Southwest Airlines Reviews

I asked to speak to a manager. The customer service associate told me the manager had the same authority as she did and I'd be put on the supervisor return call list that would take 24-48hrs to return my call. Seriously? I hung up. It was obvious I could not play this right to get my money back. In hind sight I should have read the new policy because after the merge with Air Tran Southwest is not the same company I've traveled with. I didn't know until I researched if there was a class action lawsuit that the company wasn't the old Southwest. It is daylight robbery to charge someone for a return flight that won't happen for another 4 days. Ethically it is wrong and stealing from your customers has some serious side effects.

I will need to fly weekly again soon. SW, you can keep my $300. I will take my upcoming weekly flight purchases elsewhere. Not only is it bad business to lose frequent flier customers, but I have a legitimate claim in that SW had a greater responsibility to better notify frequent fliers or offer a one-time forgiveness. I regret giving SW my business.

As marketing major however, I was curious about how my first few moments would go with the airline and how the presentation of not only them but of the airline industry would be to someone who hasn't flown in 12 years. I grabbed my 2 suitcases that were for under the plane and my 2 carry-ons and my son and I headed in to the SouthWest terminal. I had no clue what to do. I just knew that Gate E was where my flight was departing from and that I probably had to get there first. So I see a SouthWest employee standing a few feet away and ask her where Gate E is and she points to the direction.

A crowd starts to form behind me as others have questions for this woman who clearly should not be in any customer service position. I am getting rather embarrassed by the whole ordeal and about to just walk out of the airport altogether with my "oversize" bags that are "too big to go on the plane". But finally she gives me the information I need.

I start to walk off with my son towards the line and she tells me she can get me through the line quicker if I wanted and I am so fed up with this lady. I just want to get away from her. So then....by the time I get on the plane...I am a little late. There are no seats side by side that are free for my son and me to sit in. The flight attendant looks annoyed and says in a snotty voice that she'll have to make an announcement so someone will move for us.

Then we open our tray in flight and my son is covered in some grotesque juice. Southwest FAILED miserably. That first initial interaction I had with the company was so poor. It was clearly a miscommunication error but an employee should be more willing to guide people to where they need to be, rather than telling them they cant fly on the plane with oversize bags.... I will never fly SouthWest again. Dirty, horrible customer service and cheap inflight services (not very tech savvy).

The white attendant came with the drink and was upset that I had a drink but I had to tell her what had happened. The white male attendant did not respond to my request for a drink and did not respond to my attempt to give him my garbage. Usually airline attendants scoop that stuff up but not this guy. I thought he was mentally retarded until I heard him speak on the overhead and I realized he was just lazy. I felt sorry for the white female stewardess because she was the one working and getting things done. The pilot got us in early and came out and thanked us for choosing Southwest.

I felt sorry for him. There is obviously a difference in service since the Air Tran merger. I feel sorry for the Southwest employees who are diligent in their service because the other employees don't even want to do their jobs or be there. I'd like to relieve these employees of their responsibility and choose another airlines so they don't have to take care of me. it's like night versus day now at Southwest. Terrible attitudes. Terrible service. Makes you want to fly anything but Southwest. God I wish there were an alternative to air flight now. Flying has become such a misery I would embrace any new technology or service even if it were more expensive just to avoid airports, airport security lines and radiation, and sullen airline employees who don't want to do their jobs.

Well, that's all your own fault, Southwest personnel (in so many words) respond. The pilot explains this at the beginning. No, he does not. What the pilot said was, "Passengers will no longer be allowed to "congregate" near the cabin door." Is this how any educated person says, "You can certainly wait in line at the back bathroom"? Furthermore, trying to hear what comes over the PA system when passengers are taking their seats and storing their luggage is challenging. Add to the mix just a little static in the PA system and a captain who is repeating the same message for the hundredth time (i.e., quick and a little bored), and you have the perfect set-up for miscommunication or no communication. The final result was that I did not hear any instructions about being allowed to go to the bathroom in the back of the airplane, and was told by the flight attendant that I had to go back to my seat, regardless of my condition. Passengers were free, by the way, to get up and walk up and down the aisles. The seat belt light was off.

The result of this experience? Panic. I was in pain and had to pee. Distress. I had no idea how I was going to be able to go to the bathroom, and my bladder was overflowing. Helplessness. The flight attendants, who are there for "your safety", couldn't care less about my predicament. It took a fellow passenger to hurriedly pull her books and sweaters off of an empty seat so that I could sit down and wait to use the bathroom. This way, I was not violating the "congregating" policy. Of course, the flight attendant could have informed me about forming a line at the back bathroom. But she was busy reading something and had said to me all that she was going to say. I finally did get into the bathroom, thanks to a kind and observant passenger.

The experience was bad and it was unnecessary. I have asked my husband if there is any other airlines we could fly, even if it is more expensive. Southwest has become a victim of its own success. Now that they are the number 1 domestic carrier, they don't have to pay attention to being courteous or understanding toward their customers. Their customer service is on a downhill slide, and because they can claim "success", they'll never be able to stop the free fall.

Now I have a 16 in Dallas with nothing, Southwest has only offered an "I'm so sorry". No clothes for 4 days at a National Soccer event with over 400 college coaches watching all washed down the drain. I am upset the flight att. at the least did not notify a chaperone or give her a ticket or something to show she took the bag. Now it's been 3 days no sign of bag and I as a hard working parent am out A LOT of money, my child has on a pair of cleats and a uniform, nothing more. All the training and excitement gone! They could have at least provided her money to get necessities, but no that fell back on me.

Oh, and to buy points? You can never get better than 36 points/dollar, so even then you will be losing money. Basically, it seems like they're hiding the true price ratio of points to dollar. Again, this seems like a disingenuous business practice not because they are charging more at peak hours nor because they are switching to a points-based model, but because the points system is actually a tiered pricing model whose actual costs are hidden from the consumer. Or am I being too disgruntled? Anyone else have experience with this?

In November we had a trip planned, but two days before my father-in-law died suddenly. He left behind my mother-in-law who is in hospice at home for dementia. We moved in with her so she could stay in her home until she died. This trip was to be a much needed break. We would have done anything we could to make it happen. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we could have done? I have been unable to find this on their website or anywhere else.

I have been flying with them 15 years as my major carrier, my family even longer. I have had their customer service reps on multiple occasions in the past literally tell me the easiest way to change a flight is to not show up and then use the funds later. That was their established policy. My mom, an old school customer whose Rapid Rewards number is amazingly barely 7 digits, has always touted the old policy as one of the SW perks. So, they created a learned customer behavior and then penalize the very customers who are loyal enough to have formed their travel habits accordingly.

Had SW needed to change their policy to keep current, okay. However, they then failed the people who had been ingrained in the old policy by a loyalty to their airline. Southwest customer service claimed they did due diligence by notifying the customers of the change, but the only notification I received (in hindsight) was at the very bottom of my itinerary. One that looked the same as every other itinerary I have received. Next to all the fine print. It was NOT discussed in the follow up email reminder of my flight. There have been no mailings or emails mentioning the change was coming.

Had Southwest used a grace period, where they re-educated loyal customers, one in which a fine or partial fee was not re-funded - fine. But, instead, my wife and I lost over $500 on our tickets. Did customer service do anything? They gave me a number for customer relations, who then apologized profusely that they couldn't budge. There are many things they are able to make accommodations on, they said, but this isn't one of them. Policy from above. Thanks, Southwest. You wouldn't want to work with customers so loyal that your very own policies have shaped their travel habits.

Safe to say, I won't be flying with Southwest anymore. I hope none of my family or friends do. Their prices went up. Their Rapid Rewards system became just like any other airlines, and now their customer service and flexibility is even worse. So, you get the same airline policies as everyone else but you still have the cattle car boarding situation.

MARK MY WORDS: Southwest is going the way of United and other wretched airlines as evidenced by some new changes brought into effect by their new CEO, who used to be the CFO! First we are seeing the doing away with unused travel. Previously, if you could not use your flight, SW kept the funds to be applied towards future travel up to a year from the original travel date. Now, that may seem like a generous thing, and it sure is, when you assess the rest of the industry, but it should be a right. After all, it is your money. Where else do you go, pay for something, and not be able to return it.

Seems like they changed their policy back in September. Now, I mostly book flights online, and admittedly, am not good at paying attention to ALL the fine print. This one escaped me. I booked a flight on 19 Jan for my son. He didn't use that flight, because we had to fly up for an emergency on the 17th, returning the 18th. I didn't cancel the flight for the 19th because I 'knew' we could use it for future travel. What I didn't know, was that this policy had changed. I am a RR member and NEVER received any official notification in the mail regarding this.

When I phoned customer relations they were steadfast that no exceptions would be made and customers 'lost' that money. The agent read from his script telling me he really understood, but it was SW had too many 'no shows' that affected their manifest. Now, pardon me, but since when do you say any empty seats on SW flights anymore? Whether people no show or not, those seats do seem to be be filled by passengers. I challenged this lad to prove they are committed to customer service. He gave me more of his script: no baggage fees, blah, blah, but I told him that no doubt, we will begin to see these changes soon at SW... get this... TO WHICH HE AGREED.

I asked to be escalated to his supervisor and he told me he was IT. BUT the bigger IT could not take calls or mail in regards to complaints! I hope there is a class action suit against the airline regarding this. They were not transparent, in my estimation, and have probably reaped millions of dollars as a result.

The folks answering the call were very helpful. However, they put you on hold, and the phone goes dead silent. Took me two calls and over 30 minutes to confirm that a fax was sent to the hotel. No way of knowing if you're really on hold or in telephone limbo land. Also, to have to go through all these hoops just to allow my wife to check in before me since she was arriving earlier - that's a pain. Especially, since I booked both of our flights with both of our names on the Southwest.com website.

I tried calling the hotel, but they said they couldn't do anything unless Orbitz faxed them my wife's name!! Faxed? Really? You would think an email, text, or something faster would suffice. But no, it had to be a fax. And the hotel said it takes 30-60 minutes to receive and process this information. Yikes, I learned my lesson. Never book hotel reservations on the Southwest.com website. Go directly to the hotel. Most hotels have their own websites these days, and you get just as good a deal, and if you have to make changes, you can deal with the hotel directly, not Orbitz.

(The person who was pushing the chair had left earlier) I was now pushing the Wheel Chair (I am 77 years of age). Approaching the plane the person who was taking the board pass (same one who said "I told you" said "Get away from the chair, take the purse and the light luggage from your lap, and you go ahead of me. We do not want to be sued.") THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT SAW ALL OF THIS AND SAID SHE IS FILING A COMPLAINT AND I SHOULD TOO, THAT SOUTHWEST IS NOT IN THE HABIT OF TREATING THEIR CUSTOMERS THIS WAY!!

However, without any warning at all, I was extremely frustrated to learn yesterday - after waiting 20 minutes to talk with someone - the money was lost because I did not cancel the flight in advance. The agent, who was unable to transfer me to customer service, gave me a number to call. I called it multiple times, and actually received a busy signal. Southwest Airlines has always been a customer-service-focused business. Apparently something has changed. I'm sure the business will go on without me, but I'm flying Delta next week instead of Southwest, and I've applied for an Alaska Airlines visa to replace my Southwest Airlines visa. That's too bad too because I really liked SWA.

