Troubleshooter: American Airlines promises $900 in vouchers to Tarboro couple but reneges on deal

TARBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Airlines offer flight vouchers as an incentive when they need volunteers to get off an oversold flight, or when there is too much weight on the plane. It happened to Bill Bourne and his wife during one of their recent flights.

The Tarboro couple had already boarded the plane and were on their way home from a vacation in the Bahamas when an agent from American Airlines came on board and offered $900 in vouchers, plus all hotels and transport, to fly out the next morning.

"We specifically asked again, it's $900.00 right? They said, yes it is," Bill said.

He even got the airline representative to put the offer in writing.

When they got back to the airport, however, they were told each flight voucher was only worth $580.

"We argued with the gate agent, argued, argued, argued," Bill said. "Finally we got the ultimatum, you get on this plane, or we are not going to help you."

When Bill got back home to Tarboro, he called American Airlines customer service but still had no luck changing it, so he reached out to me.

I got in contact with American Airlines, and they changed the value of his voucher, along with six others that took the same offer, back to the promised $900.

Bill is happy he got the $900.00 in flight vouchers but says he couldn't believe it had to go this far to get what was promised.

A representative with American Airlines apologized for the confusion and took responsibility admitting an error was made at the time of the offer, and that the issue should have been fixed at the airport.

If you're ever in a similar situation, the best advice is to do what Bill did and make sure to get everything in writing.