I will share my story that is on the other end of the customer service spectrum. I would describe as little or no customer service from several contacts at SWA. My family arrived at the Little Rock airport Friday July 22 about 3:45 am for a flight to Oakland via St Louis. The SWA ticket counter did not open at the designated 4:00 am scheduled time--an ominous sign of things to come. Several minutes after 4:00, SWA agents opened the ticket counter. We--my family--was informed that SWA cancelled our flight to St Louis. Agent indicated we could fly through Dallas with a later arrival in Oakland. But wait--agent said no--could not book the seats. Real head scratcher. But---catch this---we could fly on Sunday. Remember we are at the ariport a few minutes after 4:00 am on Friday. I called SWA--not sure what number. Received lip service--no action/support. I did receive several canned 'sorries'. I wanted someone at SWA to take action not offer apologies. Some info about the trip--planned well in advance. My teenage daughter spent hours on the vaction trip that was squeezed in given family schedules and before daughter headed off to college for the fall semester. We had a detailed daily itinerary that included hotels, events, activities, and restaurants. Sunday travel disrupts most of the plans. Surely SWA can help provide a solution. I called a second customer service number and talked with a supervisor after more than an hour hold. Result--nothing. My conclusion--talk is cheap, action requires effort. I pressed for what considerations SWA would provide given the issue is caused by SWA and dumped in my lap. Response---no comment/info. I asked about policy---supervisor would not provide. The supervisor indicated that she did not want to provide info that might later not be provided. Surely SWA has a known policy in place for such circumstances. Supervisor said call back after trip is over. Wow--talk about deflection. Talk but doesn't answer any questions. So I booked a flight to Oakland through Delta at a much greater cost. My family arrived in Oakland and checked in our hotel early Saturday morning. The entire trip--from the 4:00 checkin at the SWA ticket counter in Little Rock to destination hotel--took almost 24 hours. Our original plan had arrival in Oakland in afternoon followed by wine tour in NAPA Valley and dinner at Iron Chef Mori Motos' restaurant. To summarize the support from SWA customer service at this point--little to none. SWA did not help resolve my flight issues to Oakland on Friday. Now, we are back at home from the trip and I follow the suggestion of the customer service supervisor from the departure date--call back after trip is over for consideration. So I am on the phone again. After about an hour wait, I talk with a SWA customer service agent. I request a refund of the unused SWA tickets. SWA will refund the ticket cost as a credit to my credit card---in 7 to 10 days. I am not clear about the delay. SWA is capable of charging my credit card the same or following day of making a flight reservation. Next topic of conversation---how will SWA participate in the flight cost for Delta Airlines on the Friday when SWA cancelled the departure flight? Agent managed to not provide any info. Surely SWA has a policy in place that the agent can disseminate to customers. Agent advised me to submit a Service Request providing details and supporting costs. I submitted the Service Request and received the following info.....Please allow 30 days from submission for processing. Not a joke---I couldn't make up this stuff. Over the whole ordeal---I don't know how many times I received the standard 'sorry about the inconvenience'. Or the disingenuous recorded message---Your call is important to us. Sorry for the inconvenience. On reflection given my experience and contacts with SWA customer service, I can't say that customer service provided much if any value. I spent over 2 hours on hold to receive little or no valuable info.
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I got through-after approximately an hour on hold--and was able to talk with a SWA customer representative. My takeaways from SWA customer service..... 1. refund of unused flight tickets---takes about 7-10 days to process. No explanation provided as to why the delay. The ticket charges appear the same or next day on my credit card account. Seems to me that process response should be similar for charges and refunds. 2. service request..... Please allow 30 days from submission for processing. More delay--common theme. The true test of customer service is not when things are running smoothly but when the system is under distress/duress/chaos.
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No tears shed for SWA by this customer. Problem caused by SWA with no support when needed following cancelled flight that disrupted vacation plans. On hold again--exceeding 40 minutes now. Deja Vu. I would think that SWA would have folks available to clean up their mess.
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