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Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

sherritenn
Explorer C

Currently on hold for 2 hours and 14 minutes.  This is my third call.  I have never seen a once respected business convert to giving such incredibly horrible, terrible, poor service.  This has absolutely nothing to do with CoVid.  This is complete greed and disrespect for the customers that made Southwest a once industry leader.

 

Had a two legged flight, HDN to Denver, Denver to Dallas

      Received a text the morning of the flight telling me the HDN to Denver flight was cancelled (note this is the only flight of the day).  No options were offered - ever.  I already had boarding passes for both flights.  I had to be back in Dallas before the following day so I rented a car one-way to Denver so I wouldn't miss the second leg.  Keep in mind I already had a boarding pass for this second flight.  I call Southwest ("only" an hour and 20 minute on hold) to make sure my boarding pass would be honored.  I was told that because I didn't complete the first leg of the flight (the one CANCELLED by Southwest) I would have to pay an additional $120 to "rebook" the flight I already paid for.  Also, no refund offered for the first leg of the flight that they cancelled. 

 

So I was forced to pay an extra $120 FOR A FLIGHT I ALREADY WAS BOOKED ON, no refund for the first leg which they cancelled AND OFFERED NO ALTERNATIVE, and an extra $180 for the one way rental car.  Do I even mention the 5 hour drive?  $300 extra and I was told "company policy". 

 

Southwest blames everything on COVID.  This is pure greed.  They  hand out vouchers like candy at the airport to try and make it appear that they care.  I can only guess how many other people have been (insert professional word for screwed over) the same way I have.  

 

I have tried multiple avenues to try and get this addressed with no response.  I don't have high hopes - but this is my Hail Mary.  At least while I continue to hold I can start blasting social media with my experience.

 

Would love to hear from someone at Southwest that can restore my faith.  Not feeling too confident though.

 

 

6 REPLIES 6

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Now that it's done there' s not much that can be accomplished here.  It is correct that since you did not make the first leg of the trip the 2nd legs gets cancelled.  However, since Southwest cancelled the flight you had 2 available options.  You could have received a full refund back to the original form of payment OR change your itinerary to one that worked for you.  In this case you should have been able to change your flight from HDN-DAL to DEN-DAL at no additional cost.  In this case the default action appears to be a refund, although it may have gone to travel funds and you can request a credit card refund if that's how you paid for it. 

Always remember, if an airline cancels your flight they will almost always put you on another flight for no additional cost if you prefer that over a refund.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Also curious what day this trip was since no HDN-DEN flight has been cancelled in the past week.

 

Another made up story from our friend @SouthWORST ?

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

sherritenn
Explorer C

If you are implying that I took the time to make all this up, you must have a lot more time on your hands than most.  It also makes me think that you are kind of a jerk.   The flight was Monday June 28, 2021 and it was most certainly cancelled.  

 

This could have easily been remedied the same day by just rebooking me on the same flight without charging me.  Instead of giving me the "company policy" line.  I also tried to resolve this the same day (before the flight) and was told to call after the flight was completed.

 

However,  good news, after 3 and a half hours on hold I was able to speak to a very pleasant service rep that did refund the extra I was charged.  

 

For anyone that is trying to get a resolution after the fact, here are the steps:

 

855-234-4654  Southwest 

open 9am - 4pm Central time, M -F

Option 5  (if you call and option 5 is not available it means that they have reached the limit in their queue and wont take any more calls that day)

If you want to get in the queue plan on at least 3 hours lead time.

 

 

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Good to hear the issue was resolved via one of the two options I mentioned.  Thanks for the follow-up

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

bec102896
Aviator A

@sherritenn wrote:

If you want to get in the queue plan on at least 3 hours lead time.

 

 


I called at noon today and my whole conversation including the wait to get an agent was 9min total. 

 

Glad you got the issue resolved though. See sometimes just being patient works out. Sure that hold music is not the best but once you get someone and they get your issue resolved its worth the time and effort. Maybe next time just put the phone on speaker while living your daily life until they come on. 

Re: Cancelled First Leg, No options, had to PAY EXTRA to get on ALREADY CONFIRMED second leg

jksobonya
Aviator A

Your crucial mistake here was assuming that your connecting flight was still available to you even though your initial flight was cancelled.

 

That is not how it works. If your first flight is cancelled (or you miss it for whatever reason), any connections you had are cancelled too. You can’t make the second flight if you aren’t on the first, it’s a perfectly logical assumption to make. The airline is not going to be like, “Oh let’s keep their remaining reservation in tact in case they are  going to drive to the connecting airport to catch their second flight” ?!?

 

—Jessica