Thanks so much for your kind and sympathetic response. I can't tell you how much it means to me to feel supported, even if the result I was hoping for doesn't come to pass. Funny how the anonymity of the Internet can be so cruel, but on the flip side also validating. Maybe it's something about hearing truth from strangers that feels more real in a way, more so than encouragement from friends and family who will be there for you no matter what. Anyway, please know that your message made me feel less despondent today. Your taking the time to share these compassionate words mattered. Thank you.
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07-24-2019
09:56 AM
07-24-2019
09:56 AM
Oh, I am and also sad. I’ve been in tears. It feels like I dropped $1,400 on the ground and I’m very mad at myself for it and feeling like a failure at trying to do it all - work, parenting, etc. I’ve given up on asking and get the message that I’m in the wrong here. But it still doesn’t feel very good. Perhaps I was mostly looking for sympathy and understanding - not sure why from strangers on the Internet - but I felt desperate and despaired.
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It’s unfortunate I didn’t insist on a different form of compensation at the time.
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07-23-2019
10:52 PM
07-23-2019
10:52 PM
I already have contacted them and received an unsatisfactory reply, hence my posting here to vent my frustration. If I had known at the time the vouchers had an expiration date, I would have argued my case back then for something different as compensation.
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07-23-2019
10:25 PM
07-23-2019
10:25 PM
I still think you’re focused on the wrong issue, which correctly is the original bad experience and trying to make it up to us. Sure, it was three years ago now but it wouldn’t cost them much to provide us something new in recognition of that, given they chose to make it flight vouchers and not cash at the time. In California, by the way, gift cards can’t expire and federally they can’t for five years. Granted this is different than gift cards, but you all seem to be making a similar comparison. These vouchers aren’t five years old. My point is this is about customer experience and not the financial liability of carrying unused vouchers on the books.
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I think you’re both missing the point. The intention of the vouchers was to make good on a very bad experience with the airline. It could have been cash, spa treatments, whatever, but I wouldn’t have expected it to expire. Having three children under 5 and working full time means I sometimes miss details including unexpected expiration dates on gestures of goodwill. Additionally, I’ll point out that instead of getting more money from us for an upcoming trip (which is what brought my attention back to the vouchers in the first place and which would have worked out to about $1k for the airline after the vouchers), I’ll be making a point of booking with another airline for this trip and avoiding Southwest for all future trips. Seems like it would have been an easy win over of a “mom/head of household purchaser” by offering something to make up for the loss.
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It seems like an exception for a family who couldn’t travel in that time because they had a baby isn’t unreasonable. The spirit in which the vouchers were given was to make up for a horrible horrible experience and encourage us to continue using Southwest. The lack of understanding in this instance doesn’t accomplish that.
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07-23-2019
05:34 PM
After a horrible experience with Southwest in 2016, we were granted $1,400 worth of vouchers to compensate us for our distress, which we didn’t realize had a 1-year expiration date. We since had another baby and were not able to travel easily in the last couple of years. We’ve been told those vouchers are now worthless, and now that we’re able to travel again, cannot be used. It seems very unfair to put an expiration date on a gesture of goodwill and not to have compassion for a young family who wasn’t able to make use of them right away.
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