Forced to miss and rebook flight - What are my rights, what can I do?

[DjangoHombre]

Hello everybody.

Hoping somebody can help. In the next post I am, instead of going through everything again, going to copy and paste the complaint i have sent to the airline (and then the reply)

It is a bit long so apologies but I have tried my best to document what I felt was important. Sorry there are a couple of grammar errors in there.

Their reply looks like your usual copy and paste job.

I do understand between Mexico immigration and me there appears to have been some confusion but my case against the airline is the way they handled it.

They issued me a boarding pass without checking everything. They then refused me entry to the flight and I had to pay £2200 for another flight to London.

I am not sure what I should do next. I am thinking I should email the CEO of the company direct but first speak to a supervisor at there customer service centre.

[DjangoHombre]

Aeromexico Confirmation number PBLQYG


26th April 2018

Dear Aeromexico Customer Relations/Complaints team.

This is a full and official complaint to your company regarding me being forced to miss the above flight and pay over $3000 USD for another flight. A brief outline of which was handed to the supervisor at Mexico City Airport (Terminal 2) on Saturday the 21st of April.

I am a full UK Citizen travelling on a full UK Passport. I arrived at Mexico City one week earlier, via your airline, as part of a return ticket. Just before leaving the plane from the outward journey I was issued the required tourist visa slip to hand in to immigration. No further information was provided.

At the Immigration point I was advised I didn't need to complete the form as this could be done on an electronic system. The Immigration officer manually entered my details onto a touch screen machine. She took my photo and fingers prints on the machine, scanned my passport and waived me through without issuing a return visa. I have never used this electronic system before at any airport so I assumed all was in order and was being tracked electronically.

I am actaully a former Mexico temporary resident visa holder (now expired) and mentioned this to the girl at Immigration. I assumed this had some infleunce in why I wasn't issued any paperwork. I trusted that the girl at Immigration knew what she was doing and acted correcty. Why would I think otherwise?

On the return flight day I checked in with your team at around 18:00 hours. Easily four hours prior to the flight. At the check in I was asked for my flight ticket and passport, which I provided, and I was then issued a full boarding pass and was told everything was in order to board the flight. I have retained the original boarding pass for my records.

After some time it was announced the flight was delayed with an eventual scheduled departure time of 23:45. Boarding finally started around 23:20 barely leaving enough time for anything. When I went to board the plane I was asked for my Immigration form by flight supervisor, Bernice ******. I advised her that I didn't have one. I had never been issued one, had never been advised that I needed one, and was not even asked for one at the check in. She told me to go to the airport immigration office who would issue me one otherwise I could not board the plane.

Aware that time was running short I made it very clear to Bernice that I would be very quick and would return as quick as possible. I pleaded please wait just a few minutes while I sort this and all she could do was shrug her shoulders as if she didn't care. At that point it was clear to me that your company had no intention of helping me get on this flight.

I literally sprinted at full pace through the airport and visited the Immigration office. I paid the required fee for the exit slip and while it was being printed I ran to your customer service desk and begged for them please hold the plane as I was making my way back to board but your service staff did nothing. They offered no advice, anything. They literally said and did nothing so I ran to get my exit permission slip.

from the time I was denied boarding It took me no more than 10 minutes to get the permission slip organised but when I tried to go back through security I was denied. I showed them my boarding pass with the original flight time of 23:10 and they just pointed to the time of 23:10 on the boarding pass and said "too late this has gone"

I begged and I pleaded with them that the flight was late and was still there. I told them it had not left and the boarding gate yet and the staff were aware that I was coming back but literally without saying anything else they just kept pointing to 23:10 and refused to let me back to board the flight. This was at 23:40 and the flight did not leave the gate until 23:52 so there was still time for me to get on the flight.

I then went to your customer service desk again and explained the situation. The girl first told me the plane had taken off (a lie, it hadn't. The plane didn't take off until 00:07 hours) and I would have pay a fine of around 500 to get another ticket (dollars I think she said)

I assumed she meant this as a way of extending my return ticket for the next flight and I agreed to pay. However she then typed away on her computer in silence for a few minutes. I thought she was issuing me an extended return ticket but she then told me that I would have to pay over $3000 USD for the next flight. This is nearly four times what I had already paid in total for my actual return ticket.

I can prove she was lying to me about the plane having already taken off because I have a call log on phone of a call I made straight after speaking to her and this was prior to the plane leaving the gate.

