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Southwest stealing Money from people

Panther512
Explorer C

I an new to Southwest and I am now leaving Southwest. I had to cancel a flight last March do to health reasons and was told that I could not get a refund ony a credit. Sounded good to me I received the credit and I just went to use it to book a flight and was told it expired. What the ...

She told me they are only good for a year. So I am out 280bucks. What kind of stuff is this? How can they steal my money I paid cash for? This is just like the gift cards that expired. The courts ruled that they cant just expire the money and take it. Sould like we need to get a class action suite going against Southwest and get all the money back for people like me. My next call is to an lawer and get the ball rolling.  Anyone else been ripped off?

11 REPLIES 11

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

chgoflyer
Aviator A

You must not fly much?

 

Unfortunately, most air travel tickets (the lowest priced ones on every carrier) are non-refundable. If you cancel, you cannot get a refund unless you've purchased a refundable fare. Carriers will allow you to reuse some of the funds, often with a $150/$200 change fee (not on Southwest), but within a certain time limit and with other limitations. This is how air travel works.

 

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Hi @Panther512

 

So sorry for any confusion regarding your travel funds. Allow me to explain that, per our Contract of Carriage, we agree to let Customers have full use of their travel funds for one year from the purchase date. Because of this, we cannot manipulate the expiration date of your funds. However, once they expire, you're welcome to reach out to our Customer Relations Department at 1-855-234-4654 to see if an exception can be made for a portion of the funds to be issued in the form of a travel voucher.

 

 

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

ytang26
Explorer C

Good Evening,

 

I'm currently in the process of booking a flight, and realized I have travel fund from my canceled trip in September 2016. When I went to add my fund, It was only about $7 (for two ppl), even thought  I paid $167 for two flights back in September, is there a reason why that is? I checked my credit card statement, and I was charged for the flight. And another two flight I booked later on. Why the drastic decrease in the fund? Please let me know. Thanks.

 

Yan

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

wiolsn
Explorer C

in the last month I have had to cancel , reschedule, rebook etc.  

out of curiosity i did the math on what i spent and what i have used, manually , then looked up the travel funds page after online login.  we are not even close on the simple math $ involved.

So I am wondering, hoping that someone out there with experience on this subject can help me avoid a one hour hold on a cellphone 

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

LindseyD
Retired Community Manager

Hi @ytang26 and @wiolsn,

 

Both of your situations would require taking a look at your personal information and travel history with us, and that can only be done by one of our Customer Representatives. Please reach out to us on Twitter (@Southwestair) or Facebook, or give us a call at 1-855-234-4654.

 

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

Panther512
Explorer C
@LindseyD While I now understand the policy of Southwest it does not make it ok that Southwest is basically doing what the gift card folks did for years until the Supreme Court ruled against expiring funds on a gift card. Let me be clear, If I give up my seat for a voucher and take a later flight and the voucher has an expiration date I get it because I did not give you money for the voucher. But If I give you money for a ticket and have a credit because I have not or could not use the ticket I should not be subject to a time line. Southwest has my money. The difference being I gave Southwest cash. From what I have been reading I am not alone and will have no problem getting a class action going and we will win.

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

chgoflyer
Aviator A

No.

 

Travel funds aren't a gift card.

 

You bought a ticket, which was non-refundable, and is subject to the terms and conditions you agree to when you make the purchase. You've agreed to take a specific flight on a specific day and time. Your money is no longer yours once you make that transaction.

 

Southwest, unlike most carriers, lets you use the value of the funds you paid should you need to reschedule, without adding on a change fee. This is a courtesy, and is subject to restrictions (same passenger, one year expiration).

 

Not only would you not win a class action, no lawyer would even take such a case, as the terms and conditions are spelled out very clearly.

 

Going forward, if you need refundability, you should purchase a refundable ticket.

 

 

 

 

 

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

egabanuz68
Explorer C

Same here!

Re: Southwest stealing Money from people

erdmando1
Explorer C

Panther512,

 

I think it's unfair to accuse Southwest of "stealing" money from people. Most airlines don't even offer a credit, much less a refund, for the cancellation of non-refundable tickets, so Southwest should be commended for doing so. In addition, the restrictions on using unused travel funds are clearly explained in the email you received when you cancelled your original tickets. If you didn't fully read that email, it's not Southwest's fault. So before you go off half-cocked and start threatening a class action suit, put the blame on yourself for failing to read what was sent to you. I've had to cancel flights before and have received that email each and every time.