Southwest - My family and I just flew back from Orlando, Florida for my 8 year old son's Make a Wish trip. He has late stage CF and is autistic. We had a wonderful time, but the memories of our trip are now ruined by the awful experience we had returning home on Jan 5th flight #4033 from Orlando to Houston. The flight was originally delayed 4.5 hours due to weather which we understand, but when we finally got on the plane and stopped in Atlanta at midnight, we were told the rest of the flight was being canceled due to a new computer system that didn't calculate down-time correctly so no co-pilot was available to complete the flight to Houston.

My son Raiden ** is on Oxygen, special formula, medications, breathing treatments, etc multiple times per day and he was forced to try to sleep in the airport for another 3 hours until we were finally given a room at a nearby hotel (330 am) 12 hours after we were supposed to fly out. Then to make matters worse, none of our clothes were available because they were checked, and already in Houston. We only had 1 extra box of his food so he was made to starve until 4:00pm the next day when we finally got another flight. He also missed a total of 3 breathing treatments which cannot be done in the airport.

If that weren't enough, to get to the hotel we had to take him out of the airport in sub-freezing weather without winter clothes. He should not be in the cold due to his lungs and compromised immune system - which is why we moved to Houston. We had to go to the cold twice with him to and from the hotel with nothing more than a small throw blanket that my wife had. Finally we got home 24 hrs later than we should have which caused him to misses several medications and 2 meals.

Now my son has become ill and will likely have to go back to the hospital. Every time he has to go to the hospital he never recovers back to the same as he was before. He is slowly dying and you have only made that progress faster. Your gate employees knew all of this and choose to ignore the situation and caused his health to be put in extreme risk.

Now our trip that should have been a wonderful experience of his shortened life time will be tainted by the memories of this horrible flight, sleeping on the floor of a dirty airport, freezing in the cold in the middle of the night, and then having to spend another 4 hours at the airport in the same cloths, because the hotel's checkout time was 11am.

We found several flights leaving from Atlanta on other airlines with open seats that would have got him home only a couple hours after we landed in Atlanta, but we were told that your computer system wouldn't allow them to book on the other airlines, even after we explained multiple times this was a medical urgency. Other passengers were also trying to support us and telling the agent that they needed to do something to help him.

The one good thing was the Captain and flight attendant who was caring and fought with the gate agents to get them to help us. Without their efforts, we might still be in Atlanta trying to get home. He even called before we left Orlando and was told that the flight would not be canceled. He and the other SW agents explained, this had nothing to do with weather - which tells me this was Southwest's fault.

I've tried calling your customer relations but keep getting busy signal. So this is my last option - feel free to contact my and i'm happy explain further.

I'm begging anyone who is thinking about flying southwest to think twice.

So, no way to get home using online or telephone service (still busy). In desperation, we drive an hour to BDL airport and are given a flight from Newark (557/474) on Wednesday Jan 8, 2014. Arrival time in San Diego (11:00 PM) is six days after original, and SWA is charging us an extra $41.53 each ($83.06) due to their cancelling of our two flights. This plus we have our expense getting from Berlin, CT to Newark, NJ early Wednesday Jan 8th. Also, Monday 1/6 thru 1/8 are unpaid (lost) work days. We feel that our six day delay in arriving home from the U.S. East Coast to the U.S. West Coast is extremely incompetent from Southwest Airlines. We expect an appropriate compensation or will seek damages.

We finally get into Las Vegas and miss our connection along with several other people by probably about 10 minutes. A already delayed flight couldn't be bothered to wait another 20 minutes to accommodate people that they made miss their flight! I told the gate agent I was flexible and would fly anywhere to Southern California. She seemed to get tired of searching for flights to get people to their destination and basically through her hands up & put everybody on standby. They at least said they would provide lodging if we couldn't leave that evening. At the new gate I spoke with the gate agent again and she was the one bright spot and was able to get me and my son to Burbank.

Southwest seemed to not care that it was their fault that they caused a delay and ruined most everybody's travel plans. I am a seasoned traveler and have had flights delayed or cancelled. Many of the other "big" airlines even if they weren't able to tried their hardest to accommodate by checking different flights & airlines to get me to my destination. My feeling is that Southwest just wants your money and does not really care if you have a good experience or even make to your destination. I will gladly pay more money for an airline that will work for you. Bye bye Southwest never again.

When I told the customer service person this, she told me she could not help me and then HUNG UP the phone. I had waited for over 30 min on hold to talk to her and she just simply hung up without even trying to help us. So now I am driving 8 hours each way to pick up my son. I purchased the ticket over two months ago and had my choice of airlines but I made a mistake and selected SW. Never again.

She asked if I wanted to speak to a customer service rep if I was. I said yes if it would get me home as scheduled as I had appointments and would be charged late fees. Let me emphasize here this was posed to me as help from customer service by Beth, and since she asked me if I wanted to speak with a customer service adviser and I could have declined. I said yes to the offer thinking customer service meant customer service. Beth radioed for someone and Mario ** showed up, employee #, who asked me to step aside and talk to him. I did so. The first thing he said to me was "Do you want me to let you on this plane?" I replied what was he asking me as I'd paid full fare and had a ticket. He then said it was up to him if I could go on the plane and that I had accused their pilots of drinking on the job. He implied he would make me miss my flight because of this.

I told him I didn't accuse anyone of anything, had asked a question which I had every right to do, and that he was being rude to me, a paying customer. I also suggested he call Beth over to verify what was said in our exchanges. He refused, saying she’s not available. He repeatedly said I accused the pilots of drinking and I explained I only asked a question about something I'd read in the newspapers about delays. He kept saying I accused the airline pilots and I told him he was wrong and was not privy to exchanges with this Beth. I had assumed he was there to show customer service to me but was being rude, accusatory and threatening. He never apologized for the late flight or to help me, rather suggesting I had to kowtow to him to board the plane.

He apparently didn't think I was deferential enough to him because he kept saying he could keep me off the plane if he wanted to and kept saying I accused their pilots of drinking (I had not). I told him to call this Beth and ask her in front of me what I said and he lied twice saying she was unavailable I learned later that day he lied about her availability. At one point claiming she flew off in a plane. I told ** he was supposed to handle my customer service complaint was but was being imperious, offered no apologies and was downright rude to me. I demanded to see his supervisor to which he said he would find him or her. He then disappeared.

In the interim my flight finally started to board. I was already on the plane preparing to be seated when this ** came running up to me and asked me to go back to the lounge as his supervisor was there waiting for me. I told him there was no need for customer service as the plane was finally leaving and I had a schedule to keep in San Francisco. I told him I didn't want to be bothered further to which he replied "Don't make me go there" (the implication being he might call police) if I stayed on the plane. I went back to the lounge but there was no supervisor there, that was another lie. I said he was making me miss my flight and he said he couldn't guarantee the flight was being held for me. This means they were delaying the entire number of passengers on the plane over this, at least in the beginning.

Finally, a middle aged man came up, introduced himself only later as the head pilot for Southwest at McCarran who was later joined by two customer service agents, one a Nycole ** who didn't introduce herself at first but later said she was in charge of customer service ground operations. I explained to them all what happened. That ** was very rude to me and I hadn't done anything. They claimed they had to follow protocol. I asked what protocol was that? I hadn't said anything to affect security and merely asked a question. I also questioned what these people were doing as instead of showing customer service they were busy trying to cover for **s actions.

Steve **, then explained was chief pilot and said to me any time alcohol is mentioned Southwest worries because the FAA investigates them and it costs them lots of money. I asked him what that had to do with me and my flight. He suggested other passengers might hear me which would mean bad PR. I told him I hadn't spoken to other passengers and in any case if I , for example, that Southwest has lousy service that that is not a reason to pull me from the plane. I asked ** if he knew why there were no pilots to make the plane over an hour late. He said he didn't know and asked me if I would like to find out why. I told him all I wanted was to catch my flight which by now started to pull out. He came back with the same excuses used earlier (mechanical failure, pilots not available) etc. I told him I really did not care at that point but they had no right to detain me.

Now mind you, these were customer service agents, not airport security. I told them I write articles about homeland security and was well versed it what can get someone removed from a flight (i.e. joking about a bomb, physical threats, etc. It is also the flying pilots discretion, none of whom were involved in this discourse). I had asked a question and any passenger has a right to know if the reason the pilots are not available could be because they weren't sober. They of course could have said that wasn't the problem and let me board the plane. Instead they spent all their time trying to cover for **, his threats and poor customer service.

I missed my flight which I believe was ** punishing me for not being deferential enough to him when he first spoke with me. I never got an apology from anyone and Nycole ** allowed ** standing near us to constantly interrupt me when I tried to explain what had occurred. I had to tell him to stop speaking over me and he was finally told to leave. Having missed the flight I asked them to get me out immediately to Oakland and suggested they buy a seat for me on another airline. I explained they cost me money in late fees from the dog kennel where I boarded my dog and potential parking fees at Oakland. At no time was airport security called, no TSA or marshals.

Ultimately, they gave me a ticket on the next Southwest flight which meant I had to sit 21/2 hours in the terminal to finally get home. I was made to pay late fees for not picking up my dog as scheduled. Apparently Ms. **'s chief concern was salvaging the full fare I paid and getting rid of me. I asked about my losses and she suggested I write to corporate while still not giving an apology. My time is worth at least $350 an hour in my line of work as Homeland Security and Foreign Policy writer and Southwest wasted an additional 21/2 hours of that time.

I called TSA and lodged a complaint the next day and am also going to report them to the FAA. Frankly, I think they were covering up for some pilots drinking. I don't know for sure. Just prior to my boarding the flight I saw two pilots enter the plane and while they weren't staggering they looked pretty wasted. I still would have taken my flight though to get home on time. This was just before ** pulled me off the plane I had already boarded. TSA said my complaint was justified. If they felt there was a security risk they were supposed to call TSA or the Marshals. They were pretending they were security agents with no authority. They knew they were wrong yet made me miss my flight to support **. ** undoubtedly wanted to make me miss my flight for not begging him in the beginning to let me on the plane when I thought our first meeting was to address a customer service issue.

Nycole ** never apologized, told me if I lost money do to missing my flight or had complaints I could write Southwest corporate. She also said they were following Protocol which was nonsense. They were covering for ** who should be fired, particularly since I was already on the plane and ready to leave.. I believe that aside from a customer service agent not providing customer service but trying to act imperious and trying to get me to beg to go on a flight I paid full fare for, some co-workers of his more interested in backing up his misbehavior then doing what is right, that there is a real possibility I touched a nerve and that they were lacking pilots for that flight because their regular pilots were too drunk to fly.

They mentioned using deadhead pilots. Deadheads are employees looking for a free ride on company aircraft. I think the FAA needs to investigate if this was the cause for delay in leaving and that by asking my question they were worried something might come out. I explained to ** that if they were worried about the FAA investigating them that they now guaranteed it, as I was filing a complaint with them over this incident. As mentioned, to date I've received no apology. When I asked what disciplinary action would be taken against ** I was told it would be taken internally by Nicole **. In other words, I would never know. I'm sure they will do nothing. I believe her response was to cover for Mr. ** and get rid me sticking me on the next flight.

I think the public would find this misadventure of interest. I believe they put me through this to inconvenience me over my saying something about Southwest rather than over security concerns. I can imagine someone younger or a female (I'm 61 and a football player type) might elicit begging from ** to get back on that plane. I'm sure other customers have experienced this from** without reporting it as I am. The comments about alcohol I feel were also raised as a red herring to distract from what ** did to me. I am considered a terrorism expert in my field as an investigative journalist and know full well security applications on airlines. This was why after they blew me off, they put me on another plane rather than call TSA or air marshals.

