Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Massive hold times??

Gtraveler
Explorer C

I waited on hold today for almost 3.5 hours just to have the line disconnect instead of answered. When I first called it said there was a 99 min wait, but obviously that was not accurate. I just called back and now it says 120 minutes. What is going on with SW, when did their customer service get so terrible?

 

To add to the frustration, I'm only calling because they changed my flights on both directions of an upcoming trip and the new times are an issue. 

10 REPLIES 10

Re: Massive hold times??

jksobonya
Aviator A

Southwest is having technical issues of its own today, so wait times are longer than they usually would be. If your flights changed Southwest should have sent you an e-mail notifying you of the change. You have 72 hours from the receipt of e-mail to change your flights free of charge on Southwest.com or in the Southwest app. If you are having problems doing this you can contact Southwest, but since the phones are busy I recommend contacting them through social media (Facebook, Twitter) for a faster response. 

 

--Jessica

Re: Massive hold times??

Gtraveler
Explorer C

Thanks Jessica. I don't use twitter, but maybe I'll try Facebook. I appreciate the advice!

 

I know it's not just today though because they changed other flights of mine recently that were also not fixable via the online options and I was on hold for just over 2 hours that time. I've traveled regularly on SW for about 7 years and this is a very noticeable drop in service compared to the past. 

 

There also used to be a 'call back' option, that I'm not getting now.

Re: Massive hold times??

jksobonya
Aviator A

@Gtraveler wrote:

Thanks Jessica. I don't use twitter, but maybe I'll try Facebook. I appreciate the advice!

 

I know it's not just today though because they changed other flights of mine recently that were also not fixable via the online options and I was on hold for just over 2 hours that time. I've traveled regularly on SW for about 7 years and this is a very noticeable drop in service compared to the past. 

 

There also used to be a 'call back' option, that I'm not getting now.


You're welcome! I've had some wacky flight changes too that could not be resolved by my simply trying to change them (site would not let me) and Southwest was always pretty responsive on social media when I explained my situations. But I would say that today is an anomaly due to the system issues they are having, so don't judge them based on today. 

 

--Jessica

Re: Massive hold times??

dfwskier
Aviator A

@Gtraveler wrote:

Thanks Jessica. I don't use twitter, but maybe I'll try Facebook. I appreciate the advice!

 

 Facebook would work. You could also do e-mail. Click on contact us below for details.

 

The cell chat function would normally be an option, but I suspect it is no better than the phone at the moment

Re: Massive hold times??

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

The key takeaway from @jksobonya is you should be able to make any changes you want online without having to speak with someone.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Massive hold times??

Gtraveler
Explorer C

Unfortunately, this is a special case because they changed my flights and the online options don't work. I've run into this before recently (they changed 4 out of 6 flights I have booked) and I had to talk to someone to get it resolved. 

Re: Massive hold times??

jksobonya
Aviator A

@Gtraveler wrote:

Unfortunately, this is a special case because they changed my flights and the online options don't work. I've run into this before recently (they changed 4 out of 6 flights I have booked) and I had to talk to someone to get it resolved. 


I've had this happen a few times, and I always had success contacting Southwest via direct message on Twitter and they were able to change my flights to what I needed. Aside from a very recent time, they got back to me in under 30 minutes. Hopefully this will continue to be the case, as I would hate to see their social media presence start to slide. 

 

--Jessica

Re: Massive hold times??

twmay17
Explorer C

Coming up on FOUR HOURS hold time for customer service. This is by far the worst experience I have had with any business.... period. I feel as though if I hang up I will lose my position in line and never be able to get to a representative. Anybody know of a way to change the last name on my Companion Pass? Newlywed problems... 

Re: Massive hold times??

jksobonya
Aviator A

@twmay17 wrote:

Coming up on FOUR HOURS hold time for customer service. This is by far the worst experience I have had with any business.... period. I feel as though if I hang up I will lose my position in line and never be able to get to a representative. Anybody know of a way to change the last name on my Companion Pass? Newlywed problems... 


Hang up the phone.

 

Why people insist on waiting hours and hours on the phone is honestly beyond me. Computers exist, social media exists (private message), e-mail exists. Use any one of these options and you will - nearly always - get a response and your issue resolved much faster than waiting on the phone. For the Companion Pass issue in particular, this is something Southwest can do easily for you once you get ahold of them via any of these methods. 

 

Today may be an exception due to the grounding of flights and resuming of normal operations that is going on right now. 

 

--Jessica