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here is the letter sent to Southwest - they owe us THOUSANDS of points and have not issued my companion pass!

Too whom it may concern;

I am writing to express our continued dissatisfaction with your service in regards to obtaining my companion pass for 2014 and being rightfully credited for reward points that I have legitimately earned and entitled to.

Both my husband and I are extremely loyal patrons to Southwest Airlines. A review of our history will prove so. My relationship with Southwest started around the year 2000 showing that you have been my vendor of choice since I was in my mid 20s when my professional career began.In our line of work it is safe to classify us as avid travelers and whenever destinations and/or itineraries permit we have always been exclusive to Southwest Airlines. As a matter of fact in recent years with the explosive growth of your Rapid Rewards program we have tethered ourselves even closer to your organization through hotels and car reservation’s. This despite price as a driving force since truth is your pricing is not as competitive as it once was. The natural assumption on my part has always been that my continued loyalty would be appreciated and reciprocated.

This unfortunate situation has left me thinking otherwise.

Southwest as our 1# choice for travel was never difficult before now based on your consistent service, industry unique ease of process, and prior notable savings. However, after the ongoing fiasco I am about to outline for you I am left stunned, disappointed and completely out of patience. I am not left questioning the future of my choices for travel and why I have remained so loyal for so long. The absolute absurdity of how a seemingly simple customer service issue can get this far out of control is not only puzzling by itself but when coupled with the lack of ownership and resolve on your part it is disheartening and infuriating as well.

Allow me to clarify the situation:

In typical fashion I travelled on a regular basis throughout the year 2013. I booked my flights through Southwest at every turn and this year gave even more diligence in booking alternative travel options such as Car and Hotel as to benefit fully from the RR program. Late in December it dawned on me that I had not yet received a companion pass for my husband so on 12-27 I contacted customer care where I spoke to a gentleman named Nick (documentation attached) and was told I still needed 32,092 additional points to reach companion status. While I was perplexed that we still needed so much considering how much I had already traveled I trusted what was said and went on a travel frenzy which I was assured would put us where we needed to be. For the record my conversation with Nick and in the follow up email, where he inappropriately requested I be the one to gather for him outstanding points due, (not exactly customer care in my eyes) there was an undeniable sense of urgency as we potentially needed to travel on a moment’s notice within the upcoming weeks for the trial of our murdered son Lance. I took time out of my schedule and sent a spreadsheet to Nick of what I believed were credits still due. I waited for his promise of a return call which sadly never came and scrambled to figured out what flights it would take to complete the CP status and ended up purchasing and flying several flights resulting in 32,928 points (over the original amount stated by Nick) all in a mere 4 days. As stated I was assured that in doing so we would avoid any disruptions and we would be where we needed to be for 2014 CP status. Upon arrival to Orange County, I still had not heard from Nick and because I was going to use the CP pass for my husband’s return ticket when I checked my RR account my heart sank as I realized we still had not reached the status points wise. In a panic from the airport I called SWA again and was met on the other line by Courtney Jacobsen who explained to me that what I was told wasn’t altogether accurate. She said that while I was receiving double points for my flights, my companion was not and therefore we were short of the required amount. I then caught Courtney up on the situation and told her I would forward her my research promptly and she said she would handle everything moving forward. I then sent her the same information that Nick was ignoring. During this call she showed genuine concern and even stated that should the points prove accurate and were not rightfully credited that any out of pocket expense would be reimbursed by Southwest Airlines for the cost incurred in the meantime.

The first sheet to Courtney was sent on 12-31 and then an updated more accurate sheet was sent on 1-12-14. The second sheet was very difficult to put together as once again I was told by SWA representatives that I, not Southwest needed to dig up all the contact info. Keep in mind I had already gone through hundreds of old emails to find what Nick asked for – Nevertheless to my chagrin I spent hours doing what I would consider your responsibility and I sent the document over with a STAGGERING 52 unaccounted for confirmation numbers along with phone numbers. I even sent the email to Courtney’s personal email as she said that sometimes its difficult to get the emails that go to the main SWA account.

I spoke to Courtney a few times beyond that and each time was told SWA was waiting for updated information from various places and soon we would be updated.

Between 12-27 and the day we contacted Roger (Mid June) there have been a staggering 19 calls made, 5 emails sent, countless hours of research on my personal time and dime, and yet to this day we still do not have our annual companion pass and have spent a staggering $1143.00 out of pocket because of your inaccuracies.

Unacceptable doesn't even begin to describe this situation or the treatment we have endured as a result of it. The very fact that the burden of proof for your discrepancies was dropped on my lap is ridiculous and frankly I am beyond fed up.

I have always considered Southwest a unique customer centric company that was lifted to its prior stellar ranking over the years through a reputation of Service Beyond the Sale, Unmatched Customer Focus and for being the Texas Rebel who in the face of an extremely inefficient and outdated travel system took an unheard of risk and all but destroyed the old school antiquated airline model that for too long boasted that travelers have no choice or voice and that mediocrity is the best one could expect. It was a refreshing and inspiring change to see how Southwest defied the "rules" and rose to be a significant force in the industry.