As mentioned, TSA and FAA confirmed I did nothing wrong and customer service agents pulling me off the plane just to show they can do it does not excuse their playing the role of security people or punishing customers who may not like them. Southwest was recently fined $150,000 by the FAA for bad customer service. I now see why.

So what did Southwest customer service agents accomplish here? 1) I am notifying the FAA about their nonsense accusing me of saying something about their pilots drinking when all I did was ask about an article I read. 2) I have notified TSA who said they will investigate and that Customer service agents are not permitted to act as security people. 3) Southwest supervisors encouraged an incompetent employee to harass a passenger because this passenger would not be bullied for any reason. This was not a misunderstanding.

Ms. ** told me (still no apology) that she would handle things behind closed doors and would not tell me if Mr. ** would be fired or demoted (he should be fired). She also I suppose showed Southwest she would further screw me by keeping my funds for the missed flight, applying them to the second flight after making me sit in the terminal 21/2 hours more. This was a full fare I might add, not a discounted ticket. As I explained to Southwest customer service in Texas, the phone agent, I want those funds back including the late fee I paid for the extra days lodging for my German Shepherd (receipt attached). The $261.20 I paid for the missed flight was missed because of Southwests employees, not because of me. I feel the fact she stuck me on another plane and made me wait rather than booking me immediately with another airline was a cheap attempt to keep funds after showing such poor customer service.

The 2 and a half hours I spent cooling my heels in the terminal to get home so she could keep my money and look good, is not really fair. Had I purchased my ticket with a credit card my bank would have charged the $261.20 back in a dispute Southwest would have to settle with me. I bought this ticket via Paypal who advised me the funds have to come back from Southwest. Let me say during the 21/2 wait for the second flight nobody from customer service offered me a cup of coffee or asked if everything was all right. Basically, I was kicked to the curb with another ticket to get home. No courtesy was shown at all. Had I done something to be pulled off the first plane I might accept that, but frankly I did NOTHING to deserve such treatment from Southwest. I do believe ** should be fired and Ms. ** at least be retrained. I want the $261.20 reimbursed and $52 for extra fees I had to pay for my dogs storage since I missed the flight. I also want to know the final disciplinary outcome for ** in this instance

My sister-in-law called saying they got an email that both seats were cancelled and the money was, as they stated GONE. Gone? Gone where? Of course we know it was in Southwest's already filled coffers. When I called asking why would a seat be cancelled for a flight that has not taken off and was days away, I was told they are linked and if you don't have one, you cannot have the other! I was told that this policy took effect in September, I replied we bought these tickets more than 60 days prior. I had the confirmation which tells me how I can use the credits, it tells me I cannot change the name, it tells me there are no change fees, it tells me it is nonrefundable, but it DOES NOT tell me that if I don't call 10 before take off, they will confiscate my money.

So I had to purchase a ticket for $500 more, one way (1 and a half times more than the round trip fare we paid in July) to get him home. Did I mention that he is blind? He was so excited to be with his brother and nephew for the weekend until all this happened. By the way, the only place you get the message is just when you click "purchase this flight"? Then the message about the no show policy goes away. If you go back, it is no longer there, and it still does not appear on my confirmation. So if you missed it, too bad so sad. IF I ever fly SWA again, I will purchase the legs of the flights separately, that way you will only have some of your money robbed. That way the other leg will still be intact. As we all know, there is no advantage to making round trip plans, no financial benefit...until now. I am going to try to contact the state's attorney general. This is out and out fraud.

I had planned on flying up to see my son on Saturday, 11/9, and returning home on Monday, 11/11. It would have been my 4th straight weekend in a row, and I wasn't looking forward to it. Fortunately, plans changed and I found out on Wednesday, 11/6, that I would not have to make this trip. On Thursday, 11/7, I went online at about 7pm to cancel. I do not cancel a lot, but I do appreciate the ability to do so. My last flight that I canceled about a month early I did so by calling the 800# because I was only canceling my return flight and could not split the cancellation online.

The cancellation appeared to go fine online. I was somewhat concerned that the website did not generate a unique cancellation confirmation #, but I didn't worry too much. After canceling my flights, I cancelled my hotels and car rental.

I was very surprised when I received an email on Saturday (11/9) in the evening informing me that my return flight home was forfeited because I did not cancel my departing flight! When I called SWA 800#, they said that there was nothing that they could do, but I should call Customer Care on Monday morning. When I called Customer Care, they said that they could check their website and tell if I had accessed it Thursday night. After putting me on hold for about 10 minutes, the rep got back on the phone and said that I had not even accessed my account on their website. Now, perhaps I failed to click something (which I'm sure I didn't, because I got a message that I had successfully cancelled my flights), but I KNOW I was on their website on Thursday evening. Essentially, they are calling this very good customer a "liar".

I am done with SWA. My #1 reason for flying with them is for their liberal cancellation policy. But, if they are going to play games with their cancellations, why bother? I am not out $229 in credits. I will use up my rewards points, and all future travel will be via JetBlue. No more waiting in their stupid line like cattle being herded for a seat. No squeezing into their seats like sardines in cans. And no more crappy peanuts.

So much for SWA's self-proclaimed customer service. They should call their "Customer Care" "Customer Don't Care".

I will never fly Southwest again. I booked the previous flight via phone and no disclosure of this fact (instituted in Sept) was discussed. The lady I just talked to was quite..."Tough"...buddy...to me. Like you guys just figured out how to steal from your customers. Please get this word out and boycott Southwest. I am a single parent with 3 kids in college and you just stole a significant amount of money from me. One of the reasons I have flown Southwest for 15 years is I was always able to show up and use my credits. Now apparently you guys are in financial trouble having to increase your bottom line like pirates... Lost customer.

Around 7pm once all the custody issue was settled my fiancée called to reschedule our flights and we were told that our reservations were no longer valid and our money or funds had been confiscated!! This obviously was a shock to me. We were told to contact customer service to voice our complaint. My fiancée then called customer service and we were told there was nothing that they could do, that it was corporate policy change and that the notice was on our ticket (email confirmation). BTW we looked and could find nothing stating this policy.

Please understand we are valued SWA customers and they have been our airline of choice for 13yrs (Dallas resident). This was the 1st we heard of such policy and this was one of many reasons that we flew SWA:

3. An airline that understood and cared.

These are reasons my family used SWA for personal and business. But after my experience today I feel SWA is no different than all other airlines. I am very disappointed in customer service and how this situation was handled. They claimed their hands were tied. This is a similar response when I told them weeks ago that they damaged my luggage (they put SWA fragile stickers all over my $300 metal luggage that won't peel off all - although they agreed it was the wrong luggage). They said sorry! IMO, SWA is definitely making changes, but not for the better. If I were a businessman, which I am, I would not lose a family's business over $800. Especially on a policy change that happened a month ago (under the radar)! Bad business and I am shocked that SWA would let this happen!

Starting from the gate the crew member has no customer service skills and no regards for business select customers. I asked the crew member showing my boarding pass if they are boarding and the answer was go in the line. I waited and then when boarded finally and asked them to take my coffee cups they said I have to wait so I waited and then waited till a second crew member came but this lady was even worse and said "I can't go this right now." It’s very surprising that the crew member who was making the announcement did not knew where the lavatory were in the back and referred to it as "whatever seats" are there in front of the lavatory. I asked the crew member again after 1 1/2 hr in flight to take my cups when he was going back with empty tray and he said "not right now" :).

I am surprised and upset even though he finally took the coffee cups when I asked him if he is sure he wants them now. This is the first and last time I will ever take Southwest.

Needless to say, my family is Hispanic and I'm white... and I said, "We are a family too". She then sighed and looked at the other flight attendant who then looked at us ugly, and my mother-in-law said, "It's ok. They'll throw us off the plane. There's no discussing this with her. Let's just sit wherever we can." So as soon as we did, an Asian family boarded, greeted her real nice, and sat in our seats. Everyone looked back at us with a face of unpleasant looks, like they were Embarrassed for us but felt the same way we did, afraid to be thrown off the plane. I want something done about this. I am very unsettled about this.

I boarded the plane and sat in my seat. After reaching out cruise altitude, I really had to use the restroom. Now I always ask permission. I called over the flight attendant. Me: Ma'am, I understand the seatbelt sign is still on but can I please use the restroom? Her: (in a mildly unprofessional tone) I'm sorry but no. Me: Ma'am, I've been up for over 24 hours and I have an upset stomach. Her: Well you're a big boy. You can hold it.

Honestly, I wanted to punch her. My grandmother just passed away, I had been up for more than 24 hours, and I was about to have the runs in my seat. I was furious. I decided to get up after sitting there for about 30 seconds. I walked up to the restroom and the same woman was there and gave me a stern look and said.... Her: What are you doing? Me: I'm sorry but there's two things that could happen. 1) I can go to the bathroom in here or 2) I can go in my seat and I really don't think you'd want to clean it up. Her: Oh I wouldn't clean it up. You would.

It gets even better. After I took care of my business and returned to my seat. The woman started taking orders for drinks. She skipped me on purpose. The gentleman next to me was nice enough to order a second drink and give it to me. The rest of the flight was somewhat ok, other than the few times she walked past me and gave me a nasty look.

I ended up writing a complaint to Southwest Airlines customer service. Their response was clearly dismissive. I even stated that I would never fly their airlines again. In their response, it states "We're confident your next journey onboard our LUV jets will be more positive, and we hope to merit your future consideration the next time your plans call for travel by air. We will always welcome the opportunity to serve you onboard our LUV jets." Apparently you can't fix stupid. I never ask for handouts but in this situation, everyone expected a voucher at the very least.

The 2nd thing that occurred today was on my 2nd leg of our trip. We landed in Denver from Tulsa and the flight was delayed for a short while, which was fine because we could grab something to eat. I'm not sure what's going on at that airport, but in the terminal where SW is, it's just a huge mess. Tiny seating areas crammed together with flight gates so close of either, it was hard to tell which gate was which. There were probably 500 to 609 people in that space waiting to board flights. Disorganization at its best. We didn't even hear the cattle call for our flight, it was so noisy. We noticed others lining up so we did, too. The attendant checking in tickets to board kept saying 2 carry-ons--- no exceptions. Okay, I can understand this for the most part. I had a backpack and 1 carry-on wheeled luggage, and was also carrying a small bag with airline blankets and a pillow. Obviously, these were not going to be stashed in stowaway or under my seat, they were going to be covering me!

So. I got my ticket checked and started to walk down the corridor to the seats when the flight checker calls to me very rudely "Hey, come back here. You can't carry on 3 bags" -- in a very angry manner and in front of all the as senders waiting to be checked. I told her that my 3rd bag wasn't a carry-on but a plastic bag that contained my airline blankets and pillow for the flight -- not to be put in stowaway or underneath my seat. She said "Too bad, one of them had to be checked" (very rudely). I thought you know, I'm not going to check blankets and I was not going to check either bag either, so I tossed the blankets and told her she could have them!

I've never -- not once -- in all these years had a problem carrying those blankets on any airlines, much less SW. I've carried them all over the world with NO PROBLEM -- until today. Usually, SW had the friendliest, most helpful and cheerful attendants of any airlines -- but not today. I sure would hate to see SW attendants go the way of AA -- most hateful attendants anywhere.

