I received notice today that the Connecticut Small Claims Court has accepted my case against JetBlue. It (JetBlue) has until October 1, 2008 to respond.
You can follow it here.
I suspect that upon receiving my complaint, JetBlue will have already spent more on lawyers than I am requesting but, hey, that's JetBlue's problem.
For a more thorough explanation of my reasons for going the small claims route, see this previous post. Basically it says "Let's hold the airlines accountable for the service we purchase."
It will be interesting just to see how this progresses. Win or lose, it will be a powerful incentive to everyone who has been screwed by an airline to take action on their own behalf. If enough people file small claims suits, it will eventually become more cost-effective for the airlines to do the right thing and deliver the product they are selling, rather than make the cynical calculation that pissing-off customers is just a cost of doing business and we'll get over it and be back anyway.
Sure - we all have to fly for one reason or another. But if we make it financially impossible to get way with treating us this way, eventually it is the airlines that will have to change, not us.
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5 comments:
Hi Bill!
Sorry for bothering you with this and I apologize in advance about my poor English.
I’ve recently had a very unpleasant experience with JetBlue. Tickets were purchased online back in May for a flight on August 6th. I paid this time with PayPal, not a credit card as I usually do. PayPal sent me an email saying that I'd authorized a transaction to JetBlue. And JetBlue sent me an e-ticket. When we arrived for the check in scanning the e-ticket barcode in the kiosk indicated that we would have to get a human assistance as there was something wrong. At the counter we were told that our tickets were void as JetBlue could not charge my PayPal account. They claimed that they tried to contact me on my mobile phone, but there was not a single voice message from them and no emails! These arguments were not accepted by JetBlue representative and her manager. They didn’t care at all and the manager was just rude. All they could offer us was paying more than the double price (comparing to May) to get on this flight. We refused and went to Delta, which was also much more expensive than May prices.
Now I'd like to sue them at least for getting back the price difference, but according to whatever rules the lawsuit has to be initiated in the States and I’m overseas.
What would you suggest me to do?
Thank you!
Hello:
I would get a lawyer. Also, paying any way other than a credit card is crazy, in my opinion. It's one less level of protection in a world where you need all the protection you can get.
- Bill
Interesting blog. Sorry that you had occasion to start it. I was in small claims court in Manhattan last week to give moral support to a friend who's suing someone. His case got postponed, but while we waited, the judge heard a small claims case against JetBlue, filed by an aggrieved flyer like you. Unfortunately, the judge did not decide the case on the spot, so I don't know the ultimate disposition. But from all impressions, it went quite badly for JetBlue. Hope the same will be true with you. I hate the airlines!
See my blog post about my evening in court
Hi! I am going to sue Jetblue soon for stealing my laptop out of my suitcase. This was not TSA's fault - it was definitely a Jetblue baggage employee. I was wondering when you went to small claims, what information did you need? Do I need an address for Jetblue?
Thanks!
You need to contact your state's Secretary of State and get the name of JetBlue's corporate entity in your state. That's who you sue.
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