As I had been forced into this situation I had no choice but to purchase the ticket and I returned to the customer desk after making some phone calls. While your agent was printing the ticket I commented to her that whole situation was very unacceptable. I made this point without shouting or being rude to your customer service agent in anyway and she showed no compassion whatsoever. She offered no apology and could only say there was nothing that could be done because "this is your fault"

Later I spoke to the Aeromexico customer service manager ****** **** who apart from confirming with the flight supervisor that I had been refused boarding did nothing but issue a contact centre form and said I should raise this issue there. He issued no apology, said there was nothing else he could do and just stood with his arms folded, offering nothing and appearing as though he couldn't care any less. Shocking attitude from somebody afforded the privilege of being a manager.

All five of your staff at this point (the check in clerk, the boarding supervisor, the two customer service agents and the floor manager) could not have been more inefficient, uncaring or unprepared for this situation. Not one of them showed even any slight compassion, let alone seem to care about situation they had collectively put me in. It appears to me that everybody concerned up to this point was trying to do everything they could have to stop me getting on this flight They should have been doing exactly the opposite and doing their best and everything in their power to make sure I boarded this flight.

The next day however when checking in for the next flight (AM 7 - 21st April) For the first time I spoke a very nice, very helpful and compassionate person at your check in desk by the name of Ana Vega.

The first thing Ana did was ask for my ticket, passport and exit visa slip. I then asked her then when checking in on the day before If I should have been asked to provide the visa slip at check in on the previous day. She said that this should absolutely be asked for at every check in. She confirmed that the previous check in agent had made a very basic error and said that all staff should be checking this as standard procedure She said nobody should be issuing a boarding pass if a customer does not have the paperwork which is totally correct and the company has a responsibility to advise all of it' customer's how to get these if they don't have them at check in.

On the night of the original flight in question I had to go and retrieve my luggage that had been loaded onto the plane and subsequently unloaded and returned. I am astounded that you could not allow me 10 minutes to get my exit slip from Immigration to return to fly but you had time to send somebody to the luggage hold, have it unlocked, have somebody sift through hundreds of luggage bags, find the right bag in question, remove it from the plane, lock the luggage hold and report back that the luggage had now been removed and was secure for flight. All the while delaying the plane further in the process instead of spending this time actually helping me return to be able to board the flight I had already paid for, that you already knew I was trying to board.

With regards to the security staff. I don't know why would not talk to me other than to point to the incorrect flight time and say "too late"

Surely they understood what I was telling them. The way I have been treated I would not be surprised if they were told to not let me back through to boarding. Timing shows the flight was still at the gate and surely this can't be the first time a situation like this has happened. They must have understood that the flight was late and I was legal to board.

Considering this I would I not be surprised if the flight had been overbooked and I had been bumped off the flight to make way for another passenger. A practice that I hear is very common with Aeromexico and certain other airlines.

The exit slip is actually your legal obligation to the immigration authorities in Mexico as part of the Timatic scheme. I know this because I have friends that work in the airline industry in Mexico and every one of them thinks you have acted very suspiciously with complete customer disregard in this situation.

This exit slip is for your benefit so that you avoid fines from your local immigration authority. You should be doing everything you can to make sure your customers are aware of the the need to have this slip. You should not be telling them this at the last minute, then denying them boarding and then be able to make a huge financial profit from customers being forced to purchase another flight. Then you have the complete disrespect to actually blame the customer for your own mistakes and complete lack of customer service. Shocking.

In my case you have made two serious customers service errors (that I know of, I suspect there are more) and these have forced me to miss the flight I had already paid for.

Firstly You cleared me for boarding without checking I had all the documents that you require. I had my passport and ticket and that is all I needed to return legally to the UK.

Secondly, despite the above mistake and me having corrected this issue. if the flight had not been late in the first place and boarding rushed through so quickly, I would have been able to actually return back with the exit slip and board the plane. Saving myself what if effectively a 3000 dollar fine for your mistakes.

In addition to all of the above. I have been inconvenienced even further by having to travel across Mexico City at 3AM in the morning to return to my hotel and pay for yet another nights accommodation, food and drinks. Also due to returning to the UK 24 hours late I have missed a day at work and have to suffer even more financial loss because of this as well.

It is lucky that I have a credit card with enough credit to have covered this rather expensive extra flight otherwise I would have been stranded in Mexico City with no way of returning back to the UK however I am now heavily in debt because of this situation.

I flew with Aeromexico because my friends in Mexico advised me that it is the best airline in Mexico to fly with. Also on one of my flights with you I saw a video presentation from Andres Conesa stating that Aeromexico treats all it's staff and customers like one happy family and will do everything to ensure that all it's customers are made to feel special and part of this family. Sadly with the exception of Ana Vega, who should be commended for her excellent and friendly service, this is absolutely not that the way I was treated at all.

As a result of this complaint and your companies mistakes which have put me through a serious amount of stress and has cost me far too much of my own money. I am demanding that the full cost of the additional flight ($3000 USD) is refunded to me without putting me through further stress. I politely request that you prepare to action this as soon as possible and reply to this complaint without delay.

