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I'm done with Southwest

Deputy-Cartman
Explorer C

I'm just posting to say that I am done with Southwest and will not be using them from this point forth. Twice I've missed flights because of falling ill, and both times I got the usual "some glasseyed soulless husk of a human being in public relations" response saying "No refunds."

 

Here's what I just got regarding my inquiry into a missed flight about two weeks ago:

 

Dear Samuel,

Thank you for contacting us. I appreciate the chance to address your concerns. 

I apologize to hear that you forgot to cancel your reservation to Houston in October. With our no-show policy, if a ticket is not flown and is not changed or canceled by the Customer at least 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure, the remaining itinerary will be canceled by Southwest, and all unused funds associated with a Wanna Get Away fare will be forfeited. The unused funds associated with a Business Select fare, Anytime fare, Infant fare, Child fare, or Senior fare segment(s) will be held as travel credit for the originally ticketed Passenger and can be applied toward future travel completed by the expiration date.

In order to notify our Customers of our no-show policy, it is communicated on Southwest.com during the booking process and included in the itinerary receipt, which is emailed to the address provided when the reservation is booked. Regardless, I regret if you were unaware that your reservation needed to be canceled prior to your scheduled departure. At this point, the unused funds associated with your outbound flight under confirmation number (redacted) have been forfeited and are no longer available.

I realize that I won’t be able to lessen your frustration over the forfeited funds, but I hope you’ll consider that our no-show policy helps us predict future inventory and reduce the number of empty seats and lost revenue. By asking our Customers to cancel reservations on which they do not plan to travel, we are better equipped to protect/maintain our bags fly free and no change fees policies. 

Your business is important to us, and we hope you’ll continue looking to us when your travel plans include the cities we serve.

 

Delta and United have been dirt cheap compared to Southwest as of late anyway so it's not like I'm missing much. Southwest, don't contact me unless you're prepared to give me a full refund for both missed flights attached to my Rapid Rewards number to make this right. I am not interested in some non-answer from another dead-eyed soulless husk in public relations.

 

Hopefully at least a few people see this and realize that Southwest is not your friend, is not your buddy, and that there are other airlines out there.

6 REPLIES 6

Re: I'm done with Southwest

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

You missed your flight, I'm not aware of any airline that would offer you a refund after the fact on a non-refundable fare.  Southwest offers you the ability to cancel your flight up to 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure.  Had you done that you would have travel funds to use for a later flight.  Sorry, this one is on you, not Southwest.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: I'm done with Southwest

dfwskier
Aviator A

I agree with themiddleseat. When you bought a non refundable ticket, you agreed to a contract. In that contract is verbiage that the ticket is non-refundable unless the airline does something wrong. It also says that if you fail to cancel a flight at least 10 minutes prior to departure time, that the funds you used to buy that ticket would b forfeited.

 

SW is doing exactly what it said it would do. The terms were not a secret.

 

If you want to see who is responsible for your current situation, find a mirror, and look in it.

Re: I'm done with Southwest

shelbyusn
Frequent Flyer C

Well Done. Keep your head in the game.

I am a Sailor

Re: I'm done with Southwest

chgoflyer
Aviator A

Southwest does many things right, but occasionally some things wrong. People often post here their legitimate complaints. Yours is not one of them.

 

I don't understand your position at all.

 

If you had concert tickets (back when concerts were still happening) and you missed the concert, do you think you would get a refund?!

 

With Southwest, you can cancel as late at 10 minutes (!) prior to departure and still receive travel funds for the full amount of your fare. Cancelling is easy -- you can do it online or through the app with just a few clicks.

 

The no-show policy is clearly communicated when you buy your ticket, on multiple emailed notifications., and again when you check in for your flight. But you say you failed to cancel a flight twice? You learned nothing from the first time you forfeited your funds?!

 

You have nothing to be upset about. If you're mad at anyone, it should be yourself.

 

Sorry.

Re: I'm done with Southwest

Cielo16
Explorer C

Just out of curiosity, what other airline in the history of aviation has ever given you a full refund for a flight you were unable to take and also did not cancel on time even once- let alone twice? Do you fly private? 

Re: I'm done with Southwest

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

@Deputy-Cartman 

 

Honestly, I doubt you're going to get any sympathy in this forum.  I'm not sure why you're entire focus, once becoming ill, wasn't put towards canceling or delaying your trip.  Most of all during COVID.   You understand that even the slightest cough potentially means you might be quarantined for 14 days.  Not that we don't care, we do, but unless you can provide us with the requested documentation in regard to showing us another airline that will 100% refund your money after you fail to board and not cancel, then we will join you in the fight.