Southwest Airlines Community

As upset as I initially was, I realize Southwest had the best intentions when they promised to reaccommodate everyone. Unfortunately that can-do spirit made a bad situation even worse for a lot of us. Bill, I really appreciate that you are here on behalf of Southwest, reiterating your sympathy and regret over this. You seem very sincere and I thank you for the opportunity to vent. (At the same time, I do hope our feedback is reported so that this kind of thing might be avoided in the future.) ... View more

Hi Bill, "Many, many options other than full refunds with goodwill vouchers were explored, and every single one of them had brick walls that simply were insurmountable. We know that ATAÃ ... View more

My family and I are among the 20,000 travelers to Hawaii who Southwest promised to reaccommodate, only to reneg on their promise three days later. I am absolutely STUNNED that Southwest, of all companies I've ever done business with, would do this. I've flown SW almost one hundred times in the last few years and have been completely satisfied with their customer service in every way. I talked them up to my friends, my colleagues, strangers at the grocery store... recruited a half dozen people to get a Rapid Rewards Visa... I could not be a bigger fan and advocate of Southwest. Until today. I understand that ATA's bankruptcy is not Southwest's fault nor its responsibility. And I would have completely understood if SW had said right from the start: "Hey, we're so sorry for your inconvenience, here's a complete refund, good luck." Instead, when I called on April 7th (after waiting several days as SW requested, because they were busy assisting immediate travelers) I was reassured over and over by the customer service agent that "Our CEO is committed to reaccommodating everyone" and "please be patient, a reaccommodation agent will contact you soon to rebook you on another carrier" and "We will not leave ANYONE in the lurch" and my personal favorite, "We do not want to be the airline known for ruining everyone's vacation." I remember thinking, wow, I should have known-- of COURSE this is the way SW is handling this-- there is no company better at customer service. And once again I found myself bragging to anyone who would listen about how outstanding SW is. So when I received the email today, only three days later, saying, oops, actually we're just giving refunds after all, I was completely shocked. It's unacceptable. Who is this airline and what have they done with Southwest?? Look, I would have understood completely if they told me on Monday that I was out of luck and to book elsewhere. I'd actually already looked around and found an alternate flight for $475. But I was GUARANTEED I'd be taken care of by Southwest. So I took them at their word. Today, they let us down completely, and the same tickets we could have had on Monday for $475 are now over $900 dollars. What do we do? My brother lives in Hawaii and we see him once a year, at best. This was our first vacation all together in five years. Guess what, Southwest? YOU JUST BECAME THE AIRLINE THAT RUINS EVERYONE'S VACATIONS. Exactly what you promised me three days ago you'd do anything to avoid. Unbelievable. I've talked to three people at SW, all of whom are polite and apologetic, but none of whom seem to understand the inherent problem with promising your customers something that you can't and don't deliver. That's FRAUD. And from a business perspective, I can't understand how on Monday SW was so confident in their ability to reaccommodate everyone that they made unequivocal guarantees, and 3 days later it's 100% impossible for them to help ANYONE booked after May 3-- and somehow this was entirely unforseeable a few days ago. They told me there simply aren't enough seats to rebook everyone, and my problem with that is I know for a fact my flight times are available for purchase right this second-- they're just very expensive. The CS agent told me that if they helped me, they'd have to help everyone, and they just can't. So there you have it. Welcome to the New Southwest. They'd rather disappoint EVERYONE than accommodate some but not all. And they'd rather lose multiple customers who would have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years than cover the cost of one flight THEY ALREADY PROMISED TO COVER. What an absolute disappointment. ... View more