This is actually illegal in most stated. Credits with a company cannot actually have an expiration date. However, Southwest's Terms state that all litigation will occur in Texas, which has no consumer protection laws in place. According to a California & Ohio state ruling, state-level consumer protections such as the ones we enjoy in Oregon, Ohio, California, and many other places, are preempted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act. So, to Southwest Airlines: You took my money without giving me anything in return. You disposed of my money without my consent, and you will not return it, or even allow me to use it to make my next purchase from you. That is theft. Legal recourse may still be an option (it has been two years since the last court decision, and much has changed in the regulatory world), but does anyone know of any other recourse available?

I missed the connecting flight by minutes. They did not hold it up for the 20 passengers going to Providence. Same with people going on the Hartford, Long Island, Manchester, etc connecting flights. I estimate between 60-75 people were stranded at BWI for the night. Of course no SW rep met our plane to give us the bad news. Why fly an airline you can't trust? It's simple SW - Do what you say or don't say it at all!...It's called honesty and translates into good customer service.

I AM SO SICK OF SOUTHWEST LYING TO THEIR LOYAL CUSTOMERS. I WILL NOT FLY SW UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. I hate the lines to board, and they are just as greedy as the other airlines, making you pay $25 to get an "A" boarding pass which, by the way, can leave you at the end of the "A" line.

Southwest refused to pay for my hotel (they gave me a website to visit for discounted rates, but they had no discounts available that day). I also had to make the 5:00am flight the next day and get routed through Houston (instead of the direct flight I originally had). I missed half day of work, had to pay for a hotel and an extra day of parking, and I didn't get to see my kids for an extra 24 hours. Had I known I wasn't going to make my connecting flight, I would not have flown to Orlando; I would have hopped a plane elsewhere, which could have gotten me to Austin that day. I filed an official complaint that night and requested a call back, but it's been 7 days now and still no contact. BEWARE! Southwest Airlines does not care about its customers. I will do everything I can to NOT fly Southwest again.

We will NEVER FLY SOUTHWEST AIRLINES again. We felt angry, unsafe in wearing these soiled clothing, and totally disenchanted with this company. I know that AirTran is now the parent company, but we have never had a bad experience with it or Delta. Avoid SWA!!!

I understand there are delays due to severe weather and all. However, the part that really gets me upset is Southwest not willing to help compensate with the loss of funds for my parking of the extra day at the parking garage. The front desk staff had been extremely unhelpful as well in reference to answering questions related to my Rapid Rewards. Their response had been to call the 1-800 number. I have over 30,000 Rapid Reward points. I would rather just use a different airline than redeem the points.

The FA then proceeded, again in a booming voice, to ask me if I was having difficulty in assuming the task or whether I needed to be reseated (This said in a very rude tone, not the usual script quoted by all airlines FA's.). Just to quiet her down, I agreed although I would like to have "discussed" her attitude and manner with her in front of the rest of the plane, just as she did with me; however, I was held hostage. Those on the plane were clearly taken aback, almost as much as I. In addition, when serving beverages, this inappropriate employee asked two young men to whom she referred as "Honey's" if they wanted anything to drink. Southwest is aware they have lost a customer who returned to their airline after years of flying other airlines. I will recommend to future fliers, unless you want to be treated with a questionable level of respect which includes Southwest's boarding practices, I would strongly suggest flying with another carrier!

By holding for the next agent, I was connected in less than three minutes. The return call came through about an hour and fifteen minutes later! When I told the return caller-agent of my dissatisfaction, she suggested I call customer relations in Dallas. I did and rather than own up to any kind of deficiency, CR justified everything. It seems SWA cannot accept responsibility for anything in terms of policy, customer satisfaction or their own computer systems. Every company has the right to set their own fare policies but this is an area where they can elect (or not) to help out their customers who have already paid for a ticket. Unused seats on an earlier flight are free to the airline to let a paying passenger use. SWA chooses for some fare classes to stick it to the customer.

To make the story short, most of the group did meet the ship at the first port which was international, but we had to pay for all of it. Southwest did give us a customer service number, which does not work on the weekends. After I reached out to them with my expectations that they would reimburse me the expenses I incurred due to their mechanical issue, the customer service representative proceeded to hang up on me because I wanted to talk to management and asked about his name. I did receive a refund for my original tickets deposited back into my account ($350), but am still out of $1,500.

Customer service has not responded or reached out (did email them as well) and only God knows if I will ever see my money. This company is an embarrassment and a huge disappointment as they do not hold themselves to their mission statement. It is very disappointing that the consumer is the one who pays for a service and then when the company is unable to provide it, then the consumer is the one once more who is stuck with the problem.

I filed a complaint with the TSA for violating my disability rights, violating my civil rights and for racial discrimination. The lady was of color and I'm white. The TSA gave them 30 days to respond. Today is the last day to hear from them. A phone call won't settle this now. 3 months is a slap in my face, so I have all the paperwork ready to be filed in court on Friday. Will let you know what happens.

Granted, the overall level of service in the air travel industry has been going to hell, but when comparing Southwest to its competition, Southwest is a better choice.

They actually had the audacity to ask for a note from her doctor or mine. That made me feel like a third grader who missed school and needed a note from my mommy for being absent. I even contacted the Better Business Bureau and Southwest still declined the refund. So from now on, please do not purchase a nonrefundable ticket unless you absolutely, positively know you are going to take a trip that same year your ticket is purchased. I now truly believe that Southwest Airlines is a company with no heart.

Past security, we get to the gate and the attendant said I missed the flight, plus I couldn't board without my pass anyway. Why did the first guy send me through security, especially since I was travelling with a 2 year old and a 9 month old, if he knew I couldn't board? As soon as the boarding attendant saw me and my kids, he got on the walkie-talkie and said we had made it. Then he looks at me and says, “Why are you flying? What's your emergency?" I told him I have tickets to the inauguration. He then told whoever was on the receiving end of his phone and came back with "I'm sorry". So, had I said something else, could I have flown? Did they want to keep as many people as possible from Pres. Obama's inauguration?

But the story is not done yet. I go home and my fiancée gets a call from a guy at the airport on my cell. He said my phone was found in the baggage room and to come pick it up. When I did, there were deep scratches on the front and my screen is cracked! This weekend has been totally horrible. Stranded, son's ticket non-refundable, my ticket a hoax, and now I have to pay to fix my phone.

The clerk behind the counter took one look at the dog and said "Your dog cannot fly." Astonished, I replied "Excuse me? I had cleared it with customer service before booking the flight. I have flown with this dog many times before." She stated, "His vest states In Training and per our policy, we cannot accept dogs in training." Still not believing what we were hearing, I quoted her the ADA Federal Law. She was not moved. When my husband said he can just take the tag off, because we grabbed his old vest when leaving in the morning, and that he had flown with the same vest several times prior. She said "Sorry, that is our policy." We then asked to speak to her supervisor.

The clerk was gone for several minutes, obviously explaining what was going on to her supervisor. The supervisor, a black lady with an attitude, came up to us, took one look at the dog and said, "Your dog cannot fly! I am sorry but that is our policy." Again, we explained ADA rules. She said "It does not matter. He is in training and we do not allow dogs in training on the plane." We informed her that "He is not in training, is certified, and that I had my doctor's prescription allowing me to travel with a Service Dog, that we had flown several times with the same dog before, and on Southwest." She proceeded to check our flight history! And when we did not get anywhere with her, we asked for her supervisor.

Well our request was rewarded about 15 minutes later with not just one, but two apparent supervisors. They introduced themselves to us, and we asked to be taken to a more private spot because we were now a spectacle. More so to other Southwest ticket clerks, in particular a Hispanic clerk who thought it’s her business to tell our clerk that "She was just following rules and not to worry. Southwest will stand behind her." This aggravated the both of us enough to tell the Hispanic clerk to mind her own business and get back to her post. She actually thought it appropriate to mouth off back to us. This was totally unacceptable! All while in full view and ear shot of hundreds of other people.

We felt humiliated and helpless. All the while, the dog did nothing wrong and acted the most professional as a well-trained animal should. The two supervisors asked to check our documentation (which is also a mistake). Then after speaking with the black supervisor, calling my doctor, requesting the dog’s documentation, we were told that they had called another supervisor by the name of James at their corporate headquarters in Dallas, TX, and he informed them to tell us we could not fly. We were escorted to the Delta Airline Ticket counter by the two supervisors to see if we could fly on that airline. We were told by one of the supervisors that we would be refunded our Southwest airfare and rewards points! Oh yay! Hope it didn't hurt.

Delta was more than happy to charge me $600.00 counter ticket price for a flight to Dulles, after a stopover in Detroit. My dog and I were graciously welcomed aboard, treated with utmost respect and professionalism. And when leaving the plane in Dulles, the pilot even asked if he could pet my dog, saying what a beautiful animal he was!

Although I had finally arrived at Washington Dulles five hours later than planned, I had missed my training seminar! Service Dogs are always in training. They require continuing education, just like licensed humans. Needless to say, he was a perfect gentleman while in flight, a seasoned traveler. There is much more to this incident, involving speaking with Southwest Airlines "Customer Relations" Department, who offered me a monumental amount of $150.00 as a "good faith" gesture to use towards my next flight on Southwest! You have got to be kidding. That, um, supervisor, I was told I would never fly Southwest Airlines again. I expect nothing less than an apology and my airfare refunded for my Delta flight. I was told "That would not happen." Well, again, here I was asking for that supervisor's supervisor.

Again, this is not over, and I intend to let as many people know that Southwest Airlines is not Service Dog friendly. Do not fly with a company that does not follow Federal Laws! If they can disregard the mere act of flying with a Service Dog, then what else do they think they are mightier than thou to disregard? Perhaps overhauling a jet engine every so many hours? Or, then maybe there is another supervisor somewhere that will continue the practice of the employees sticking together on an issue, and screwing over the very people that pay their salaries! I wonder if Southwest supports PETA. Or, maybe Southwest needs to have all their employees read their mission statement and follow their own rules.

When the plane was on the runway, somebody was calling my husband on his phone. He took it out of his pocket and was trying to turn it off. At the same time, another passenger started screaming that my husband's phone was on and called the stewardess. I repeated to the passenger what she was saying and then told her, "I know. He is turning it off and mind your own business." The stewardess got up, told my husband that when they meant off, it means no current going through the unit. My husband tried to show her how he turned his phone off and tried to explain that was an honest mistake that he really thought it was off. She snatched the phone out of my husband's hand, turned it off, and told him that if we were at the gate, she would have taken him back and that she could turn the plane around.

After a few minutes, she came back and told us that she would not turn the plane around but she would have some officers meet at Newark. I tried to talk to her and she just walked away from me, leaving me with the words in my mouth. I told her that it seems that she was very badly educated. When it was time for her to go around and ask passenger what they would like to drink (we were sitting on the second row in the front), she asked all passengers except us. When she heard my husband telling me if I saw what she did, that she walked by us not even asking us if we would like something to drink in an over-four-hour flight; she came back and asked. Why? Because we are Hispanic?

