@Steven — Tue, 02/16/2010 - 16:28
Yeah, first of all, personal responsibility is doing your job. If you truly think the employees of the airport were actually doing their job, then you have no business working in customer service. Enforcing the policy is one thing, but refusing to answer simple customer questions....
Second of all, customer service means dealing with customer complaints. Funny how you perceive customer's irrational sense of entitlement...what about yours as a customer service rep? You get paid to listen and deal with complaints whereas the customer isn't getting paid to listen to yours.
Third of all, Kevin Smith does work. He was at work trying to get home to his family that day. He is not your average spoiled Hollywood celebrity. He wrote and directed Clerks on a very small budget. His fame was not handed to him. So don't make it sound like he's not "an everyday worker."
Fourth, Kevin does watch his weight and tries to live a healthy lifestyle no different than you. If you are going to knock the way a person lives, then the least you can do is research a little more about the person before you criticize. That day while waiting on the flight, he ate a half slice of pizza with a bottle of water. Does not sound like someone chugging down a Pepsi while inhaling their #1 with cheese.
Fifth, realize twitter is just one of many places for someone to incorporate their right to free speech. Kevin has as much right to it as you.
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Some of you people need to get the story straight....
1. KEVIN SMITH DID FIT IN THE SEAT. The armrests went down. The seatbelt fit. The two ladies sitting next to him both were content.
2. KEVIN DOES NOT BUY 2 TICKETS BECAUSE OF HIS WEIGHT. He normally buys two tickets for himself because he just doesn't want to be close to other people and he can afford that luxury. I'd be the same way. You don't have to be overweight to intrude onto someone else's seating, and being famous, I'm sure he would like to avoid conversations such as "I got a great movie idea for you..." or worse, that awesome fan who has to act out a movie word for word that he already wrote and directed. In other words, ironically, he buys two tickets so other passengers don't get into his seating area, not the other way around.
3. KEVIN'S COMPLAINTS ARE MORE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE, NOT POLICY. It's not that they just took him off the flight. It's the pre-boarding procedure, the 8 minute wait after removing him from the flight, the refusal to answer simple questions regarding his ticket and payment, telling him the Captain (who he never saw) wanted him removed and refusing to give the Captains name (followed by an apology that states the Captain never asked for him to be removed but asked for the flight to get boarded quickly which removing him from the flight kinda defeated that purpose, so the chic probably just lied to his face), etc.
4. KEVIN BUYS A LOT OF SEATS FROM THIS AIRLINE, OR USED TO. Yeah, all you people so happy they bumped him like your future business means anything... Well, Kevin (as well as his friends I'm sure) once used SWA frequently...I think he said he bought 10 tickets last week alone. So yeah, SWA just lost a very valued customer, and considering he has a lot of fans, and most of America fall into his weight range who are now scared to fly SWA because they might too get humiliated for no apparant reason...yeah that will dent the annual report.
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@ Herman and anyone who agrees with the comment... ".Kudos to SW....fat people need to get over themselves and realize what a major pain it is to fly next to them (especially on a long flight)...The truth is they invade your space, ,typically have body odor, breathe loud and then want an apology for stuffing too many Big Macs...i don't think so. SW today I have decided I will never fly another airline escept yours....this is from a 20 year US Airways frequent flyer. PS-Your not handicapped....you're fat and lazy. Star walking or soemthing."
I eat a lot of Big Macs. In fact, I try to eat one fast food burger a day because I'm like totally addicted. I also stuff my face with chocolate and ice cream and pastries. Oh yeah, I never work out. I'm also 31 and a size 3 (when I'm not pregnant). I'm not making this up. Weight has more to do with your body and genetics than your lifestyle. So does intelligence, so I'll try to be a little more accepting of your neurodiversity than you are of physical characteristics.
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Just admit your employee(s) didn't do their job right. Maybe you need to boost up your training or your hiring process. Cmon now. You wrote a policy. It's been in place 25 years. They still couldn't follow it? Or is there more to the policy than you are publicly stating? Either way, it's a black and white deal...no gray area. The policy states arm rests have to be able to go down and the seat belt go on, and Kevin was able to do all that.
Mind you that you guys did take him for a couple hundred earlier that week (by the same employee), and he let it slide...yeah, don't even act like he's over-reacting to any of this.
And to all the haters out there... Most diets are less healthy than being a little over weight, so don't hate. A person's fat is less intruding than a person's hate or ignorance or a combination thereof.
I would personally pay double to sit next to Kevin Smith because he's so entertaining.
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