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Southwest Airlines Is a J.D. Power 2011 Customer Service Champion

tlaraba
Explorer A

I’ve always thought that at the heart of Customer Service is something we live by here at Southwest:  treating others the way you want to be treated.  The Golden Rule has been part of our Culture since the beginning, and I think it absolutely speaks to why Southwest has such a great Customer Service reputation.  It’s about letting your bags fly free, it’s about doing our best to get you there on time, it’s about a compassionate voice on the phone when travel plans change.  We’ve won a lot of awards for our Culture and our Customer Service, but to us those are the same things.  We believe in treating each other like family and our Customers like guests in our home.  And, we know that what we are doing works, because our Customers come back to visit us time and again, making Southwest the largest airline in the United States in terms of passengers carried.  On Thursday, we learned that we have another award to add to the shelf – we were named to the J.D. Power 2011 Customer Service Champions.  What I was most struck by when reading about the award was that it was “based on customer feedback attesting to their service excellence.”  What a great honor for the People of Southwest Airlines who strive every day to make travel on our airline the best it can be.  We may not always succeed, but we sure try hard and, more importantly, we never stop trying to improve the travel experience for our Customers – we constantly strive for excellence.  Thanks to our Customers for this honor, and thanks to our Employees for owning it every day.

4 Comments
Linda_Kline
Explorer C
Wow!!! This is a big surprises to me. I had a problem and they would not help me at all!!! Not one person even care, it was no sorry use your tickets or lose them. I called many times and talk to different people, my son even called he got the same attitude from customer service. I had last minute changes to my plans that I had no control over. Now I am losing over $700.00 because I can not get my tickets changed. All I wanted was to move my tickets to another day they said no I could only make changes if it was 14 days before my schedule flight. What 14 days your kidding. sure they advertise big that they do not charge for change fees but they do not say that is only if you are more then 14 days before your flight, if less then still no change fee because there is no changes allow at all. Oh and by the way everyone if you do go to southwest.com to book a flight surprise, if you click you would like a motel or car or anything in addition to your flight you are then send to southwest vacations which is not the same as southwest .(also no change or refund for the motel either) I called southwest and they told me they could not do a thing about my problem because I had book from southwest vacations. Not once was there anything that would of lead me to believe I was not booking from southwest. THERE IS NO REASON THEY COULD NOT OF MOVED MY FLIGHT - THEY ALWAYS OVER BOOK ANYWAY. SOUTHWEST WILL GET PAYMENT FOR MY SEAT TWICE WHAT A SCAM!!! I WILL NOT FLY SOUTH WEST AGAIN AND I WILL TELL MY STORY TO ALL!!!! I can not afford to buy a ticket twice. I can not even get a ticket on another airline southwest has my money. I have not been able to see my youngest son in over four years, Thanks to southwest I guess they must of need my money more then I did It will be a lot longer before I can save up the money to go again.
Charter_Bus_DC
Explorer C
Here is Similar Story Southwest Airlines is revamping its frequent-flier program with changes designed to nudge customers into buying higher-priced tickets by letting them earn bonus flights faster. Southwest says passengers will be able to redeem points for any flight without blackout dates. Southwest credit card holders will be able to redeem points for international flights on other airlines. CEO Gary Kelly says the overhaul will bring in "several hundred" millions of dollars in extra annual revenue within three or four years.
swasucks
Explorer C
My ski bag with a thick, padded exterior was destroyed by Southwest on a non-stop flight from Denver to Boston last week. Literally a dozen burns, cuts and gashes through the exterior including a melted zipper (plastic, hopefully not hot enough in baggage to melt metal). Southwest policy is that any damage must be reported within 4 hours of arrival but since I just dragged my tired self home and dumped the bag on the floor until the next day, SWA told me I'm screwed. I did enjoy their comment to me about the "typically excellent customer service" On the bright side, bags fly free...just need to buy a new bag each trip.
blusk
Aviator C
Hi swa I'm sorry you are disappointed in our 4-hour notification rule and that you think it is unreasonable. This provision allows us to ensure that any bag damage happened while the bag is in our possession. We are more than happy to consider damage bag claims as long as the damage is reported in a timely manner. Admittedly 4 hours is an arbitrary limit, but it does allow folks time to inspect their luggage and report damage, especially when the exterior of the bag is damaged. The question is where to draw the line. Overnight, two days, a week? I don't know, but there has to be a point at which we aren't responsible, especially when the bag is out of our control.