By the time she came back, the mental damage was done. Now one of the safety rules is that no passenger can stand by the lavatory near the cabin waiting for it to become available. There was a ** lady standing right next to her waiting for the lavatory to become vacant and she did not say anything. This means rules only apply to certain races. When we arrived at Newark, there were four law enforcement officers waiting for us at the gate. Now the question is, why? If after all it was not my phone that was on and now there is a report under my name. When we got home, after almost 24 hours of not sleeping because we had to stay with the officers and give our version of events, we were feeling dehydrated, physically and mentally exhausted.

On both flights, I had no problem with the person next to me (two seats over) using my second seat to sit down their laptop, books, food, and even putting the arm rest up and using it to lounge, putting their long legs in the center seat. I was in the window seat on both flights sitting comfortably in one seat. Why was I made to buy two seats? Was it because the flight was undersold and they knew it? Was it because they were trying to sell more tickets? I think so. This "Customers of Size" policy is a moneymaker for SWA to sell more seats and fly fewer people on each flight. It is not applied equally to all people of size. The policy is open to interpretation and definitely not applied to all or even interpreted equally to all. I am angered because they told me that I was disabled, disabled for being "a customer of size." I was also put on public display and discriminated against. I was browbeaten by the ticket agent who was talking down to me and loud enough for everyone in the line behind me to hear.

SWA said they are refunding the second seat on both flights but have done nothing to apologize for the reprimands, the embarrassment, the discrimination, and especially their fraudulent act of making only certain "people of size" to buy two seats to fly, or deny service. Why was I singled out when larger passengers were not? The ticket agent refused to check my bag too even after I complied and got the second ticket. I was not going to fight with them and decided to pursue the matter after my trip. I filed a concern with the manager for SWA at BWI to note my dissatisfaction and he told me that I would be refunded if they do not sell all of the seats on the flight. Fraud, that is what I thought. Discrimination is what I felt along with embarrassment and anger for being labeled a disabled person.

I understand that Southwest is renting space; but just like an apartment where you live and welcome visitors, if the landlord does not maintain the place, you have a choice: live in squalor or clean it up. Southwest, you need to roll up your sleeves and give it a good scrub. No excuses! BWI is so much better... that is until you get to the baggage experience. I have been flying with Southwest for many years and baggage service is always an issue. At BWI, slow is putting it kindly. Two issues: 1) How hard would it be to implement A-list baggage check-in? It seems ridiculous to make the business traveler wade through all the tourists just to check a bag. You have A-list security check-in, so surely this would be an easier proposition; 2) Retrieving baggage has become more ridiculous over the past month. No announcements are being made timely advising us of the status. How hard is it to make an announcement? If the carousel sign stops broadcasting, an announcement should be made as to the new location or the issue. I’ve learned to just trawl the baggage carousels and look for my bag. Most of the time, it’s not on the carousel that’s posted for my flight. Why?

And what takes so long to unload the bags? I learned to look for my bag after waiting an hour or more each week after a weekly delayed flight and from another passenger, not a Southwest customer service representative. Last evening, after an extensive delay, again no announcement was made, even after the flight was removed from the sign over carousel 5. Rather, after 1 hour or more wait after the plane had landed, when it became obvious we were not going to receive bags anytime soon, we approached the desk. We were told to get in line (another line after spending hours in LGA in line) and we would be taken care of. Now, this is after being delayed more than 5 hours. The last thing business travelers want is to wait in another line. A man got very agitated; and only then did I overhear that bags were not on any carousel, but in some holding area. I approached the area after being directed by other passengers and finally had my bag. Sketchy service here.

Southwest is the "official" airline of the Essence festival, so Erinn wasn't surprised to find the terminal more crowded than she had ever seen it before. The final leg of the group's flight back home was delayed for an additional 20 minutes. Erinn said she took that time to charge her phone, use the bathroom, and buy a beer along with her coworker at Buffalo Wild Wings, which she took with her to the boarding gate in a clear plastic cup.

Back at the gate, Erinn said she noticed that the employees seemed "frustrated" about having to deal with the last-minute gate changes and standby issues. When she approached the counter to inquire about the status of her flight, a customer service representative told Erinn that her flight would board in ten minutes but that Erinn would not be on it because she was too drunk to fly.

"I initially thought she was joking, as I was not drunk or under the influence of any substance," Erinn said. She told her daughter and colleagues to go ahead and board the plane, assuming that the situation would clear up as soon as she made it clear that she wasn't wasted and offered to recite the Gettysburg address or to say the alphabet backwards to prove that she was sober. In response, the Southwest employee asked Erinn if she was on medication. Erinn told her she took pills for ADHD, and the rep told her she shouldn't have mixed medication with alcohol, a fact she knew because her son has ADHD. (Okay, thanks, doc.)

The employee gave Erinn a partial Hilton hotel voucher (She still had to pay $59.99.) and asked if she wanted to call the police. Definitely, Erinn said. But, according to Erinn, the police officer who arrived at the scene told her the airline had the right to refuse service to passengers and, even though he could tell she wasn't drunk, he couldn't give her a breathalyzer because they're only used in traffic situations. An observer urged Erinn to go to a nearby hospital and get a toxicology test to prove her sobriety.

Erinn's daughter got off the plane and joined her mother, and they went to the hospital for a toxicology test. Erinn had a point to prove. As you can see from the photo of the report, provided to us by Erinn, her blood alcohol level was <.003 only a few hours after the incident, meaning that she was sober and even if her blood alcohol level was higher at the gate and had dropped during the time between the incident and the test. It's unlikely to have dropped by a factor of, say, 20.

Erinn told us that she's racked her brain, trying to figure out why she was publicly singled out and is convinced that it's because Southwest couldn't handle the extra business from the festival and had to come up with some way to get people off the flight since she was limping due to leg pain and had a cup of beer in her hand. She was an easy target. "I felt so disempowered as a patron, customer, and a citizen," Erinn said. "I just couldn't believe this mistreatment could be legal."

However, Southwest spokesperson Brad told us a completely different story. According to Brad, four different employees, including the captain himself, observed the incident and decided together based on the fact that Erinn was stumbling, slurring her speech. Erinn contends she was limping due to injury, and the next day, she was provided with a wheelchair to the gate. Also, Erinn attributed the "slurred speech" to her Pittsburgh accent.

After missing my flight, I went back to terminal B to the Southwest counter. I told the employee that I have work the very next day and I really need to get a flight to Sacramento. The employee said that there was another flight going to Sacramento that very night at 9:55PM. It was also the last flight going out to Sacramento and it was for sure going to be available for me to get on, but when I got to the terminal, the flight attendant said they were already full. It wasted my time running from terminal B to terminal C again. I went back to the Southwest counter and told them they lied about having a seat for me on that plane, their last resort was for me to catch the first flight the next morning at 6:15AM to Sacramento.

This made me very angry that I had to contact my workplace the next morning that I was stuck at Las Vegas Airport waiting for a flight coming home. This made me lose my work hours and it also ruined my attendance for work. I am very disappointed in how Southwest let their employees mislead customers into thinking that they are guaranteed a spot on a plane that was already full. Also, they do not hold planes for their customers that have a connected flight even though it was their fault for getting held up for half an hour on the runway.

Realizing I would miss my connection in Denver to Ontario, I immediately went to the gate to see if I could make other arrangements to get home that night. I have been in Michigan for 3 weeks due to my mom's passing and I needed to get back to work on Monday for an important client meeting. When I finally got a chance to talk to the Southwest Airlines employees at the gate, I found out it was a mechanical problem that caused the second delay. I explained my situation and asked if there was any possible way I could get home that night. The Southwest Airlines employee very coldly and in a rude tone said, "You have two choices: you can spend the night in Detroit or Denver and get back tomorrow." I asked if I could get put on another airline. She once again rudely responded, "I gave you your choices, but I can't stop you from cancelling you Southwest ticket and try your luck finding another flight with another airline, your choice."

I inquired why our flight couldn't take the plane that was going out with no further connections that night and then we could take their plane. They would get in late, but that way, everyone gets home that night. The Southwest Airlines employee was once again rude and said, "I told you before, you have two choices, you can spend the night in Detroit or Denver. If you don't want to take either offer, get out of line so I can help the next person in line!" I can only imagine if your employee was ever treated like that, she would not have liked it one bit. In all the years of air travel, I have never been so rudely treated. I was shocked at her approach to her customers. I was rudely treated by a US Airways employee about 4 years ago and have not flown them since.

As she was filling out the Denver Double Tree Hotel paperwork, I asked about my baggage and meals. She just chuckled at the meals question. Regarding the bags, she said, "Well, it's just going to stay on the plane and you won't have access to your bags." This didn't seem right to me since the plane was going on to Spokane. When I made that comment, she just responded, "I'm not sure then. You'll find out when you get to Denver then." So I called my wife and asked her to check with Southwest Airlines customer service. I got the hotel voucher and only one of my boarding passes for the Denver to Las Vegas leg the next morning, but not the Las Vegas to Ontario leg. I asked, "How can I get my other boarding pass, do I just enter in the new confirmation number on the top of the receipt you gave me?" She said, "Not sure, you can try that," and then directed me out of the line so she could help the person behind me.

I walked away very upset due to the rude treatment and the fact that I was given no straight answer to any of my questions. I went down to an empty area of the terminal to call my wife. I explained what happened and she couldn't believe how rudely I was treated. She said she did talk to customer service and they said your bags will likely come off the plane but they were not sure and to talk to the Southwest employees at the gate. It was obvious no one at Southwest was in the mood to help out its passengers that night. Apparently, as I was talking to my wife on the phone, there was a Southwest flight attendant sitting on the other side of a pole. She must have heard me and got up and came around the pole and said, "I am really sorry about what happened to you, you should not have been treated that way." Her name was Tracey (spelling?) and was the first Southwest employee to say sorry about what happened and gave me a couple of drink coupons. It just so happens she was working the flight I was about to get on and she really took care of us on that flight. She saved Southwest from having a 100% complete breakdown in customer service and compassion. She was awesome.

I wish I could say Southwest was done screwing up that night, but the poor customer service continued. As I was waiting to board, I asked the Southwest employee at the gate taking boarding passes about the baggage situation since the gals working the front desk and customer service were of no help. He got on the microphone and made an announcement that bags will come off the plane and you can decide to pick them up or let them spin around in baggage claim until someone grabs them and put them in a secure area. They will make sure they get to where they need to get to the next day. I was not thrilled about this so I decided I would grab my bags. I then asked him if Southwest employees in Denver and the hotel were alerted to what was going on in Detroit. He said yes and that a Southwest customer service person will be waiting at the gate to give instructions regarding the bags and hotel.

As people were boarding, he was cracking jokes to cheer people up. No one was in the mood since everyone just wanted to get straight answers and get home and some of his jokes were inappropriate. Upon arriving in Denver, no Southwest customer service was available at the gate or in the baggage claim to guide and help stranded passengers. Southwest was way understaffed to handle the situation and once you did get someone's attention, the information given was wrong. Southwest employee in baggage claim sent me and others to the wrong side of the airport to pick up the Double Tree shuttle. So when I did find the shuttle after walking all over the airport with heavy bags, the driver barely spoke English and said, "No, this not the right shuttle.” Fortunately, there were other Southwest passengers on the shuttle who yelled out, "Don't listen to him, this is the right shuttle, get on!"

