How should I reply to this email?

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by thecarrotdude Oh man I think you were really lucky. What happened the first time I called was that they said they charge a fee ($150) plus the difference in fare ($300, not sure what that means) So it would have cost $450 just to change the date of the flight. I haven't called them back yet but I feel like they wouldn't credit the second flight towards another ticket. Well I guess I'll give them a call today.

That is pretty much the industry standard today, it is what it is. Human services has been removed from this industry, and profit is all that is at stake.

From reading your correspondence, your second message started "To clear things up", and the other person ensured you were clear with "Apparently, I was not clear". Keep in mind you have caused an error, and are now looking for somebody else to (insert word here (fix)) your error. This is a very straight business reply, and she even offered you a way of lessening the burden. Also keep in mind, you are more than likely not the only person on this orientation, and surely not her first rodeo.

[Paul Stevens]

condescending when she said "Apparently I wasn't clear"

Emails are evil. When I read that, I felt
that she was apologising for not not
expressing herself well. But without the
benefit of voice inflections and whatnot,
it could have gone either way. In any case,
her emails seemed quite proper and business-like.

[Timber Loftis]

How rude of them not to break their accounting rules and pay to fix your mistake. Indeed!

A couple of lessons here. One, check dates and be careful. Two, before you act rashly to fix a mistake, check all your options -- as noted here had you not made the *second* mistake of paying the airline its bounty to change flights, you might have an option.

Three, while these internets make cheap flights more available, I have found that spending the extra money to buy from an airline that has a very generous return/reschedule policy is worth its weight in gold. And, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg -- I prefer Southwest.

[Hivetyrant]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin That is pretty much the industry standard today, it is what it is. Human services has been removed from this industry, and profit is all that is at stake. From reading your correspondence, your second message started "To clear things up", and the other person ensured you were clear with "Apparently, I was not clear". Keep in mind you have caused an error, and are now looking for somebody else to (insert word here (fix)) your error. This is a very straight business reply, and she even offered you a way of lessening the burden. Also keep in mind, you are more than likely not the only person on this orientation, and surely not her first rodeo.

Quoted for truth.

And you will find it's the same anywhere you go in the world.

And Paul is correct, E-mail is often the cause of fall-out due to the lack of body language, it's really impossible to know %100 how someone wishes their message to be expressed as we all interperate and communicate in writing differently.