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Terrible Experience

rickpatzimmer
Explorer C

My wife and had a flight had a flight booked from Omaha to Portland leaving at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 2.  While sitting in our hotel room received a text that our flight was cancelled.  No explanation.  Tried over and over to use website to rebook. The website showed we had been rebooked on a flight to Tampa, Fl that would get in at almost midnight. A six hour flight! Our connecting flight was at 10:00 PM   A lot of good that insane rebooking would have done us. Kept trying to get a solution on website and finally gave up.  Tried calling and waits were over an hour.  Finally, since we had to check out of our hotel, we drove to airport to work it out face-to-face.  Airport counter was a mess.  Finally got to counter and explained our situation.  The person helping us said he did not know reason for cancellation and lamely tried to suggest it was weather.  Hmmm. A 7:30 PM flight cancelled at 10:30 AM because of weather?!?!?  Plus, I had checked our connecting flight weather and no problems. Great weather.  So, he did book us for a return flight the next morning leaving Omaha at 6:00 AM. I told him we were business plus and were 1st and 2nd in line to board. He was able to get us the same for the Omaha flight and 3 and 4 on the connecting flight in Chicago.  The only good thing about this fiasco.

 

We left the airport and booked another night in an Omaha hotel at our expense.  Since Omaha was just finishing up the College World Series, rooms were hard to come by and expensive.  We did find one close to airport.

 

We arrived at airport and checked baggage, boarded and waited for departure only to learn that someone decided to fuel only one side of the plane.  It took 30 minutes to balance the fuel load which put us 30 minutes late for takeoff.  This made us just able to make our connection in Chicago by minutes and boarded with the C group even though we had A3 and A4 positions.  Again, no apologies or solutions offered.

 

I believe SW owes us for our extra night in hotel plus extra meal or complete refund of flight if they are at all interested in showing customer support and  keep us as satisfied customers.  We have two friends who are flight attendants for Alaska and America and both said that this would be a no-brainer with their airlines.  

 

When I finally got through to customer service yesterday to take this up with them, I was told they do not handle complaints (Customer Service doesn't handle complaints?) and I would have to call the corporate office during regular business hours.  That is what I am going to do now.  Not hopeful.   Could be a reason many have adopted the nickname "SouthWorst"

 

Rick

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Terrible Experience

dfwskier
Aviator A

Well, Rick, I'm sorry to hear you went thru this. Several points:

 

1) Since your cancelled flight was at 7 pm, weather could have interrupted your plane in any of the places it visited BEFORE it got to OMA. Same with the crew that was to fly your plane.

No plane or no crew=cancelled flight. 

 

Also all airlines do cancel flights proactively. No airline will send a plane to a place it does not think it will be able to land.

 

2) Customer service handles issues before or during travel. Customer relations handles issue after travel has been completed. I'd suggest that you contact customer relations and explain what happened. You might get a voucher for your trouble.

 

https://community.southwest.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Contact-Customer-Relations/ta-p/108355

Re: Terrible Experience

bec102896
Aviator A

I'm just curious when you say you were rebooked on a flight arriving at midnight was that for a flight departing same day? If so then I don't think the airline would be responsible for covering a hotel an extra night because they gave you a flight departing same day you just didn't like the flight so you changed it and the hotel could have been avoided. If that midnight arrival rebook was for the next day and you got it moved to earlier that day (still 1 day later) then yes depending on the reason for the cancellation compensation should happen. 

Re: Terrible Experience

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Painful if true, but I'm going to call BS on this.  Most likely the same person that previously posted as Southworst trying to stir up trouble again.  I love how people look at one city and say the weather was great so everything should be fine.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Terrible Experience

rickpatzimmer
Explorer C

So to those doubting my claim let me try to clarify.  The rebooked flight left later that night only to arrive in Tampa way past any connecting flight possible.  Also, my beef with SW is they did not offer any explanation for the cancellation.  Why wouldn't they.  It is pretty common knowledge that SW has a recent history of cancelling flights that are not full. If it was mechanical, or weather or lack of crew then share with customer so we aren't left thinking the worse.  Isn't that common courtesy and good customer service? On a recent trip on another airline we were notified they had deposited $50 in our "wallet" because our flight was delayed 30 minutes.  We didn't if ask for it. It just showed up.  Again, two friends who are flight attendants with Alaska and American said that hotel and meal would have been an automatic with them.  

 

Yes, I admit there is more to my "sour grapes".  Because we flew in on Saturday and not Friday, we were unable to say good bye to our daughter who flew to Prague on Saturday and will not see her for three months.  That was hard to swallow.  

 

Customer service seems to be a low priority with SW anymore.  It didn't used to be that way. Consider me an ex-loyal member.

 

Rick