Candace Owens has slammed American Airlines, accusing the aviation giant of “theft” after she was offered credit, instead of a refund, for a cancelled flight.
The conservative commentator took to Twitter on Tuesday to reveal that she had booked to travel with the airline from Nashville, Tennessee, to London later this month with her family.
But Owens—who shares a 9-month-old son with her British husband of two years, George Farmer—stated that her plans were scuppered one week later when she learned the route was cancelled and was offered $5,000 credit over a refund.
Owens wrote: “Booked a flight from Nash to London for my family with @AmericanAir for 5000$. A week later they e-mail to say the flight route has been cancelled.
“Rather than refunding me, they tell me I can only be issued a credit to use with their airline. How is that not legally theft?”
“It’s definitely legally theft,” she went on in a follow-up tweet. “It would be like ordering a shoe from a store, being contacted and told ‘actually we don’t sell that shoe at all, but you we can only issue you back store credit’. @americanair advertised something that didn’t exist.”
When another Twitter user dismissed Owens’ complaint as “first class problems,” she countered: “No. This is how much it costs to fly multiple people round trip to London from Nashville. First class would probably have been about $24,000.”
Responding to another tweet that stated “airlines have been abusing customers this way for years,” Owens said: “Actually criminal. Would make sense if I had planned a trip for next year. The trip is this month.
“They knew they didn’t have the flight route but let me buy it anyway—then converted my cash to money they could guarantee would be spent with them.”
She continued: “It is legally theft. How could it possibly be legal to false advertise a flight? Mind you—the flight isn’t for a trip that’s a year away. It’s THIS MONTH. They knew they did not have that flight route planned but took my money anyway.”
Concluding her string of posts on the matter, Owens wrote: “What bothers me is I have a platform so they respond. But the average person does not. I have been on the phone asking for my money for two hours. Who can afford to have 5k tied up?”
In the midst of her tweetstorm, Owens received a message from the official American Airlines Twitter account that read: “Let’s chat about this, Candace, but for privacy reasons, please move into DMs.”
The airline also requested Owens’ record locater, in order to “take a look at what’s going on,” stating in another tweet shortly afterward: “Our offer to help still stands. Please meet us in DMs for a closer look.”
It’s definitely legally theft. It would be like ordering a shoe from a store, being contacted and told “actually we don’t sell that shoe at all, but you we can only issue you back store credit”. @americanair advertised something that didn’t exist.— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 5, 2021
Let’s chat about this, Candace, but for privacy reasons, please move into DMs.— americanair (@AmericanAir) October 5, 2021
Our offer to help still stands. Please meet us in DMs for a closer look.— americanair (@AmericanAir) October 5, 2021
Owens, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, is currently based in Nashville, where she shoots her show, Candace, for The Daily Wire.
On its website, American Airlines states in the “Refunds” section of its FAQs page its policy on customers paying for products and services that they are unable to use.
The site states: “If the product or service you paid for was provided on an alternate flight, no refund will be provided.
“However, these products and services are eligible for a refund if you’re unable to use them: Bag fees (refund does not apply to bags bought online), Pet fees, Priority boarding, Same-day flight change or standby.”
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Original Article : Candace Owens Accuses American Airlines of ‘Theft’ Over Cancelled Flight Refund (msn.com)
American Airlines is trash nobody should use them.
All Airlines do this they sell you insurance then give you credit back make you wait a year if you don’t use the credit then you file a complaint with the insurance and they might pay it back. Had to cancel a flight to Aruba with JetBlue due to covid and got the same response from them and they are partnered with American Airlines. I guess that’s what you call true corporate job security. But our good friends on Capitol Hill that’s supposedly the majority of the people in this country voted for tell us that’s just too bad live with it. Because they don’t want to disrupt the money making machine.
I flew American Airlines for the first time July 1st of this year. We sat on the plane at the gate for 2 hours when they told us the flight was cancelled. I am disabled and the told me to wait in my seat for assistance out of the plane. I’m sitting there watching this packed airplane unload and thinking if I wait I will not get another flight out that day.I decided to walk with my cane off the plane. I’m glad I did, I would not have gotten to Texas that day to surprise my son for his birthday. I had paid for a 1st class ticket and was put on a flight in coach in the middle seat on another airline. Being disabled you can imagine the pain I was in by the time I finally made it to Texas. I book 1st class for a reason. Then when I got to Texas my walker did not get put on the plane. I spent the first five days of my vacation without my walker, which limited me on what I could do. I am dependent on my walker. American Airlines blamed the other Airline for it being lost even though it had been sitting at American Airlines for the 5 days. I got 10,000 fly miles and refunded $200. It takes 150,000 miles to fly to Texas, so those miles were useless to me. I will NEVER fly American Airlines again.