Maxjet

Ran across this article on Cnn.com about a man and wife who missed a return flight on Maxjet and had a terribly expensive time getting home. Apparently a bad patch of weather kept them from their flight and when they could finally be accomadated they were charged an additional $2300 apiece. They wrote to a column that focuses on bad customer service and tricky travel rules. It looks like Maxjet backed down in the face of bad publicity.
This caught my eye because I had a Maxjet experience last night just like it. A guy was scheduled to fly but he wasn't feeling well and wanted to change his outbound flight to the next day (today). The rule for an outbound flight change is that you have to resell everything and reprice at the current price. This brought the fare up over $500 and we had to charge the $100 change fee on top of that.
The passenger was outraged and wanted to know if the airline wanted him to fly sick and infect the entire flight. Of course they don't, but they also know that a '24 hour flu' exemption would open an unworkable loophole in their rule structure. They don't care about doctor's notes either. They barely care about a death in the family.
So I called the airline to see if we could do anything. No dice. The agent talked to her supervisor. Nope. I conferenced the passenger in so he could yell at them. Still nothing. He angrily told me to go ahead and make the exchange and hung up.
Two lessons here:

• Maxjet sticks by their rules. Most airlines have some wiggle room but if you make changes to your flights you're really at their mercy. Some are pretty easy to sweet talk. Some really aren't.
• If you're at an airlines mercy, try something novel. Throw yourself on it! See if you can get a 'favor'. Let them know how much it'll help you out. Tug some heartstrings if you can. Don't yell at them or you run the risk of having them dig their heels in and make certain that you don't get what you want.

The second lesson is a universal for dealing with customer service. If they like you, they'll want to help you and look for ways to do so. If they don't like you or if they feel manipulated, they'll make you pay.