06-10-2018
11:27 PM
06-10-2018
11:27 PM
My original post: The Horrors of Traveling on Southwest, or can there possibly be 2 cancellations and 4 delays in 2 days for a short trip that American can do in less than 2 hours? We decided to go the extra distance all the way over to Dallas to save a few bucks. My son was supposed to be in Indy last night for a multi-generational weekend canoe trip that started today. My wife dropped him off ater fighting the rush hour traffic and had the pleasure of driving back to get him and take him back home when they gave up on getting him to his first leg. Despite flights with seats available on the Southwest website, the ticket agent sent him home at 10 PM last night to be back for a 6 AM flight to Houston. At 3:28 AM, that flight was cancelled and the fun started again. Mind you, it's not just trying to get my son to Indy, it's getting 8 people's car travel to the camp and on to the river and all the accompanying food and camping equipment. This morning we thought we'd still make today's trip - barely, back that got shot down by Southwest. Plan C was to have my elderly parents drive back after dropping us at the campsite so they could make it home right before nightfall. Now my son is stuck in Atlanta with 2 more delays and I am looking at renting a car to get to the campsite in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night - if he's not delayed yet again. What could possibly go wrong? LOL
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06-10-2018
11:25 PM
06-10-2018
11:25 PM
After 2 days of continual delays, cancellations both in the middle of the night and in the middle of the day, and missing half of a special 2 day canoe trip with fathers and sons, my son finally made it to Indy and we got to catch the last day of the trip. Now the quest to get back home takes a bunch of unexpected twists and turns - at least unexpected before this great ordeal with Southwest in what has to be one of the worst customer experiences ever. I can imagine poor Herb Kelleher rolling over in his grave. When I was finally able to pick up my son in Indy just short of 24 hours later than his original flight was due in, he had made 3 nearly hour long trips to Dallas and spent countless hours watching the monitors in Atlanta rather than the expected Kansas City. While waiting for his much delayed arrival, I was told that he would probably be able to return on Tuesday afternoon with me instead of our planned Sunday evening so he could see the family he missed while traveling the airports of America. Southwest could not guarantee this change because their computer considered him "in flight" despite it knowing he was still waiting on the ground in Atlanta. That "in flight" term would come back to haunt us later in the weekend. I was told Friday that this compter system, that is highly regarded in the industry, may take "up to 2 hours" to recognize that he had landed. As hard as that was to believe, it got worse. Upon returning from our canoe trip, we did not get to enjoy lunch, grab a nap, or regal the other family members of the great single day we got thanks to Southwest. I had to call to get his Sunday flight changed to Tuesday. I thought we would be out of the woods, but my optimism was harshed extinguished, as the subject of this post forshadowed. Just as I was about to go to sleep, I get another email from Southwest, and horror of horrors, they cancelled my son's return flight to Dallas on Tuesday because he wasn't on the return flight they supposedly changed for us earlier in the day. Sure enough, it turns out the massive supercompter at Southwest wasn't able to "finish" that change because my son was once again, or more accurately, still "in flight" which was even more surprising than Friday since it had been about 48 hours since he had been in an airport. A couple of quick phone calls, one to make the reservation change a second time and once to get the confirmation email sent since it didn't make it from the Southwest compter, and we are set to go to bed - finally! But is the quality customer service experience over? No! Now I have to call in to check my son in, they don't think they can get us checked in and in the boarding line together, and they recommend I set my schedule tomorrow around getting checked in for Tuesday. I am now almost giddy, expecting the next way Southwest is going to make this trip one our family will never forget. 😞 So much for Southwest's previous reputation of great customer service. It seems as dead as their legendary founder and CEO. Please get us home on Tuesday. My previous post never made it past being submitted to get posted, no doubt this one won't either because the first one is still "in flight." I ended my last post with a "LOL" because I know we have two choices in life: we can laugh or we can cry. I choose to laugh, but this is getting beyond the limit or humor.
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