Travel Nightmare with AeroMexico, Cancelled Flights, Terrible Customer Service, and no refunds

We travel frequently between Mexico and CA. Last year, we flew back and forth between Mexico and the US three times without incident. 

We usually fly on Delta or American Airlines. This July, 2015, we decided to use AeroMexico for the first time. Never again.

For three tickets, we booked in advance and found a great price through AeroMexico. So we decided to give AeroMexico a try. Big mistake. Considering this is the largest Mexican carrier, you would think that they would be reasonably competent. Nope. 

The flight was a disaster from start to finish, and these seats ended up being the most expensive tickets we have ever purchased. And here's why:

Our connecting flight from LEON (BJX) was delayed in MEX (Mexico City Airport), and then cancelled. No biggie, right? Cancellations happen. It was the way they treated us that was unacceptable. 

FAIL #1: We weren't notified of the cancellation for hours. The gate attendants repeatedly told us that the flight was merely delayed. Finally, well after midnight, they told us the flight was cancelled and had been rerouted. They didn't make any type of formal announcement. We had to go up to the gate and ask before they would give us a straight answer. So at this point it was impossible to go get a hotel for the night. 

FAIL #2: We were not given an option to return to our home city. We were told that we could choose between Salt Lake City, UT or Las Vegas. We chose Las Vegas, with the hope that we would be able to get a connecting flight from Vegas. We would have to pay for the connecting flight out of our own pocket. There was no offer from Aeromexico to get us to our home city. Southwest flights were available (thankfully), and we ended up paying $1,000 for three tickets from LAX to SMF so we could get back to CA the next day.

FAIL #3: No refunds. I called the AeroMexico customer service number, and was told by the representative that since I was given the "option" of coming back to the US (not anywhere near the city that was on our original ticket, of course), that no refund would be issued for the cancelled leg of our flight, or the additional booking fees that we incurred after the airline could not accommodate us with a return flight to CA. 

I did check the AeroMexico contract of carriage, and apparently, they absolve themselves of any reasonable liability for anything with regards to cancellations. Case in point:

From Aeromexico's terrible carrier contract:
 
1. Times in itineraries or anywhere else are not guaranteed, and are not a part of this agreement (so...basically nothing is guaranteed?).
2. The Carrier may switch, without prior notice, to other Carriers or aircraft and may alter or omit any stops appearing on the Ticket (no notice at all? You aren't required to tell us anything or give us any type of notice when you change our ticket? That does seem to be their forte).
3. The Carrier does not assume any liability for connections that the Passenger has to make with other airlines or contracts made outside the Carrier’s itinerary. (Nice to know that all our connecting flights are at your mercy, Aeromexico).

And the icing on the cake? AeroMexico is required by law to refund passengers who are bumped due to overbooking, but apparently, even this does not seem to deter them:

This poor bloke was given the run-around for months, even though Aeromexico was obligated by law to refund the ticket (he was bumped from his flight due to overbooking). After contacting the airlines dozens of times, getting the media involved, and he finally got his refund only after involving the Airport Director of Sacramento International Airport, who apparently lit the fire under AeroMexico's local manager in order to get the refund which he was legally owed. 

It shouldn't be this hard. Aeromexico, you've lost (another) customer for life.