02-15-2010
04:29 PM
This company is a joke when it comes to customer service.
In 2006, I was on a trip away from home in New Orleans when Katrina came on shore. Each day, as I paid another night in my hotel in Arizona, I called their customer service line only to be told that the airport would be open the next day. And then the next day. And then the next day. Meanwhile, I could see on tv that the airport had become a hospital and wasn't opening any time soon.
I finally asked if I could simply fly to my brother in Pennsylvania to stop the hemoraghing of money from staying in the hotel. Southwest refused to do so without me paying the extraordinarily high price for a new last minute ticket. The only thing they would do for free was fly me to Houston (5 hours from home) or Jackson, MS (2.5 hours from home). No rental companies would rent cars going into South Louisiana, gas stations were at a shortage of gas so noone would have been able to pick me up - it was a war zone down there.
I wound up paying the difference to fly to Pa and then paying again two weeks later to get home on another airline. When I wrote a letter to Southwest to complain, they actually - and I swear to God I am not exagerating - sent a letter back where the customer service woman told me how horrible Katrina was and she had had similar experiences with bad things happening - she actually told me her 'story' too. Oh, and then ended with essentially - 'yea, life sucks. Too bad. You're not getting your money back.'
I have never flown Southwest since. Why am I typing all this in a seemingly unrelated topic? Well, this response to Kevin Smith reeks of this appalling customer service angle that I experienced. So for all of you who are focused on the 'fat' aspect, try to get beyond your stereotypes and predjudices and truly hold this company accountable for treating people - all people - fairly and consistently and ethically.
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