This is a post to pass the word along about the Southwest Airlines customer service, as well as the whole company itself.
When I have used them, I had to drive out of my way to a different airport. Their prices might be a little cheaper than some, but I assure you I will happily pay more to use someone else from now on.
This is the email that I have sent to their complaint department after a series of unhelpful phone calls.
I made a call 4 months ago asking if I had purchased my tickets before my voucher was expired, If I would be able to use it. I was told yes, as long as the tickets are bought before the expiration date it would be fine. I tried purchasing my tickets last night and was told that it expires so that I could not use it.
I spoke with Cathleen who tells me there's nothing she could do, then transfers me to Dawn who tells me the same thing. I ask to speak to a supervisor and am told there was no supervisors there. I asked to speak to someone above her and she says there is no one above her to speak with. She then transfers me to Mary Lee, who gave me her number. I am told to call back and speak with someone else in the morning.
So I called back this morning and did not get the name of who I spoke with but was told that Company Policy stands and there is absolutely nothing to change it. So now apparently no matter what I do I lose $50 dollars of my money because of a "company policy". Whatever happened to customer service? A business about making the customer happy instead of making money. I understand that companies need money to strive but is it necessary to have a company policy that takes the customers money and claim it as your own?
I was very dissatisfied with the way this was being handled and the Reps that were "helping" me seemed only interested telling me about the companies policies rather than seeing what they could do to help the situation. At one point I even hinted that they would lose me as a customer and I was told that is my decision and that didn't seem to matter to her. I don't know if this is what you guys do with all of your customers or if it just happened that all the reps I got did not seem to know what Customer Service is really about.
But I was serious about not being a customer, I will be telling everyone I know about how this situation turns out, and I think it might be wise to maybe throw in some mandatory customer service training for the people that need it. I know that with only me boycotting your company you wouldn't lose much money but just remember without your customers you wouldn't be here. It is not like I was asking for anything free, our anything that i was not entitled to. I was simply asking for the money that I paid for my last flight, then was turned into a voucher because your "company Policy" was to not give me a refund.
I am still waiting for a response from them, which I should get in 5 business days, apparently they have a lot of complaints to get through before mine.
Editors Note: We hope our blogger kyleberg29 keeps us posted about the situation and will write a follow up about what happens next!Have you ever had trouble with Southwest Airlines or any other airlines?
Comments (40)
Isn't it Southwest that's currently running a bunch of commercials talking about how you can check your bags free and how they're top on customer service? Or is that another airline? Either way, if it is them, lol on their part.Â
I've never had any issues with traveling arrangements, thank god.
I've never ever had a problem with them. I hope you get your issues resolved!!
I've never had problems with Southwest, but I have had loads of problems with United, so I can sympathise with you. They've cancelled or delayed my flights, lost my luggage and airline miles, and generally treated me so badly that I'm never flying them again. Their customer service is completely unhelpful, and they have this absolutely ridiculous policy that they don't hold flights for anyone with an international connection.
I agree that their customer service is horrible. I called them yesterday to ask why I haven't received a free r/t when I have 18 credits (16 credits=1 rt). They told me they only have 10 on their file and asked whether I misread the 8 as a 0...how insulting is that? Like you, I was transferred to a lot of people and still haven't solved the issue. I went through all of my past flight history to recalculate the credits and one of the ladies kept interrupting me with "I only see 10." How is it that there's 18 on my page but only 10 on theirs? I'm never going to fly with Southwest again...they too have lost this customer.
I hope your issue will be resolved soon. Good luck.
I've never had a problem with them.
I've never flown Southwest since most of my trips are overseas, when I can afford it of course.
But I did have one situation with Korean Airlines that pissed me off and cost my family quite a bit of money. They had this reward system where once you have purchased 5 flights, you can get one free. Or maybe it was 4 flights, and get one free. Anywho, it was counted in air miles, but since we usually go to Vietnam, the miles would be the same anyway. My family of 5 had purchased tickets with them, but ended with only 4 of us taking Korean while my brother flew with another carrier. We found out a little late about the reward program and asked a stewardess about it. In perfect English, she informed us that we can still register after we land and will still get credit for the trip.
But later I found out we have 0 air mile credited to us. WTF!!!!??? We should have qualified for a free trip to Vietnam, which would have saved our family at least a grand!! $1,000.00!!!!!
I have never had a single problem with them before. And, when it is that I call to ask questions about my flight or the schedule, the ladies I talk to are more than friendly and helpful. Sorry things turned out so sucky for you, though.
While the Customer Service agent should have told you correctly, you should have read the rules and regulations of your funds. You chose not to take the flight you purchased, and Southwest was generous enough to allow you to use that money for one year from the original date of purchase. Any other airline would charge you just to use that money within that year. You decided not to use your funds within that year, and Southwest would allow you to extend the funds minus $50 for an additional 6 months. You won't find another carrier that will do that.