Once on the packed shuttle with no working ventilation, we were subjected to a 40-minute road trip in a crammed shuttle to the Double Tree, not far from the Denver city limit passing closer hotels on the way. Once at the hotel, we walked in to the lobby only to encounter a line of 20 plus people trying to check in. After standing in that line for almost 30 minutes, I was finally in my room at about 12:30PM. After getting in to my room, I called Southwest Airlines regarding getting a boarding pass for my Las Vegas to Ontario flight the next day. The Southwest Airlines representative (identified himself as Chris employee #**) indicated there was nothing he could do for me. He was not able to locate my reservation for the Las Vegas to Ontario flight that the Southwest gate personnel in Detroit told me I had a seat on. In addition, he told me that my original confirmation number and the confirmation number on the receipt given to me in Detroit were no longer valid and not found, respectively.

Chris said he was unable to help me and that the customer service folks who could help me are gone for the day. He said to discuss with Southwest representative at the airport when I get there in the morning. So as of 2:00AM, I still didn't know if I have a seat on the Las Vegas to Ontario flight later that day. I woke up at 6:00AM and went on the 40-minute shuttle ride back to the airport. Once at the airport, went to the main Southwest counter to try and get a seat for the Las Vegas to Ontario flight so I can get home. Once again, Southwest representatives said they can't find my reservation for this flight. However, this time, the Southwest employee made an effort to help me and made a few phone calls. After a few calls, I finally got my boarding pass and about 13 hours after meeting with Southwest representatives in Detroit, I had hope I was going to get home.

I see this as a complete customer service failure on Southwest Airlines' part. Southwest Airlines should be ashamed of the rude behavior, the misinformation, the lack of information and the lack of motivation to help customers. This is one of those what not to do cases your employees should be aware of. I missed a critical day at work and I suspect my boss is still upset about it. I have provided my contact information below and would like Southwest to contact me on how they plan to address this customer service failure.

Thank goodness, the nice gentleman in N.C figured it out! When we finally made it home, we were thankful our luggage made it too until we took it off the carousel to see a big hole in the front of the luggage and a big tear on the side! Took it to the baggage claim; he looked at it, said he had seen nothing wrong (with my brand new luggage just bought before this trip). I showed him the big hole. He said, "Yea, that's a manufacturer's defect. I can't help. They didn't make luggage that can travel"!

From the looks of the above complaints, it looks like the people working for Southwest have a defect in customer service! They have no respect for their customers or their property. They are by far the worst airline I have ever dealt with!

Upon asking Southwest for a replacement, I was told they wouldn't cover it because it was an electronic device similar to a camera or laptop. This is ridiculous. Two suitcases ruined in one round trip and the least they could do, since they apparently aren't going to train their staff better or fix the conveyor belt that they are blaming, is replace the one item for which we submitted a request. Incidentally, this is in fact the 3rd suitcase they have ruined as on the last flight we flew Southwest (last August), they also ripped a suitcase and then duct taped it back together telling us it was still functional. We didn't get a replacement for that one.

I am angry because the customer relations agent said there was no way I could get a refund, but could dispute my credit card bill. That has already been paid! My confirmation # is **. We traveled on April 2 and 9, round trip STL RSW. I think that I am due a refund. Thank you for attending to this matter in a reasonable time.

Is this the way you treat the customers? I always opt for Southwest Airlines for my traveling, but this time, I faced a lot of trouble due to the delay. I was expecting a great help from you guys in such cases, but was completely dissatisfied. I am expecting an immediate response to this complaint and greatly appreciate if you people could refund my extra traveling expenses I have spent on this trip.

This is the most unethical business practices I have ever seen. I work for a multi-billion dollar corporation and I will make sure I influence my company not use Southwest for business travels. Maybe that will hit their pocket and gain some business ethics. I hope it hurts their finances the way it impacts their customers. I sent out a national wide email within my company not to use Southwest due to poor customer appreciation and unethical business practices. I have one administrator looking at other airlines already.

A business is built on not only by advertisement but by recommendations. Also, most business transactions you have 3 days to change or decide if you do not want them. I don’t know how Southwest Airlines get away with keeping someone’s money especially if they really need it. I am so disappointed.

I thought that maybe the 9 that I still received credit for would be worth something. It turns out even if I bought more points to make up the difference, it would cost more to buy the points than pay cash for a round trip ticket from San Diego to Denver. What a rip off. What's sad is that neither the customer service department nor investor relations (I am a financial advisor with a large Wall Street firm) will do anything to amend this. I will say this, I will never recommend SWA as an investment for any of my clients or portfolios! If it's all about the shareholder, well then, you just lost a ton.

Departed BWI on Sunday, January 15, 2012, 12:40 PM, flight # 2286 to Norfolk. I arrived at BWI at 10:30 am and checked in at curbside almost immediately. There was only one person in line ahead of me, and two people were working curbside check in. However, Security A & B was backed up at least 50 people. Only one security line was open. My flight was on time, but my luggage failed to arrive in Norfolk. After waiting a while, I realized my luggage was not coming down the conveyor. I reported it to the baggage claim person. There were three others whose luggage did not make it to the airport also. I was told to call later in the afternoon and they would deliver it to my hotel if it came in on the next flight. My luggage arrived at my hotel 5:00 pm that evening.

Return flight, Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Flight #200, 9:50 am from ORF. I arrived at the airport at 9:00 am. There was one man working curbside check in. He was assisting a woman and man, who were in the wheel chair. I waited because I thought another employee would come out to help. He did see the line forming but did not say anything to any of us. I was wondering why he did not call for more help. After thinking he was walking back to his post to assist us, he was side tracked again. At this point, I decided I had better go inside, only to find out there were people waiting. My bag was finally checked in at 9:25 am and labeled late check in, which I was unaware of at the time. After waiting at baggage claim almost 20 minutes, an announcement was made that the carousel it was coming on was changed, so I moved up to the newly assigned one. My luggage never arrived in BWI with me. I was told that it was checked in late and that was the reason it was not there. I had to make a special trip late that night to pick up my luggage.

I was told that evening when I went to pick my luggage, that if bags are not checked in 30 minutes prior to takeoff, this is the normal outcome. My bag was checked in 25 minutes prior. This to me seems unacceptable considering there are not enough people checking bags at the airport that their customers are treated this way.

Also, another point I want to make is the airlines and airports advertise the time you need to board before being left behind but there is no mention of bag checking times and this should be emphasized to customers. I felt I was unjustly treated for something that I do not consider my fault at Norfolk airport.

After opening my bag that evening at home, I noticed that my bag was not packed the same way, when I packed it that morning. What was on top was now on the bottom. It appeared to have been opened or it must have really been thrown around. I know from past experience that a note is left in the bag if it is opened for inspection. This time, no note of a search other than my belongings was out of place. I am left to think, was this why my bag was late? Because it was searched or did my contents get spilled out and thrown back in by personnel?

I at least travel every other month with Southwest because they are reliable, prices are competitive, and I do like the pilots and flight attendants who are friendly and keep us informed. I hope this is not going to be normal treatment for their customers. I realize all businesses are cutting back on staff, but it is monumental when a person’s luggage does not make it back with the person.

I called again in January 18th and told them I was trying to book a flight to Vegas in February. They assured me I would have it within 24 hrs, I even gave them a different email address. I did not receive it the next day and called back and they said it was in process, but could take up to 48hrs. Again, never received it. I called today (Thursday) one week later and they said they sent it.

Now they are mailing it to me. The flights have gone up $160-$200 since last Monday when I wanted to book the flight. Also, I was told there was no expiration date on this new voucher, but was informed that it expires in March of this year! Southwest will not honor their credits and they put you off until the voucher expires! They should not be able to blow people off like that. I can't speak with a supervisor, nor will they have one call me back!

The gentleman who helped me told me to call after Dec 10th, actually Monday right after my ticket expires and they will give me extension. So I ended up not using the voucher and let it expire and then called them. First a lady tried to issue me a new voucher but then she said she cannot then transferred me to different department and I had to be on hold for half an hour. Then they told me because the voucher is expired, they cannot do anything and cannot even refund the money because it is attached to the voucher. I asked to talk to their manger. She came to the phone extremely rude, constantly cut me off and finally said sorry for the inconvenience but it is what it is. "Our employee gave you wrong information and we'll make sure he gets the right guidance," and she hang up on me.

I basically lost $304 worth of ticket that I could spend going to Arizona if I was not given wrong information. Secondly, I understand my voucher is expired but why the money I just spent on my credit card cannot be refunded? And the worst is how she talked to me and treated me, made me so stressed out and ruined my whole day. I am so frustrated and angry. I will try to dispute through my credit card and will never travel with Southwest even though it's been my favorite airline so far and I will let all my friends and family know what happened to me.

This, after writing to them, with plenty of time ahead, to let them know the reward was going to expire, and that I need their help before it does. A week later they contacted me. A day after my reward expired, and now I have to pay $50. I've been a customer for over 15 years. I hope this $100 in revenue is worth losing me as a customer. I think this is a slippery slope they're on. I miss Herb! I am out $100 because of their own admission, that this new program is confusing, and because they waited until the day after one of my rewards expired to contact me. Shame on them!

Southwest claims that their website is secure. Well, beware. Someone knows how to hack their system. They refuse to give us our money back. I explained to them that what they are saying is “someone stole our credit card number”. I called the credit card company to inquire if we booked any flights on an airline. The credit card company gave them the info for Southwest and that is how they changed the flight. The only thing they did with the credit card is change the flight. This is beyond belief! Either their web is not secure or someone at Southwest knows the person and gave them our ticket. You decide which you think is more reasonable. Don't forget this is a 'non transferable' ticket. I even wrote to Gary Kelly, the CEO, at his home and he has done nothing.

I was standing at the counter at the time and he looked right at me and this other lady ran up to the counter and said she would like to take those two seats on another flight into Salt Lake at a later time. I spoke up and said that I was there first and he just looked at me as if I were crazy. I am feeling that he profiled me because I wasn't dressed up. I was very casual. If you have a camera system in the area, you should take a look. That really hurt my feelings and I feel as if he owes me a personal apology. Not asking for anything but for him to acknowledge, he totally ignored me when I was at the counter first.

My daughter called the 24 hour line on Tuesday Nov. 1, 2011. She was told by a lady that her suit case had been found and that she could have it delivered or she could go to the airport to pick it up. She chose to go to the airport the morning of Nov. 2,2011 to pick it up. She was then told that it actually had been found, but that it was not at the airport there in Austin yet. The person told my daughter that when it arrived at the airport that they would deliver it to her by 2:00pm that day. My daughter needed to go to work @ 3:00pm and called to see where the suit case was. The lady told her that it had been delivered and signed for @ 2:06. The guy that delivered it took it to the wrong address! After my daughter called to check on it, he went back and picked it up and re-delivered it to my daughter. Are you kidding me? This is completely unacceptable! She was given a $50.00 voucher towards her next airfare. That's it? I want my daughter to be compensated for her inconvenience!

It took me a while to get the attention of one of the two ladies that were discussing unrelated issues. When the lady finally showed up she told me that there was nothing she could do, their policy is that as long as the suitcase can hold merchandise it is not considered damaged. When I asked for a manager she told me she was in charge, so I asked for the corporate contact, at that time she finally told me that she could file a courtesy form and that wasn't going to do anything for us. I told her I need someone responsible to look at my suitcase and my wrinkled/dirtied sweaters. Once again she told me that as long as the suitcase holds stuff, then it is not considered damaged.

I am writing to the Southwest office expecting a follow thorough and an answer. I am also considering to write the consumer affair and any agency that monitors airline customer service. I like to be compensated for my damaged luggage and sweater.

