[Ross]

I called the customer service of the Austrian Airlines in the US on January 15th in order to inquire about the fee difference in case I change the date of my wife's and my flight. I first gave my wife's flight information to the representative. She quoted me their best rate of $192 for a change to January 24th. I then asked her to wait and I spoke to my wife and we decided to keep the original date. However, the representative said that she had already changed the date and if I wanted the original date back I had to pay the penalty plus the rate difference!!! She claimed that I had agreed to a change of ticket, which is not true. Not paying the $192 rate difference is my proof that I didn't agree to a change. I don't know what her proof is that I agreed. As best, there might have been a misunderstanding when I was talking to my wife.

In any case, I told her that I did not want to change the date and I would like to keep the original date but she wouldn't do it. I called several times and even went to the airport but everyone referred me back to the same person. I was told that she made some notes on my file so that nobody can do anything. She is basically making a personal thing out of this issue and blowing this completely out of proportion when all she needed to do was to leave my ticket unchanged. She claims that she is the supervisor and wouldn't let me talk to anyone else. Even the Austrian Airline's representative at the airport told me that this is unacceptable and I should file a complaint.

Now, I have a confirmed ticket for March 6th and my wife has a, I don't know what kind of ticket, for January 24th. Since I of course didn't pay the rate difference of $192 I don't even know what kind of ticket my wife has: a confirmed ticket (although I didn't pay), a non-confirmed ticket,...? I have been flying overseas at least twice a year for the past 15 years and I never had such an issue. It was the first time that I tried Austrian Airlines and it will probably be my last time. I will stick to Air France or Alitalia.

I filed complaints with the airline and DOT but nothing sofar.