding passes if any of us raised our voices. They even had the audacity to laugh as we were relating our situation. To our question as to what was funny, they simply said I think its funny, so I can laugh if I want to. When we asked for another supervisor, the representative told us to go stand in line at the other counter but refused to call him over. We finally got help from a supervisor named Anjelica, who offered us food vouchers, moved us to a separate counter to issue us our boarding passes for the 7 PM flight and offered to put us on a stand-by list for an earlier flight to Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, my mother, Anna, in California, 2 hours behind Mexico City time, was on the phone with Travelocity. Travelocity stated that they spoke with Aeromexico and that I, and those traveling with me, were confirmed on that 10 AM flight to LAX. When I told this to Anjelica, she insisted that we were only on stand-by. I repeated myself saying that Travelocity said we were booked and confirmed, not on stand by, but she refused to check her system. Luckily, we got on that flight anyway. Travelocity also stated that Aeromexico said that once we got to LAX, we should go to the Aeromexico counter and that they would re-accommodate us on the first available flight to SFO. So we did that, and again, we encountered a very rude Aeromexico rep who refused to even consider the idea of re-accommodating us without direct instruction from Aeromexico in Mexico City. She said it was not their fault it rained. She went behind her counter, making snide remarks as she walked away, and never came back.
At that point, I got on the phone with Travelocity, trying to get help on the re-accommodation. The agent I spoke with at Travelocity put me on hold for 20 minutes while he tried to contact Aeromexico. He reported twice that the airline wasn't answering and that there was not much else he could do without talking to them. We finally decided to rent a car and drive home; otherwise, we would be stranded at LAX.
Aeromexico will be receiving nothing but bad reviews from me and the 14 other people who were left behind. I travel to Mexico nearly every year on Mexicana and American Airlines. I've flown all over Europe and within the U.S. and have never, ever in my life experienced something quite like this. Aeromexico does not know the meaning of customer service. I read the quotes on their website about how great they are and I am just blown away. Here is a direct quote off www.aeromexico.com: "We're dedicated to making you smile. Our ground staff and flight attendants are committed to listening to you, identifying your needs and providing unparalleled service to ensure your travel experience is as pleasant and carefree as possible." This is so far from the truth. They made our trip home a disaster that we will never forget! There's also a $200 charge for a rental car to get home that I'm fighting to get reimbursed!