We missed our flight and needed to get a hotel in Seattle.

I have made police reports, contacted both TSA and Southwest, as well as a few other agencies. Southwest has still not come to a conclusion on this incident and my business is suffering due to their shady employee with sticky fingers.

On television, they look like a great company. But when it comes down to trying to contact them with a problem, the only decent employee they have that responded to my case was via Twitter. Unfortunately, the thief is still employed by Southwest or TSA because of their slow process in investigating this theft and is most likely still stealing from passenger's checked luggage at Midway in Chicago.

After cancelling the flight and attempting to rebook, I was prompted (online) that I cannot change the passenger's name on the flight even though it was all along my credit card info and that my Southwest account is out of credit, absolutely zero dollars! Further, there is no difference whether I fly, she were to fly, or if I bought the fare for someone else as it's a designated "seat" that I'm buying, not the person.

I am not requesting for me to be refunded the amount of the purchase in cash/check, but simply to apply it to future travels on Southwest. I understand their business must operate on guaranteed revenue and thus my reasoning for not asking for a direct refund, but simply a credit towards flights that I can use. Under the current policy, I have no plans whatsoever of booking a flight again for this particular person nor do I have any recourse of recovering the funds from her for the ticket - thus Southwest is, in my opinion, unfairly "holding" nearly $500 that will never be used in the future.

I explained the situation to the customer service line on 9/20/11, who escalated me to customer relations in Dallas. After holding and recalling for approximately 1.5 hrs, I was basically told "too bad" and they couldn't care less that I paid for the ticket and desired a refund. I also wrote their corporate office but received an auto-reply message basically stating they may or may not get back to me.

Please feel free to contact me with regard to specific questions or if I did not provide adequate clarity.

Jeff

My fiancé told the lady that we needed to cancel a ticket; he gave all appropriate information and before he had a chance to ask what our options were, she says that the ticket has been cancelled and that it's non-refundable and non-transferable. So now, my sister has a credit for a future airline ticket that she didn't purchase. I am extremely upset about this. She didn't pay for it; we did and we should have received the credit. Unfortunately, we are using Southwest for our honeymoon trip but after this trip, I will never use Southwest again. Refunds and credits should be issued to the person who purchased the ticket and not on whose name it is in.

Now, I am out of the money that I used to purchase for the ticket and I can't even use a credit towards another airline ticket in the future. I don't make very much money and I had worked hard for that money to do something nice for my family since they live in Portland, Oregon and I am in Trenton, Missouri, and they don't have money either. It wouldn't be a big deal if I was loaded.

Southwest needs to change their policies.

On our return flight from Kansas City and when the pilot landed the plane in Phoenix, he was traveling too fast, and landed hard. Inside, we were jostled left and right, until the reverse thrust and brakes sufficiently slowed the plane. After touching down, the wheels made a sound like the plane was not completely on the runway, but of course we have no proof of that being the case.

The flight attendant had to diffuse the situation by telling the supervisor that the passenger was OK. When asked about the policy of paying for an extra seat when making a reservation, the customer service agent at the gate said: "It's online but you have to look for it". This was a horrible breakdown in the usual great customer service we come to expect from Southwest. Especially since the supervisor and gate agent didn't humble themselves to apologize for humiliating one of their passengers.

Leaving it up to a gate agent to eyeball and size up passengers for whom they deem should take up two seats is not a fair way to apply this policy. The flight wasn't full so even if the passenger was a little heavy, there was no reason to single her out. What about the comfort of other passengers when crying babies disturb them or another passenger has had too much to drink or smells? Where does the fairness of "who should pay an additional fee" rest? This situation of allowing gate agents to discriminate at will has to be addressed and ceased. I am counting on Southwest to do the right thing.

We are traveling to my father's funeral and this delay will require us to get a hotel in Dallas before completing our travel tomorrow by car.

It would have been cheaper to cancel his existing reservation, take the credit, then pay the $250 for their full fare 90-minute flight!

Then, she came back and waved her hand in my face again, so I pulled my ear buds and she was again snapping her fingers and saying, "Sir, sir, sir, are you with me here," in an awful and condescending tone that was enough to embarrass me and catch the attention of half the cabin in fear that there was probably something terror-like happening. The woman at hand here seems to be very overwhelmed and under-qualified to manage stress on the job, as if that were even possible as an attendant. She demanded something of me that I didn't understand and was pointing at the seat next to me saying, "Move it up. That seat needs to moved forward." Very confused, I tried to locate the button while my hands were already full and she then leaned in and said, "Here, I will get it," and exhaled with disgust while shoving my hand aside.

I was absolutely shocked by and displeased by this behavior. I normally choose a different carrier due to the fact that I fly for business weekly and we use a corporate account, but on this particular day I booked the flight myself due to the fact that I'm trying to escape from my work for a week, so I personally booked this because your rates were $10 less than your competitors and you offered free luggage check in. Also, I booked a non-stop from Portland to San Diego and a non-stop back from San Diego to Portland, but on the way down to San Diego, we were set down in Sacramento where the experience grew after staff changed poles.

I'm not sure what kind of pow-wow you guys need to have with her, but I feel unhappy enough to ask for a full refund and maybe some sort of nice corporate gesture on top of the refund. When issues between my staff and client come up, I immediately speak with my staff in question while immediately refunding without the client asking and compromising their next visit to our business. Whether my staff insists on it not happening the way of the complaint, I impress the fact that there are always two sides of the story and listening with a solution is the safest choice and the professional choice.

Again, I pretty shocked, and as of right now, I will not re-book with Southwest. I will most likely be booking a return flight with another carrier for the 6th of February. Thank you for your time and for listening.

I have witnesses whom I have never met until today and will be filing the appropriate complaints with my state's "Equal Opportunity offices" and will be contacting several people in the National media to be heard. I will not stop and refuse to be discriminated against. I will not tolerate discrimination due to my disability! I will not be 'talked down to' because of my disability! I will not be treated as a second class citizen by any airline or it's employees. This will not be tolerated by me - period. I will be contacting every media outlet that will hear me out, as well as all social media available (i.e. Facebook, twitter, national media television programming shows, local news stations, as well as all National Disability advocate and ADA groups.)

Furthermore, my complaint is also regarding this employee while she was boarding early passengers holding the "blue" early board passes. I was holding an early board pass due to the fact that I use a wheelchair and have a permanent disability. I have flown Southwest several times and understand completely all the "rules" regarding early boarding. I am also an intelligent, educated 41 year old professional. This Southwest employee named Vanu, literally began scolding me as I approached the front of the line to board early. Keep in mind, I was on time to board early. Previous Southwest employees instructed me to be back there in 25 minutes at 10:10am - to board early. I was there at 10:05am! I tried to explain this to Vanu, but she did not want to hear it! Instead, she continued to yell at me in front of all the passengers, like I was an incompetent child. She also refused to help me down the ramp and would not help me with my bags. I dropped them from my lap several times and she refused to help pick them up. I have at least two witnesses that heard some of this and offered their names immediately - in case I wanted to file a complaint against this employee.

Vanu continued to raise her voice scolding me, saying "that being in a wheelchair I should know better and to be early". I want to reiterate that I was early. Next, she told me since I was late that she would not help me to get into my seat on the plane. She said I would have to "figure it out on my own". She very rudely refused to assist me. In short, I am very very embarrassed, felt discriminated, angry and simply disgusted by the behavior of your employee. You should be ashamed. I would like to suggest that you send your employees to a more informative customer service and anger management training, before something worse happens! This situation was heard and witnessed by several passengers and I was told that they were very put off by this behavior.

If Vanu would have actually gotten physical with me, you would have a major lawsuit on your hands. In fact, since I do have witnesses, I will be filing some type of lawsuit against Southwest Airlines. I will contact everyone in National media relentlessly, until I am heard! I will not stop. This caused me a great deal of embarrassment, anxiety and fear. My vacation was ruined due to your airline and your employee. She was so rude and loud that I wasn't sure if she was going to escalate the situation in a more physical manner. Also, I believe Southwest should not have refused to assist me to get onto the airplane and into my seat from my wheelchair. That was unsafe and degrading, to say the least. I am a "paraplegic" and cannot walk at all. Yet, your employee refused to help me. This is called discrimination. She told me to "figure it out on my own". Then we will see, that's exactly what I will do now.

What is so frustrating is the fact that her plane from Chicago did continue to fly out, according to the flight status report and the confirmation by a representative on the phone today. What compensation did she get? $50.00 towards her next ticket. She told them that she will never fly with them again, and they said, "Okay, then we won't send you anything!"

So, to top it all off, it is currently 12:00 am in Chicago and my sister just called me here in Colorado, telling me that her flight was canceled due to maintenance and she had to spend the night there. They provided no coats and all food courts are closed. She is alone and scared. I feel so bad for her because I purchased the ticket only because the luggage was free. What a scam!

I was given a Customer Care phone number, 214-932-0333, where I was told exactly the same thing by Brandy, who is an assistant to the President, Gary Kelly. I explained that the original rep, and all reps, should have made the actual policy clear. She replied that it was my responsibility to read the company policy when I booked the flight online, and would not relent. I am stuck flying three legs with Southwest, and paying for another which I cannot utilize. I am writing this so that others will know of the policy but, more importantly, to reveal the true nature of Southwest Air - which is not to treat customers with courtesy and understanding. By being literal and dogmatic, they have created bad will and karma. I hope never to use them again, and wish that you, too, will boycott Southwest and call the Customer Care number above and let Gary Kelly's assistants know that Southwest's deceptive practices render them no better than the rest of their unethical and inhumane competitors.

I explained to the Flight attendants our situation and they eventually moved my wife, trading seats with the man's wife who had been split from him because of late boarding due to the connect being late. The flight attendants were great and explained the man's condition should have been known to them before he boarded. One attendant stated she asked the person who wheeled the man onto plane if he (the passenger) shouldn't have been something like a special case passenger (the proper name she used, I don't know). This seems to me to be a problem of the boarding personnel, not the attendants. They did all in their power to accommodate my wife for our inconvinience.

However, something needs to be done to ensure the comfort and safety of all passengers. This was Southwest flight # **** from LAS to CMH, 12/11/2010. I would like to make a formal complaint to the Airlines. I have the attendants' names and their numbers and their permission to use them if needed. I need help with certain tasks and rely on my wife. With her sitting in back of plane and myself in front, I had to rely on attendants, who were outstanding, which is unfair to others.

Now I'm freaking out?! Why can't they get a piece of luggage from the check-in place to the plane in almost an hour? It was always 20 minutes before flight time that's considered 'late check in'--When did they change it to an hour? So now by the time I get thru security, I am the 4th to last person getting to the plane, so it was not just me that was running behind.

Now every single overhead compartment is full! And I have to carry on my medications. They need to be within my eyesight at all times. Of course the attendant grabs the bag and tries to shove it in some compartment towards the back of the plane. Now getting to Baltimore, I get off one plane, and immediately proceed to the next scheduled S.W. flight to Long Island. I see all these people in a line waiting to board a plane; I ask the S.W. attendant at the counter {w/my boarding pass}, "is that the line for boarding--are we ready to get on the next plane now?”

She says "NO- we're not boarding -- goes over there and sit down". Instead of saying, "We will be boarding your aircraft in 5 minutes at 'etc. ' gate no. and it's right over there-->pointing." she sends me to sit down at a whole other gate, where I proceeded to freak out for the next 1/2 hour wondering when/if my luggage would ever find its way to NY.

