Ever since I got back from Mexico in January, I’ve been arguing with AeroMexico about all the bad stuff they did on our flight, and the more-than-$1,000 it cost me as a result.
[In brief, at the last minute during boarding, they wouldn’t let me carry on my carry-on. They took it. They lost it. It contained credit cards, medicines and all manner of critical things. By the time I got it back six days later, minus my brand-new iPhone, we’d already had to change our return flight to an earlier date, at significant expense. Oh, and they lost our bags for two days on our return.]
I wrote half a dozen voluminous entreaties for reimbursement, only to be met repeatedly with form letters saying, “Oh, gosh, we sure do wish we could help you but there’s simply nothing we can do.” I didn’t give up. Yesterday I got an e-mail from a certain Adriana who attached a voucher valued at $100 for a future AeroMexico flight, whereupon I did give up and trash the e-mail. But then, a strange thing happened. Adriana called to say she’d sent the wrong voucher, and in fact I was entitled to two $500 credits for air travel. That’s all well and good, said I, but I am unlikely ever to fly with AeroMexico again, for obvious reasons. Not only that, since I’ve been unemployed since December, what I really need is cold cash.
Here’s the cool part of the story: Turns out she’s a single ma who until recently had been unemployed for a year and a half. We had a great talk. She felt my pain. The upshot: $500 reimbursement and the most affectionate letter I’ve ever gotten from a corporate entity:
Ok, here is what we can do, if you prefer the cash instead of the two travel vouchers you will be compensated with a check of $500USD and no travel voucher… I will request the check today and it should approximately no more than 2 weeks. I then will FedEx you the check and inform you of the tracking number.
And remember you will start working sooner than you can imagine! … if you need anybody to talk to… I am hear! :o)
Sending Love, light health and wealth your way! :o)
In an hour I have an interview with an online English tutoring company that Genevieve works for. They pay below minimum wage and the hours are spotty. You’re committed to being available for 25 hours a week but in fact you might get paid for only five of those hours. Add it up: $65 a week. Unemployment is not for the faint of spirit and budget. I just talked to Adi and asked for an attitude fix, and she helped as usual: think of it as a way to get the employment wheels greased and turning.
Yesterday I helped Anna move. We tackled the kitchen, boxing up stuff from her old place and restoring order in the new. My biggest accomplishment: alphabetizing her spices. I wonder how I can translate that into a transferable job skill. Develops innovative solutions to streamline and maximize the efficiency of complex systems.
One of these days I need to finish putting up audio files of my old radio programs. Maybe I’ll start on that today, after my interview.