Bruce J Hyr
map-marker Saint Paul, Minnesota

Southwest Airlines - Southwest Owns Airtran's Cust. Nonservice

Southwest Air has bought Airtran. It makes me wonder if Southwest's customer service is going to become as poor as Airtran's. The following is an example of the kind of company Southwest now owns. After talking to an Airtran customer service person on the phone, I was told she could not help with my problem; however she encouraged me to write to customer service for assistance, which I did (see letter below). Two days after I sent the letter of complaint I got their response that was nothing more than a nicely worded letter that could have just said, We don't care",. I encourage you to consider Airtran's poor customer service and deceptive voucher policy in making your future travel plans.. Airtran doesn't have your back,. --- Original Message --- From: Received: 8/10/11 11:25:34 AM EDT To: Subject: Other -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMENTS In January 2011 my suitcase was torn open on an Airtran flight to Orlando|. I brought my suitcase to the customer service counter in Orlando due to the damage and several hundred dollars of medications that had been lost through the hole'. The customer service representative said I could either go buy a new suitcase, then return the receipt to Airtran for reimbursement, or she would give use 2 tickets for a flight anywhere Airtran flies'. She said nothing about the blackout date or capacity restrictions as stated on the back of the card she gave me. I didn't even realize that there was writing on the back of the card until weeks later. As I had never received such a flight voucher before, I twice called Airtran to confirm that the offer was legitimate. Both times I was told that it was but that blackout dates applied. They said nothing about capacity restrictions and I was assured that blackouts shouldn't be a problem in February. As such, I booked and paid deposit fees on our condo rentals for our 2012 vacation confident that the flight dates that I wanted would be honored by Airtran. I called Airtran today to book the flights using conformation # ------ for a round trip for two leaving from MSP to MCO on February 11, 2012 and returning from MCO to MSP on February 25,2012. I was told that neither of these dates are available due to capacity restrictions. It is simply not acceptable that after three contacts with Airtran customer service persons, I was not informed that this capacity restriction could not only cause a selected flight to not be available; but cause a 5 day span before any flight is available. The customer service representative that I talked to today told me to contact you and ask that you address this issue by either crediting me cash for my voucher, for which I can then purchase the tickets, or by simply allowing my voucher to be used towards a flight on the desired travel days. I cannot wait to see if flights open up closer to the flight dates as the balance of the condo deposits have to be paid 60 days prior to arrival. If you will make an exception and allow my conformation number to be used at this time, my preferred flights are 215/672 on February 11, and 1438 on February 25.Obviously, I would also be appreciative of receiving other flight times on the above dates if that was all that was available. Sincerely; Bruce Johnson Detroit Lakes MN Airtran"s Lame response below: Dear Mr. Johnson, Thank you for contacting AirTran Airways with interest in future travel. On behalf of AirTran Airways, I regret to learn of any frustration you have experienced in your attempt to redeem the compensation. Certificate travel is subject to blackout dates and availability. There are a limited number of seats reserved for certificate travel on each flight. Once these special seats are full, the remaining seats are utilized for revenue passengers. The flight availability shown online reflects open seats for revenue passengers, not certificate travel. Your understanding in this matter is appreciated. Please reconsider your travel dates and contact us again to book future travel. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you on a future AirTran Airways flight. Sincerely, Cedric Lancaster Customer Relations Department AirTran Airways 38d60
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Bruce J Hyr
map-marker Saint Paul, Minnesota

AirTran Airways - AIRTRAN - Deceptive and Untrustworthy

After talking to an Airtran customer service person on the phone, I was told she could not help with my problem; however she encouraged me to write to customer service for assistance, which I did (see letter below). Two days after I sent the letter of complaint I got their response that was nothing more than a nicely worded letter that could have just said, We don't care". I encourage you to consider Airtran's poor customer service and deceptive voucher policy in making your future travel plans. Airtran doesn't have your back. --- Original Message ---From: Received: 8/10/11 11:25:34 AM EDTTo: Subject: Other -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMENTS In January 2011 my suitcase was torn open on an Airtran flight to Orlando. I brought my suitcase to the customer service counter in Orlando due to the damage and several hundred dollars of medications that had been lost through the hole. The customer service representative said I could either go buy a new suitcase, then return the receipt to Airtran for reimbursement, or she would give use 2 tickets for a flight anywhere Airtran flies. She said nothing about the blackout date or capacity restrictions as stated on the back of the card she gave me. I didn't even realize that there was writing on the back of the card until weeks later. As I had never received such a flight voucher before, I twice called Airtran to confirm that the offer was legitimate. Both times I was told that it was but that blackout dates applied. They said nothing about capacity restrictions and I was assured that blackouts shouldn't be a problem in February. As such, I booked and paid deposit fees on our condo rentals for our 2012 vacation confident that the flight dates that I wanted would be honored by Airtran. I called Airtran today to book the flights using conformation # ------ for a round trip for two leaving from MSP to MCO on February 11, 2012 and returning from MCO to MSP on February 25,2012. I was told that neither of these dates are available due to capacity restrictions. It is simply not acceptable that after three contacts with Airtran customer service persons, I was not informed that this capacity restriction could not only cause a selected flight to not be available; but cause a 5 day span before any flight is available. The customer service representative that I talked to today told me to contact you and ask that you address this issue by either crediting me cash for my voucher, for which I can then purchase the tickets, or by simply allowing my voucher to be used towards a flight on the desired travel days. I cannot wait to see if flights open up closer to the flight dates as the balance of the condo deposits have to be paid 60 days prior to arrival. If you will make an exception and allow my conformation number to be used at this time, my preferred flights are 215/672 on February 11, and 1438 on February 25.Obviously, I would also be appreciative of receiving other flight times on the above dates if that was all that was available. Sincerely; Bruce JohnsonDetroit Lakes MN Airtran"s Lame response below: Dear Mr. Johnson, Thank you for contacting AirTran Airways with interest in future travel. On behalf of AirTran Airways, I regret to learn of any frustration you have experienced in your attempt to redeem the compensation. Certificate travel is subject to blackout dates and availability. There are a limited number of seats reserved for certificate travel on each flight. Once these special seats are full, the remaining seats are utilized for revenue passengers. The flight availability shown online reflects open seats for revenue passengers, not certificate travel. Your understanding in this matter is appreciated. Please reconsider your travel dates and contact us again to book future travel. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you on a future AirTran Airways flight. Sincerely, Cedric LancasterCustomer Relations DepartmentAirTran Airways
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2 comments
Guest

When you check bags, regardless of airline...you should never check electronics, antiques or medicine! It's not covered by any airline...but I guess you didn't read the contact of carriage when you purchased the flight, huh?

Yeah, smart traveler.

Every airline that issues out compensation has a matrix and there are certain flights that are free. You never book your hotel without having transportation to get there.

Guest

Unfortunately my friend, I think the error is on your part, not Airtran's. You should have asked these questions when you were given the voucher. Additionally, it was foolish to book a hotel room before you had arranged your reservation in the plane.

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