I was a fan of Southwest until last weekend. I had a terrible experience with your customer service department. I was one of thousands of cancelled flights due to hurricane Irene. I called your customer service line and asked to speak to a manager. That manager was VERY rude and unhelpful. I was told the earliest I could get a flight back to Boston would be almost a full week later 9/3 after my original flight was supposed to bring me to Boston on Sunday 8/28. When I asked about any other possible flights I was told "No, there is nothing else I can do for you". I asked about other airports that were relatively close, like Albany, or Syracuse, or Rochetser, NY, or even Cleveland, OH. I was told that there were a few flights we could get on for Cleveland and Chicago Midway. My wife and I have two cats that were at home and did not have enough food to make it through the week, so we HAD to get home before Saturday 9/3. I explained this to the customer service manager and they did not care or make any additional effort to help. We had no choice but to book flights to Chicago. We then had to rent a car and drive from Chicago to Boston in order to get back to care for our pets. The southwest representative charged us FULL FARE for these flights, which is absolutely outrageous considering we ended up going a shorter distance at no more cost to the airline(actually a savings compared to flying to Boston!). After all the commercials saying how "Fare" Southwest treats its customers, this was a big surprise. I didn't think they would be so rude and unhelpful. When I asked the customer service rep "So I'm supposed to tell my work I can't make it back for a full week because of a relatively small hurricane?" She replied, "Well, sir, if they can't understand that, maybe you should find a new job". This OUTRAGED me! Who is she to be telling me where I should work? It seems like she's the one that needs a new job since she clearly isn't cut out for customer relations. I have told everyone I know about my experience and vow to NEVER fly Southwest again. I have written a letter and will be calling Southwest Customer services to file a formal complaint. As a result of the change of airfare and car rental our trip home from Oakland to Boston cost my wife and I over $1500 in addition to our original fares. I will never give Southwest my business again. -A very disappointed and upset customer
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