@airlinejunky - I'm guessing you work for Southwest? I actually did take my flight, I changed the date which is what changed the price. And I wouldn't call turning my money into a voucher generous, Most companies would give your money back. Not everyone flies all the time and not only can I not use my money on other things but I HAVE to use it on their company but that's not enough now they are going to tell me I HAVE to use it within a year. I'm sorry but that is not generous at all.
Wow, I actually love Southwest, but then again, I've never dealt with Customer Service in that respect. The "customer service" I immediately think of is the direct service you receive on the plane, which from my experience, has always been the best.
the only problem i've had, is the crappy service on the plane!
there was a very pretty woman on the plane,
-all the flight attendant were men.
no one got service, throughout at least half the flight.
I've had nothing but good experiences with Southwest. American and Delta on the other hand...
I don't think I've heard much bad about Southwest Airlines, but then again I know very few people who travel via plane. But, after hearing this, I will definitely make sure that if I ever have to travel on a plane I won't be using Southwest Airlines.
I really can't handle bad customer service, it irritates the crap out of me. Especially when it happens the way it did in this recount, with many different people being difficult and completely unhelpful and giving you the run around.
There will always be "bad" employees anywhere you go, sometimes an employee or two have just had a bad day or whatnot. But, you're not supposed to let that effect your work. Vent at home. And this particular recount, while not surprising, is really something that doesn't need to happen.
However, company policy is company policy. I find it strange that there was absolutely nobody higher up that the OP could've talked to, so I'm thinking that that was a lie. No supervisors at all? I highly doubt that. I hate it when people outright lie to you because they think they can get away with it.
I'll be keeping a look out for updates on this. I wonder how the airline will handle this. Sometimes they do try to make things better in situations where companies get very irritated e-mails. But, a lot of the time you also just get a generic letter instead that very politely tells you they don't care if you boycott them.
Although, I would pay attention to spelling the next time a letter is sent to them. :/ Spell check doesn't catch the words that are actually words. Like "companies" instead of "company's" would not likely be caught by a spell check. Grammar check, like what's on Microsoft Word, is also not very reliable. Actually, I have a friend who's mother is an English teacher and she frequently wants to beat the computer over Microsoft Word's grammar check program. It's always wrong. :p
And when sending a complaint letter, it is important to look just as intelligent as you actually are. And sometimes very intelligent people just are not good spellers, and in that case it is good to look over the e-mail yourself and reread it, even though you already know what it says, instead of just relying on spell check programs. :)
I flew Southwest to Chicago last month, and they did, indeed, check our bags without once weighing them, for free (the last time I flew was with American Airlines, and they charge...what?...$50 for going over weight?...which is just...ridiculous). We didn't have any problems - it was a smaller plane, and the pilot even greeted the loading passengers himself and kept up a witty conversation with us. I've loved Southwest so far.
I think everyone's got issues with SOME travel company, be it airlines, buses, or rail lines. Good luck with yours.
The husband and I have flown Southwest many times and never had a problem. I got a little annoyed with one flight crew flying from Las Vegas to Houston when they refused to turn the seatbelt light off. Weather was beautiful the whole way with no turbulence. I think they just wanted people to stay seated the whole time and were testing their authority. Since I have not had to use their customer service, it's hard to comment on it however, I can see where Southwest could be a bear to deal with since they are the Greyhound bus lines of the sky.
well, the cheap ticket kiiiind of tells you that sometimes someone's going to be pissed off by that airline. :P
@kyleberg29@xanga - Regarding your comment on "most companies would give your money back"... you mean most companies that are not airlines? Because you won't find a single airline whose policy it is to give a refund whenever a customer has changed their mind - UNLESS you bought a refundable ticket which it sounds like you didn't. I mean these are all rules that are spelled out before anyone buys the ticket, so how can you blame the company for enforcing them? Airlines are in the business of selling seats, if you change your mind and don't get on that specific seat and are expecting a refund, that is one less seat on that plane that the airline could have sold to another passenger. They would be assuming the loss for your changing your mind. How can you expect a business to do that for you? All other businesses have at least some type of penalty rules towards cancellation.
As far as Southwest not bending their rules to make you happy, I think their rationale is this: most people who fly on Southwest do so for the price. It's just a simple fact, Southwest is known as the super-cheap, no frills airline. They figure someone who complains about never flying with them again is just going to do so again at the next opportunity just because the fare was $5 cheaper than another airline. I'm not saying this is you, but the majority of the type of people that fly on Southwest. Similarly, you can tell them all you want what a loyal customer you are to them, but they know that if another airline was offering the same flight for $5 less, you would jump over at the first chance. Again, I'm not saying YOU when I say "you," this is just the rationale of most non-business travellers. I know some people might deny this, but it is a fact, and the airlines know this and that's why they don't care about bending the rules to make you happy.
