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Weather / Flight cancellation

tewilli
Explorer C

My original flight was scheduled for Aug. 10 @ 3pm from STL to ATL.  The flight was initially delayed.  We boarded the plane around 4:15pm.  About 4:30pm we deplaned because of a hail storm.  Around 6pm, the cancellation announcement was made and we were told to rebook at the nearby customer service counter.  By this time, there were about 200 people in line.  I called the customer service number to rebook, however, they said they couldn't because I checked a bag.  By the time I reached the counter (2 hours later), I was informed that 'corporate' had already booked me on the flight the following day and they would not provide hotel or meal vouchers.  My question is this:  why was there an issue to rebook when corporate did it anyway and I STILL DID NOT HAVE MY LUGGAGE!  I ended up staying in the very cold, uncomfortable terminal overnight spending over $75 on food an miscellaneous items.  This experience was awful.  I vow to NEVER fly Southwest again.  On top of that, we still didn't get an explaination on why the flight was cancelled--we just assumed it was because of the hail--penny-sized hail.

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Weather / Flight cancellation

dfwskier
Aviator A

Sorry to hear that you had a trying experience.

 

I actually was in St Louis on the 10th and stayed at the Quality Inn across from Lambert. .News reports indicated that   parts of the city had baseball size hail., and the rain was instense - closing I-70 for a while and flooded  baggage claim at Lambert terminal 1. 

 

Also, sorry to hear about your having to spend the night at the airport. Like every other airline, Southwest does not provide free hotel stays when the cause of the problem is an act of god -- like hail and heavy rain. If you had gotten a coupon it likely would not have done you any good as I think every hotel in town was full up due to thePGA golf championship being held in St. Louis.

 

As far as your luggage, I suspect (but do not know for a fact) that the sirline didn't want you to self rebook as it was concenred it might not be able to hook you up with your checked luggage.

 

I also supect the problem permeated every airline serving Lambert. So the situation wasn't comletely  Southwest's fault. Had you been on American, You likely would have experienced someting akin to what you experienced on Southwest.

 

Hope your next trip is a bit less of an adventure.

Re: Weather / Flight cancellation

bec102896
Aviator A

@tewilli

 

I'm sorry you had a poor experience 

 

as already mentioned by @dfwskier no airline that I know of would issue a hotel or food voucher because of a weather cancellation. I heard from friends who were in STL that night and the weather was rough enough to flood a baggage claim area. I personally would be glad I was not at that baggage claim when that occurred. Also Sorry the terminal was cold that is controlled by the airport not the airline.

 

However if you would like to discuss your experience with Southwest directly feel free to reach out to customer relations at 855-234-4654 and they can at least document your complaint to help in future weather related delays 

 

hope your next flight is delay free 

Blake