It pays to complain

In February, I took my kids on a cruise. I know it's not universal, but in the northeast kids generally get a week off school around Presidents' Day. Our cruise left out of Tampa, Florida. I booked us on a red-eye flight on Southwest, which should have landed in Tampa around noon. The ship sailed at 4PM.

We boarded our first flight bound for Nashville, Tennessee. The flight crew announced that the flight had been oversold and they offered incentives for people to give up their seats. They added, however, that they could not guarantee seats on an alternate flight for two to three days. No one volunteered. Most people do not have THAT much flexibility. It was unrealistic for the airline to expect passengers to agree to be stranded for days until other flight arrangements could be located. We sat at the gate for over an hour and a half while the crew tried to get two people to give up their seats. When people began to get concerned about making their connecting flights, they were told by the flight attendants that the plane wasn't going anywhere until they got their volunteers, implying that the delay was the fault of uncooperative passengers. It was outrageous for the flight crew to attempt to shift the blame for this mess to its paying customers, all of whom were holding valid tickets for travel on that flight. Southwest had oversold the flight. Anyone volunteering to accept passage on a later flight was doing Southwest a favor. Those unwilling to give up seats that were bought and paid for were not being uncooperative.

The flight delay did not interfere with our connecting flight out of Nashville, which we boarded immediately upon arrival at the airport. Unfortunately, that flight was also delayed, by three hours, due to snow. (Yes, snow! In Nashville!) While that delay was far more stressful for us personally, as we had a ship to catch and we were in very serious jeopardy of missing it, the flight crew on that plane could not have been more helpful. We were allowed to use our cell phones. When I called the cruise line, they inquired how many other people on the plane were bound for the same cruise. The flight attendant was nice enough to make an announcement, asking for a show of hands. He also called the ground crew when we were finally airborne, asking them to contact the cruise line on our behalf. We made it to the ship, just barely, but I can't fault Southwest for their handling of that situation.

When I returned home, I kept thinking about how poorly we'd been treated by the flight crew on that first plane and it really irritated me. I fly Southwest more often than any other airline. I will be flying on Southwest again in three weeks, going to VEGAS, BABY.

I wrote a letter, outlining everything I just said above. (Most of this I just cut an pasted out of that letter.) Some time has past since I mailed it and I began to assume I'd never hear a response. Yesterday I received a two page letter which was clearly written in direct response to my correspondence. It was not a form letter, vaguely stating that they had received my letter and were addressing my concerns. It addressed each issue I'd raised, positive and negative. I have to say, I was impressed. It took someone time to address my complaint in such a direct, personalized and complete manner. They assured me that the flight crew would be admonished for making passengers feel the airline held them responsible for the flight delay. They also sent me $200 worth of coupons toward future travel.

I no longer feel negatively about Southwest Airlines. I will fly them again and I will recommend them to others. They won back my loyalty with their thoughtful response. The $200 was icing on the cake.

Don't just grumble about poor service; let the company know how you feel. It pays (in this case literally) to complain!