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Southwest Airlines Community

Flight cancellation

LW96009
Explorer C

I am furious. I received the cancellation text at 454pm Thursday, May 09. My husband and I were altreday standing in line to check in our bags. I waited on hold for 45 minutes to speak with a rep. She came on the line after we reached the counter. We were told by the counter agent that the flight was cancelled due to weather in Houston. 

I understand that we cannot control Mother Nature, however the way we were handled was unacceptable. So we were told that SW doesn't coshare, therefore we could not fly any other airline. Then we could only get to Vegas on Friday. This meant that we lost a day of activities and hotel fees. 

Since my flight was cancelled, they also cancelled my priority boarding claimingn it would be refunded. I didn't want it refunded because we are still flying. We were sent to BWI and slept in the airport. We were placed in C18 boarding. 

I will never fly this airline again!!! The counter agents as well as customer service is rude. Nobody cared about the money or time lost. But this standing in the back of line and not being able to sit with my husband on a 5 hour flight is totally unacceptable!!

The news was at the jax airport and I will call them upon my return to voice my dissatisfaction. I want others to know how uncarimng of an airline this is. I will alsombe writing a google review, blog and any other way to express myself.

Someone needs to call me immediately.

5 REPLIES 5

Re: Flight cancellation

CareforNOLA
Frequent Flyer A

@LW96009 , sorry that this happened.  It was flash-flooding in Houston mid-week, and those of us who travel a lot have almost all been bumped by weather.  When reshuffling has to happen within 24 hours, there isn’t much that the airline can do (any airline).  

 

However, if you feel that you were treated rudely , you might want to talk to customer service. But the seating probably wouldn’t have been able to be fixed as they could not have reissued everyone’s boarding pass. This is a customer to customer forum, so you will have to reach out to customer service if you feel that you should be compensated in some way.  I hate weather re-routes (also have slept in airports, abandoned a flying companion overnight because of a one seat option and a more demanding schedule, etc.), but I understand weather delays happen so there may not be anything offered.  I can vouch that Houston was getting pounded with rain and that happens a couple of times per year —so sorry that it interrupted your trip.  I hope the rest of it was enjoyable.

Re: Flight cancellation

Jwalsh3rd
Adventurer A

I am really sorry that your flight was so hard. I am really sorry that the SWA folks showed no empathy, but they were likely pretty frustrated by delays and cancellations also.  Whenever these conditions happen and the system is faced with having to reroute many people, stress is the norm and often that leads to human communication challenges.  I have learned (after many delays and cancellations) that when I am calm, professional, friendly and empathetic (none of which reflect what is happening inside me) that I usually get better rebooking results and I get them faster.  I hope your shorter trip to Vegas proved to be a great one.

 

Traveler Tip:  Always start checking and following  the weather in your layover airport and your destination airport several days before your scheduled flight.  If it looks really testy, you can take control of your schedule or at lest prepare yourself for the potential disruption.

Re: Flight cancellation

Lmkel68
Adventurer C

I have a co-worker stuck with the same issue.  My return flight to Houston was cancelled on 4/30 as well.  I had a hard time trying to get back home.  I was persistant and managed to bet back home earlier than they anticipated.  It is very frustrating that customer service and gate agents appear not to care.

Re: Flight cancellation

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@LW96009 wrote:

 

Since my flight was cancelled, they also cancelled my priority boarding claimingn it would be refunded. I didn't want it refunded because we are still flying. We were sent to BWI and slept in the airport. We were placed in C18 boarding. 

 


This is unfortunately the way they have to do it speaking specfically about the boarding position - if the positions are already given out on the other flights then they don't have the mechanism to insert you into that order. Since the flight was less than 36 hours, the EBCI also wouldn't work as those spots had already been assigned for the new flight.

 

Please follow the advice in the other posts about the treatment though, that's not the Southwest way and i hope you get some LUV if you call customer relations. I'd have an amount in mind to help them start the discussion as to what would make you feel better. 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: Flight cancellation

NicoleAshley
Employee
Employee
Solution

We're so sorry for letting you down. As a peer-to-peer support forum, we aren't equipped to assist you here, but we encourage you to reach out via the contact options in the link below. We know we can offer you a better experience in the future! 

 

Submitting a Suggestion and/or Complaint

Nicole
Community Manager