ABD Emergency Number Didn't Relay our Flight Change (But Fate Smiled on Us!)

[Dreamer Kevin]

Kidney stones. Root canals. Air travel. Our direct flight from Charlotte to Rome for our Viva Italia adventure had a hitch - we were bumped for (according to a customer service rep who said "We're not really having this conversation...") security folks who needed our seats. Who knows what happened but we then waved goodbye to our lovely, sleek jumbo jet and ended up on a little ol' commuter plane that took us to Philly by way of Charlottesville, VA. As we're sitting on the tarmac in C-ville we called the ABD main number followed by the emergency number to report our situation and give the updated flight number, and were assured our info was being relayed to the ground team in Rome.

It wasn't. We arrive in Rome, blood-shot bug-eyed but eager and make our way to baggage claim where....no one was there to meet us. The kicker? Our cell phones don't speak Italian so we just shrugged our shoulders, got our own luggage from the carousel (I know, poor babies) and decided we'd just have to wait until someone from ABD showed eventually. After a not too long wait we saw someone with a beacon of hope - an orange ABD sign! We rushed up and babbled OhMyGodThankYouIAmSoGladToSeeYouandand,...the nice young woman smiled, took our name, and informed us she was there to meet another family and, "My goodness, YOU aren't supposed to be here now!" Our original flight, it seems, ended up with a four hour delay and the greeters were still looking for us to arrive on that bird. After she parked us and collected the charges she was expecting, she waved the wand and found a transport to take all of us.

So I can't complain too much and the folks on the ground were excellent but oh the call center! I remarked to Sweetie after hanging up with the person to whom I gave our updated flight info "Hmm, she was kinda not into it with a 'whatever' vibe" but luckily things worked out. The trip was wonderful, Italy gorgeous, just a wee bit of a Disney magic SNAFU that wasn't too bad. So thanks for letting me state that to someone other than an email address!

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I'm glad they were able to get everything sorted out for you once you arrived. I'm not surprised the girl on the phone seemed out of it though. I emailed them the other day to see if I could find out how many people were on my upcoming trip and the age ranges of the people. I told them which trip I was on and the specific departure date. The response I got back didn't make sense. They told me that there were 5 people and the lowest age was 4 years older than I am currently. I knew that wasn't right since as of January this year there were 22 people and how could I have gained 4 years in 6 months so I emailed them back. They gave me information for NEXT year's departure even though I gave them the exact departure date I was looking for.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Ooo. That's painful arriving in Europe and expecting to see someone's smiling face waiting for you and they're not there. Glad you lucked out and there was another driver there. Hopefully this means you got all the bad travel luck out of the way at the beginning of the trip!

 

[Dreamer Kevin]

I'm glad they were able to get everything sorted out for you once you arrived. I'm not surprised the girl on the phone seemed out of it though. I emailed them the other day to see if I could find out how many people were on my upcoming trip and the age ranges of the people. I told them which trip I was on and the specific departure date. The response I got back didn't make sense. They told me that there were 5 people and the lowest age was 4 years older than I am currently. I knew that wasn't right since as of January this year there were 22 people and how could I have gained 4 years in 6 months so I emailed them back. They gave me information for NEXT year's departure even though I gave them the exact departure date I was looking for.

I can totally see that. We've had a couple of "Hmm" experiences with the ABD call centers recently but on balance the folks we deal with are excellent. Tink's wand runs low in pixie dust some days, I guess.

 

[Dreamer Kevin]

Ooo. That's painful arriving in Europe and expecting to see someone's smiling face waiting for you and they're not there. Glad you lucked out and there was another driver there. Hopefully this means you got all the bad travel luck out of the way at the beginning of the trip!

Thanks and yeah, the rest of the trip was amazing. Sweetie's birthday was the day we arrived in Venice and, no joke, ABD had hired a singer and musician to board the gondola with us and serenade her as we floated along the canals. Still get choked up over that one!

 

[Woodview]

Was it an European Call center or a USA based Call center ?

 

[Dreamer Kevin]

Was it an European Call center or a USA based Call center ?

U.S.-based call center (as far as I can tell).

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

U.S.-based call center (as far as I can tell).

Definitely a US based call centre. Got my box yesterday and the emergency call center number that is listed is an Orlando based number. It's a 1-407 number.