@crazylady59@xanga - No, I can assure you the pilots were not "testing the authority" by keeping the seatbelt sign on. Maybe they anticipated the route to be rougher than it turned out to be (they try to make the best decisions based on the information they have at the time, but obviously they cannot predict everything) or maybe they simply forgot. Who knows, it could be lots of things. But pilots don't do stuff like keeping the seatbelt sign on just to test their authority - this notion is beyond silly! Next time if you really have to go and the air isn't obviously rough, you should just ask your flight attendant, it's not a big deal.
And then again, there are people who insist on running to the bathroom when the plane is landing or something else that violates federal regulations. It's like, you had 2 whole hours to use the lav and NOW you just have to go? Unless you're a small child, you should have some restraint to wait 10 more minutes!
I think everyone who travels enough gets a bad experience with an airline sooner or later. I had a couple of nasty experiences with Northwest, but when I had to fly them again all went well.
Overall, I would rate Southwest as working at a higher level of customer service than other airlines. I consider it ironic that for a "no-frills" airline they're still the only company that offers services for free that are now considered frills on other airlines, like letting you check bags and snack packs on longer flights. My one major complaint would be a tendency to overbook flights
I've had the worst problems with Delta. They charge extra for everything these days and routinely delay flights. Makes it hard to catch those connections! I haven't had too many problems with Southwest but I also don't have too many expectations. I know exactly what I'm getting and that's a decently comfortable plane ride on the cheap. Refunds? What's that? Airlines don't give them usually, as was pointed out above. Those extra cheap seats usually are non-refundable. I'm sorry you had problems with your voucher though. As far as customer service goes...well these days it doesn't extend beyond a pleasant sounding voice. Honestly though what do we expect? We want everything on the cheap which means companies have to cut costs somewhere and customer service, that extra special kind, is usually one of the first things to go. I don't know what you were expecting to get from the ladies other than company policy but I feel for you. I think we as a people have to just set the bar lower a bit. What incentive does a worker have to give us that special service? None. They don't get rewarded for it and they probably don't get paid enough to begin with. Other than a smile and general courteousness...well that's the best we can hope for. Big companies quite frankly don't care if they lose a customer here or there. They have a service at a price we want. It's up to us to make the best out of it.
Southwest is not known for their customer service, they are known for their low prices. Deal with it or pay four times more for a ticket on another airline that pretends to be customer service focused. I will tell you that most companies don't care anymore.
It is possible that the original customer service agent told you the wrong information; I'm sure they gave you a terms and conditions type guideline? I never trust representatives because they all interpret rules differently - kind of like how lawyers can argue the law in a way skewed from the generally understood interpretation. If you're going to travel more, this can just be chalked up as a bad experience. Southwest giving a voucher is definitely a blessing - cancellation fee for a trip I cancelled the day after booking was $150, non-refundable from United. I would have much rather had a voucher to use. You can consider it a "gift horse" going forward.
Good luck with your future experiences. SW really is only good for big city / large metro travel. I'd be very surprised if they could fly into Savannah, GA in the future. :P
@crazylady59@xanga - LOL. You know, I just stand up and go anyway. They do NOT want to get in my way when I have to pee. Neither does the guy in the aisle seat - I'll climb over him if he's asleep...
Moral of the story? Buy your tickets earlier ;)
When it comes down to it, all airlines will have their issues and
people are bound to have bad experiences. While it is true the original
customer service agent could have told you incorrect information, it is
required by the FAA to give out additional rules and terms of service
for vouchers given, it is your job of the consumer to know the rules of
what your using. An airline ticket is a contract that you should know
the rules of before you buy your ticket.
I work for an airline (not Southwest but I'm saying which one) as an
agent at airport ticketing. When it comes down to it, the Customer
Service Agents at customer relations/complaint department have to
follow the rules of the airline, or do what they can to get you to stop
yelling at them. Unfortunately it's a thin line between giving you
compensation for whatever you're complaining about and losing your job
because the company doesn't like that you give away too many freebies.
And besides, they just give vouchers as compensation, why would they
give you a voucher when you had problems with the voucher?
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Guess what, if you get
a $100 roundtrip ticket, you might have to deal with poor customer
service, baggage fees, and other loops to jump through. Here's the
inside scoop: we don't like the fees anymore than you do, but it's
better to enforce them and the rest of the rules rather than lose our
jobs.
Although it is unfortunate you received such poor customer service. But
there are better airlines out there with better customer service agents
;)