I'm talkin' birthdays, Lent, All-New Rapid Rewards, and top places to eat around the System in this sass-less (yeah, right) sixth edition of the SWA Stew!
Ms. McNeill,
Thank you for the video. It was a nice shot of your Mardi Gras parade.
Actually I was hoping to hear more about the resolution of the problems with the SWA Web Site and perhaps more about the problems with the RR 2.0 itself. What I heard was that you're 'still having problems', 'thanks for your patience' and 'we're here to help you".
In 1972 at my very first job the company mantra was "The first thing we have to do is business". Perhaps Southwest Airlines could adopt that attitude.
Although I am sure that everyone there is keenly aware that presently customers still cannot reliably access your web site in order to make reservation and pay you money. It was March 8th before I could actually book a flight without getting an "Opps!" message.
In some instances people cannot even use their Southwest Rewards Visa Card to pay you money. This has been going on for more than 2 weeks and the resolution, as reported by others, maybe the end of March or early April.
As a result of the web problems the phone calls to you for assistance were queued up with many people waiting a full hour and then being disconnected. Then the number of phone calls exceeded your capacity and many persons, including myself, were greeted by a busy signal.
When people did get to speak to a customer service rep they found the reps to be overworked and frustrated with the situation- probably more so than customers. The rep couldn't get the system to work either and some of them were somewhat abrupt.
There are issues with the new RR program. In particular there are now much fewer reward flights available to customers. I had to choose the single available flight that get me to my destination at ten minutes of midnight after a 4-hour layover in Denver. There are actually six flights that day but no reward seat were available for any other flights.
Your Facebook page is full of people would cannot locate any flights where they can use their rewards, even months in advance- as I am sure everyone there is aware.
Instead of repeating the tired platitudes (i.e., 'still having problems', 'thanks for your patience' and 'we're here to help you') we would rather have hard and factual information about these issues on your web site, on your Facebook page and here.
If this message seems terse, I am sorry. I first flew Southwest several years ago and became a convert just because of the employees that I dealt with. I don't fly very much anymore but when I do I'd like to fly Southwest. I am a member of Rapid Rewards, I have a Chase Southwest Rewards Visa Card and helped other friends and relative to get their own. As my sister-in-law said, "I buy everything with my Rewards Visa, eve a coke at McDonalds". We all want to fly Southwest, free flights or not.
There needs to be a concerted effort from the top down to make everyone aware of the problems and fixes and a time frame. That needs also to be communicated to your customers.
Thank you for listening.