Then I hear my name being paged, I run up to the S.W. counter and say, "I heard my name being paged.” She says "yeah, because you're supposed to be on the plane!” I had to run to a different gate, I was the last one on the plane, and one nice S.W. gentlemen was so kind--he said "We've saved a seat for you!. " But then to the S.W. female flight attendant on board, I was shakingly upset, "why did your rep send me to the wrong gate? Why wasn't I instructed to board? "

Blank stare then, of course, no overhead bins available for my meds. I just threw everything on the middle of the aisle of the aircraft, threw up my hands, and cried! "That IS IT!” I said, "I'm outta here!” Seeing how upset I was, she promised to take the extra step to ensure my carry on bag was securely stowed. But I was still so disturbed that I was 1 minute away from missing my connection, all because a S.W. flight attendant was too lazy to give me proper instructions. It was a genuinely harrowing experience flying Southwest, and being so used to flying Frontier lately, I guess I expected the same treatment out of S.W. NO, No, No--very different. I am so concerned about every flying S.W. again? Why are they good from N.Y. to Florida, but such a complete mess from Denver, and out of Baltimore?

My luggage was on the plane, not me. I told the lady, "you said the plane leaves at 6:50PM?". She said to me, "Oh, have you not done much flying in your life?". I was too stunned to reply and yes, I have done much flying in my life and never have I ever had this happen to me. I was in shock and then started to cry. I got to the airport one hour early and now, I'm stranded at the PCB with my luggage on a plane and no more flights are going out today. I asked the lady, "if they canceled the delay you told me about, then why didn't they make an intercom announcement?". The lady stated that they probably did make an announcement lifting the delay but since I had not crossed the security area yet, then I would not heard the announcement. Now, I'm even madder. Then the lady gave me a confirmation ticket for the next day air flight out to Nashville, my destination.

But this will top the cake. She then said, "But we won't charge you any extra". Ahhh! I'm thinking silently, "it is your (Southwest) fault and you aren't going to charge me extra when it was not my fault anyways?". Was I supposed to thank her for this remark after what all I have been through? She never apologized for screwing up. I was left with no motel, cab or luggage in this supposedly an international airport in the middle of nowhere. I am still furious with the way this was done. Oh, and the lady said, "this is how Southwest does it". This was a horrible experience and I hope it doesn't happen to others. I'm doubtful that I will trust Southwest to be in charge of my flight again. I feel that some sort of compensation should be awarded to me for my horrible experience.

What? We were livid departing with 35 passengers missing? The next flight out of BWI to JAX was 1 pm which did not depart until app 1:30. I had to wait 5 hrs due to both miss communication and inefficient employees not mechanical or weather related. Needless to say I missed my ride home from airport and missed my doctor appointment. I feel we should at least be compensated for this inconvenience.

Now husband goes to the doctors and has to go for surgery on September 1st. Southwest will not give us a refund or extension for later when he heals. We cannot afford to lose this money. They wouldn't even put it back on credit card, upsetting us more. Husband cannot afford this aggravation. Results: aggravation and funds we cannot afford. Please help us. Thank you.

What? We purposely didn't check any luggage in because our flight was arriving at 10 pm and my husband had to work the next morning, and we didn't want to spend any extra time waiting at baggage claim. Now we would have to waste our time waiting to retrieve that one piece of luggage. I tried telling the flight attendant that we had X amount of people in our group and were allowed X amount of carry-ons, but she rudely said, "move along, keep walking, thanks for understanding".

After we were seated, my husband went back and tried explaining that we were well within the allowable baggage count and that we wanted our luggage back. He was told there was nothing she could do, despite that fact that the luggage was within reach of my husband and the flight was not full. Needless to say, my son's asthma inhaler and other necessary items were in that confiscated carry-on. So now we are at our final destination, Milwaukee, and we go to baggage claim and of course, our luggage is not there.

We then spend another 45 minutes at the Southwest office trying to track and locate our one piece of luggage to no avail. 26 hours later, our one piece of luggage is delivered to our home. I start making calls to "customer relations" and after 10+ attempts of talking to the wrong people, busy signals, waiting and getting disconnected, etc., I finally get through the next day. I reiterate my story to the representative via a 16 minute one-sided conversation, and was told there was nothing they could do and offered me a very insincere and unapologetic quasi-apology and gave me a piece of advice..."next time tell the ticket agent that you have kids who can't carry luggage and that this person and this person will be carrying extra". What? Moral of the story? Don't fly on Southwest. If you do, load up your pockets with whatever you may need for the next day or two.

Within couple of minutes, they announced that please leave the aircraft, you will get a new aircraft on same terminal. Your flight is delayed by one+ hour. Our flight was given to some other passengers as their flight did not arrive. I felt that it is very unfair from Southwest management part. If there is some issue with the flight weather or something unavoidable, I can understand, but this was just a Hippocratic behavior from Southwest management.

Well heaven forbid I should need some assistance. She stormed at me and said, "well, use a credit card". I did and again this did not work. Pam made a very heavy sigh (I'm sure to make me feel stupid and incompetent; and it worked). I had checked my bag many times at Houston Hobby and it seems every ticket clerk is angry to be there and the clerks take it out on the passengers.

I have been working in Galveston since April and I will be traveling to Hobby many times, I just wished I looked forward to it. Pam informed me she did not have to give me her last name. I am dreading returning to Houston Hobby ticket counter.

So I called Southwest customer service and spoke with Sherrone, agent. She not only told me "tough luck" but is exceedingly rude on top of that! I basically got a big "***** *** buddy". I called back and spoke with another agent who had better phone mannerisms but basically gave me the same bottom line. Southwest would not help me even though the promotion had been reflected on my account for over a month and I had bought multiple flights under the illusion that this promotion applied to me. This is a classic bait and switch and would have cost Southwest absolutely nothing to fix. Even when I said I was going to file complaints, they refused to budge. I mean, when someone says they are going to file complaints, and all they are asking for is an existing promotion that would cost the company nothing (priority seating, really? ) you would think it would make sense for the company to try to help out. Not in this case. I asked to speak with the VP of customer relations, Jim ***, and they told me he was not and would not be available at any point.

I have a tape recording in which the FAA inspector states that even though he was provided with a date of flight and a SWA flight number (1127), there was no way for him to obtain the aircraft tail number from Southwest Airlines in which review aircraft maintenance records that would in fact prove that the aircraft was flown illegally without proper dispatch and without proper maintenance from Burbank to Las Vegas.

I have since obtained the aircraft tail number myself by going to the private fueling company who fueled our aircraft on the day in question. I have provided this information to the DOT who has not taken any action against SWA or the FAA. I also reported this incident to Congressman Jim Oberstar who conducted the Congressional hearings in 2008. I can confirm that Southwest Airlines has put profit ahead of safety, has knowingly put crew and passengers at unnecessary risk. I was retaliated against and forced to resign from Southwest Airlines. I lost my home and financial security as a result. This came after flying nearly 20 years with the U.S. Navy (without accident) and over seven years of flying with Southwest Airlines. Herb ** presented me with a written commendation for action taken during a emergency return at Bradley International (Smoke and Fumes in the cockpit, Flight 481, March 7, 2000)

I called my credit card company and they confirmed that my card showed the charge from Southwest Airlines. I called Southwest Airlines customer service to find out what the problem was. They said a fraud alert had been issued and to contact my credit card company. I called Visa and they updated my home phone number, which I believe did cause the alert to be issued. I then called Southwest again to tell them I had communicated the new information to Visa and to get them on a later flight that same day. I was told they could get on the 12:50 flight, so I called them and told them what I was told. They were to go back to the Southwest counter and that they would be issued tickets for that flight. They did and were told the tickets were not paid for again. The Southwest employee that they spoke with refused to talk with me on the phone to verify credit card information or to clear up the confusion.

Again, I called customer service and told them what happened. That representative kept me on the phone for thirty minutes while she worked on fixing the problem. She issued me new confirmation numbers for a flight for the next day. That same evening, I decided to call Southwest one more time to ensure that my relatives would get their tickets with no problems. Again, I was told that there was a hold on the tickets and that they would have to pay cash at the counter or provide the actual credit card for verification. At that point, I told the rep to remove all the credit card info and that I would wire them the cash. So not only was I grieving over a husband I had cherished for 44 years and planning his funeral, I also had to suffer through something as simple as getting airline tickets. Three times I was assured the problem was fixed and it was not.

Due to this airline's incompetence, I had to spend $86 to wire my sister the cash so they could get their tickets. They spent $24 on cab fare round trip to the airport the 20th and could not get tickets. I spent $45 driving to Dallas that morning and had to turn around and come back because of the problem. Then to top it all off, when they showed up on the 21st with cash, they were told the tickets were already paid so I wasted time going to the bank and $86 wiring money that they didn't need. When I called to try and get back some of the money I had to spend due to their errors, the best I was offered was a $75 voucher towards another ticket.

I was told if I could fax receipts to them, they would try to possibly credit my card back but that wasn't something they usually do. The only receipt I have is for the Western Union money transfer. If I had known beforehand, I would have gotten receipts for gas and had my sister do the same for their expenses but at the time we incurred those expenses, we never imagined that this nightmare would happen. Losing a spouse is a terrible experience and Southwest Airlines caused me so much additional pain. I do not understand why I was never contacted by Southwest when a problem showed up on the tickets. They had my email and current phone number. Offering a $75 voucher is not sufficient for the grief they caused. I think that after what they put me and my family through, they should at minimum discount me the $993.60 I paid for tickets.

Nightmare is when I got up early morning and brought my confirmed e-ticket to the airport on Feb 24, 2010. The lady told me that I should have a real ticket with me instead of this ticket. My confirmed e-ticket doesn’t have confirmed number. By then, my plane will leave in 25 minute before my security check. The lady with Southwest airline shows no sympathy and told me see their manager. The manager did not seem to care if I miss the plane and let me keep in line. Until it is my turn, he told me that I have to buy a new ticket for $298 in order to get on board even if I take the next plane. At this time, both my travel agent and I have no way to do nothing except to purchase this ticket again.

After I finish my trip, my agent argued with Southwest Airline and they agreed to give me my money back. But until I get my credit card statement, I see no credit back from Southwest. What a management it is? I told all my friends not to take Southwest Airlines, they just don’t care.

Today, I called once again to ask why I haven't received my card and they tell me that they don't know, that they will reorder (for the third time) and to call back in 24-48 hours. The card is a purchased non refundable so I need to get it or I would lose my money. It has been such a pain to deal with this. Their hours are the same hours I work and I am wasting so much time on this. The service over the phone has been horrible and no one seems to care.

I called Southwest phone number 1-800-435-9792. The representatives cannot solve it. They gave me customer relation phone number 1-214-792-4223. I called it hundreds of times from Thanksgivings. No luck. Either there is no one answering or it’s a busy tone. I faxed to them at 1-214-792-4223 more than twice. There are no responses either. I e-mailed them more than 20 times. Only "No reply" is the response. I mailed to them also. Again, no response! Could you help to push Southwest to fix the software bug ASAP? It's been 3 months already and it seems to be going on forever in the future. Thanks a lot! I spend more than 1 hour to call Southwest at least twice a week to fix the online check-in problem and Rapid Award issue manually, which wastes my time and energy.