If I do not receive the outcome I have requested, or any notification that this will be actioned within 5 working days, I will taking this complaint direct to your companies Chief Executive, Andres Conesa and other senior members within your company.

I will also be taking legal action against your airline. I will be publicising this via numerous social media channels online, to media news networks and to every relevant consumer protection and regulatory body I can find.

However I am hopeful that you will see how very poorly I have been treated and will do the right thing and ensure that I am refunded for this terrible experience that you have caused.

To be clear I am not asking for compensation. I just want to be refunded what I have unjustly been forced to pay your company If I am forced to take the legal route I will seek to recover all additional costs and then I will be seeking compensation as well but I hope you can agree to my request and hopefully take the required steps to ensure that none of your passengers are treated this way or forced into a situation like this ever again.

Regards,

[DjangoHombre]

And here is there reply. The last paragraph of which makes very little sense...


April 27, 2018










Dear Mr *******







Thank you for taking the time to contacting us, please excuse our delayed response as we currently are facing a high volume of emails.

It is disappointing to learn of the negative impression we created during your recent flight. On behalf of Aeromexico we wish to extend an apology for the way your travel was handle. This situation is certainly unusual and we are sorry if the service provided by our staff was less than expected. We will pass your feedback to corresponding area for improvement.


After careful review of your claim and reservation history, we are sorry to inform you that your refund request cannot be process. As stated on our contract of carriage. Passengers shall hold and carry during their trip valid documentation (passports, visas, tourist cards, immigration format, and vaccination certificates) required by the countries to, from, or through which they are going to be traveling. Passengers are solely responsible for complying with other governmental obligations imposed by said countries for their legal stay and/ or transit in/through them.

Furthermore, Aeromexico requires electronic tickets to be use in order as they were purchase when failing to do so, the following segments are automatically cancelled and corresponding penalty fees must be covered in order to reactivate your itinerary. At this time I wish to extend an apology for the inconvenience this may cause. Once again thank you for choosing Aeromexico











Cordially,










Mi**** Angel V****
Customer Care Executive

[DjangoHombre]

I would like to add I suspect they had overbooked the flight because I was not allowed back, This would explain why security wouldn't let me back through to board. They had been called by the gate supervisor and told not to let me back through. This would explain why they were a bit off with me and wouldn't talk to me properly but I guess I can't prove that.

[Kati]

tagging des8 R0b jaguarsuk xx

[des8]

Trying to pick the bones out of your post!

UK visitors to Mexico need to obtain a FMM (visitors permit) when entering the country.

It seems this wasn't given to you at immigration, possibly because you mentioned a past residency. This is not the airlines fault.

Before leaving the country the FMM has to be surrendered to the airline, at the point of boarding the aircraft.

It would seem to me sensible that the airline check in staff should ensure you have the FMM before issuing the boarding pass, but whether or not they have a duty to do so I don't know. Obviously the airline practice is to collect the FMM as you board.

As you were a previous resident of Mexico it is a bit surprising that you were unaware of the need for an exit visa.

Having said that, certainly their standard of service seems low.
Overbooking flights is common to all airlines, so bumping is common.
In this instance, whether an overbooking or not, you could have been rebooked on another flight if boarding had been impossible because the gate was closed.
It is not as if you had arrived late, but I think you might have difficulty substantiating a court claim

I'm afraid the above comments probably aren't much use to you, but looking on tinternet I see there are many similar stories to yours
Always exhaust all internal avenues, including CEO, before initiating court action.
It is possible that they will offer some compensation rather than defend a court action, as it will be cheaper for them.

[DjangoHombre]

Hi des8. Many thanks for your reply. It is a long post. Sorry!

You are right regarding the visa however this was the first time I had been passed through electronically (I always filled the card in previously) and because I was a resident visa holder before I assumed all was OK because they already have my details on file at Immigration in mexico.

This is also the first time I have returned to mexico since the resident visa card was issued and although I knew it was expired I just assumed all was OK

When they guy checked me in again on my return he didn't ask for a visa tear off again so I assumed all was ok.

The return boarding pass was also issued electronically on a "self serve" machine by a service agent and I think, judging by the bottom of their reply, they think I did it alone. I will have to take this up with them.

My Friends in mexico ,a couple of which work at another airport, tell me that the return slip is just for the airline to avoid fines as they need to inform Immigration of everybody who was on the flight. It's not actually a legal requirement for the person flying. I could be wrong but that's what I am told.

I am aware a court action is going to be difficult not least because both the company and extra return ticket was purchased in Mexico. Does anybody know how that would work?

As I said I am going to call them and speak to a supervisor or manager and discuss in person before taking the CEO route.