With that being said unfortunately this situation has tarnished my longtime belief in Southwest and has forced me to question if rapid rewards isn't anything more than a bait and switch scam where benefits are wildly lopsided and in the end leads customers down a falsely represented road with blurry policies and unclear expectations. I am even questioning if there is a legal issue that is underlying here as well.

Let me paint you a picture so you can see what I go through when trying to support your airline; Picture if you will that one of your loyal patrons (me) has purchased a FULL price ticket as well as booked their rental and hotel stay through your site and when finally arriving at their home away from home (Hotel) upon check in at the SW recommended hotel that as I said was booked, PAID FOR, and confirmed with a confirmation number from Southwest Airlines, they receive the message from behind the desk that they are not a Southwest Partner and or that they can’t help me since I booked my stay through Orbitz! This is an ongoing problem and continues to occur more and more. Now CLEARLY I didn’t book through Orbitz SO WHY IS IT SHOWING UP THAT I DID? Who is really in control here? Am I dealing with a 3rd party or my faithful partner Southwest Airlines? As a consumer I am being misled and there is important information not fully being disclosed. As a result I am not compensated properly for earned travel and I want to know why!

Here is another example – when I faithfully book my air travel, hotel. car, dinner, etc. with Southwest then the buck should stop there; Right? This is a model for which I am a fond of and one that Southwest Airlines in fact uses to market against the 3rd party giants like Priceline and Orbitz. Southwest uses this ploy to entice customers and safeguard them from potential hassles later. Southwest even proudly boast about it to the press; "We think we can have better control over the customer experience by dealing directly with them," said Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz. (This is when asked directly why SWA doesn’t use 3rds party booking companies.)

In the attached reservation from La Quinta it clearly shows I booked my hotel through Orbitz Worldwide? Attached to that document is from SWA and shows the entire process was directly through Southwest. Another example is from a booking at the W-New York where I again booked through SW and upon arrival the front desk am told by the agent and management that they don’t partner with Southwest and furthermore didn’t even have a place within their system to enter my RR number. When I called the W after my stay they sent me a copy of my reservation and confirmed that the booking code is the one used for Orbitz travel. For the record this occurs a lot. It is not at all an isolated situation.

What should I do during these situations? Would Southwest like me to stand there arguing my case?

As far as the W and La Quinta reservation is concerned the ridiculousness doesn’t stop there – on both bookings I was supposed to receive "up to 750 points" - yet I have nothing on the W and only 600 on LQ stay, however if I had to make a bet I would say more likely than not that SWA received their booking percentage and that it was 100% correct.

While on the topic of false, misleading, and incorrect information let me state that I cannot begin to name the number of times where the points stated on Southwest.com and the points reflected in my account do not match up. I would say that other than those associated with Air travel over 85% of the points I am supposed to earn are incorrect.

Recently we contacted Roger in customer care and in all honesty this was a contentious conversation that I vowed was not going to end until we had some sort of resolve. Roger unfortunately endured the anger that had been building for several months. Despite the tone of our conversation to his credit he did step up to a degree and began a path of resolution by providing my husband’s companion pass for the rest of 2014. We do appreciate the effort but in no way shape or form does it come close to the solution we expect.

At a minimum we believe the following should happen:

Number 1) Since we have missed six + full months of the companion opportunity we expect that be rectified and we additionally want verification after the correct points are tabulated as to when the pass would have truly been earned because at this point we don’t know for certain it wasn’t supposed to be awarded prior to December which would result in more credit due. Southwest needs to dispel or prove to us what the real picture is and credit if necessary.

Number 2)We were forced to purchase flights due to not having the companion pass for those first 6 months of 2014. We were promised early on in a recorded conversation that any flights purchased out of pocket would be reimbursed. NOT CREDITED, reimbursed. The associated documentation attached supports my argument and claim for the monetary refund and we expect a check in the amount of $1143.00 immediately.

Number 3)We expect an explanation as to how or why this could happen and how your team plans to ensure it is prevented in the future so we can determine if our future relationship can continue.

Please know that despite what has occurred it is our ultimate desire to maintain an exclusive patronage of your airline and we respectfully hold out the hope that your team will work diligently to make that happen and to resolve our requests.

As you can see by this screen shot have remained devoted – I am anticipating you will mutually reciprocate the loyalty.

We will expect contact no later than end of day September 1st 2014. Thank you for your prompt attention.

Monetary Loss: $3000.

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I had the similar incident where I was charged $355.00 for transferring my accumulated Rapid Rewards points to my son's Rapid Reward account without any proper warning on line. This is a scam they have been running where charges are being incurred for transfer of points (or only numbers) without any purchase or any service provided.

How can they do that.

Is there any regulatory agencies we can go to and file complaints for such fraudulent business practice. Appreciate any comment or feedback.

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