[des8]

I haven't been able to discover a UK address for Aeromexico; they only have an agent, so even if you managed to initiate court action in UK they would seem to have no assets here, so enforcement in the event of you winning damages would also be problematic.

They have a dispute policy:
"Any dispute whatsoever related to visits by users to or with the products acquired from aeromexico.com shall be submitted to confidential arbitration in Mexico City, Mexico, and the user accepts the exclusive jurisdiction of the court in force at the time of such proceedings. The arbitration judgment shall be obligatory for all parties and may be brought before any court with competent jurisdiction for the issue of a final judgment. To the greatest extent permitted by the corresponding legislation, no arbitration proceeding undertaken in accordance with this Agreement shall be connected to an arbitration proceeding related to another person subject hereto, whether through joint or separate arbitration proceedings"

[MIKE770]

but if they land in a UK airport the authorities could stick the writ on the aircraft and quarantine it? need to be a big case to get that far??

[DjangoHombre]

They do have a UK based office. I Imagine it's a very small one though. It's from another website so I don't know if it's out of date.

https://www.airlinescontactnumber.co.uk/aeromexico-uk/



Aeromexico UK Contact Details


To reach Aeromexico, use their UK office contact number given right below. There are various options available to contact Aeromexico UK offices, all of these options are given on this page under London Section.

0800 9775 533

Aeromexico is the national airline and the biggest airline in Mexico. From its headquarter in Mexico City, the airline operates direct scheduled flights to 80 cities worldwide. The airline is the original and founding member of Skyteam Alliance along with the Korean Air, Delta Airlines, and Air France. The airline has 71 aircraft in their fleet, and all of them are modernly equipped from Boeing company. This airline will take you to almost all major North American destinations where other airlines don’t usually operate to. They also have a codeshare agreement with some major carriers like Aerolineas Argentinas, Garuda Indonesia, Air Europa, Copa Airlines, Czech Airlines, WestJet, Delta, KLM, GOL Airlines, Air France, KLM and Delta Airlines. The airline also owns Aeroméxico Connect which operates regional flights from various cities in Mexico. In the UK, the airline operates from London Heathrow terminal number 4 only. Aeromexico London Office Contact




Aeromexico London contact number: 0800 9775 533.

London office address: Shakespeare House, 168 Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TG.

London email: amuksales@aeromexico.com

[des8]

I had seen that address but thought they probably lease a very small serviced suite, where everything (even possibly the staff!) is on lease and they own nothing.
https://www.flexibleofficespace.co/O...der-Hill/1432/

Yes , if you win a court judgement you could transfer to High court and get a writ of fifa.
to enforce it you then have to notify the airport authorities and police to make the arrangements
You would also need to arrange insurance for the enforcement agents going airside.
Hmmm....

[Diana M]

Aeromexico Confirmation number PBLQYG


regarding me being forced to miss the above flight and pay over $3000 USD for another flight.

. . . . I arrived at Mexico City one week earlier, via your airline, as part of a return ticket.

. . . . . It is lucky that I have a credit card with enough credit to have covered this rather expensive extra flight

I've only had a glance at your thread but may I ask a couple of questions before making any suggestions.

Firstly, did you buy the original ticket on a UK credit card (in case s 75 CCA may help you with your dispute)?

Secondly, do you have Travel Insurance which may cover missed flights etc (although it would need to be established that this was not "your fault")?

Visa issues are not unknown at Mexico airports. I got a call from my daughter in the middle of the night last month. She was at Cancun airport and they were refusing to allow her to board the plane to London without a visa to enter the USA because the flight had a stopover in Miami even though she would have remained airside.

They insisted on being paid in cash and wouldn't accept her debit or credit card as a payment method and neither were accepted by the ATMs at the airport (NatWest told me that they don't have a relationship with all Mexican banks ATMs etc.).

However she managed to borrow $30 from a fellow passenger and caught the flight by the skin of her teeth.

So did you pay for this return ticket on a UK based credit card?

Di

[DjangoHombre]

des8 Yea tricky but on the other hand my wife is Mexico side until we get our UK visa sorted.

She could always initiate legal action from there on my behalf.

Also a Lawyer Mexico side, If I need or opt to take one, will be much cheaper in UK money.

I have also been informed by my friends in Mexico who work at Airports that legally in Mexico they should be checking at the check in desk that customers have all the required documents to fly.

[DjangoHombre]

Hi Diana M

The Original return was brought on a UK credit card (via Expedia) It was £300 cheaper this way. I don't think there is much I can do there.

I have actually thought about a merchant claim back for the additional but as I agreed to the payment I doubt it would be worth it.

My travel insurance comes free with my bank. I'll call them to discuss it.